rearingtogo 120 Posted April 17, 2023 My prediction Chris Van Strataen will promote Redcar to the top flight to replace Wolves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrismorton 332 Posted April 17, 2023 It really has been a joke tinpot league run by a bunch of clowns who have always had ulterior motives and it was going to come to this one day. Phil Morris can't pull a rabbit out the hat now..it's too late...I can't help feeling from a selfish point of view with Peterborough that more could have been done if we didn't have a bloke who has another club to fall back on when he's run this one into the ground without a care in the world. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topaz325 1,859 Posted April 17, 2023 Did I read somewhere at the start of the season that Wolves were not keen to run on a League with reduced numbers. I remember saying when Belle vue joined the League at their new venue "What type of League are they getting into". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted April 17, 2023 43 minutes ago, TTT said: The league would be unbalanced due to the majority of Championship clubs not having the finances to compete. They wouldn't agree to the Monday/Thursday race nights either because it's financial suicide for them so we could see fixtures taking place 5-7 nights a week and that rules riders who compete at the highest level out because they won't be able to fit dates in their diary's with Sweden on a Tue, Denmark on a Wed and Poland from Fri-Sun. The 'one league' concept would have to be based on the current Championship level+ which would NOT mean a weaker product imo. Further more clubs would be allowed to race on the night that best suits their connurbation and if that means clashing with some foreign leagues/competitions so be it. 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CB252 1,376 Posted April 17, 2023 1 hour ago, mikebv said: Four team tournaments... Like Denmark used to do... Or three team tournaments with six riders each... Or Best Pairs with three riders per team with seven teams each night in attendance Or... Or... Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank... Monkey Tennis!!!!!!! Inner City Sumo? Only needs a chalk circle in a pub car park. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piotr Pyszny 206 Posted April 17, 2023 1 hour ago, mikebv said: Ice Hockey seem to do "ok" with 8 teams in the league.. With crowd levels most Speedway clubs in the UK would suggest are "bumper".. Altrincham Ice Rink host Manchester Storm and over 2000 attend most matches.. And they are at the lower end of the crowd scale domestically... Dont know if they have lower divisions though in Ice Hockey, but what they do is push the top level that they have in the UK.. Four tiers to UK ice hockey. Leeds Knights, a relatively new club, set up in 2019, usually sell out their arena - which I gather holds about 1,800. Knights have just won the NIHL National Division (tier two) play-offs. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheSmiler 420 Posted April 17, 2023 It’s all a very sad and sorry state of affairs at this point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagutaRacingFan 1,936 Posted April 17, 2023 (edited) Do we need to introduce gambling to speedway tracks? I think this would attract some punters and make tracks more sustainable Edited April 17, 2023 by BassoRacingFan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,024 Posted April 17, 2023 22 minutes ago, BassoRacingFan said: Do we need to introduce gambling to speedway tracks? I think this would attract some punters and make tracks more sustainable Been done already and somehow they managed to fudge that one up too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,297 Posted April 17, 2023 1 hour ago, Skidder1 said: The 'one league' concept would have to be based on the current Championship level+ which would NOT mean a weaker product imo. Further more clubs would be allowed to race on the night that best suits their connurbation and if that means clashing with some foreign leagues/competitions so be it. The way it should have been (at least) ten years ago... Sadly many who could have been saved by having such an operating model have gone by the way side during that time... As soon as the Sky money went, so did the GP stars.. That was the time to "go it alone"... Instead we had "Let's fudge our way along and cobble something together each night"... "The punters will be fine with it".... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hawk127 1,359 Posted April 17, 2023 It is difficult to pinpoint what is and who are to blame for the decline. Could it be riders earning expectations are too high, promoters who do not promote, a rule book that is overly complicated, the British public who want more, for their buck than fifteen minutes of racing over two plus hours for something like circa £20. Sad to seem the momentum in terms of the demise of the sport and it may not have reached its nadir yet but for it to survive drastic changes are needed to encourage more participants. Standard bikes to start with to reduce costs, a push for lower c c classes and not just the 500 cc guided missile that go around every track, yet are probably unsuitable for most race venues.. Many on here will have great ideas and some credible options and the IOW have made a start but those running the sport who put up the money for each club are not interested and it is akin to the masons in the way it is run. I guess it is a case of watch it now for as long as it lasts and hope that someone somewhere has the vision to reinvent the sport and can create interest from a wider audience. I won’t hold my breath. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted April 17, 2023 2 hours ago, Piotr Pyszny said: Four tiers to UK ice hockey. Leeds Knights, a relatively new club, set up in 2019, usually sell out their arena - which I gather holds about 1,800. Knights have just won the NIHL National Division (tier two) play-offs. I don't believe Speedway should be compared to any indoor sport eg. Darts, Ice Hockey etc which have a comfortable, hospitality-driven atmosphere as well as being exciting in their own way and also building up (promoting?) Individual players. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,297 Posted April 17, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Skidder1 said: I don't believe Speedway should be compared to any indoor sport eg. Darts, Ice Hockey etc which have a comfortable, hospitality-driven atmosphere as well as being exciting in their own way and also building up (promoting?) Individual players. Speedway could "build up its players"... It just decides to not do so... Instead it comes up with "a family sport", and "bring a friend" nonsense... More bang for your buck these days is needed I am afraid to say... Speedway in the UK doesn't even have a marketing company pushing its name out there.. Instead, each track does its own thing which is often led by well meaning amateurs, but hugely wide of hitting the fit for purpose mark... One track a season has closed on average for the past decade.. Coventry, Swindon, Rye House, Lakeside, Newcastle, Eastbourne, Buxton, Workington, Stoke, Somerset and Kent. The IOW "got out" and will no doubt be glad they did, and now Wolves and Peterborough look like going the same way as so many before... With Poole looking like it faces some challenges as the Greyhound Companies pull up the drawbridges, and Edinburgh looking for land elsewhere after being informed of future closure... Indeed, if it wasnt for Mcr Council and Messrs Gordon and Morton then BV would also be no more.. And Birmingham seem to be on the brink each season over the past few years.. Oxford, Iwade and "New Worky" offer some light at the end of a very dark and long tunnel but you do fear for the sport in the UK.. Phil Morris has his work cut out, that is for sure... I thought post Covid it was a real opportunity for radical change given so long a time had passed, meaning that those in charge had that time to come up with innovative ideas, and completely relaunch the sport to an audience desperate for action again.. What an opportunity to entice the tens of thousands back who have deserted the sport over the last two decades off the back of 12 months of no Speedway.. Instead. We had the same old, same old, and ended up with the same old, same old issues... You do the same thing each time, then unsurprisingly, you get the same result... Who knew that happens? Edited April 18, 2023 by mikebv Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Smith 5,666 Posted April 17, 2023 Whatever the plan is for 2024 & beyond, the most certain thing is, every club whose renting has to look to purchase it's own land. It doesn't matter if it's grass banks 'bring your own deckchair' stadiums, portaloos, bring your own picnic etc. Without this, closure is coming to you, very soon. Recent ( & predicted) closures:- Swindon Robins Lakeside Hammers Coventry Bees Peterborough Panthers Wolverhampton Wolves Workington Comets Birmingham Brummies Edinburgh Monarchs Newcastle Diamonds Rye House Rockets Reading Racers Somerset Rebels Just look at the stature of those names within this sport. It's a horrid horrid look. Pretty much all these closures not because they've gone bust, but the stadium being pulled from underneath them. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M.D 463 Posted April 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Daniel Smith said: Whatever the plan is for 2024 & beyond, the most certain thing is, every club whose renting has to look to purchase it's own land. It doesn't matter if it's grass banks 'bring your own deckchair' stadiums, portaloos, bring your own picnic etc. Without this, closure is coming to you, very soon. Recent ( & predicted) closures:- Swindon Robins Lakeside Hammers Coventry Bees Peterborough Panthers Wolverhampton Wolves Workington Comets Birmingham Brummies Edinburgh Monarchs Newcastle Diamonds Rye House Rockets Reading Racers Somerset Rebels Just look at the stature of those names within this sport. It's a horrid horrid look. Pretty much all these closures not because they've gone bust, but the stadium being pulled from underneath them. I would have thought Eastbourne Eagles would get a mention but I take your point.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
