mikebv

Wasnt this the "Jewel in the BSI crown"? Hence they marketed it themselves and paid for the venue, rather than take a fee and let another promotion run it, (with Wales' tourist board financial support I think).. I presume it depends on how much it can deliver in £'s to the series owners, whether or not Cardiff stays on the rota..

Followed both RL and Speedway closely for a fair few years, and always thought a certain closeness between their operating models.. Eg's Owners running the sport and making all the decisions with the usual vested interest rather than an independent body having total control for the common good. (The RFL exists but the Super League clubs rule the roost).. Club 'success' therefore, being more important than a successful national team. (Something RU and Cricket cottoned onto and moved forward from immeasurably, and their domestic games then fed off this success).. Loads of overseas players coming in rather than having development of UK based players (and guaranteed team places for them).. Players getting some eye watering contracts for a sport well down the sporting spectrum, and then trying to fund these contracts through sponsorship and debt, (supported by other businesses) rather than the inadequate gate receipts.. A very much "Open the doors and they will come" philosophy, with a view taken by those owners of "I love it as it's a very exciting sport so its bound to be attractive to everyone isnt it?"... No national joined up marketing of the sport with each club doing "their own thing" at local level, with varying degrees of success (or failure)... No set days or nights for each club, it used to be Sat and Sun and now it's any time at the behest of the broadcaster.. And. Play offs introduced that rendered many matches during the latter part of the season as "dead rubbers" given many of the same teams reached the play offs, (the ones with money), and the same others didnt... As you say, swap the word Speedway for Rugby League..

All the FIM events in this country certainly get me and my lad attending.. Pity there isnt more.. SEC round, GP Challenge, U21 Final etc..

??? My point is in 1974, if the British Final was held full of 2nd Diviison heat leaders and second strings riding, (like this years was), would it have been "as packed" as it was that year, watching genuine world class talent? Of course it wouldnt have been.. And even if the racing had been just "ok" and not as good as the NSS on Monday, its obvious the night will live longer in the memory purely down to the sense of occasion... A sense of occasion delivered by a prize that truly meant something given the amount of talent in those days who could genuinely feel they were in with a chance, and the fact failure meant no World Championship that year.. And also, a sense of occasion brought on by the huge crowd... THE most important factor by far to deliver an atmosphere at a sporting event that makes you look back and remember it fondly.. Many remember the 70's in particular through rose coloured specs.. In reality the racing at some tracks today is at least on a par, and for me, even better at some tracks, than what was delivered then.. And many meetings I saw at Hyde Rd were hammerings with PC and Ivan often miles in front of the other three.. The differences were the operating model that ensured a greater emotional attachment to your team, and, most importantly, packed terraces that made every race, never mind every meeting, seem like "an event"...

Yet both those lads would be "fans favourites" at their respective tracks and could stand out in meetings at that level... Every track in the 2nd tier seemed to have one 'main man', one young up and coming rider as a heat leader, and then five willing "ok" lads joining them.. All 'semi pro' who had day jobs.. Now the 2nd Division has three Division One heat leaders in several teams...

Unfortunately it isn't. .. Getting some hype into the event through great marketing and promotion, which generates a crowd level that then naturally delivers great atmosphere, and also excellent revenue returns, is what really counts. . A night of great racing in a half empty stadium won't be remembered anywhere near as much as even the most ordinary of racing which takes place in front of packed in, shoulder to shoulder, noisy full house of fans...

Maybe they have studied weather forecasts weeks in advance and decided not to bother.... Or decided it's more profitable to do less meetings than scheduled so as to save money.... See.. Maybe even after such a short amount of time Eurosport are "getting" Speedway and are copying their model... They will be bringing in Guest broadcasters to cover it soon, when they need to be elsewhere covering Kabaddi on the same night, and start asking to be granted a facility to utilise "ER" (Eurosport Replacement)....

Indeed... But to be fair. ... If that 1974 final was ran on a Monday night... And shown live on TV.... With a line up that (apart from one rider), was made up of 2nd Division heat leaders and second strings... Like this year's British Final was... I don't think it would have been 'packed to the rafters'... The way the NSS wasnt the other night...

Maybe if no one can see the potential of running a full day then all the National Championshps could be ran over one weekend? Ideally a BH weekend but at a push Fri, Sat and Sun any weekend during the Summer hols.. U19, U21 and British Final.. Ran at say Scunthorpe, Sheffield, NSS..? Or Ipswich, KL, Peterborough..? Or Edinburgh, Berwick, Glasgow? Or Wolves, Birmkngham, Leicester? Or even two close tracks with one running the U19 and the BF? Eg NSS, Sheffield, NSS.. Sell all three meeting tickets for say £50 and make the weekend an "event"...

Only anecdotal obviously from what I saw on TV, but.. The main stand looked a bit more than two thirds, but not quite three quarters, full, and holds almost 1800, so 1300 to 1400 in there I would say.. Back straight looked a bit spread out so 300 to 400 tops I would have thought.. If 1800 then that is (i think) around 400 more than a "Good Crowd" to watch the Aces...

Spot on... The British Final the other night showed how far the talent level has dropped.. No disrespect but not one of those lads are "World Level" at the moment (with an honourable mention to a couple who could be if they keep their current trajectory).. The British Final used to be contested by several riders who you would feel had a chance of the World Championship itself, and when only five went through, many genuine World Class riders got knocked out.. Definitely in the 70' and 80's and even in the 90's and early 00's there was a fairly deep level of 'top talent' in the British Final.. Most of the lads on show on Monday would have gone out at the semi final qualification stage (at best), in those days when such meetings were ran due to the huge amount of British riders.. As 2nd tier heat leaders used to often fall by the wayside then... Now these 'very average' lads (when you compare them to the highest level), are heat leaders in both the top leagues so are earning the best money their respective clubs pay out.. What would happen if the "true world class talent" came back? I presume the current lads wouldnt accept a pay cut even though they would drop a fair way down the pecking order, even to second string level, with second strings becoming reserves.. How much would therefore need to be paid out for all 15 GP riders, and Nicki P, Mikkelsen, Bjerre, Dudek, etc etc etc if they came over here..? The mind would truly boggle. £50 to get in minimum I would think.. Form orderly queues please..

Absolutely 100%. Few would.. So stop them before they do... Its brand damaging having so many clubs putting begging bowls out, peeing fans off by changing fixtures on an ad hoc basis just so they can "survive".. Given Speedway has lost so many fans year on year historically, if you had 900 the year previous, I would budget for 800 this if that is how the historical run rate data flows.. And "Moving Up" has zero Wow Factor so why do it? Time was the 2nd Division was the best ran by a mile, using "decent No1's" who were very much semi pro, and had jobs, but were happy to be a "big fish in a small pond" and actually brought in local punters based on their commitment to the team.. And during the 90's it became the top league that was "overheating" and paying out far more than was coming in so then needed the 2nd Div to amalgamate with them.. Only to not amalgamate fairly and leave several 2nd tier tracks bereft of the required level of riders.. Now it's the 2nd tier that is "overheating", all to ensure riders who cannot race in other overseas leagues get paid their required money.. Required money needed to pay for their expensive equipment and to earn enough to remain as "professional sportsmen".. Equipment standards and professionalism that is demanded by promoters so they can challenge for league titles.. League titles that have very little kudos, financial reward, or publicity, in winning, which doesnt engage enough fans to part with the admission fee that many see as too expensive and non value for money.. An expensive and non value for money admission fee, set up to pay for the wages that the riders need, to afford the equipment and remain professional sportsmen, to keep the promoters happy, to try and win the leagues, that hardly anyone cares who wins..!! And on we go again.. Racing to the bottom.. Who will be first? Three strong contenders it seems at present... But could some come up on the rails..?

Every track should be made to present its business plan to a group of people who represent the BSPL.. They then sign it off as acceptable after reviewing historical crowd data.. (Again, another reason for some independent governance).. "Hoping to get sponsorship", and "i am sure we will get decent crowds turning up post covid because they will have missed Speedway so much", isnt really a business plan.. And if the bond is based on "standard pay rates" why don't these rates get paid? Or why isn't the bond therefore much larger to reflect the actual pay rates that get paid out? And who decides the "standard pay rates" in the first place if riders "lose a lot of money" when retrospectively getting paid after a track closure..? Surely this means this figure is miles out from what it actually is? I can recruit staff at £50 an hour if I dont end up paying them their full pay.. Meaning I get the best quality individuals.. Then close and they get £10 an hour for their hours worked when the administration team move in.. The reality being of course is that if I paid them £10 an hour in the first place I may have been solvent. But obviously could only have recruited a standard of employee in the £10 an hour bracket rather than the £50 an hour bracket.. "Cutting your cloth accordingly' is the phrase I believe..

Maybe there should be a"fit and proper person test" done on promoters before they get allowed to take over a track.. Lke football have.. Oh, hang on....

A mate of mine bought a Jean Alesi baseball cap at Silverstone for £45 about 30 or so years ago...

So there are "standard pay rates"...? ie A financial control... A shame then that it isnt followed isnt it? If it was, it could help keep clubs solvent couldn't it? Just a thought...

A budget for each league should be set, which includes all wages and 'add ons' such as flights, vans, hotels etc... With all sponsorship values and cost invoices lodged with the BSPL for scrutiny and transparency... All wages then get paid via the BSPL, and any tracks found doing "something dodgy" via made up company sponsorship deals, or brown envelopes etc, then get kicked out.. Fans may even help police this as no fan would want their track to close trying to win a league that frankly has no kudos or financial benefit.. Super League has made a salary cap work with several "major clubs" being fined and docked points for contravening it.. It would obviously need complete compliance from all teams and have all working together for a common good.. And the budgets set should be clear so all clubs can decide what league they feel they can afford to compete in... The standard of each league, therefore the riders within them, is then set by the natural affordability of it, rather than an ego trip for certain promoters, over inflating costs to that particular league, and thus destabilising the sport..

Exactly... UK Speedway had a very good operating model which gave lads who worked during the day a chance to earn "one weeks worth of money" from their day job every night they rode... Ride four nights a week and they were earning one months wages... Seemed to work pretty well...

Interesting comments from Ben Barker in the Speedway Star re how the 2nd tier is "too strong" given so many top tier riders now double up and ride in it... Which is making the costs to compete far too high for some 2nd tier tracks.. A very fair point.. Several pages later Ben says how delighted he is to get a place at Kings Lynn...

I watched a match in the Championship the other week.. Danny King, Hans Anderson, Nick Morris, Steve Worrall, Rory Schlein and Kyle Howarth all rode.. Now those six riders should be heat leaders for three teams, not two. (In the same league I mean as they obviously are heat leaders for lots of teams in the UK).. Having three heat leaders of that level in the 2nd Div is madness, and means many other teams failing to get anywhere near, thus they end up spending money to try and compete that the admission money from five hundred punters or so can never hope to cover.. To be honest, for me, those six lads should really be heat leaders in six teams, as that spreads around "the talent" more evenly and maybe gives those with such low numbers of fans at least a chance to compete.. Bottom line is your attendance levels should dictate the league you race in, and moving around leagues (up or down), isnt going to make much difference either way to your average crowd numbers it seems... And on the odd occasions, we can see some "go up" and drop crowds, and some "go down" and increase them!

Nor Jude Bellingham... Nor Kevin Keegan, Tony Woodcock, Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins, Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, David Platt..... And France shouldn't pick Pogba, nor Portugal Bruno, or Ronaldo and no Neymar for Brazil...

I think it's clear that for many teams the "old NDL" level was perfect . Clubs who only get crowds of around 400 to 800 as an average, would be far better running at that old NDL level.. Paying some "old heads" a few quid extra, and the same to any lads who decide "I am quite happy at this level" even if the "powers that be" are not happy that they dont move up into the top two leagues... A top two leagues that are dont forget 90% the same, so as contrived, as contrived could be.. The NDL always seemed to the best ran, as well as offered the best value for money, as whenever I watched it the racing was very good due to the majority of all riders being not a million miles away from each other in ability.. And you could often audibly hear the young lads under their helmets celebrating as they got off the bike after winning a race, or cursing as they finished last, which showed how much it cared to them.. I could watch the Colts at the NSS for £10 for me and my lad pre Covid or pay £33 to us to watch the Aces.. Needless to say my "live Speedway fix" invariably meant a Colts visit, rather than an Aces one.. The fundamental problem that exists is that, "Moving up a league" means absolutely nothing in Speedway given you can pick and choose what leagues to race in, therefore I fail to see why some promoters see this as some kind of advancement or aspiration and risk their comfortably working business model... The fans dont see "moving up" as anything "exciting" as they know that the top two leagues carry no "Wow Factor" in winning, and, no disrespect, but there are hardly any 'superstars' going to visit your circuit that will bring those extra fans so needed to be sustainable in.. And you put your prices up to pay for the added costs, which is never a good idea when customers dont see any tangible difference in what you offer... I would suggest that whether those in charge like it or not, the sustainable level for the majority of clubs in the UK nowadays is the "old NDL level" or, maybe, at a push, "Championship Lite"...

You pick your best riders... If that's Woffinden and Lambert then they ride... The sport in the UK needs as much publicity as it can get so a SON win, in the UK, will give it some of that much needed publicity.. If Bewley and Ellis both qualify for the GP's though then I would think the selectors have some thinking to do... But as it stands, given both Woffinden and Lambert more than hold their own at the very top of the sport in Poland, the GP's and the SEC, then they will be, quite rightly, in pole position.. As that experience of riding at the very top level week in week out will inevitably give them an edge.. Be good to see Ellis get a Polish top league position next year as I think he is as near as damn it ready, and a GP slot will make the top tier over there take notice without a doubt... Pity he doesn't ride in the SEC too, as that will give him exposure to those who make the big decisions in Poland.. Riders like Zagar, C. Holder, Bjerre, and Lidsey are all similar in standard to him... And,, as seen last night, so too is Dan Bewley.. (Although in a completely different environment from racing in Poland with all the pressures to perform granted).. Its just good to have four riders either already at world level, or getting very close to it...

Well done Adam Ellis.... Constant, gradual improvement with even more to come I reckon.... Shame the WTC was stopped as Ellis, Bewley, Woffy and Lambert would be a decent quartet...

Isn't the ref watching the starts? Or is a computer over seeing them?