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Think it’s fairly obvious why Buster bought Pboro and Ipswich it was to save the league and the all important tv contract with BT had the league collapsed the BSPA I’d guess would have been hit with a bill from BT for not for filling the contract my guess it was cheaper to buy two clubs get this season out the way meet the Tv contract and as I’m sure this is the last season of the tv contract then sell the clubs or close them at the end of the season. I totally agree with Pboro fans they’ve had a rough deal and the clubs been used by the BSPA . That’s the way I see it

I am not so sure this is right..... when Martin and I took over the Isle of Wight our business plan started with 50 (yes that is right 50) paying customers because this was the estimate of paying fans when they closed. We built our speedway show from there and we knew from the offset we had to attract new fans, families and youngsters, so we built our show around that. Every week we include the family as much as we can, we never charge for kids 16 and unders, our food is the cheapest in the sport but probably one of the best for quality (read the reviews), our meetings are well presented, engaging, family orientated, and........ in the National League.... What I hear you scream no superstars..... again not right... of course we have superstars... our riders are superstars to the fans, children and families, they really are.... we have autograph sessions, our riders engage with fans, and we add to that by having My First Skid speedway school which gives families and kids that chance to be a superstar... never tell me there is not a market for speedway because our school sells out.. I have a queue of Mascots wanting to be in the show (we already have 12 out each week), the students aim for a mascot spot, then a Wizards team spot and then a Warriors spot. we give students objectives... fans continuity and a view of progress....and we have proven that this works with riders like Wirtzfeld, Sealey and now Williams... But how has this affected our crowds, considering we have no "superstars" and run "just" National League...... well, since we started like for like, week on week.. our crowds have only dropped off 1 time - yes thats is once..... and by 5 people... We dont have huge crowds... 300 plus in the off season 500 plus, in the holiday season... but they keep going up... and by the way so does our sponsorship not just in value but in number by those who want to associate themselves with the fun filled family show that Isle of Wight Speedway has become. Reading the above is interesting to me and probably the most important statement I read is... "the racing isnt different, but it is a different feeling is such a small crowd....." and this my friends is the crux of it. We entertain from the moment you arrive to when you leave and we see groups of fans who have made strong friendships discuss the speedway, are part of their club, back their club, its riders (their superstars)... and it about those who attend feeling valued, received value for money and most importantly entertained. Thanks for the continued knowledge transfer to me... its appreciated. See you trackside.

I first went to speedway in 1963 aged 7 and have been a follower ever since. For the last 4 decades I tended to go to Wolves 3-4 times a year plus Cardiff, the less I went the less I wanted to go. I have an adult disabled Granddaughter who asked if i could take her to an away match, as she is a huge Scott Nicholls fan I decided to take her to Leicester, since then we Haven't missed a Wolves or Leicester home match and have traveled to Belle Vue, Stoke, Sheffield,Peterborough, King's Lynn, Somerset and Swindon. The ( long winded ) point I am trying to make is I was one of the people on here who wouldn't go because it isn't as good as it used to be, but now I have my enthusiasm back most of the racing is as good if not better than during the 60's and 70's the only downsides are the lack of atmosphere, a disjointed fixture list and seeing the same visiting teams 3 or 4 times a season. Perhaps if others got off there backsides and actually went to a meeting they might get the bug back and go regularly.

Tosh, they are running a business, the main jobs should be done by the owners and paid staff.. No business should be run on volunteers, however, turn it into a Trust with no ownership, with theTrust running it, then there is scope for volunteers

I'm not condoning what took place during those mad few minutes, and punishment should be handed out to every last person that was involved and can be identified, but as a neutral attending the meeting, and standing almost in front of where the happening that sparked of the incidents took place, my honest opinion was the Craig Cook was in the process of turning his machine towards the pit gate.

Certainly did a great job helping spur Poole to the title a few years ago, with a 'Man Of The Match' performance for them in a crucial 'must win' meeting for them to qualify for the play offs.. A great performance that night, all live on TV too.. Unfortunately he was riding for Swindon that season who Poole then beat in the final..

I think it was the other way round as Ipswich sponsors had issues with Tungate.

As a neutral , I risked the trip and the forecast (yet again ) but was rewarded by sharp presentation and a decent meeting. 21 races completed in 1 and a half hours with lightening and rain all around. Congratulations to all concerned in getting the meeting completed. Not the best racing I've seen at Redcar but the Diamonds didnt put up much of a fight and when they did gate the Bears top end were simply too good for them. Jorgensen and Østergaard had there moments but Worrell was a pale shadow of his former self and race wins weren't coming easily. Wright, Riss, Palm-Toft and Stewart were class acts and Andersen , despite his lack of points, was in the thick of it.The Bears are a good side but Wooley looks out of his depth which could prove costly come the play off's. The junior match was rattled through, understandably, but credit where it's due for the club running it at all when other clubs would simply have cancelled it. Rathbone looks a prospect and the Kids races were excellent. Looked a good crowd and a great atmosphere around the place but parking was an issue as the main car park was full by 6:45 . Not many Diamonds fans in attendance which was surprising but perhaps the weather forecast put them off as not as many of the Workington fans there as I've seen before. As Arnie says..." I'll be back ".

All riders ride in Uk on British licence but you need a British passport to ride in Njl / NL but can’t see any problem with kids who just want to ride there bikes at njl rather see 4 riders racing in every race

No idea Steve, but he's been riding for most of this season around the tracks. He would need a licence to ride against others on the track. No licence and he would be riding on his own. I believe he was excluded from a place in the BYC earlier in the year.

why give a guest heat 15 when the meeting is already won,Harris scored paid 10 and Douglas scores paid 11 it don't seem that fair in my book I bet Ryan would of been more than happy with an extra few quid.

He seems to be very 'drama' free these days does Batch. I kinda miss the whinging and swearing at the ref etc!!

Nobody is saying that there aren't crap tracks and crap meetings. Thing is, there ALWAYS were; it's nothing new! The problem is that so many people live in the past, and even though they THINK things were better in the "good ol' days", it wasn't always what we think it to be. The overall package was far better in the old days (certainly as far as British speedway is concerned), but that wasn't a result of the actual racing. I have a lot of old meetings and other footage, and although I still love watching it, I look at it, and realise (generally) that the racing was often very poor. Yes, the sport is very different from the sport I was raised on, but again, while it certainly doesn't feel the same, it doesn't mean that the racing is worse. Steve

Beat me to it!

You are right... In the year he helped Poole into the play offs (2013) it was the Semis he (and his team) got knocked out by them... Shame it wasn't the final, he could have got a runners up and a winner medal maybe?

That would of been the best thing to do all round. Less work load on Buster and the Panthers could do their own thing... Ippo are doing well and seem to getting improved crowds as well. We don't know if that was an option at Peterborough though. Maybe it was Buster that didn't want it. Maybe Ged and Neil didn't. Who knows. Maybe Neil could comment, if he can.

I doubt that ANY club in the country is viable in the 1st place without volunteers. I reckon the riders, first aid cover, and the referee are the only people that get paid at practically all tracks. Anybody else might get some travel expenses if they are lucky. Pits staff, track marshalls, etc. are volunteers at every track I know and get free entry at best. Without those guys no meeting, no speedway, end of.

Dick (if he was responsible for the emails) did a great job with news letters and for some reason it stopped when new promotion took over Since then the clubs news is very much patchy to say the least

Maybe an old chestnut but remember this without volunteers there would have been no Berrington Lough and Berwick Speedway would have died in 1982

Also as Politically Harris had to go to Ipswich

Good meeting with some good racing last night.. Takes 2 good teams to make a good meeting, well done to Brummies on the draw

I agree about the POD post that was ridiculous and completely un-called for. Personally I will always post weather updates on the day of a meeting, if nothing else to assist those who have a distance to travel, thankfully something I dont really have as I`m five minutes from the track.

I feel I must correct you on a few points here... Firstly we dont have any advantage when compared to other clubs whatsoever from local government or local transport.... we receive no funding at all, no discounts at all and we have NO public transport to the stadium. The Warriors PAY for the free taxi service from Ryde Pier for locals and travelling fans - but it must be booked via the company. What we absolutely do not have is any kind of public transport be that train, bus or ferry.... in fact we are at a distinc disadvantage because we have to pay for every rider and official's ferry ticket this include both teams Warriors and Wizardss - we do not have full sponsorship from Wightlink but their sponsorship has grown year on year because of our progress and our ethos. We do have a corporate rate of course because our spend is still in the tens of thousand with them. Your other point about not being able to be what we want to be... this is so true.... I work very closely with our team about the next idea, next promotional move and how we can sell our product better... this is a difficult areas because we are prevented by rules that govern us and given a free and open run at it... I know we can improve dramatically. Anyways, thanks for all the feedback and I enjoy reading peoples views on what works for them and so on and that is all feedback that we can utilise now and in the future. Many thanks Barry

the more i hear and read on peter facenna the more i'm impressed . what a gentleman . i honestly hope glasgow go on to win the league just for him.

I think the original team had to be changed because Tungate didn't want to ride for Ipswich.

To be fair, everyone in the stadium was in danger of being run over by Craig Cook ....... if they too had flung themselves in front of him.

He never conquered Britain he never was a top dog in the once toughest league in the world.He rides for himself, Craven,Lee,Collins all above Woffinden in my estimation.A peak Lee beats Woffinden all day long no doubt in my mind that is not taking away anything from what Tai has achieved in the sport.

A average over 8 points in his first season at Redcar would suggest that the track has to be one of his favourites. The problem with Lasse is the sulking it can be very long and deep.

very much agree we finally have top end grunt and lower end power and whilst the Danish kid has not delivered great points yet he shows potential. if we can avoid bottom (wooden spoon) no reason why we can't finish closer to middle than top and we should have Newcastle, Berwick, Edinburgh and Eastbourne in our sights as not out of the question we can't finish 6th or 7th and that would be a great achievement. Just a shame we started so poorly and had no chance in KOC or Shield before we even started season in reality. Lot of credit to David and Peter Mason and Laurence for persevering and hopefully will encourage them to try again in 2020. Crowds are building as is atmosphere and place feels good again.

Panic mode replacing an injured rider with one as a 28 day injury replacement. Hardly panic mode as you describe it.

You're not right tho. There was folk on the track on the back straight- Cook and the others had no exit as it stood. They would have had to go onto the bit of the track that people were on. Yeh they wouldn't have killed anyone i'm sure but the fact was there was people there is enough. edit - i actually can't believe you can still say " i am right". you weren't there and you didn't even know the pit access/egress until others here have clarified.

He'd have wiped the floor with that collection of perennial bottlers and loose cannons He doesn't compete against part timers with a bike strapped to the back of their car. The sport of speedway has never been more professional at the highest level. The rest of the world has moved on massively, GB hasn't... Tai excepted.

After thinking ( which hurt ) about the quality of the modern day racing in this country, it does appear to be a lot closer than the so called golden years. Unless Mauger, Olsen, Briggs etc were in a race together then the riders were well spread out. A lot of the overtaking in this era was due to Olsen Collins etc missing the start and having to come from the back. The riders in this country apart from Jason Doyle are much of a muchness and so the racing is a lot closer. The above riders were far superior to the others hence there high averages. As an example of the close racing nowadays I was at Swindon Last night to watch the Wolves and as a far as I can remember every race had close racing and a few of the races were in the balance until the line, not entirely due to the track as the same happened at Wolves v Belle Vue last Monday.

Ambition!!!

Good grief Erik Riss is a cracking signing! Bears coasted this to be honest.

Interesting... Not exactly the reason given to Panthers fans on Jan 18th.. It is common that with new ownership (of the club) comes a different business model, and it has been identified that to operate at Premiership level, some cost measures are now required.The promotion are working hard to find Chris alternative employment within Premiership Speedway, so the British fans can still witness his skill and flair on the track. Some honesty goes a long way in this world, and Panthers fans never got any..

You know, we wonder why speedway is struggling (in the UK, anyway), and then, we see posts like this... There are quite a few on the BSF wobbling on about how sad it is to see the sport in such dire straits, but are themselves part of the reason. When people say that they have no desire to go ever again (even if it was free, in some cases), whether it is to do with the quality of entertainment, or simply because of rules that no longer apply, then you are contributing to the decline. I'm not saying those people are wrong, but I find it a little disturbing that they still consider themselves speedway "supporters", when the reality is that WHATEVER changes and improvements are made, they are not prepared to watch because of simple stubbornness. For me, speedway is not what it used to be. Football, cricket, and F1 are not what they used to be. Tizer, cough candy, and the dear old Curly-Wurly are not what they used to be. You know what? I still prefer to partake than going without... Steve

No Nichols for this then as he will be on BT Sport for the GP.

A number of reasons given in Homes of British speedway At Poolstock there was a dispute between the speedway and greyhound people. The team transferred to Fleetwood for the 1948 season and the control board refused a license to run open meetings. I’d guess when they ran a few meetings in 1960 crowds weren’t that good At the other track the control board suspended the license in August 1952 and the next season some amateur meetings were held in front of poor crowds and then the promoters I’ll health put a stop to it all. Then discussions by others for 1954 broke down due to monies owed from 1952

That is slightly unfair, particularly in regard to a team like Wigan. Speedway never caught on there, and there were only a few odd seasons, so it is not surprising that it remains largely unknown in the area. Having said that, you are correct in saying that enough is not being done by MOST clubs. Sad thing is, that was always the case...

you dont have to look.

Vision or lack of seems to be used as a reason

My pics from Gustrow: https://www.baansportfansite.nl/nieuws/1824/12de-plek-voor-mika-meijer-tijdens-u19-speedway-cup-in-guestrow.html

One piece of team news I think that Alfie Bowtel is in for the injured Leon Flint.

Why, I along with others are a consumer, a customer, a fan, a supporter, though for the last two you will need to ask our centre green presenter into which category I go. Its up to the club to attract people to Shielfield to see the meeting tonight, looking at the website up to time of writing you would think there is no meeting happening.

6 matches to go in the Extraleague regular season and we now know that Leszno will probably be against Czestochowa- but could be Zielona Gora( i suppose Wroclaw can pip Leszno to top spot but highly unlikely) Wroclaw will probably race Zielona Gora- but could be Czestochowa Torun are relegated Lublin, Gorzow and Grudziadz are still involved in who will have to ride in the promotion/relegation play-off against the runners up in the Nice Polska league(Extraleague team cannot lose over 2 legs !!!!) Table 1 Leszno P 13 pts 29 A Wroclaw 2 Wroclaw P 12 pts 23 A Zielona Gora H Leszno 3 Zielona Gora P 12 pts 19 H Wroclaw A Torun 4 Czestochowa P 13 pts 17 A Gorzow 5 Grudziadz P 13 pts 13 H Lublin 6 Gorzow P 12 pts 10 A Lublin H Czestochowa 7 Lublin P 12 pts 8 H Gorzow A Grudziadz 8 Torun P 13 pts 3 H Zielona Gora

Well at home Newcastle has only one main area to watch the speedway where at Redcar I tend to stand on the 2nd bend but my mate likes to sit in the £1 seats and the same when I go to Berwick.I suppose it is what you want and I prefer to do my own thing as I have stood with people and they just talked all the time and if I wanted to do that I would go to a pub.

He is quiet right if you check !!! Are you a fan or what..........take a break.

Thank you for confirming what a number of us have been saying - that the quality of the racing is not the problem! It just doesn't feel the same with only a handful watching... Steve

Yep it's worked all season for them.