Speedway Star Toothless Pussycat

[Humphrey Appleby 13,974]

World Finals in Britain would probably have attracted bigger crowds if they had been held at Cardiff (putting aside the fact the Millennium Stadium wasn't opened until 1999), but it took BSI and the grand prix series to take the world championship up a level in terms of professionalism and presentation.

For my money, BSI have done a good job in raising standards in the world championship. I loved the old world finals, but by the end they were pretty poor (Pocking in 93 was a shambles). BSI have provided speedway with a quality flagship which ought to raise interest in the sport. It's British speedway's problem if it can't keep up.

 

I'd agree that speedway would disappear further into obscurity without the SGP, but I don't think it's especially raised the game. It looks good in comparison to the rest of the speedway shambles, but that's a very low bar indeed and I don't think the SGP has really progressed the sport as it should.

 

The Millennium Stadium round is clearly used as something of a showcase, but I think if you held a World Final there today you'd probably get a similar attendance. Beyond that, GP attendances are reasonable in Poland, but elsewhere not better than in the latter years of the World Finals. Mainstream media coverage is still virtually nil, and the list of sponsors basically seems to be tourist boards, local media and the companies of the host promoters. Monster was probably the first 'big' sponsor the series has had, but what they're actually paying is a big question.

 

As for taking the sport to big cities, well BSI can reasonably point to Cardiff and Copenhagen and the recent addition of Stockholm (and Auckland perhaps), but that has to be offset against small obscure venues that would probably never have been considered for World Finals (although if you can go to Norden and Pocking then you can go anywhere).

 

So on balance I don't think the improvements are actually so dramatic. Yes, it's a fair point the sport may well have declined further without the SGP, some revenue has been generated that may not have been there before, but neither do I think the sport has been revolutionised either.

 

Finally, you can't compare the SGP and British speedway. The SGP is 12 events organised with the pick-of-the-dates and on the basis of getting the participating riders on the cheap.

 

Even a single British track organises more meetings than that per season, but having to work around all sorts of constraints with dates and rider availability. They also have to pay the going rates for wages, put up with the vagaries of the weather (particularly early and late in the season), whilst also providing the opportunities for riders to come through the ranks.

[bellevueace 914]

AND, as it happens, the last attendance at Odsal for a World Final was in fact less than 20,000.

 

Wembley World Final attendances were invariably put at 100,000 because that was the stadium's alleged capacity and it sounded good but few if any actually achieved that level and the one in 1981 was way below that. Different era, of course, and as BWitcher so rightly points out the number of people regularly attending speedway in the UK 30 years ago was significantly higher than today.

 

Without the GPs and Cardiff what major World Championship event do people think would take place in Britain now? Even if there was a one-off World Final the likelihood of it being staged here in anything more than every five or six years would be minimal.

 

Because the product was far better than it is today, even though 30 years ago not everything in the garden was rosy the sport held more appeal, even today people I work with can name Mauger, Briggs, Collins etc, ask them who is world champion today and no one knows and that with a british world champion. The sport needs to find a way of reconnecting with the wider public, silly rules like the double tac and joker have the opposite effect likening speedway more to its a knock out. We can debate forever but the one fact that is beyond discussion is the terraces around the tracks today very sparesly populated, TV was seen as the big breakthnrough its not happened, hopefully it will this season.

 

No meeting in Britain has ever attracted 6 figures. A few times into 90,000s

 

We can only go off figures quoted at the time and none of us know for sure the exact figures but one thing is certain Wembley for instance was never raced in a half full stadium well not the times I attended, even take 80,000 and nowadays the flagship event is under half that

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

 

No meeting in Britain has ever attracted 6 figures. A few times into 90,000s

THERE was a time when league matches at Wembley attracted 80,000 plus. I think I am right in saying that the Wembley Supporters' Club had over 80,000 members in the immediate post-war years. Those were the days!

 

Was the product any better? I have no idea (actually not quite THAT old) but they were very different times. So few things for people to do and spend their money on compared with today. Speedway stadiums then were probably as good as those staging soccer. Not so today.

 

In a full week of Elite League racing now what would the total attendance be. 15,000? 20,000 max? Throw in another 15,000 for PL. About par for a Cardiff crowd.

 

Speedway still had regular and quite extensive newspaper coverage until around the mid-eighties. Ironically it fared better when national newspapers had far less pages devoted to sport than they do today. When I covered it for the Daily Express they would hold back an edition to get in a report of a test match or the British Final when it was held at Coventry on a Wednesday evening.

 

When Wembley was staging World Finals there was an estimated half a million allegedly watching speedway, the second most popular summer sport after greyhounds remember. That may or may not (probably the latter) have been true but the percentage of regular punters going to the country's biggest speedway event was much lower than it is now.

[The White Knight 9,039]

THERE was a time when league matches at Wembley attracted 80,000 plus. I think I am right in saying that the Wembley Supporters' Club had over 80,000 members in the immediate post-war years. Those were the days!

 

Was the product any better? I have no idea (actually not quite THAT old) but they were very different times. So few things for people to do and spend their money on compared with today. Speedway stadiums then were probably as good as those staging soccer. Not so today.

 

In a full week of Elite League racing now what would the total attendance be. 15,000? 20,000 max? Throw in another 15,000 for PL. About par for a Cardiff crowd.

 

Speedway still had regular and quite extensive newspaper coverage until around the mid-eighties. Ironically it fared better when national newspapers had far less pages devoted to sport than they do today. When I covered it for the Daily Express they would hold back an edition to get in a report of a test match or the British Final when it was held at Coventry on a Wednesday evening.

 

When Wembley was staging World Finals there was an estimated half a million allegedly watching speedway, the second most popular summer sport after greyhounds remember. That may or may not (probably the latter) have been true but the percentage of regular punters going to the country's biggest speedway event was much lower than it is now.

 

The late, great Freddie Williams told me that Wembley regularly had Gates of 75,000 plus.

 

If only those days could return. :sad:

[Conkers in Gravy 120]

 

I'd agree that speedway would disappear further into obscurity without the SGP, but I don't think it's especially raised the game. It looks good in comparison to the rest of the speedway shambles, but that's a very low bar indeed and I don't think the SGP has really progressed the sport as it should.

 

The Millennium Stadium round is clearly used as something of a showcase, but I think if you held a World Final there today you'd probably get a similar attendance. Beyond that, GP attendances are reasonable in Poland, but elsewhere not better than in the latter years of the World Finals. Mainstream media coverage is still virtually nil, and the list of sponsors basically seems to be tourist boards, local media and the companies of the host promoters. Monster was probably the first 'big' sponsor the series has had, but what they're actually paying is a big question.

 

As for taking the sport to big cities, well BSI can reasonably point to Cardiff and Copenhagen and the recent addition of Stockholm (and Auckland perhaps), but that has to be offset against small obscure venues that would probably never have been considered for World Finals (although if you can go to Norden and Pocking then you can go anywhere).

 

So on balance I don't think the improvements are actually so dramatic. Yes, it's a fair point the sport may well have declined further without the SGP, some revenue has been generated that may not have been there before, but neither do I think the sport has been revolutionised either.

 

Finally, you can't compare the SGP and British speedway. The SGP is 12 events organised with the pick-of-the-dates and on the basis of getting the participating riders on the cheap.

 

Even a single British track organises more meetings than that per season, but having to work around all sorts of constraints with dates and rider availability. They also have to pay the going rates for wages, put up with the vagaries of the weather (particularly early and late in the season), whilst also providing the opportunities for riders to come through the ranks.

 

I accept that there are considerably more problems putting on 20+ home meetings than 12 Saturday night one-offs in (mostly) smart stadia, but the point I was trying to make is that the GP series - has made domestic speedway look very much a plain Jane. Lonigo, for example, may be a bit low key, but most rounds have an atmosphere and a buzz about them that makes me sit up and take notice. Attendances at single GP rounds may not match the old World Finals, but when you have 12 mostly well-attended rounds the maths is hard to argue with.

 

I haven't been to speedway more than a handful of times in the last few years (that's a question of geography, not choice), but from watching on TV the GPs have the feel of a modern, 21st century sport (my opinion!) while league matches always have the feel of something I used to do when Siouxsie and the Banshees were in the charts.

[StevePark 2,800]

 

The late, great Freddie Williams told me that Wembley regularly had Gates of 75,000 plus.

 

If only those days could return. :sad:

 

Not many tracks could hold 75,000 now though, but I get your point!

 

Because the product was far better than it is today, even though 30 years ago not everything in the garden was rosy the sport held more appeal, even today people I work with can name Mauger, Briggs, Collins etc, ask them who is world champion today and no one knows and that with a british world champion. The sport needs to find a way of reconnecting with the wider public, silly rules like the double tac and joker have the opposite effect likening speedway more to its a knock out. We can debate forever but the one fact that is beyond discussion is the terraces around the tracks today very sparesly populated, TV was seen as the big breakthnrough its not happened, hopefully it will this season.

 

 

It's not only down to those things though, is it?

 

Much wider choice of entertainment (be that entertainment be cheaper or not) is another major factor, as is, most probably, the cost of getting to and in to a track and a whole raft of other problems (many to each individual track, i.e., one tracks 'problem' could be different to another tracks 'problem').

[SCB 11]

Britain has been given wildcard year on year, simply to have a brit in the field..Sweden, Poland, Denmark are the major speedway countries, the organisers will always sprinkle riders in from these countries simply because the venues are staged in these places..

its a closed shop.....smith/harris/Louis/nicholls all handed wildcards as couldn't make it themselves..farcical

Louis and Smith never once needed a wildcard. In fact they brought in wildcards to force Smith out!!

[ColinMills 1,728]

1997? if thays not creeping in through the back door, I don't know what is?..(like bwitcher/waihekeaces

[waiheke1 4,295]

1997? if thays not creeping in through the back door, I don't know what is?..(like bwitcher/waihekeaces

From memory andy smith quslified for the following sesson as first reserve, but got a full time slot due to someone withdrawing? How does that tie to your earlier comment about being given placed due to nationality? Smith seemed to scrape in through the challenge yesr after year, which is seemingly thr opposite of the point u were making?

[ColinMills 1,728]

c. Louis came 9th, he didn't always make the cut as you indicated..but its obvious in recent yrs, brits have been handed wildcards, when far better riders have had to sit out...

[New Science 1,059]

SKY have had no input as to how the money was used. The fact is British Speedway has had a glorious opportunity to advance over the last 18 years, an opportunity other sports had and embraced, sports like darts, Rugby League even cycling. Has being on live TV for the whole 3 weeks affected crowds at the Ally Pally or the Premier League of darts? In the early days they played in smaller venues but packed them out, encouraged the party atmosphere and created the impression that this is a must attend event. That is what speedway should have done.

 

The fact that British Speedway is in the mess it is lies solely 100% at the feet of British Speedway. Not SKY or BSI or anyone else.

 

With a new TV deal now is the time to change things around

The difference between darts and speedway is the product and quality of darts has never been higher,sadly speedway cannot say the same with the coverage it shows on Sky.Never underestimate the importance of the core product,this is the only way to win back lost fans.

[SCB 11]

c. Louis came 9th, he didn't always make the cut as you indicated..but its obvious in recent yrs, brits have been handed wildcards, when far better riders have had to sit out...

Then finished 6th in the GP Challenge where the top 9 qualified for the GPs for 1998. So Chris Louis qualified.

 

 

As for Andy Smith, the year before he qualified by right too, he got the last place in a run-off.

 

Andy Smith and Chris Louis NEVER once received a GP wildcard.

Edited February 4, 2014 by SCB

[oldace 1,678]

The difference between darts and speedway is the product and quality of darts has never been higher,sadly speedway cannot say the same with the coverage it shows on Sky.Never underestimate the importance of the core product,this is the only way to win back lost fans.

In 1993 when the top dart players formed the wdc (at the time) it was because the bdo, run by olly croft, was in serious decline. No tv tpurnaments and events run in the same tired old way. The top pros along with barry hearn knew with the right presentation they could turn the sport around. Bottom line is the darts is still the same but the package is totally different.

 

The GPs show it can be done with speedway.

[oldace 1,678]

The difference between darts and speedway is the product and quality of darts has never been higher,sadly speedway cannot say the same with the coverage it shows on Sky.Never underestimate the importance of the core product,this is the only way to win back lost fans.

In 1993 when the top dart players formed the wdc (at the time) it was because the bdo, run by olly croft, was in serious decline. No tv tpurnaments and events run in the same tired old way. The top pros along with barry hearn knew with the right presentation they could turn the sport around. Bottom line is the darts is still the same but the package is totally different.

 

The GPs show it can be done with speedway.

[Humphrey Appleby 13,974]

The GPs show it can be done with speedway.

 

Have they?