mikebv

My thoughts are what you say is 100% correct... And thousands and thousands of ex fans would read your comments and agree also... Incredible that the Promoters don't see the obvious issues, and continue to ignore feedback from the many who used to go... Makes you wonder how many gaps have to appear on the terraces before they finally cotton on..

If Speedway was a 'proper team sport' with traditional rivalries, a tribal following, and bona fide Championships which had real kudos in winning, then I would suggest any night would be a possibility.. The sad fact it it hasn't got any of these three key ingredients to encourage fans to invest that so important emotional loyalty to 'their team'.... Therefore, they would be better just focusing on the on track entertainment value of Speedway, ie four riders riding around an oval track at high speed with no brakes.. And do it when a crowd can be enticed to come... Not when it just suits some of the competitors the most...

Could it really be any worse? There are loads of breaks in fixture lists now.. British Speedway cannot run itself like 'proper team sports', we know that, so you might as well run the constantly contrived meetings they put out, with random septets, at weekend when more of the populace can get there... Running on Fixed Nights still didn't deliver any 'bona fide' Championships at any of the three levels, so it really doesn't matter who wins the 'titles'... When 'set in stone' fixtures get changed at a moments notice so there are plenty of 'guests' to be shared around you know the game is pretty much up.. Fixed Race Nights were always doomed from the very outset when Monday/Thursday became Monday/Wednesday/Thursday so you might as well let teams ride whenever they want, using whoever they can.. It can't be any worse and surely can only be a financial improvement..?

Maybe Dan's meetings could be planned in the 20 odd Saturdays over the six months or so that he is available? Or run meetings on Fridays and Sundays when he isn't available Saturday? Speedway clubs run on 'off nights' now so no new process to accommodate riders with other priorities, but the problem is that these nights are invariably mid week and poor crowd pullers... Bottom line is British Speedway tracks need to look after No1... And that means more than any debate about standard of riders, running when they can attract their best crowds.... If riders ambitions lie elsewhere and don't marry up with British Speedways needs then that is unfortunate but British Speedway needs to give itself a chance...

Spot on... Sign up 100% to ride over here.... Or dont. ... The Promoters will need to play their part by putting together a fixture list early enough, and sticking to it obviously... I know, I know, I am laughing as I type...

As has been proved again this year, there will be loads of guests regardless of using fixed nights or not... Which means there will still be loads of contrived nonsense meetings.... Therefore, you might as well run this nonsense on nights when the majority of the population enjoy their leisure time, ie at weekends... Those who still go are obviously not bothered about the lack of any credibility in what they are watching, so will turn up anyway, so run at weekends when you may get an odd ex fan or two (or heaven forbid a newbie), deciding occasionally to make Speedway their weekend night out.... We have dozens and dozens of meetings made up of contrived septets, even with FRN, on nights which the entertainment sector regard as the worst ones in the week to attract custom, therefore... Run dozens and dozens of meetings made up of contrived septets, on nights which the entertainment sector regard as their best ones in the week to attract custom... Nothing to lose surely? So no risk, the die hards will always be there, the rest of the population will have more of a chance to go....

Or allow guest fans? Or just simply stick to asking those who still go to "Bring a Friend"...

Too many full time riders..... Not enough full time fans....

All sentiments are correct, however it's too far gone for me.. British Speedway is now just a conduit for riders to earn money, hence so many guest appearances are made and doubling up is rife.. And to be fair. Why spend 20k on machinery if you are only going to earn £1500 a night 30 times a season?. Especially given the inherent risks in the way that money is made. Cannot get itself out of the hole it has put itself in so more of the same is the only way forward. It's in that perpetual (self created) vicious circle.. ie. Not enough fans attend due to the lack of credibility of so many meetings, which then prevents clubs being able to pay riders the type of money that would allow them to ride for one team only. (Or possibly let the clubs afford to run squads).. So Riders riding for more than one team, and guesting all over the place to earn the crust they need, leads to even less credibility, impacting even more meetings, and unsurprisingly, even less fans attending them.. Not sure without being completely radical that they can actually change this race to the bottom.. Or indeed if they even have the will never mind the capability to do it..

It won't change now... It can't... That horse has well and truly bolted... Riders it seems need to ride 60 to 80 meetings a year over here to make their money... Even one 'big league' would only deliver around 40 to 50 with Cups, Shields, Play Offs etc.. Guest slots I presume form a significant part of their income and as we have seen by the way the Friday fixtures were decimated, guests are now an integral part of the British Speedway operating model and part of the business plan.. Team Speedway is all but a misnomer in the UK.. The sport itself can be great though so maybe time to just run it on an individual basis with Promoters buying up licenses to run as many times a year as they want or can negotiate with the landlord... Eg Ten meetings at the NSS, ran at weekends and bank holidays, well promoted and backed with decent prize money must deliver a good crowd surely? Ten 'proper' meetings with 3000 in attendance at an 'Event' would do the Sports reputation far more lasting good than running 20 meetings with almost zero credibility in front of circa 1500 each time... Not quite time maybe to nail that lid down on the Team Speedway coffin but getting pretty close I would suggest..

The whole culture is different because the Sport has credibility.... If Poland ran their Leagues in such a 'Mickey Mouse' fashion as British Speedway does then simply they wouldn't enjoy anywhere near the same coverage... Part of the Polish success story (and the success story of any team sport at whatever level) is that 'tribal loyalty' that is built up through the identity of their teams... Polish fans simply wouldn't stand for the No1 rider of their fiercest rivals wearing their colours and representing them on an adhoc basis... As it fundamentally goes against what team sport should be... I remember how hard it was for Darcy Ward to be accepted by his own ZG fans when they signed him, as they saw him as a Torun man.. In Britain in one single week you could be a Wolverhampton rider on a Monday, a Somerset rider on a Wednesday, and a Swindon rider on a Thursday and actually be the Belle Vue No1....! (Who also represents his contracted team of Glasgow on a Friday, but rides for Workington on a Saturday and Newcastle on a Sunday)... Simply nonsense... And will never generate any decent national mainstream media coverage as it simply doesn't stand up to scrutiny... As it wouldn't in Poland if they ran the Sport the same way...

None of that really made much of a difference... The key things they did which drove the success of the Sport in Poland were the following... They found great success in letting riders dictate to clubs when they would be available, meaning they had to ride on nights to suit the riders earnings rather than when the spectators wished meetings to be ran... They also saw great benefit and positive feedback from the mainstream media by allowing meetings to take place with the two teams in attendance regularly being made up by any random couple of septets who happened to be available. Septets that had been cobbled together on an adhoc basis on any given evening, to wear the colours of the two clubs competing.. Another master stroke was ensuring that as many riders as possible were contracted to as many teams as possible, preferably covering (thus impacting), three leagues, which meant "guests" were in great demand, bringing that much needed lack of credibility to almost every match that takes place.. Possibly their finest idea was to produce a fixture list and then systematically dismantle it halfway during the season so plenty of "guests" can always be available. (And spectators who had booked time off work, and maybe hotels to watch their team, become disillusioned). A fixture list which had been put together in the first place with a clear plan to avoid running meetings during the warmer, dryer Summer months, and instead, cramming in as many meetings as possible towards October and November when it becomes colder and wetter. With the genius add on of running "dead rubber" League meetings to qualify for the play offs, AFTER the play offs have been completed and the League has already been won.. Add in an admission fee that has no correlation to the entertainment value on offer, but goes up by inflation busting amounts annually, allied to a year on year reduction in the overall quality of riders on show, and you surely have the perfect recipe for success.. Cannot think why the BSPA don't run something along similar lines.. Sure to be a winner...

You know it makes sense... Lavverley Jabberley.. Cash only though obviously... (In used notes).. Cushty... (Keep yer eye out fer vem developerz Rodney, scarper quick if yer see 'em)...

Agree with everything you say, however.. Not sure if it will cease to exist as it has ran pretty much the same operating model for decades and is still here. (Just).. The big difference nowadays is obviously Social Media magnifies the issues a thousand fold, hence we discuss the nonsense that so often pervades far wider than we used to years ago when we all agreed it was still nonsense but at a very local level, eg with the five or six people you were stood with at the track after finding out your No1 was in Germany to ride in a Long Track meeting tomorrow, and your opponent had four guests due to one being in the same Long Track meeting, and the others missing because this was an rearranged meeting... Same nonsense but we had already paid our money when we found out so didn't have a choice to attend or not.. Speedway hasn't cottoned on that Social Media can be a huge force for good but sadly also hasn't realised that it can also be a huge problem given 'bad news' is now 'out there' within seconds... The sad fact is the way they give out so much nonsense through their ridiculous operating model, it leaves them wide open to ridicule via the modern media, which can never be a good start from which to attract a decent following... What you got away with in the Seventies when England/GB had great teams, great riders and great coverage on mainstream written and visual media, you simply cannot get away with now... Domestic Speedway was still "a bit Mickey Mouse" back then, but what you saw on ITV on a Saturday afternoon wasn't domestic league Speedway and always had credibility (and an 'X Factor' in Peter Collins)... And domestic Speedway then flourished on the coat tails of this coverage... Yet Speedway still runs a very similar operating model domestically that it did in the Seventies.. And it still runs a similar all round entertainment package for your night out that it did in the Seventies.... But doesn't anywhere near still run a similar admission cost to what it did in the Seventies when index linked to inflation... Cease to exist? Probably not for a good while yet, but it will (and can) only meander to an ever decreasing fan base using its current model of operation. One piece of bright news is I read today that the over 60's in ten years will form over 12 million of the whole population... Maybe light at the end of the Speedway tunnel after all...

Sadly, history tells us you will be correct. (Or ran even worse)....

Another one of those "Speedway Bubble" strange operating model inclusions that are allowed to happen... No relevance or credibility in the 'real world' but in Speedway (British Speedway), "there is no other way" so everyone runs along with it, and hope, no doubt, that no one will ever question it... You have a contract with someone and fulfill that contract, when it comes to an end you finish working for them. You can then decide to go and work wherever you want/can... But not in British Speedway.. What a strange (and often ridiculous) way the Sport in this Country has of running itself across the breadth of its operating model.... Yet it seems to make 'perfect sense' to those who find themselves within "The Bubble"..!...

If this happens would Lakeside have to change their name to Seaside? Moving a Speedway team out of its area of emotional attachment simply doesn't work.. Crowds are not large enough in the first place to do what for example MK Dons managed as they had the football windfall cash to fall back on if crowds were poor.. If you are only getting 500 or so 'loyal local followers' then moving it several tens of miles away can only reduce that meagre crowd level further. And won't get many of the locals from the new base to attend as its not 'their team'.. I would suggest the only way to make it work for the promoters is to take over at another track and change names... Sad to see, but just one track of several more to go over the next few years I would say.. British Speedway reaping what it has sowed for far, far too long..

Don't know why anyone is bothered with teams changing their riders.. They change on an adhoc basis most weeks every time they use a guest.. At least changing poor performers gives the sport at least a 'nod' towards proper Sports that do the same, and gives the impression to anyone observing from outside the "Speedway Bubble" that it has bona fide Championships worth actually winning.. (Even if we know the reality to be somewhat different)...

And at least one team, and often more, will end up miles behind the top teams... In March they all are supposed to start 'relatively' equal... Also in March, most contributors on here can spot how poor some of the teams actually are.. By the end of April those teams highlighted are invariably getting hammered each week.. And will continue to do do so unless they have money to replace poor performers with better riders.. And if they had that money, they wouldn't have put that team together in the first place.. Too many teams (or not enough riders) to ever keep the Leagues competitive and with no relegation each team basically decides it's own level, sometimes based on the ego of the Promoter... For me, the top league should have no more than 10 teams with six riders per team.. 60 riders needed and all above a four point average.. No make weights allowed at the bottom end of the teams.. 40 point average per team, meaning you could have one 4/5/6/7/8/9 point plus rider per team if you so wished.. With the top league becoming an aspirational motivator for the other clubs to aspire to. Not "I've got a few quid, I want to race in the Premiership".. No point having the 'flagship league' loaded with uncompetitive teams as this would just be damaging the 'Speedway GB' brand even further...

'Why run the league?' might be a more relevant topic question..... Allied to a follow up of 'Who really cares who wins?'... Given the way the Sport is allowed to be ran, you just can't take any of the the League's seriously, so I wouldn't get too embroiled in whether play offs are a fair way of settling them or not.... It doesn't really matter who wins does it?

Credit should be given to the Vice Chairman for his actions last night... By heat eight the aggregate lead had been wiped out and it was obvious Scunthorpe were going to get badly beaten.... Yet he graciously allowed the meeting to continue.... In fact, in the first place, he also kindly allowed the meeting to take place on an 'off night' for Worky so fair play to the bloke... Lets hope Worky winning is seen as being 'in the interests of Speedway' and the result stands... Well done Workington, I think you have a lot of neutrals on your side around the country given the way you try to go about your business and have been treated this year... Best of Luck this weekend...

2001 no?

They are only holding one lap races next year?

Should be printed off and handed out pre AGM to the Promoters.... Great post... Clear demarcation between leagues will generate aspirational improvements for both riders and clubs.. With financial rewards commensurate to each level... Time to stop the ego trip of too many who want to be seen rubbing shoulders with GP superstars and get real... One rider/One club, with each team riding on nights they feel they can attract the best crowds... If you want to ride in GB them you make yourself available for every meeting or you don't ride over here... For the promoters part they put out a fixture list by the end of November, and everyone is signed up by mid December. Promoters also commit to not planning any meeting at any time knowing riders are elsewhere.. Time for GB to stand alone, it cannot compete with Sweden or Poland so don't... Get the product credible, at a realistic admission cost, and start again from there.. All agree reduced ticket prices for away fans like the Premier League do in Football (easy to ensure integrity as the away team can sell the tickets at their own track).. And all contribute to employing a marketing company to get brand "Speedway GB" out there.. Let's be honest, 99.9% of the population don't go to Speedway and not many of that number even know about it.. A huge opportunity for a progressive marketing company you would think to earn themselves some big commission given the raw material of the racing to work with... Time to stop keeping doing what hasn't worked and start doing something different and new...

Teams that use bibs make all the guests that get used look the same as the rest of the team... Having four guest riders in bibs and three of their own riders in club kevlars looks ridiculous.. Even more so when guests use their own clubs kevlars under the bib...!