Alarmingly Low Crowds

[steve roberts 9,247]

I activated a similar thread many months ago after meeting a Birmingham fan at my place of work. He tried to assure and/or convince me that attendances were on the up, generally, in speedway.

[mikebv 10,340]

Pooles crowds have been very good this season. And the holiday season hasn't yet started.

 

I seriously believe 95% of speedway fans don't give two hoots how the sport is run 'at the top'. All they want is some good hard racing. The negativity of this forum doesnt seem present trackside.

I bet 95% of BHS customers who still go through their doors are also never negative about them too...

 

As were, I would imagine, 95% of Woolworths' customers who were loyal to them...

 

Right up until their inevitable demise....

 

All due to a failure to change with the times and realise that their ever dwindling, ageing, customer base were not happy with what was being provided and no longer regarded parting with their cash with them as money well spent..

 

Sound familiar?😖

Edited April 26, 2016 by mikebv

[LunnasPerm 57]

It genuinely amazes me the volume of fans on here who respond to constructive criticism like an aggressive dog would if you attempted to steal it's bone. The saying "burying your head in the sand" doesn't even begin to cover it.

[Guest]

I was at eastbourne on Saturday and rye house on Sunday. Both meetings had very poor crowds, I doubt if there was much more than 500 at both tracks combined. Freezing cold weather with a threat of rain is enough to put most people off.

 

 

 

I saw two variations on attendances for last week's reopening meeting at IoW. On Facebook, an attendee quoted it as "about 400" while a BSF assessment was given as 250, although this latter Poster later conceded he usually gave "low guesstimate attendances" and that there could have been more spectators at the meeting.

The recent quoted attendance figures are a long way off the crowd for a 1946 Wembley v West Ham match when spectators were locked out and 85,000 fans were inside the stadium to watch the racing.

 

 

Geez, its the 26th April, the weather hasn't been favourable and most club's fixtures have been disjointed. Shall we give it until, say, June before we start making assumptions, eh?

 

 

How many 'new' fans would be aware of this forum?

 

 

That's what I was thinking, Gem, and it had been so pleasant without two of them posting, though they still couldn't stop themselves from hitting the 'Like' button, to remind us that they were still around. Guess we can expect nonsensical multiple threads to start appearing again soon? Posting about a 1946 crowd is really relevant to a thread about 2016 crowds ... not. Its only 70 years ago for pity's sake. Should be on the, in black and white only, 'Days of Yore' part of the forum. Don't know about fans being locked out, somebody needs to be locked up more like. Where do I find the 'Ignore' instruction?

 

Further to my comment about a "lockout for fans at Wembley in 1946' that same season there was a similar happening at Wimbledon. Nowadays I suppose promoters have to lock the fans in - those few people who bother to attend a meeting that is! There's a big difference between 85,000 at Wembley in 1946 and a mentioned 400 at IoW seven days ago.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Guest

[Countershaftcounter 360]

eeeeeeh, back in my day we all had TB, everything were in black and white and dad would beat us every mornin', chop us oop and bury us in bottom of t'garden, then dance on our graves singing hallelujah.

 

You tell the kids of today that and they won't believe you.

[Gresham 928]

 

 

 

 

 

Further to my comment about a "lockout for fans at Wembley in 1946'. that same season there was a similar happening at Wimbledon. Nowadays I suppose promoters have to lock the fans in - those few people who bother to attend a meeting that is! There's a big difference between 85,000 at Wembley in 1946 and a mentioned 400 at IoW seven days ago.

Whilst I understand the gist of your post...comparing Wembley in London at the height of attendances, to little ol' IOW, which only has a population of 130 odd thousand is a bit extreme, wouldn't you say?

[Guest]

Whilst I understand the gist of your post...comparing Wembley in London at the height of attendances, to little ol' IOW, which only has a population of 130 odd thousand is a bit extreme, wouldn't you say?

That's a fair point Gresham. I was not specifically 'attacking' IoW - just try to emphasise how interest in speedway has dwindled since those wonderful speedway days of 1946, when there were big crowds and much National media coverage, to what is dished up - for those who bother to attend a track - in these modern times.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Guest

[Gresham 928]

That's a fair point Gresham. I was not specifically 'attackimg' IoW - just try to emphasise how interest in speedway has dwindled since those wonderful speedway days of 1946, when there were big crowds and much National media coverage, to what is dished up - for those who bother to attend a track - in these modern times.

Well I'm not old enough to remember those days...but can remember watching Bristol in amongst 10,000 odd on a Friday night and Wembley in 78...and you are correct, attendances have tumbled...they are frighteningly low nowadays.

 

As other threads on this forum have discussed, and there seem to be many reasons for this...I do find it strange that a sport can dwindle to so little crowds, when it was once the second highest attended sport in the country. As the OP said...ALARMING.

[E I Addio 15,849]

Lakeside had a big crowd v Kings Lynn on Good Friday. Not as big as the heyday off the local derbies with Eastbourne but pretty decent. It dropped for the unattractive fixture with Leicester on a freezing cold night but still seemed comparable to a lot we saw last year, then it was well up for Poole. Difficult to assess the Poole meeting because an accident in Dartford Tunnel meant a lot of fans arrived late, but as far as I could judge in the dark it seemed a pretty decent crowd by about heat 3 or 4.

[Guest]

Lakeside had a big crowd v Kings Lynn on Good Friday. Not as big as the heyday off the local derbies with Eastbourne but pretty decent. It dropped for the unattractive fixture with Leicester on a freezing cold night but still seemed comparable to a lot we saw last year, then it was well up for Poole. Difficult to assess the Poole meeting because an accident in Dartford Tunnel meant a lot of fans arrived late, but as far as I could judge in the dark it seemed a pretty decent crowd by about heat 3 or 4.

 

It's useful when mentioning 'decent' crowds to quote figures, otherwise it's pointless to do so. Was it 10,000 or 5,000, or 400? What attendance constitutes a decent crowd these days?

[steve roberts 9,247]

 

It's useful when mentioning 'decent' crowds to quote figures, otherwise it's pointless to do so. Was it 10,000 or 5,000, or 400? What attendance constitutes a decent crowd these days?

Trouble is there has always been a reluctance of Promoters to issue 'official' attendance figures. Why one may ask?

Edited April 26, 2016 by steve roberts

[MattJ81 51]

Cradley last night was a lower crowd than usual, certainly outside, but it was very cold and as we were setting out there was a hail storm (which later found its way to Monmore). Also West Brom football were on the tele which may have kept a few away.

 

The Rye House meeting was switched at the last minute from the Monday night to the Tuesday due to weather but the crowd looked OK and the first meeting was a healthy crowd compared to recent Cradley meetings both at Monmore and especially last year at PB

 

I believe Cradley will have a higher average attendance this season than last and I wouldn't imagine it will be down on previous Monmore seasons, although I appreciate it's all subjective and mostly guesswork

[Guest]

Cradley last night was a lower crowd than usual, certainly outside, but it was very cold and as we were setting out there was a hail storm (which later found its way to Monmore). Also West Brom football were on the tele which may have kept a few away.

 

The Rye House meeting was switched at the last minute from the Monday night to the Tuesday due to weather but the crowd looked OK and the first meeting was a healthy crowd compared to recent Cradley meetings both at Monmore and especially last year at PB

 

I believe Cradley will have a higher average attendance this season than last and I wouldn't imagine it will be down on previous Monmore seasons, although I appreciate it's all subjective and mostly guesswork

 

Like many posts, this thread gives speculative comment on how attendances are going - up or down - but again an all important factor that is needed is missed - no figures either correct or speculative are given. I quote from the previous post "...but the crowd looked OK..." What size was that crowd? Was it 800, 8,000 or 80? And as for "..I believe Cradley will have a higher average attendance this season than last..." what numbers are we talking about?

[SPEEDY69 1,275]

Trouble is there has always been a reluctance of Promoters to issue 'official' attendance figures. Why one may ask?

 

They probably have to account for entrance money in their tax returns!

[George Dodds 310]

The recent quoted attendance figures are a long way off the crowd for a 1946 Wembley v West Ham match when spectators were locked out and 85,000 fans were inside the stadium to watch the racing.

So basically if the BSPA can arrange for a six-year worldwide war which kills millions, uninvent TV and home entertainment, raze garden centres to the ground, and race in London all speedway's woes will be solved?

Even Premier League football attendances stack up badly to those immediate post war years ... but, correct me if I'm wrong Gustix, wasn't it a short-term high? Within 10 years wasn't the sport down to a handful of tracks and even they were on their uppers?

The past is gone - it will never return, along with the time when British speedway could afford to pay the rates of money which will attract the top riders here.

Instead we should be looking at the likes of British Superbikes and British Touring Cars - two organisations which manage to run profitably in front of large crowds despite not having access to the elite level or racers.

Put two or three riders or roughly equal ability on track and speedway is as good as was in the 40s. 60s, 90s, whenever - Berwick against Glasgow on Saturday night proved that. One of the problems with modern speedway is that too often races feature four riders of widely differing abilities - sort that and you have something sellable to the public.