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I’ve told this before but it is relevent about schools, back around 20 years ago when the sport had the speedway riders association we had monthly meetings where various issues/problems/ ideas were discussed, one of the ideas was to visit schools to promote the sport and we the SRA would send 2 or 3 riders to each one(whoever lived closest to the school) as there was a bit of money in the pot we would fund the travel expenses ourselves, so come the AGM me,Craig boyce and Shane Parker sat at the table with all the promoters and told them what we would like to do except we didn’t tell them how it would be paid for and all we got back was it costs too much money and not worth doing for the cost and in a nutshell went down like a lead balloon and quickly moved on too the next subject, over the years I’ve done various promotions for different teams, been to shopping centres, rugby matches, ice hockey matches and other days and even took my bikes to the scouts one night and to a car show and still do Telford off road show every year, I don’t know how much success any of them have but to me we need to be everywhere no matter how small the presence or significance is, a lot of tiny things put together make a big thing, you do nothing you get nothing

Or get Eddie Kennett in for opening night then go with your plan match 2 to season end or Niki Pederson for another one of those awesome first corners.

The thing is surely it's better to have a bunch of 18-24 year olds in for £15-£18... + maybe burger, chips and a pint (I know some tracks don't receive catering money) rather than none at £25. Speedway's pricing structure is so rigid, you go from next to nothing as a non adult to a massive £25 minimum as an adult whatever your age. As a sport with such an aging supporter base there doesn't seem to be any middle ground for the next generation of supporter.

Didn't White City do just that in the mid 70's?

We use to have a maths lesson plan based around scoring and averages that could be tailored to different age groups and abilities. I’ll have to dig it out. The mainstays of Belle Vues school visits have sadly passed away in the last couple of years. It was always well received with a few newbies coming along. Keeping them was/is the problem.

Harry has been all over the press / TV talking about his horse this week. Maybe in the next few weeks he could use the same contacts to promote speedway, the sport he has been made a figure head of 🤔

Easy to compare £45 with £75 when you are the father and his two sons with the choice to make.....

Is it Plymouth who have utilised local students to build their website and advertising? Young, creative thinkers and innovators, is exactly what the sport needs... And I would imagine, and hope, that their line of attack is a bit more than.. "0-60 faster than an F1 car"... "No brakes"... "It's a family sport".. Etc, etc, etc... All clichéd, unsuccessful, decades old, sound bites... Glasgow with the distribution of free tickets to existing fans to share around with family, friends, workmates etc is a great idea and seems to be working... Those who can actually promote and market Speedway do seem to do "quite well" even in today's world where so many are chasing disposable income..

Well, at least Northampton have achieved twice as much publicity on this Forum as any other club with two threads running....

Instead of doubling up and down why not double the fixtures instead like we used to have. a meaningful league with promotion and relegation settled via play offs while the team who tops the league are crowned champions would mean every meeting meaningful.

In a word, no! 99% of the population would not know the name of or recognise any speedway rider if they stood at a bus stop. This is why I have previously said that if British speedway were brave enough organise an affordable sport structure without trying to retain certain riders as a top priority, the current so called stars will not be missed in a few years time. Being blunt, get rid of doubling up. If riders can’t afford to stay in the sport, go part time or quit. Targeted new followers of the sport (which are vital) will not give a damn, so long as racing is competitive and their own new hero’s will emerge. Common business strategy I would have thought.

I can see where you ate coming from but saying they can't afford to make it less just means they ultimately get less - eg £0

Quote from September 2025 , then nothing , would be interested to know what "hands off" would be like ? The 78-year-old is determined to play a hands-on role in boosting speedway’s visibility and believes the sport is poised for a major resurgence.

Or the next Jesper B Jensen (Monberg)... or the many others who were heading in the wrong direction until they had something to focus on.

The custodians of this sport are truly unwaveringly poor at what they do aren't they? I don't know what the opposite of the "Midas Touch" is... But they always seem to have it.

https://tru7.com/a-new-chapter-ipswich-witches/

Park made a big deal about being Swindon speedway’s director both in person and in writing. However, he only became a director in 2017 and probably had little or no knowledge of speedway. Now he claims to be an expert just in time for a big payday!

Vintage races are Jade Mudgway & Theo Pijper for Redcar vs Stuart Swales and Stuart Robson for Newcastle. 🤣

100%... The Aces are a perfect example where money could be saved and reinvested in price... My old company had a name for it... "Save to Invest"... Basically remove all non profit making sections of the business, and then use that money to lower the price points of products..... The Aces have two genuine world class riders, if neither were there, crowds "may" dip, but certainly not by much, if the standard was around tier two level... If one of the world class riders was there, crowds, would, I suggest, be the same as if both were... No rider has an "aura" like yesteryear where world class talent turning up was an "event", hence several hundred extra would rock up to watch... Therefore, one world class rider per team should be the target, (if they want to maintain the current level) (Which clearly isn't working, but I digress)... Two HL's, two SS"s, and two reserves being the set up of each team... That would free up several hundred thousand across the top league to invest in promoting the clubs and sport...

Yep... 1977... What a season... I went to every home match and quite a few away... But we did have Gordon Kennett riding to a 10 point average... And the likes of Marek Cieslak, Kai Niemi, Steve Weatherley and Trevor Geer all maintaining a 6 or 7 point average... So a really solid team backed up by riders like Mike Sampson and Paul Gachet more than holding their own at no.7... Try putting a team like that together now...!!! Good luck...

There is a live stream available Grachan, details on Nicolai's web site here https://www.nicolaiklindt.com/

You are dead right Dean, I, as a joint partner, run an event 3 times a year and have done for the last 37 years, the best form of publicity is visiting other similar events , having a trade stall with our event advertised on a billboard, with a box full of advertising leaflets for the public to help themselves to, and also handing a booking form leaflet to the other stallholders. Last week I was at Ledbury Grasstrack autojumble, this week I will be at Malvern showground and Cheddar VMCC event on the 25th, flyers will be handed out, traders will be leafleted, some of the mud chucked at the wall will stick hopefully ? You are advertising to your target audience of traders and motorcycle loving public, while going into schools is fine, a stall at a local autojumble, village fete, grass track, Motor cross event, vehicle show, etc. in an area close to a speedway venue costs very little, could be staffed by volunteers, a bike could be on display, and there is every chance you have an interested audience. Whether a bit of celebrity endorsement works ? the jury is out on that one ? Facebook If I was anything to do with Oxford speedway, I would be courting that Numpty Henry Cole, while the bloke is marmite, he has a huge social media reach to his audience and is local to Oxford

All they need now are some riders and they've cracked it..

Yes I see what it says, but imo draught beer won't work, as you have the liquid standing in pipes for what could be a couple of weeks between fixtures, this would need flushed through,at a cost / waste to the club. As you may know beer goes stale, and theirs nowt worse than stale beer 😧

Quoting from the Comets statement.. "..and goes against the agreement to abolish cans and bottles within the arena —"

Don't think draught beer will be on. Think they are still doing cans only, It's the problem of people bringing their own booze into the stadium, as said in the statement it goes against licenceing laws, and reduces any money the club could make,. Also as said in statement nearly all venues restrict taking own drinks/ food into said place

Thank you, I’ll be coming down to iwade a couple of times this year to ride on my old bikes in some meetings that they putting on

How many times have we heard stories of how sport... Boxing for example... has taken someone whose life might have been heading in the wrong direction and turned them around... Why can't Speedway... which can certainly provide the adrenaline boost and excitement that many might be craving... do something similar?

You'd think that a Further Education college may be a good bet, especially those running mechanical courses, also the age of those attending the college are more the age of most of the participants in Speedway, the only problem would come is if they then thought of attending Speedway there is no pricing policy to encourage them. There's a yoof riding round my area (and probably around everybody who reads this's area), on an electric bike, more often than not only on his back wheel down the middle of the road, always wearing a balaclava... he looks like he has potential, pulls better wheelies than most Speedway riders and obviously has no fear for his own safety, just the type of person that should be steered towards a sport like Speedway and away from whatever he's currently doing with his day (and the mind boggles at that)

Must be draught beer available this year then if theyre abolishing cans and bottles, that'll be nice

Think youve typed yourself into a job there Mike

United do... U16 - £190 (a tenner a match) 16/17 - £275 (under £15 a match) 18/20 - £413 (under £22 a match)... 21 and over pay adult prices, cheapest is £29 a match.. And that has risen with "Glazernomics".. Still good value though fo encourage the younger sections of society to attend...

I can't help feeling that may be beyond the remit of the BSPL. It would depend hugely on the willingness of the schools to participate, and I'm struggling to see why they would. A football, Hockey, tennis, rugby club etc. maybe, because it may encourage the kids to participate in these sports at school and promote physical education. Speedway though has no relevance other than being a form of entertainment. Why would schools allow someone to come in, just to promote their business to children while they are susceptible to influence? It would be like inviting the local cinema owner in to drum up trade. A stall at a fete is not a bad idea though.

Are any clubs offering a "young adult" ticket? I heard on the radio the other night that Nottingham Forest FC are reintroducing their young adult ticket, other football clubs seem to do similar scheme offering 25% discount for 18-24 year olds 🤔

Too formal, too long, too slow.... It should be 20min max, with the "bantz" between the lads as they arrive and get changed getting covered... The managers team talk and then several 5 second snippets of on track action covering the speed and closeness of the racing, with verbal and physical reactions from fans, Manager and team members as the racing happens.. With a voice over letting the viewer know of the score as the action progresses, and the names of those getting filmed, with the aim being you identify the riders, who, hopefully become recognised.. Throw in the odd 20 second soundbite from the manager, riders and a few fans, (young ones not fogey's).. "We are sh*t tonight", "He needs to sort himself out" etc, etc.. Music playing in the background . Then, post meeting quick sound bites from riders, management and fans... With an advert for the next meeting, with a request to like and subscribe... It isn't about listening to in depth interviews, and the racing snippets are just that, (quick), keeping the whole 15-20 mins short and snappy to meet the attention span of the demographic the sport so desperately needs to attract... There are dozens of examples on YT of how teams have been ultra successful in getting subscribers (and money), from their Vlogs... Speedway, given its lack of awareness from so many thousands of people in every town and city a team runs in, is perfect for such an inexpensive medium...

And Richard Lawson.... Edit. And obviously Scott if no TV duties come about...

Keep a space open for bomber . He’ll be there most weeks

If Tungate is one they will definitely need to find guests when he misses the Stansted flight 😂

Another Shambles,you really could not make this up. Must be the congested fixture list.🤔

Northampton could have seven different hand picked guests every week... Win the league and find a buyer!!!

I was at the last couple of Wembley World Finals which had crowds of 80,000 plus... Ole Olsen & Bruce Penhall... To think that the GP will now only get 14,000 shows just how far the sport has fallen... If I had my way I'd bring back the one off World Final... along with the various qualifying rounds... They were great occasions... Meanwhile, Northampton Speedway... Speedways version of The Masons... continues under it's cloak of secrecy...

At the start of last year Speedway Star asked supporters for their opinions on how to improve British Speedway and I was lucky enough to have my own article published. In that piece I made the point that it should be made compulsory by the BSPL that ALL UK teams should visit a minimum of three primary schools in the local vicinity of their tracks in pre-season between January and March. It's their duty to promote both themselves and the sport to the local community, as research suggests the attention span for sports develops around the ages of six to seven while they are susceptible to social influence between eight and ten. Introducing pupils to an exciting new sport they may never have heard of before with bikes on display with a couple of riders present would be the perfect way to promote the sport. Visits to school fetes at the height of the season in summer needs to be compulsory too.

Park like Osborne is only in it for the cash, neither have any interest in speedway.

Order of priority International National Premiership Championship Know your place

Will some riders bother without the British SGP spot ??? BSPL will make the decision on the Wild Card. Every likelyhood it will be Tom Brennan and/or Leon Flint. Well if it is all about publicity and marketing give Fri to Scott Nicholls and the Sat to Chris Harris. For services to British Speedway and the farewell tour for the former. Should guarantee some extra press coverage and then make one of the reserves Cooper Rushen / Will Cairns each night.

Vintage races are Jade Mudgway & Theo Pijper for Redcar vs Stuart Swales and Stuart Robson for Newcastle

I saw him at Scunny at weekend. I tried to take a photo, but my phone was stuck on zoom and I only got his arm

Great news. I wish the Northampton promotion the very best of luck and I hope it's a success.

Completely agree, the negativity on here has been pretty staggering. At least let it happen before slagging it off! Its been happening for a long time, all the best to everybody involved.

Northampton is happening so lets get behind it and stop being negative about it. good luck to them