Kent Kings 2016

[Dave Jones 2,127]

Actually I have been a Poole fan for nearly 40 years............through the good and the bad times............not that that is relevant.................so yes I was around...............

 

RP

In which case you should have some knowledge of what happens when another club has the temerity to challenge Mr Ford's team.

[Bees_Man 454]

I presume you weren't around in 2010/11 season then.

Indeed, then look what happened? There is no equal playing field within the elite league.

[Skidder1 7,637]

I presume you weren't around in 2010/11 season then.

 

Aah yes the Trump(ed up) years - but I still don't know what that has to do with Kent Kings 2016??

[Dave Jones 2,127]

 

Aah yes the Trump(ed up) years - but I still don't know what that has to do with Kent Kings 2016??

Selective memory in overdrive again I see .

[TMW 533]

If Kent do go Elite then I think that will be that for Lakeside as the cross area catchment area cannot support two EL clubs especially racing on the same night, it's why Lakeside and Rye have never shared the same race night despite for much of their existsnce being in different divisions besides there is probably not enough riders around to support 9 EL teams?

 

But I would not be surprised to see things turn full circle and see a repeat of 1996 where Hammers run solely as a NL team racing at least for one season.

They could do alternate home and aways. There is certainly enough dates and GP's and Poland don't affect Friday nights

[arthur cross 492]

Wonderfully ambitious but almost certainly financially reckless to try to run two Kent teams in separate leagues with at least some weeks where there would be both a Monday and a Friday meeting.

 

It's easy for loads of enthusiastic supporters to tell promoters that they want to come along to more meetings and therefore love the prospect of cheering on two home teams during the following season.

 

But remember this is an area still getting used again to having any home team to support, never mind two at the same track.

 

When that following season actually takes place, it soon becomes obvious that relatively few supporters have both enough time and enough money to actually turn up to all those meetings they told the promoters the previous autumn they'd love to attend !!

 

Instead, you'll find plenty of supporters with enough time to attend all the meetings but not enough spare cash to fund all of them ... and plenty of supporters who can pay for all the meetings but whose work/life balance limits them to fitting only one home meeting into each week plus the very occasional second meeting in any week if it's a big enough attraction.

 

Trouble is, by the time the promoters yet again discover the sequence I've just described, they're committed to the costs of staging all those meetings those supporters told them they'd love to attend only to find the cash or time obstacles in due course !!

 

Even Matt Ford couldn't justify the cost of running the Bournemouth Buccaneers as a second home team when the huge Poole fan base didn't turn up in anything like enough numbers for National League action.

 

Coventry and King's Lynn deserve huge praise for continuing to run EL and NL teams simultaneously while Rye House have had their "on-off" history of combining PL-Rockets and NL-Raiders but the sport's littered with clubs (or an ex-club) who found out painfully that it doesn't pay to host twin teams ... see any of Edinburgh, Newcastle, Newport, Plymouth, Poole, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Sheffield or Swindon who've all made great efforts to add a second home team to their respective clubs over the past 15 years but all ended up with the harsh financial reality of continuing only one home team despite often having far longer developed current fan bases than the Kent operation currently holds.

 

PS ... what prize do I win for relevantly chucking Matt Ford's name into this thread ? !!

[Skidder1 7,637]

You are right about MF and the Buccaneers. However there were imo some basic errors made when that venture was launched - not least giving them a Bournemouth prefix!!

 

To also run some of their meetings the same week (the day after) as the Pirate's meetings rather than in the weeks the Pirates were away, was an error. But we are all experts in hindsight!!

[ouch 1,191]

I think the big problem is stadium rental as often it's the same if you ride NL or PL and that's why the Aces stopped even thought they paid a lesser rate for NL.

We will be starting up again next year, now that obstical has been removed.

[SCB 0]

Coventry and King's Lynn deserve huge praise for continuing to run EL and NL teams simultaneously while Rye House have had their "on-off" history of combining PL-Rockets and NL-Raiders but the sport's littered with clubs (or an ex-club) who found out painfully that it doesn't pay to host twin teams ... see any of Edinburgh, Newcastle, Newport, Plymouth, Poole, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Sheffield or Swindon who've all made great efforts to add a second home team to their respective clubs over the past 15 years but all ended up with the harsh financial reality of continuing only one home team despite often having far longer developed current fan bases than the Kent operation currently holds.

You list Newport there but in Newports 15ish years I'll estimate they had NL in 13 of them!

 

I think the biggest issue with NL as a second team is the disrespect it gets. They don't have a regular date, they're fitted in and moved around. If I was Kent (or Coventry) I'd say straight form the off that ANY GP Friday is also NL Friday. I'd also look to do the same on the weeks when there are a couple of GP qualfiers so likely to be missing EL guys. Then I'd run on SWC week. Thats probably all our NL meetings fitted in there. Coventry just seems to have no plan, they had weeks with no speedway at all then end up with numerous double headers and 2 or 3 meetings in a week some September - it's just poor planning.

[Woz01 3,589]

You list Newport there but in Newports 15ish years I'll estimate they had NL in 13 of them!

 

I think the biggest issue with NL as a second team is the disrespect it gets. They don't have a regular date, they're fitted in and moved around. If I was Kent (or Coventry) I'd say straight form the off that ANY GP Friday is also NL Friday. I'd also look to do the same on the weeks when there are a couple of GP qualfiers so likely to be missing EL guys. Then I'd run on SWC week. Thats probably all our NL meetings fitted in there. Coventry just seems to have no plan, they had weeks with no speedway at all then end up with numerous double headers and 2 or 3 meetings in a week some September - it's just poor planning.

The storm fixture planning was awful, at one point I forgot the Storm existed!

[Brummie Kev 519]

There was a rumour that Birmingham were offered BIG money to re-join the EL. However, sanity has broken out; once bitten, twice shy!

 

 

Well if you read the statement on the Brummies site they are still deciding what league to enter next year with the Cradley situation. God I hope its Premier League or National League rather than Elite League!!

 

Good Luck to Kent, I went there for the first time when the Brummies were there in June. Really impressed with the stadium, its one of the best and you get a great view of the track. The track has been criticised before but tbh it was quite an enteraining meeting I saw with passing. Im not sure whether they get enough fans coming in to sustain EL racing. Good Luck anyway Kent.

[flipper11 134]

I think I am right in saying Kent cannot run on Monday and Friday in the same week, that is part of the planning restrictions, 1 meeting per week only either Monday or Friday.

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

There are several hurdles to overcome notably the sporadic fixtures that the current planning will force, the enhanced prices that EL will bring that may shock some established / newer Kent fans and what is the traffic like getting to Sittingbourne on a Friday?

 

The biggest ones will be the track which lacks a decent base and any sensible amount of shale which has seen the standard of racing deteriorate over this season & Uncle Lens insistence to drown the track ahead of racing.

 

I would love to see some big names fly round Central Park but wouldn't pay EL prices every week so will just watch the occasional match and stick with the NL (if the team looks sensible and competitive enough to follow) unlike this years dross.

 

As for predicted team AJ & Kennett with Boxall & Ayres at reserve (Morley overlooked again).

[foamfence 2,917]

There are several hurdles to overcome notably the sporadic fixtures that the current planning will force, the enhanced prices that EL will bring that may shock some established / newer Kent fans and what is the traffic like getting to Sittingbourne on a Friday?

 

The biggest ones will be the track which lacks a decent base and any sensible amount of shale which has seen the standard of racing deteriorate over this season & Uncle Lens insistence to drown the track ahead of racing.

 

I would love to see some big names fly round Central Park but wouldn't pay EL prices every week so will just watch the occasional match and stick with the NL (if the team looks sensible and competitive enough to follow) unlike this years dross.

 

As for predicted team AJ & Kennett with Boxall & Ayres at reserve (Morley overlooked again).

Boxall no chance.

[Ben91 1,743]

Morley and Ayres at reserve would be cannon fodder in the EL. One as your second reserve fine but both and you'd be in trouble. Assuming and hoping the draft system continues into 2016 and the Kings are in the EL it would be nice to see them allowed to protect Morley as their second reserve. One way to do that would be for him to become a Kent asset as I believe Rye own him now?