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Knock knock knock! Hello 👋 Is there anybody there? It's awfully lonely in here 😂

Mitch Cluff came into KJP's pits straight afterwards and apologised and then waited after the meeting to apologise in person to Kevin in the ambulance. As KJP has personally stated he has no issue with it, he himself said its easy to understand how Mitch got caught in the moment of finishing a great night of scoring. Mistake made,apology given, riders no issue, subject closed.

Haha. Bad day? You're acting like a grumpy teenager. 👀🤷‍♀️

Agreed when I used to go Sky was just starting out so most had only 3-4 tv channels, no streaming platforms, no online gaming, no dating sites, no multi plex cinemas etc tugging on the disposable income. The quality of the teams was stronger than now all be it the general lack of promotion was on par but due to lack of alternatives promoters mostly got away with it. As I've said many a time its not just speedway that's been dying a slow death last 30 years, nightclubs are virtually gone when I think to the one's I went to late 90's early noughties they were heaving with thousands inside if you had of said to me then in 25 years 90% of these will be gone I would have laughed at you. It just seems the public have no interest in size in Speedway, Nightclubs and pubs these days unless the pub is well run but even then I get the impression most pubs run at a loss and like speedway are bailed out by other businesses. It's getting hard to paper over the cracks 2-3 riders missing every meeting due to either injuries or riding elsewhere, one meeting a month then 3-4 in a fortnight, lack of riders now wiling to ride in the UK making the doubling up situation worse. Teams closing meaning seeing the same teams on repeat so people pick and choose meetings and as others have said you have streaming given a lot of racing is gate and go why not sit in your armchair with a beer at home no agg of travelling out and looking for a parking spot and buying over priced burgers and flat pints.

At the risk of banging the drum again - maybe someone will hear it this time? - there needs to be regular fixtures on a fixed night for each track, whichever they see as best for their business. And regular means more, so that means amalgamating the leagues. And cut the cloth according to the cost, teamwise.

I think Damien needs to check his gate receipts, when there is a meeting been live stream. Looking at the crowd last Thursday which was live streamed on BSN the crowds were definitely down, from previous weeks when there was no live stream. To attend a meeting costs £26 plus £4 for a programme, compare that to the price of a live stream in comfort of your home represents a decent saving, and even better if you can shared the costs between two of you. There is a cost of living crisis and money is tight and people will be looking ways to cut costs. I don't know whether other clubs have the same problem, but for me it is blindingly obvious that live streaming effects the crowds.

As a Promoter Damian Bates needs to actually promote the sport and not be asking fans to do it for him. Friends of fans will know what they go support etc but having such a stop start season with repetitive opposition it’s a hard one to sell, but that again comes down to incompetence of BSPL

Every speedway club last year lost money apart from Poole and Ipswich which is probably only down to extra play off meetings with large crowds. this season there is no tv money so every club is £70k down before a wheel has turned. Sheffield have lost their main sponsor so that’s possibly another £20k down. Also the cost of starting up of Northampton is possibly being shared by the promotion too so further funding diminishing. But the BSPL have a cunning plan. Simply cut the points limit and loose a few top riders while at the same time put up admission. now this has been done about 28 times previously failing miserably and losing more disillusion fans each time so it’s very likely to work in 2026.

Yawn fest because one team so much better on their track If you want to see close racing try Ipswich v Northampton or Leicester v Northampton where the racing would be closer and require all round skills

I think TTT is Chris Louis....

I suppose a lot could depend on how many neutral fans you get watching. Sure BV would get a few because of the track.

Apparently so,because Poole are behind with their fixtures. Entitled bunch.

Yes it is always the plan to have meetings in the school holidays. Do not know what the issue is. Surely other teams have the same opportunities to have meetings at a time that benefits them.

Maybe more and more do what you do Mike and dont bother with the PO qualifiers? Seems more and more just come out for the play offs themselves and use BSN for the rest of the season, or those who still have an interest do. The close season shambles, a six team league and big gaps between meetings i would think have taken their toll too.

If you look at their 6 home fixtures so far this season, 2 of them have been against Belle Vue & 2 against Leicester! The first Aces match no Kurtz & Blodorn The second Aces match no Blodorn, Kildermand & Bewley The second Lions match no Dan Thompson Where's the incentive to attend?

I suspect that if Mr Coleman didn't come into the sport in the UK with his eyes open that they are well and truly open now to how far off a professional sport Speedway is in the UK. Despite some of the improvements introduced by Mr Morris in recent seasons, a lot of which have been rowed back on since his departure... Most clubs can't even start their meetings at the advertised start time for goodness sake! Having Mr Lawson in the team has probably given him a good example of how the sport is currently run for the riders and it is they who will decide where and when they ride with their multiple contracts around Europe. The pits full of freeloading hangers on, kids... and mechanics all competing for the @rse crack of the year trophy. Tracks being served up that are far from conducive for good Speedway racing. To be honest I'd be surprised if he stuck it out for 5 years

Charge of the heavy brigade into the first turn, not for the feint hearted, where angels fear to tread, party piece. All great Lanningisms. I dont think he'll ever be bettered personally.

I feel that I must comment. My wife and I come up from Somerset for all the Poole matches and always have a great time . Glasgow fans are the best.

Will always be a controversial guy but can't fault his three world titles. I remember watching him get a maximum at Newport for Rye in his debut season and you just knew he was going to be good, he stagnated for a year or so at Wolves and looked a million miles away from being a world champion but fair play to him. He has the same amount of titles as Crump and Pedersen. Would you rate him as highly as them? Not for me. But for people to compare the likes of Andy Smith and Gary Havelock to him is a joke and shows how thick the poster must be.

Luckily we got to see Kurtz pass everyone in heat 13 when he missed the gate though to make up for others only gating.

.

No fixtures being published in advance would have meant less season ticket sales given no one knew if they would be available on the eventual dates.. The same (just) five teams visiting twice, and maybe more times in the KO Cup and PO's didn't exactly inspire.. And, at the end of the day, winning such small time cups and leagues is all a bit "meh" isn't it?..

Lots of fans warned promoters to get there finger out and starting promoting properly or you will lose fans. Unfortunately this season I am one of those fans who has been lost, haven't attended one meeting this year. I don't intend to go back unless things change.

Viv? 😄 Hopefully, just to annoy @Neila 😂🤭

What a mess British speedway is in,rubbishshow really

Well the sport is called speedway, not backitintothebendway.

Have to say what a great post, precisely what is happening with the modern market, kids are different today, nightclubs have virtually disappeared because bars are open late, entertainment during the week is a non starter for most because of the massive influx of gyms and social media platforms dictating how they should look and behave meaning their money will ultimately be spent there unless it’s a big night out (premier league darts for example), weekly events don’t cut it anymore sadly and speedway will teeter out within a few years, which is sad but inevitable

Spot on... I think the largest fundamental mistake the majority of promoters have made is that many still, it appears, see the sport as, well that, a "proper" sport!! Even though they have pretty much removed that notion via their very own operating model.. Fans, on the other hand, (maybe even the majority of them?), see the sport as more "sports entertainment"... Which means, and has meant for a long time, that the "sport" is seen more as being in the entertainment business, rather than being seen as relevant, or indeed, has the required resonance and prestige, to be measured as purely "sport"... And, as "The Entertainment Pound" is under more pressure now than ever before, you need be innovative, exciting, great at marketing, and need to be "something different" to survive, never mind prosper.. None of these attributes definitely exist in money losing organisations that do the same old/same old each year.... But still expect things to change for the better by doing exactly the same old/same old, and "scratch their heads" when it never happens.. As I have said before, the Manchester GP's gives hope as 6500 were happy to lay out a lot of money to attend two Speedway meetings, with many of them Aces followers.. Which shows, promote something with some prestige, jeopardy, consequence and credibility (like in a "proper" sport), and you can still attract a very decent following.. "Pretend" it is a "proper" sport, and hope enough people will collude with you, and you are pretty much doomed to fail, especially in the 24/7 unforgiving scrutiny of the digital age..

The Size and Prestige of The Competitions??

Does it seem crowds have dropped more this years than usual ? it always seemed to be death by a thousand cuts where everything (quality of product, price to get in, crowds etc) dropped slightly year on year but from what some on here are saying it seems maybe a 10-20% drop in crowds against 2025 ? It always used to be when a club was in trouble 2-3 semi wealthy businessmen were waiting in the wings to takeover they then generally lost 50-100k per season for 2-3 years chucked the towel in then rinse and repeat with someone new but the availability of benefactors ready to underwrite losses also seems to have nearly dried up to.

The art of a good commentator is to know what to say and when to keep quiet based on whether they are on the tv or the radio. For television, you don't need to explain absolutely everything as people can see it for themselves. For radio, a continual description is needed. For a phrase, one that Olly Allen has used quite a few times this year when conditions has been wet (and others have used it as well) is "He's been filled in..." We know it's to do with the dirt, but it can have other meanings! 😉

Ive heard that in many towns and city's across the country and not related to speedway🤭

The No1 phrase most used and heard... "Who have we got Guesting for us tonight?.

You are a vile idiot.

Err erm err

It was far from a great meeting but believe it or not there are plenty of us enjoy watching our speedway at full throttle, not Belle Vue's fault that the opposition were beyond poor.

Remember when they used to wheel Pete out for the tv interviews , he was a brilliant manager but a terrible advert for the sport in front of the cameras permanent grimace and you could tell he wanted to be anywhere else but giving an interview.

I think he drew overall on aggregate though... 90-90....

I was going to have a few quid on NKI to get over six .. Given he is riding decently well currently, no Doyle, and I presumed he would get six rides... Then I realised who the TM was and thought better of it...😁

Then they will get moved again because of playoffs etc etc.

Trouble is there is a lack of riders so in years past, riders like Batch would have been quickly tossed aside and never seen again, there is always some mug willing to give riders like him another chance because they don’t have much options. Batch is like Craig Cook and Drew Kemp, there is a decent rider there, we have seen it years ago, something has happened, and by trying to carry on they will only dig a bigger hole for themselves mentally and get a lot of stick from the speedway going public, is it really worth it?

You like good whinge!

Have to say that much as he used to get angry and wait for somebody I don't remember him picking up a shovel and I just checked with him and you definitly mis- remembered that one 🤣 He was no angel for sure but don't think he needed to 'tool up'.

I think the issue about the comparisons is we are comparing (generally) the one off final era to the GP era and you can't. Loram was an outstanding racer in the Chris Harris mould and was Screen and to a certain extent Smudger but they often lacked the consistency - although Loram did bag a title! Regardless of era etc to be crowned three times is placing him almost alongside riders like Mauger, Olsen, Briggs, Rickardsson, Crump, Hancock, Gundersen and Nielsen etc in terms of greatness purely due to the numbers of titles they all won.

Whoosh...

Chis Harris has qualified by being in the top 4 of a qualifier where as Pace got a wildcard so not quite the same

Cluff did go to Kevin's pit bay to appologise and went to the ambulance to see how Kevin was. Hopefully he will learn from his mistake.

We can have one big league, but only with eight teams i.e. the same number as in Poland's top flight given the limitation of available riders (and rider capability). now and in the near future. The challenge for the next five years isn't really the quality of riders that will have come through to replace the current "capable" riders but the ability of promoters to have somehow evolved from being hobbyists to a commercially profitable biased organisation delivering a healthy future for speedway in the UK. On the point of riders coming through, Dan Thompson was barely starting out five years ago whilst the likes of Cooper Rushen and Will Cairns are only in their first season. These three alone are on the right trajectory to become number ones in the not too distant future and there are a good number of young riders who will continue to progress well beyond their current capability. The resolving of the hobbyist promoter may have a future too. There are a few of the current promoters who do actually understand what is required and the arrival of Richard Coleman may just be the catalyst to get things moving in the right direction . It was encouraging to hear him say last Thursday at Leicester, that UK speedway needs TV but before it can happen UK speedway needs to understand what's actually required and set about becoming something desirable to the TV companies. He added that he continues to speak with those who run UK speedway and fellow promoters about such requirements and was hopeful for the future of UK speedway. Yes only words, but from somebody who is far, far more professional than a hobbyist and someone looking at the future as something more than getting through one season at a time.

The question is though of the crowds that they are getting, are they fans for other tracks that no longer run like P'boro or Coventy? the Foxes are not their team and never will be so they wont make a lot of noise if any if they get a 5-1, its like in the days when i used to go to Rye House, I didn't cheer for the Rockets, I went their as a neutral to watch second division as Arena Essex were in the first division and at that time you saw different riders in each division. If that is the case not winning at home is not important but going forward they will need to find their own fans, because the neutrals will drift away in time once they have got their fix and realised its not the same as watching their own teams which has gone. The sport in this country tends to build something, then think that's the job done and not build upon it, it has to be forward thinking all the time, you can't rest on your laurels, that's what too many did when times were better, its always reactive not proactive. As someone said on here, there are no signs around Northampton, the people who are going already know its there, your preaching to the converted.