Wembley

[JamesHarris 390]

3 hours ago, Grand Central said:

Hilarious nonsense.

An object lesson in how a good journalist can get great coverage for the sport providing the word Wembley is attached … especially when a guy who knows absolutely nothing about the sport can be quoted spouting utter claptrap on a podcast.

Not very often I agree with you on here but as you say the guy giving the interview has absolutely no idea about speedway when he says he want's a GP in November or December. But when there's money to be made who knows what Discovery Sports will do. I personally think the bikes are too fast now for indoor or in Wembley's case outdoor artificial tracks. The racing is not good. it's usually first out the traps wins. I've been a bid advocate for a GP at the new Belle Vue as the track always produces flat out good racing but what do I know.  

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

1 hour ago, JamesHarris said:

Not very often I agree with you on here but as you say the guy giving the interview has absolutely no idea about speedway when he says he want's a GP in November or December. But when there's money to be made who knows what Discovery Sports will do. I personally think the bikes are too fast now for indoor or in Wembley's case outdoor artificial tracks. The racing is not good. it's usually first out the traps wins. I've been a bid advocate for a GP at the new Belle Vue as the track always produces flat out good racing but what do I know.  

I'm not sure what you mean. If a temporary track can be laid in Cardiff, why not Wembley? I know people say the Cardiff track is not a proper racers track, as it is temporary, but that would be the same for Wembley. It would be an opportunity to have speedway staged in the most prestigeous stadium in the UK! 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Ray Stadia

[OveFundinFan 4,143]

Wembley management ditched the speedway track back in the 1980’s, so now they need extra income. Why would speedway want to go back there.?  It was never a great race track. Maybe plenty good races but not great ones.  Cardiff is a stadium within the city with all its attractions on hand ie eating places, drinking, hotels etc, everything really that Wembley doesn’t have in abundance. Don’t tell me hotel prices in Cardiff are too expensive, they shoot up because speedway is on. Every where in the UK does that. Whenever a pop star arrives in town/city up shoots the hotel prices. Liverpool is a current example….Eurovision final is next weekend. A hotel room price shot up overnight as soon as the date was set. Arguably the best race track in the UK, maybe the world, is Belle Vue. When Chris Morton was involved in its initial design he consulted Peter Collins. His advice was “have a curve on the straight. Apparently Hyde Road had curved straights and so does the National Speedway stadium, and it provides great racing. The old Wembley speedway track was pretty bland, would a “new” track be any different? Wembley may provide a buzz of excitement for the older fans who can remember the excitement of Wembley with 60000-80000 fans, but I don’t believe the number of fans in todays speedway era would get anywhere near the lower number of 60k, and after the first few years the crowd numbers will drop when reality sets in. 
 Elle Vue would be the track that will produce real racing. The winner of a GP at BV will know they had to work hard to get that win. A problem stopping BV being on the GP circuit is it’s limited attendance of less than 10000. I prepared to watch it all live on tv or a stream. A stream at £25 for a world final GP round would be a bargain. Even so, there would be moaners on here that wouldn’t want to pay £25, they want it free. Well, a trip to Wembley for two would be in excess of 10 times that amount, as Cardiff is today for many, so don’t think for one minute Wembley live would be cheap entertainment.

[iris123 20,994]

On the other hand hotel prices in London wouldn't be affected by speedway at Wembley. It isn't the same as having speedway at Cardiff. For Cardiff it is a big thing, but not for London. And of course London would be a great attraction for all the foreign fans, which Cardiff obviously isn't

I do agree that after a few years the attraction might drop off. That has been proven at Cardiff, which hardly attracts many now. And even beforehand there were always questions about the announced attendances. But at least for a few years we might have a major attraction again and can ride the wave

I doubt though that we have people in the sport with the vision. That has also been proven over the past decade or more. I doubt though that when the next Cardiff contract is up for negotiation, that it would be feasible with 20,000 to continue with the venue

Edited May 6, 2023 by iris123

[iainb 5,022]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

I do agree that after a few years the attraction might drop off. That has been proven at Cardiff, which hardly attracts many now. And even beforehand there were always questions about the announced attendances. But at least for a few years we might have a major attraction again and can ride the wave

I could be wrong as there are never any official numbers published but going on sight I would say the last Cardiff GP but one visually looked to be its largest crowd ever, after a pandemic and the start of a "cost of living crisis" it was followed by easily the worst crowd attendance, which came as a bit of a shock after the 2019 event. 

DSE will have to pull out a few stops to encourage people back this year.

[midlandred 206]

Part of the “magic” of the Empire Stadium was that it produced the World Champion.

If this idea were to go ahead, it would just be one of the qualifying rounds in the GP series (OOFC).

[Humphrey Appleby 13,960]

12 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

Wembley management ditched the speedway track back in the 1980’s, so now they need extra income. Why would speedway want to go back there? 

The management then (a private company) has absolutely no connection to the management now (the FA). Quite aside from the fact that it all happened over 40 years ago and everyone involved will have moved on.

But was speedway actually kicked out of Wembley, especially as it been successfully run there for 50-odd years? I suspect the 'pitch damage' was a convenient excuse because of rising costs and falling attendances. 

Certainly nothing that couldn't have been resolved, and considering that Rugby League carried on playing there...

[iris123 20,994]

4 hours ago, midlandred said:

Part of the “magic” of the Empire Stadium was that it produced the World Champion.

If this idea were to go ahead, it would just be one of the qualifying rounds in the GP series (OOFC).

Surely it wouldn't though. Maybe that is why end of year was talked about. So it would be the climax, not just one round ?

[stevehone 3,430]

I can see the Cardiff contract ending early, maybe a lot sooner than people think, and that’s why questions are being asked of other possible venues.

discovery are throwing the money about so you never know with Wembley, but for the actual track Belle Vue would be my choice with temporary seating in like the World Cup a few years ago

Edited May 6, 2023 by stevehone

[midlandred 206]

2 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

The management then (a private company) has absolutely no connection to the management now (the FA). Quite aside from the fact that it all happened over 40 years ago and everyone involved will have moved on.

But was speedway actually kicked out of Wembley, especially as it been successfully run there for 50-odd years? I suspect the 'pitch damage' was a convenient excuse because of rising costs and falling attendances. 

Certainly nothing that couldn't have been resolved, and considering that Rugby League carried on playing there...

It was Ted Croker of the FA which got the speedway kicked out of the Empire Stadium

[Humphrey Appleby 13,960]

5 minutes ago, midlandred said:

It was Ted Croker of the FA which got the speedway kicked out of the Empire Stadium

The FA didn't own Wembley at the time though. 

[iainb 5,022]

6 hours ago, midlandred said:

If this idea were to go ahead, it would just be one of the qualifying rounds in the GP series (OOFC).

Qualifying for what?

[25yearfan 476]

The FA didn't own Wembley in 1972 when the successful Wembley Lions speedway team were told they couldn't be fitted into the stadiums schedule largely filled by football.

 

The last speedway meeting at Wembley, the 81 World Final had a crowd that wasn't far of a full house and the 84 final was due to be staged there as well.

 

A speedway meeting at Wembley would certainly attract a 40,000+ crowd at least?

[Grand Central 2,654]

21 minutes ago, 25yearfan said:

The FA didn't own Wembley in 1972 when the successful Wembley Lions speedway team were told they couldn't be fitted into the stadiums schedule largely filled by football.

 

The last speedway meeting at Wembley, the 81 World Final had a crowd that wasn't far of a full house and the 84 final was due to be staged there as well.

 

A speedway meeting at Wembley would certainly attract a 40,000+ crowd at least?

And that wouldn't pay the bills.

[midlandred 206]

10 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

The FA didn't own Wembley at the time though. 

Correct, but the influence of Croker (the FA) was decisive