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Purely by chance due to work and getting stuck behind an accident on the m6 I ended up at Belle Vue last night, so I thought I would share my fan experience, I brought a ticket in the grandstand which was £21, now to me that is way over priced for league speedway, so I took to my seat a read the programme, around 7pm the crowd which was a good size crowd filled the stadium, the announcer said we will interview the team managers around 7.10 however belle vues team manager was working on the first bend with a rake while we were treated to 40 mins of tractor racing, no interviews, there were a family next to me with 2 very young lads who had never been to speedway before but thought they would try it, around 7.20 there was an announcement that the meeting would be delayed to let the que’s that were still outside in, however that turned out to be a bit of a lie as some rides equipment hadn’t turned up,think they were caught in the same motorway problem as me ,but by 7.40 the kids next to me had got a bit bored and quite frankly so had I, chase the ace works very well in raising some excitement in the crowd, finally what felt like forever we get what I thought was a very well thought out parade and then the racing started, 2 heats and then the tractor is back out, apparently the track was to grippy, another 2 heats then more tractor racing, at around 8.30 i had seen 4 heats and 50 mins of tractor racing, the first half the meeting was pretty much gate and go stuff with nothing happening after the first corner, the match being close kept the interest up ,we had a couple of jumped starts and riders going back to pit gate to fiddle with their bikes, more delays (make it so no mechanic allowed on track in between restarts ) then the racing livened up so they had an interval,the second half the meeting was excellent and Kings Lynn deserved their win but I just felt like a few little things added up to spoil the entertainment, the racing, chase the ace and the presentation was all great but it’s just those little things that drag it down and kill the buzz and as I said it’s too expensive, the family next to me didn’t seem that taken in by it left before the end, this is not just about Belle Vue but speedway in general

I think you’ve completely missed the subtlety of the discussion which for clarity goes like this: 1/Noddy fails to rock up possibly because he got his visa application wrong and picked up a big black mark with the BA. 2/The promoter failed to grasp the situation and allowed the debacle to run for the first 3 months of the season. 3/ Eventually Noddy comes clean. 4/ Promoter thinks “oh sh..e I should have done something about this back in March and instead of falling in love with Noddy, I should have been courting Hansi. 5/Promoter panics and releases a press statement that says “nobody loves me anymore so I’m thinking of jumping the pirate ship”. 6/Rye House goes bust and “floods the market” with a couple of useful riders. 7/Promoter thinks thank god for that, all those nasty poles who I thought loved me so much have let me down and now, I’m my hour of need, 2 Englishmen (who previously I wouldn’t have given the time of day for), have thrown themselves at my feet. 8/Superstar Bomber arrives, crashes his bike and there is much wailing and bucket jangling to fix his bike. But, tough luck to the less fortunate rider who crashed earlier in the season broke his bones. 9/ Discussion on forum about the fairness of how the club supports all riders (or not). 10/Comparison between 2017 and 2018 riders crash costs and why one rider gets money and other doesn’t. 11/And then to the crux, if Noddy had played with a straight bat, Hans would have been in the team and Bomber wouldn’t have crashed because there wouldn’t have been a slot available. The essence of my posts on this subject is, we should be a club that looks after all riders signed up for a campaign. We should be a fair club and at the present it appears we only look after those whose faces fit....

Every time a Scorpions rider gets injured the rest of the clubs start to wonder if their fixture list is safe.

And meaning most of the time heats are won from the gate. Poole’s track over Saddlebow 365 days a year.

Dire as a racetrack maybe but smooth, consistent and free of holes, ruts and bumps. Meaning all four riders can go flat out with confidence rather than worrying about being thrown off course.

It’s not Len Silver’s fault or Kent’s fault that they were without a number 1. That blame lies solely with Boxall for acting so irresponsible.

From the sounds of things Heeps wipes out Mcdonalds most weeks

He didn't care about his rules. He just wanted another reason to slate Bellego and Smith so the other 12 names didn't matter!

You not seen much of col's posting icicle? That one was one of the more eloquent

I’ll be honest and say the damage has already been done. I banged the drum many many years ago to no avail. The play off debate in terms of speedway can be quite complex and many of the intricacies are lost on some. We are now at the point where we need to attract new fans as the anorak wearing, board waving fans have been pretty much forced out. The sad thing is their money is just as good as anyone’s yet it’s been almost literally thrown away.

Pedersen had a bit of his own medicine then. twice as nuts as his brother Nicki, with not even a tenth as much talent.

When your clientele is old farts, of course you’re going to attempt to bring in a younger crowd. What you don’t do is implement a system (or systems) that helps drive these old farts away whilst simultaneously failing to attract newbies.

Now this certainly got me thinking - it may not be popular but I think its definitely something that is overlooked a lot by people. Everyone here has an interest in speedway and understands the inner workings to an extent. Because of this, we are all looking deep into the technical details of the sport, which is not where the casual viewer is attracted. Fundamentally, to a casual observer, there are 4 bikes on a track going round in a circle. Now we can change the tactical rule, double points, guest bookings, gate positions, doubling up etc etc and it will make zero difference to what the casual observer sees. There will still be 4 bikes sliding round a track. It's only us "committed supporters" that will notice, and we will just moan about something else instead. Its the same in every walk of life. Now I have become more of a causal supporter these days, I just dont have the time. When I do get visit a track for a meeting, I often pass on a programme and take my seat / position somewhere in the stand / terraces and hover about a bit until something happens on track. I can't understand the tannoy systems (either too echoey / quiet / loud) - but this is a general tanoy system thing, not just poor speedway tracks tanoys - they just arent a great way of getting information over. I see bikes to the right in a fenced off area, this must be the pits - OK got it! Then there is a track - OK thats where they race, got it! - Then what? 4 blokes come out in different helmet colours that I probably havent even noticed and then they race around - 4 laps a race, OK - Got it! 45 minutes later and 8 races down and they are coming out again - are these the same people? different people? who is winning? what is the score? how many races are left? what team am I supporting? are they teams? are they 4 teams? what are points? how do points work? When I have taken someone along for the first time, these are the questions I get asked all the time and spend half the meeting trying to explain - its not difficult, but speedway makes itself that way! A simple scoreboard on the center green can answer most of these questions without them having to ask. Display the thing just like the programme. Riders, Teams, Heats and Helmet colours - just like the programme. Add in a 2 minute timer so people understand what that is about. Suddenly a casual viewer who has turned up randomly to see what all the noise actually is every week, has a vague understanding of what is actually happening, when and why.

Apologies to Starman. TIM = The Invisable Man.

Because of the fixed race nights it's hardly happened this season. Doubt it will make it much more competitive, Poole make just make 60pts now instead of 62!

Andersen probably protecting his average for next season!!

Congratulations to the Stars. When it came to the crunch, hts 13 & 15, Lambert and Iversen delivered. Iversen used all his experience & trackcraft in heat 15 to check Bewley's momentum coming off the fourth bend lap 2 when it looked like Dan was gonna swoop round him again. He's a class act NKI, fair play. Just a mention too for heat 11 involving Fricke, Lambert & Erik Riss - heart in my mouth as they passed & re-passed - not to mention both Fricke & Lambert nearly coming off their bikes at different points, 100% commitment from all three, breathtaking action!

What do you expect with the troll who started it

Haha!!! I will not be getting banned for saying what everyone thinks.

We seem to have another one like that now

Ben had an insane amount of natural talent and was a super quick rider What he lacked was discipline and application and perhaps the self belief Wonderful to watch in full flow but equally frustrating when it wasnt going so well

Connor Mountain was dropped due to the numbers for three changes. He has a brilliant attitude. Good equipment and always gave his all but he really struggled to get to grips with foxhall and rode much better away from home.

Don`t worry you`ll get your win, and probably quite a comfortable one at that.

But you wasn't there. Or was you??

You do realise Bagpuss is a Kings Lynn supporter!!

The official Green Sheets, http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/files/downloads/p18_issue_22.pdf, show Craig Cook on 8.16 and Max Fricke on 8.04. Any other averages you may have seen are ‘for information only’.

Shouldn't Fricke be riding at number one for us? His rolling average is 8.24 and 2018 average 8.19. Craig's are 7.92 and 7.54. Doesn't the rider with the best average have to rider at number one now? Fairplay to Lambert for his average of 9.46 from 17 matches this season and deservedly winning the number one spot from Iverson. Really enjoy watching him ride. Hopefully Dan Bewley can make that kind of progression as well, he has already settled into the number three spot really well.

Which I respect. Out of interest though why would you have left Bewley out?

Yes and Somerset have been around for some while now, got themselves a sound record of success earned over the years and in doing so built up some good relationships with riders. You reap what you sow. One of Leicester's problems is the new owners are still to an extent reaping the results of the previous owner's problems most f which were of his own making. The Vaculik signing was a big attempt to break free from those shackles and I'm sure the work they've put in over the past two seasons has done a lot to repair the reputation of Leicester amongst riders.

Strange, we had our collection last Thursday, by 10.30pm that night the figure collected was announced,and very generous the Ipswich and lakeside fans were.

Ove fundin fan, I think we are on the same page.....meetings need to snappier,less delays etc etc .... maybe 3 laps doesn’t help .. but why are we sticking to 15 heats ? Let’s have 18 heats ...... maybe have a separate 3 lap tournament with 2 meetings each of 13 heats in an evening..... lets have KO cup matches with say 16 heats - variety is the spice of life......it’s all so same old same old . You can tarmac the starts and stop gardening at a stroke . Or stick a scaffold pole behind em when they get to the tapes. 1 minute warning will get some urgency into the riders getting to the starts. 2 minutes is TOO LONG for a restart after a tapes infringement. Problem I have with speedway 2018 is as well as the BSPA, most diehard fans appear to have accepted the appalling presentation, the appalling stadia, the appalling delays as “part and parcel” of the sport....... trouble is no new fans are interested.

I may have said this before but I don't think the racing is actually the most important thing - a few more passes in a meeting won't make people flood through the turnstiles. It needs a more conducive environment for fans within the stadium. If the place itself is somewhere people fancy going to socialise with friends and see a bit of racing as well then people other than us purists may want to attend. Kids go free is a good incentive but what do they do when they get there? Maybe trampolines or bungees, maybe video games, food/drink for kids with seating, soft play area or sandpit/pillow. These things will attract them. Now, for older folks then somewhere warm, covered and seating are important. Motorcycle themed activities maybe - a speedway simulator or bikes to sit on/view, you could have motorcycle rider allowed to park together and encourage club meet ups, provide a room/venue for parties/events within the stadium with catering facilities. I'm just throwing these things out there but reducing the large payouts to some riders would give the money to be able to offer some of these things as attractions - when at a dull meeting what else is there to keep you entertained? So will you come back?

Bellego can go very well but not sure pairing him with Hans is necessarily the 'Wright' solution?! UPDATE: Apologies I saw the alphabetical 1-7 (less the Auty guest) and thought it was the riding order?!

Personally I feel that many youngsters are just not interested in attractions and/or sports (there was an interesting post earlier regarding younger fans and football) as previous generations once were. I work within tourism and unfortunately many museums have now had to 'dumb down' to accommodate the short attention spell of youngsters generally as well as their parents in some instances. If it's not about pressing buttons they're not interested and you sense the boredom and general apathy all around you. You'd be amazed the number of times I've attempted to grab the attention of school parties where many of them are plainly ignoring me whilst staring into their personal devices...despite it supposing to being an educational visit and of course their supervisors often do nothing to help matters! The price we have to pay unfortunately whereby technology rules over many other things in life. My motto is "I control technology and where I wish to engage but I don't allow it to control me"

I am not a fan of Simon Lambert ( riding in the PL ) BUT a Big Thank You for his 3 points at reserve. For that ride take a bow.

One down ~ two to go.

Pretty good prediction, but then it's easy to predict Leicester's expected results.

I think similar to Belle Vue Ace, the only three I would want to keep for next year are Fricke, Bewley & Tungate, Cook is just a gating tart, and rarely overtakes anyone at Belle Vue. In heat 13 tonight he just got in Fricke's way. As we are now unlikely to make the playoffs, now is the time to plan for next year. Yet another delayed start to the meeting, 8.00 PM when the tapes went up for the first race, management don't give a stuff for the fans who have planned ahead and got there in good time. We might just as well advertise an 8.00 PM start.

As i said last week give them a good track instead of a rubbish tip and you will see Lynn as they are despite carrying two riders injuries from that said TIP

With regards to the play offs you cannot compare speedway to any other team sport. Common practise now is for teams to (purposely?) start slow, thus reducing their team average which then offers them the opportunity to build back up. In other sports this wouldn’t happen as they aren’t ruled by points and anyway if say Stockport County signed Ronaldo then they wouldn’t suddenly become favourites as in that sport it’s very much a collective effort - simultaneously. In speedway you can replace a low scorer with a high scorer and the difference is instant with a massive impact. Speedway is a different beast and this is unfortunately lost on those who wield the power who come up with ideas without fully investigating there impact.

Danish U21 final Outrup part "B"

That's sort of my point...some will say it was a great meeting, when it was average, cos they are used to watching mainly rubbish on other tracks.

Sad to see Rene Bach riding as a reserve, it doesnt seem to long ago that he, along with Larsen, looked like being the next big Dane. He was sensational back in 2009/2010 and a 9 point rider in a stronger league. seems to of never recovered properly from that horrendous smash he had.

For all those not at the match there's lots of brilliant photos on Tiger official Facebook page and post match interview and reaction from Sam masters and Craig cook

RIP Bob - lets hope there a nice new tractor waiting for him

LIKED and admired him. Could have a blazing row and the next minute sit down for a cup of tea with Bob and his wife Margaret. Speedway owes the Dugard family a massive debt, not least because of Bob.

Danish U21 final Friday 3rd August Outrup

Iversen won so Smederna now have two riders that won their respectively national individual titles on the same night.

Challenge final Landshut Saturday July 28th

Has another famous club gone to the wall? Rye House was always a decent evening out, for me a 100 mile return drive, but a pint and a bite in the pub, sit by the river, then in to one of the friendliest clubs around. But that's dreaming. Speedway urgently needs reforming, otherwise it's going to die. And that's no empty threat. I had limited experience as one of the consortium at Wimbledon back in 1987, but we learnt a lot. Most of that was from John Berry. Who remembers back in 1986 when he offered his services to run speedway as a "front man", but he would have been in charge of it? The promoters then, as they would now, turned down his offer. With hindsight, he could have been the guy to have saved it. In football, individual chairman (call them promoters if you wish) run their clubs, but the principal is the FA, and there are some very powerful people running that. Many years back I had a long talk with Len Silver. Love him or loathe him (and I'm in the former camp) he knew his onions. Even almost 25 years ago he told me the sport was being run by "amateurs". Now, this ISN'T a dig at individual clubs or promoters, but it seems to me that the BSPA as a collective really have some outdated rules and regs, and seem content to let the sport drift. If memory serves me well, back in 1987 Wimbledon paid (in the then National League (2nd div)), £10 per point and £10 per start, but if I recall, these rates were laid down and agreed by ALL promoters under the auspices of the BSPA. As there were 78 points up for grabs in the league match, that was £780 that had to be found. We ran a 5-heat 2nd half with varying rates of pay per race but that pushed the riders total to around £1000 for the night. We paid the GRA £1750 per week for stadium rent, shale, staff, and the hire of the team (they retained the riders contracts). I cannot remember our programme printing costs, but lets call it around £250 (remember these are 1987 prices). Various sundries probably came to another £250 so each meeting would cost approximately £3250 to run. We charged £3.50 admission for adults and £2 for children, with a free programme, so we needed approximately gates of 1300 all in (adults and children) to break even. The opening night, of course, was well above that, but there were the inevitable dips with some gates of around 750-800, and some of 1500 for special events. I left the promotion before the season end, but we weren't making any profit, and fair play to the other members of the crew who soldiered on, and eventually made the fatal mistake of taking Wimbledon back to the BL Div 1. It lasted but 6 weeks before the inevitable happened. Now, I'm not preaching the gospel in any way shape or form, but as a fan of 54 years I think I know enough about speedway to know when it's being driven into the ground. Promoters need to promote. From what I can gather it seems that only Sheffield are taking responsbiltiy for this. At the end of the day, speedway doesn't need a "Speedway Star" - it needs a "Speedway Czar". Unless somebody comes along, shakes this sport up, and takes it by the scruff of the neck and is able to get the publicity it so richly deserves, within ten years it will be as relevant as extreme marbles.