Grand Central 2,654 Posted January 14, 2013 It is a bit of a myth that speedway was ever really a credible successful sport for any sustained period. The late 20s/early 30s it was a new phenomenon but it was in decline within a few years. Team racing was invented and that gave it a boost before the war. Of course the war put paid to most racing for 6 years and when the war ended the nation were clamoring for live sport and so speedway was in demand but by the early/mid fifties it was in serious decline again. The formation of the British League in 1965 gave the sport its longest period of stability (16 or 17 years) but by the early 80s it went into decline again, a decline that has continues to this day. In a history of 85 years probably only 25 years has the sport been really popular Yes, I think this is the best assessment by far. It is all so easy to pick out each and everyone of the external and internal changes and, depending on your own bug-bear, make a case for each one. But oldace's critique holds most water. The saying that 'even a stopped clock tells the correct time twice a day' is quite apt for Speedway. Just a few times in it's existence it's been in the right place at the right time to be a bit of a success story. And for the rest it never really did get it right. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soul Crew 87 Posted January 14, 2013 Speedway got caught standing still and has now been overtaken. Its unique to all other forms of motorsport, so comparisons are pointless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ommer Mon 381 Posted January 14, 2013 Great Topic Dean. Initially, I sprang to the same conclusion as you - the retirement of Bruce Penhall. That removed the greatest rivalry in the sport at the time between him and Kenny Carter. Erik and Hans kept it going for another 7 years but Speedway used to thrive on these rivalries. I remember going to Monmore in the early 70s to see a Wolves / Belle Vue challenge just to see Olsen and Mauger clash (and they actually didn't as Ivan was excluded under two mins when he was coming over the dog track - nice one ref!). The Grand Prix may have played a part. It removed the one off World Final and tied up a load of dates for the top stars. This and the rise of the other Leagues has meant an exodus of star names. Look back at your programmes from the 80s and some second strings would be No1s in today's so called Elite League! All this plus the failure to promote the sport properly. Blimey, I'm getting quite depressed now and believe me I'm actually really looking forward to the start of this season! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pugwash 3,208 Posted January 14, 2013 Pretty easy answer ....when the league's in Poland and Sweden got bigger and better than the uk's and we became 3rd choice to riders . Got to agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TesarRacing 1,825 Posted January 14, 2013 The entertainment tax in the 50's. ......or pensioners getting in on the cheap! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mickthemuppet 976 Posted January 14, 2013 THE MAIN PROBLEM speedway has are. 1. STADIUMS - Most stadiums that Speedway operate in are not very good. The toilets in most are awful . The catering facilities leave a lot to be desired. I would think most people never eat anything in a stadium but to be fair mosty are not operated by the speedway promoters so it is out of their hands. 2. GUEST RIDERS Try explain to outsiders that we have a guest rider or riders from other clubs. This makes speedway only one step up from professional wrestling. How many teams did Kevin Doohan or Leigh Lanham ride for last season. Both rode for and against Ipswich. How can you take a sport seriously when this happens. No wonder there are never any reports in national newspapers about matches. 3. WORLD FINALS The British Speedway Promoters were responsible for the world finals held at Wembley after the war in 1949..All profits made there went for the benefit of British speedway. They should never let Johnny Foreigner share the World finals as it was their baby. How could a world final go from Wembley to Malmo. and then have a gate of 75% less than Wembley. Promoters what were you doing..After all the world snooker and darts final are still held in this country every year. . Then the worst thing of all was no more Wembley finals which was one of the biggest knockbacks for the sport ever 4..BIKES As much has been said on here already changing from 2 valve to 4 valve was a great mistake. How much further cost did this add to riders expenses and for what benefit. 5.RACE PROGRAMES A completely new set of the heats of a speedway match. What is the point of heat 4 when you have a top riders out against reserves. That does not make for competive racing. The old system of the reserves meeting twice is a much better idea than we have today. . Both teams should not be allowed to use rider replacement. Both should promote their number 8 Perhaps the last three heats should be 5th and 6th highest scorers then the penultimate heat the 3rd and 4th highest scorer ,then the final heat the 1st and 2nd highest scores of each team. If a team becomes six or more points behind that team should be given choice of gates. 6. MEDIA Newspapers now carries virtually no reports of Speedway results or reports. If it were not for local papers you would think that speedway had ceased. Going back through the years nearly all national newspapers sponsored Speedway .On a thursday night in London the Evening News used to have a full broadsheet write up on that night's speedway meeting at Wembley with visiting riders photos and form statistics league tables and heat details. Then the next morning there would be a write up of the meeting and heat details and points.in most national papers. All now gone 7. EUROPEAN LEAGUES The emergence of the Swedish and Polish Leagues. This has no doubt hurt Speedway in GB., without these leagues all the top riders would still be riding in Britain. The advantage these leagues have or might not have is they are nearly all supported by local authorities. The original Swedish promoters all went broke. and the local authorities took over. the tracks.and they leased them out If Europes financial problems continue how long will they keep subsidising these clubs. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rob tatum 175 Posted January 14, 2013 Difficult to pin down a specific moment in time for the decline of speedway I just feel that its more the decline of LEAGUE speedway in this country. Look around Shabby stadiums ,over priced meetings ,teams that change every year ,no building a loyalty to a favourite rider as there with you one year and gone the next ,bizarre rules and rule changes which make our simple sport totally baffling to most people. The GP s are criticised BUT at least they look and are a quality product. I just think standards in most sports have improved unfortunately in ours apart from the GPs time has stood still. God I'm depressed apparently this is the most depressing day of the year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beckford Boy 6 Posted January 14, 2013 Brilliant post Mick,agree with everything you say. I well remember the words of the legendary John S Hoskins: Speedway has been written off every year since 1928 but it is still here. In some form I think it always will be, but at what level.Without doubt the fact that hardly any clubs own their own stadium and in the main are treated with disdain by their landlords is one of the biggest problems. This absolute nonsense of riders competing in half a dozen leagues causes massive problems and expense to the sport and needs to stop.We can't afford the top riders and people will not pay to watch a load of wobblers,so the answer could be to concentrate on the middle grade riders.A settled team who injuries apart are available every meeting would help to bring back the bond between riders and fans. You would then have a situation whereby we could have the travelling circus known as the Grand Prix and genuine Test Matches as the occasional icing on the cake, as in days of old we had the one off World Final and proper Test Matches. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Tyrrell 16 Posted January 14, 2013 For me the decline of speedway started with the ease of international travel. When I started going riders by and large belonged to the clubs they rode for and there was loyalty and continuity with some big star meetings annually at most tracks. There was a Golden Helmet series after which the two combatants stayed and rode in the second half. Visiting teams only visited once a season, maybe twice in a knockout cup, and these matches became 'must see' matches if you wanted to see their top riders. International club teams visited to tour and there were international Test matches with the mystique of visiting riders of which little was known. Compare that to today. Loyalty? Forget it. I read in this weeks Star, for instance, the goings on between Coventry/Brimingham/Kings Lynn over riders. Its been the same for years and will be into the future, and these riders all 'belong' to clubs in three/four different countries. With the guest rider system you could see the same riders every fortnight, or every week if you've got Sky. And thats another problem. Why not stay at home and watch the invitation world championship? Top flight speedway has become one big travelling international circus and I don't know how you can now stop it. So don't miss it when it comes to your town, the field the tents are pitched on may be needed for housing! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,994 Posted January 14, 2013 For me it was the change from homemade bobble hats to baseball caps 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted January 14, 2013 (edited) For me it was the change from homemade bobble hats to baseball caps Not Coal Scuttle Helmets????? :shock: :blink: Edited January 14, 2013 by The White Knight Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,994 Posted January 14, 2013 DOn't know what you mean.Must be a northern thing?But for me this one little change sums it all up.It was for me the move from being a member of a speedway team,to being an individual racing for various clubs.The start of sponsors and looking after no.1.Now i don't see much team riding,much team feel.Riders just turn up at a track get their gear out ride and then shoot off to the next club.In Poland they do try to get a team feel,have get togethers and practice together.Most teams in Britain probably meet their team mates on p+p day for the first time and might not even know who else is in the team until then?Poland are even i think trying to bring in team rather than individual sponsors and think they are also considering a ban on baseball caps,although i don't think the re-introduction of wooly bobble hats is in the pipeline as no-one nowadays can knit.Lost art.......maybe "Gemini" is the last person in western Europe that remembers how to do it?Rather like the last native Cornish speaker,when she goes,then it will just be a memory in museums and on youtube 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPNY 608 Posted January 14, 2013 I’ve been going to speedway since 1985 and I don’t think the product is any worse these days. We can all look back and say it was better way back when, but we do tend to get selective memories when reminiscing. Maybe in EL the racing can be a little bit too spread out as the gulf between heat leaders & reserves is so wide, but even that I can’t comment on really as being a Rye fan I never really watched top tier league speedway. I think the decline (if we’re talking about shrinking crowds) is 90% down to there being much more choice in what people (and their kids) can do for entertainment. 100s more channels on TV, video games, more bars restaurants in local/small towns, other live sports/entertainment, the list goes on. Also, generally ‘big’ events in any sport tend to draw large crowds, as the GPs do, while ‘regular’ (in Speedway’s case league racing) tend to not be so well supported. England Rugby tests will sell out but league game will be a relatively small crowd. Cricket ditto, same for big events in golf, boxing etc I can go on. Even in football, below the top 10 premiership teams, they aren’t all sold out stadiums. Certainly not once you start heading down the leagues. I know our sport tends to shoot itself in the foot at times, and I do believe the BSPA are amateurs and by that I’m not just being rude, I genuinely mean that although for the most part they want what is best for the sport, they are not qualified in how to run a professional sports league. They don’t have the business acumen or know how to create the best way for British Speedway to prosper. But I still say our sport is for the most part a good product, it’s fighting the tide for the reasons mentioned & as it’s no longer the no.1 Speedway league in Europe. But it’s still pretty good in my book… Oh and belated happy new year all, hope its a great one for you. 13 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gemini 4,894 Posted January 14, 2013 I don't think the re-introduction of wooly bobble hats is in the pipeline as no-one nowadays can knit.Lost art.......maybe "Gemini" is the last person in western Europe that remembers how to do it?Rather like the last native Cornish speaker,when she goes,then it will just be a memory in museums and on youtube Made me laugh but I shouldn't really because if I do when looking at the computer Lucy shoots across the room, even if she appears to be in a deep sleep, to see what I'm watching. Disappointed this time as it was a wasted journey. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
heathhen1 22 Posted January 15, 2013 when sky started to show it and people became armchair fans and put people off when pinky and perky started to host it 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
