mikebv

Don't get many Cockney Reds at our teams' matches...

It is worth reminding ourselves that this is the highest level of the sport in the UK... How many there? 400? At best? If its true that any entity is only as strong as its weakest link then it's got some real problems Speedway in the UK, hasn't it. ?

Could you get Tai in to replace him.? MUST be a rule somewhere that can get found?

According to Nigel... "The weather has had a severe impact on the crowd"... Nothing else then?... What an advert (once again), for the sport (in the UK), live on TV.. My lad plays for an U17 League One Academy and they had more watching them yesterday...

Is this a cut and paste comment from one put on here last season sometime? Or one maybe from the season before? Or maybe the season before that?.. Or maybe the season before that? Or maybe the season etc etc etc etc. They never do really learn do they? All to win competitions that by their very own actions mean they become devoid of any kudos or credibility... Absolute Crackers when you think about it isn't it?...

Why not just run it as part of the League season? Challenge matches invariably don't get the same crowd interest or numbers... Every team runs one double header against nearest two rivals? Several Bank Holiday weekends and Easter are done and dusted by the end of May so each team could pick one weekend each to host their home leg which would give the early part of the season huge momentum.. It spreads out the higher cost too if ran over several different weeks so more likely to get £30 per punter. . Maybe organise some coaches and do a £75 for all three meetings special, sharing the marketing and returns of it? Make it a focal point of the season "A Festival of Speedway" type stuff for marketing and fan engagement, and post May you might see better crowds through to season end on the back of it..?

A Great team man Woffy.. Paid max after four rides.. Will need two legs of the same standard in the final I would think for Wroclaw to have any chance..

It certainly looked the part... I remember the grass banks... As we always allude to on here.. That racing last night, played out in front of 1000 punters, would have been deemed devoid of atmosphere, not worth the admission, and unlikely to be revisited again. . Played out in front of 15000 passionate fans, sat and stood close together, and you get a memorable event which will no doubt see many return next year.. The NSS and Cardiff are the perfect example of this. One a great race track which delivers great racing but struggles to get more than 1500 there to generate real atmosphere, and one that delivers average racing but a huge crowd every year to sample the great atmosphere that their very attendance generates... Speedway in the UK really need to cop themselves on that getting a crowd in (however you do it) really does make all the difference to that virtuous circle needed for long term growth.. Great crowds deliver great atmosphere which then delivers an urge to sample it again.. Sadly the vicious circle of low crowds, no atmosphere, and no urge to keep sampling it, appears to be accepted as an inevitability by many..

Vojens only ever served up good racing when it peed down and all the dirt had been removed.. Meaning track craft got you the grip needed to pass.. Last night had too much grip for a track that has tight (ish) turns hence when they rode the wider arc at two thrds track, on that berm of dirt, it was like being on rails (or as much as you could be on a speedway bike)... One (very fast) line, then follow the leader to do the same.. Scott Nicholls made a telling point early in the piece when he mentioned how he thought racing would improve when riders started to feel safer riding closer to each other.. I often wonder how often that effects racing in the UK on some of our tracks..?

Nigel does a good job in delivering an image of a fast, high octane, adrenaline rush sport.. Talking low and slow won't help that image... Lots of things are simply not fit for purpose in UK Speedway.. I would suggest Nigel and Kelvin are not one of them...

Those elected in the NFL though are still independant arbiters of the sport.. Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner) is a decision and policy maker without any affiliation to any club and is in his 13th year of tenure with several elections completed.. The clubs can replace him if he doesn't deliver what they as a collective need (growth and money in the main).. "The most powerful man in sports" is his grandiose title.. British Speedway would never allow such a position to exist and will carry on all doing their own little thing at a local level without any joined up national plan for the 'brand' of Speedway.. All running to stand still and win that unenvious race to the bottom..

Where's me Butterkist?

They have a much more joined up system (as you say professional), which to be honest I've always thought British Speedway should have followed.. An elected commission with no allegiances running a trade organisation of franchises.. All collectively marketing, all collectively sharing the pie that their plan delivers.. No relegation means no threat to any long term business plan and guarantees a certain amount to be budgeted for each season.. Obviously this comes with severe sanction if you let the 'brand' down and if you don't cut it then you could find yourself out of a franchise.. This aspirational business plan though obviously delivers overall organic growth.. If UK Speedway tried it, it would take a year of arguments and meetings to just agree on the name for the organisation, never mind the operating model and business plan..

Never in a million years.. It's their money and they don't want anyone involved who they need to report to.. You are right by the way... No "proper" competition would ever dream about letting its own competitors make the rules up, changing them like the wind as and when it suits/doesnt suit individuals.. What we have now is all there is... Crowds are pretty much stable(ish) I would say, all be it at a low base, so it won't lose too many more fans (unless through natural causes), as they are all mainly die hards now I would suggest.. To paraphrase an old adage, "If it can't be fixed, don't try".... Rinse and repeat ad infinitum...

Agreed, The only negative thing to come out of watching Polands coverage every weeked is then watching the coverage of domestic UK speedway on the Monday.. Sadly it really highlights the huge differences across every single facet of the sport in both countries.. Been some great racing this year, and when a team with Doyle, Holder, Holder and NKI get relegated well adrift of the top teams you have an exceptional overall competition standard..

Every team can draft pick riders from all the others teams in the league every week of the season now so no need to bring in any extra rules.. It ensures a competitive league...

Think BT might be a bit peed off.. Apart from Swindon this year the other tracks in the play offs havent offered up great racing from what I've seen on TV.. Lets hope they can all prepare great racetracks for their semis and final and good luck to all of them... Be good to get six cracking TV meetings to end the season... Presuming BT can be bothered showing them all obviously..

So is the extra point for the draw in Speedway ie they got within six points so earned a bonus point on top of the one they got for the draw..

Rugby Union and Cricket.. In Rugby the away team can score more tries and gain bonus points over and above their point for the draw.. In Cricket the away team can score the same as their opponents but take more wickets so get bowling bonus points over and above the points for the draw.. And Duckworth - Lewis - Stern can award a win for a draw, (and even if scoring less than the other team)..!

And in European Football, including the biggest club tournament in the world, you can draw and at the same time win for scoring more goals at your opponents place than your opponent did at your place.. !! One of the things UK Speedway has definitely got right is the scoring. Maybe we should give Duckworth, Lewis and Stern a call?

Attendances have been dropping for the past 40 years, well before live Speedway was beamed regularly into UK homes. Other sports though in that time have grown their attendances (and brand), on the back of much increased live coverage of sport in the past 20 years in particular.. Domestic sports such as Rugby, (both codes), Cricket with its 20/20 coverage, BSB, and Darts in particular have all benefitted tremendously by live coverage.. Darts being the PDC variation rather than the BDO.. Which I think is very relevant.. Live coverage of the BDO is terrible. Often played out in front of a black curtain backdrop to hide the lack of a crowd. Whilst the PDC sells out 10000+ arenas.. One prospers and grows year on year, whilst one hands out leaflets for their 'majors' to local milk men and taxi drivers in the town where the event is held to hand out to anyone who accepts one.. Same sport, two different ways to have used the coverage they have been given.. Similar to Poland and British Speedways use of their coverage maybe? In short, if what you put out to the watching masses is poor, uninteresting, and devoid of relevance, played out in front of empty stands alluding to its worth, then it will severely damage your brand, resulting in an inevitable vicious circle of decline... That's then your fault for letting this happen, not TV's for showing it...

Spot on... Without Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola has won as many Champions Leagues as David Moyes has..

I seem to remember he pulled wheelies down every straight to keep the crowd entertained as they watched the less than edge of the seat spectacle of one rider completing four laps all alone.. Obviously the ref didn't appreciate his efforts.. Or lack of them as he saw it... You have to remember though that the crowd were primarily there to watch him referee, not to be entertained by the show the riders were putting on for them...

2ng leg set up nicely in the ZG v Wroclaw match... Advantage Wroclaw though for me ..

So in this modern age of instant 24/7 media coverage it can stand its operating model up to scrutiny against those of every other sport and be measured positively against them on credibility and integrity can it? And Speedways popularity which you describe has been on a steep year on year decline for the past 40 years using the current operating model.. Therefore I suggest they try something different to try and halt this slide because doing the same thing time and time again, and expecting different results, is widely regarded as a mark of insanity... And that's no myth..