So then the 'guru' has responded - hope you don't mind me labelling that THJ - but welcome back marra.

One of the main problems in this country is you do have enough money coming into the sport in sponsorship etc. to make it a viable proposition for the number of clubs and with riders wanting to be full time employees using kit which is far too expensive it is impossible to square the financial circle. Stadia want the rent, riders demand top dollar to earn a living and maintain equipment and pay mechanics etc and fewer pundits have disposal income to take a family of four week in week out. As Dean has already said, the bikes are not a lot faster than years back but a good deal more expensive to run and maintain. Do spectators really care if the race is a few seconds slower. As long as you are being entertained I do not see race times an issue. The British public are simply not in love with speedway like they use to be and it is a brave person who would invest in the current business model in the UK.

But the crowds were still decent  

While I agree with this post, even Ian Thomas would struggle today, the financial world is collapsing, businesses are going to the wall at an alarming rate and even the multinational companies are seeing a downturn in business, people are starting to really feel it and questioning their free time expenditure, speedway is easy pickings because that’s where your post comes into play,up to this point speedway itself is 90% to blame for the state it is in but this year the crowds have plummeted at quite a few tracks, with a few doing ok and some doing ok when it’s an attractive fixture,there is no easy fix for this and it’s easy to blame the promoters but this time it’s not them 

I’m told it was 250 but yes that could of excluded season ticket holders 

In their Berrington Lough days, Berwick had a double decker every Saturday night, it was virtually empty on virtually every occasion.