SpeedwayTShirts 307 Posted June 8, 2023 1 hour ago, HGould said: One massive question though remains, that is WHY have we never been able to attract ex Coventry / Cradley fans to PB in the way that Oxford have attracted Swindon / Reading fans who make significantly longer trips inmidweek. It's not as if the much maligned (and unfairly on occasion in my opinion) Promoter / Manager hasn't done his utmost to attract Cradley / Coventry fans, but where are they??... If having Bomber didn't put anymore on the gate Bees fans wise I doubt any other rider would. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deano 1,318 Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, HGould said: One massive question though remains, that is WHY have we never been able to attract ex Coventry / Cradley fans to PB in the way that Oxford have attracted Swindon / Reading fans who make significantly longer trips inmidweek. It's not as if the much maligned (and unfairly on occasion in my opinion) Promoter / Manager hasn't done his utmost to attract Cradley / Coventry fans, but where are they??... It's a bit like Birmingham City closing and wondering why Aston Villa can't attract their floating supporters. Speedway is a club sport and only a small percentage will travel to a track just to watch a match. Which is why I've never understood, if for example a Rotherham speedway team was being investigated Sheffield would never allow it to get off the ground. Even if it mean't long term more fans through the gate. People I know from Solihull won't go as it's a Birmingham team, my friends don't come from Birmingham. Perhaps speedway a long time ago should have gone like county cricket and covered a larger area rather than stop neighbouring local clubs potentially opening. Edited June 8, 2023 by Deano Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GiveusaB 1,146 Posted June 8, 2023 5 hours ago, HGould said: One massive question though remains, that is WHY have we never been able to attract ex Coventry / Cradley fans to PB in the way that Oxford have attracted Swindon / Reading fans who make significantly longer trips inmidweek. It's not as if the much maligned (and unfairly on occasion in my opinion) Promoter / Manager hasn't done his utmost to attract Cradley / Coventry fans, but where are they??... May be because Coventry/Cradley fans are used to seeing a winning side ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrizHeathen 37 Posted June 8, 2023 I think you will find that a fair few Cradley fans attend both Birmingham and Wolves. There numbers are dwindling but I'm pretty sure the low Brummies attendances include a fair few floating fans from Cradley and a few from Wolves. The fact is Perry Barr isn't a great venue for watching speedway, traffic is also an issue and I guess the poor team adds the finishing touch. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedwayTShirts 307 Posted June 8, 2023 Now Coventry have closed I tend to go and watch riders I like as opposed to teams, We went to Belle Vue last week to watch Emil and I'd scheduled several matches to watch Nicki P if he'd continued in the UK. The only thing that would encourage me to support another team properly would be I think if they tracked several Bees riders, so say Brum went in the Premiership with Scotty, Bomber, Rory, Smoli, KK, BB and Adam Roynon, I'd probably make more of an effort to attend matches to watch a team like that. But just the odd rider like Rooboy at Wolves isn't enough to get me there regulalrly. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
heathen52 385 Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, BrizHeathen said: I think you will find that a fair few Cradley fans attend both Birmingham and Wolves. There numbers are dwindling but I'm pretty sure the low Brummies attendances include a fair few floating fans from Cradley and a few from Wolves. The fact is Perry Barr isn't a great venue for watching speedway, traffic is also an issue and I guess the poor team adds the finishing touch. The final sentence is pretty much spot on The Venue, Traffic, but in my case it's more to do with the Team, this Team is built all wrong and most people could see this from the word go, except for a certain few who really should have known better. Edited June 8, 2023 by heathen52 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruno 1,790 Posted June 8, 2023 I started going to Monmore regularly late 90s it took till Billy Hamill signed for them about 10 years later that I stopped supporting the away team. I definitely want Wolves to win these days going home and away (Sheffield tonight) but if they lose I can't say I'm gutted like some Wolves fans would be, definitely upset/annoyed tho. Not sure if that's being a Cradley fan or just getting older so losing isn't life or death these days Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OGT 612 Posted June 8, 2023 5 hours ago, Deano said: It's a bit like Birmingham City closing and wondering why Aston Villa can't attract their floating supporters. Speedway is a club sport and only a small percentage will travel to a track just to watch a match. Which is why I've never understood, if for example a Rotherham speedway team was being investigated Sheffield would never allow it to get off the ground. Even if it mean't long term more fans through the gate. People I know from Solihull won't go as it's a Birmingham team, my friends don't come from Birmingham. Perhaps speedway a long time ago should have gone like county cricket and covered a larger area rather than stop neighbouring local clubs potentially opening. That goes back a long way, there was significant opposition to Birmingham reopening in 1971, but it turned out to be a roaring success and attracted fans from neighbouring clubs, whilst Brum fans visited other local teams. I remember jumping into a neighbour's Reliant van on many Saturday nights for a trip to Cradley, Coventry or Stoke. Those were the days as they say. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,044 Posted June 9, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, GiveusaB said: That's when Rogers took everyone by surprise by sending his skipper straight back out as a tactical substitution, in a race where he was eligible for a rider replacement outing, against the top averaged rider in the league in Sam Masters who had taken the chequered flag untroubled in the opener. From the main Birmingham website page...... We might as well rename the team..... 'Billy Smart Brummies' ! I noticed that, must admit it was a surprise to see the club point out the flaw with a team managers decision, well done to them for being honest, makes a change from losing clubs blaming the ref or track conditions. The explanation from LR doesn't make much sense though, makes him sound even dafter to me? If the main aim was to get Sedgmen back out there after his fall, they could have used his r/r ride & they'd still have the option of Morris or Sedgmen for the tac sub later, depending on who was riding better? Masters coasted to victory once again and the Brummies tactical opportunity was wasted with No.1 Nick Morris also now ineligible for a bonus ride. "We were six down after Heat Four, Nick had struggled a bit in his first one, Justin had just crashed out so from me it was a case of 'get back out there'. "Justin is a good mate of his (Masters) and he's beaten him in the past, unfortunately it didn't work out on that occasion. Edited June 9, 2023 by szkocjasid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toady 231 Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) Came up for this match welcomed on the door by promoter who thanked us for coming. He then proceeded to honestly explain to the fans that the management team were not happy with things and changes would be made shortly. I think you have a good set up at brum (last time I visited was 2012 Swindon ) when I think of all the work put in over the years to secure a venue I think it’s time if you do care about your team then return and watch each week then the club Iam sure will invest and improve otherwise it will be the end of the line just my opinion Edited June 13, 2023 by Toady 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Hunter 370 Posted June 13, 2023 On 6/8/2023 at 1:35 PM, Deano said: It's a bit like Birmingham City closing and wondering why Aston Villa can't attract their floating supporters. Speedway is a club sport and only a small percentage will travel to a track just to watch a match. Which is why I've never understood, if for example a Rotherham speedway team was being investigated Sheffield would never allow it to get off the ground. Even if it mean't long term more fans through the gate. People I know from Solihull won't go as it's a Birmingham team, my friends don't come from Birmingham. Perhaps speedway a long time ago should have gone like county cricket and covered a larger area rather than stop neighbouring local clubs potentially opening. After Leicester closed the only time I ever went by Coventry was when I thought they might lose! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
