mikebv

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Well done Hans.. Still gives everything. . A great supporter of British Speedway too..

When Nicolai is on a max and Nige and Kelvin's 'bantz' is the most entertaining thing on offer you probably are not in the best place entertainment wise..

To be fair, they are are probably too busy to think anything as they try to find 15 people or so in close proximity to make it look like someone is actually there...

Not really any good this is it? Anyone 'flicking' through the channels are probably not going to think that 'a night at the Speedway' is worth a go are they? Sad to see...

You CAN take your eyes of this one Nige....

Has Nigel told Kelvin yet that "it's great to see such a good crowd in" ?

Nor 'ex fans'... Nor 'current fans'... Nor 'current fans soon to be ex fans'.... A very strange way to run a business.,.

I wonder how many of those riders see themselves as full time professionals? I venture the answer to that question is very strongly linked to British Speedway's problems..

There are countless stories of teams threatening to 'take their bat and ball home' at the AGM's... As one contributer once quoted "it's like a bear pit"... And it's not just AGM's either.. I think it was Jon Cook who when interviewed in the SS said his time on the MC could be a nightmare as if tracks didn't get the decision they wanted out of him re a guest, or an adhoc facilty he was told over the phone that they would not run the meeting, close the track and it would be his fault...!! Speedway is in such a parlous state it simply can ill afford to lose anymore tracks.. I would suggest historical tracks like the Aces have never been more able to influence a vote (whether they are allowed to actually vote or not)...

Not forgetting the several pre AGM's held to agree the biscuits....

I know Whisperer, a strange system too... However.. Any team has a say by refusing to accept the terms on offer... Just as many established and non established clubs have in the past.. The simple truth is... Trying to run on nights during the week rather than the night that is quite likely keeping your business afloat is financial suicide.... No hindsight excuse either for Belle Vue, as one of the Aces' absolute fundamental reasons for opening the NSS was to ride Fridays and Saturdays as to keep opening Mondays was simply not a viable option... They should never have agreed to run under those conditions as 100% it doesnt (and never will) suit their business...

You may have hit on idea there I could use..... It is coming up to review time for my teams so maybe as an incentive I will tell them they could be going to watch Speedway... (If they dont significantly improve!!!)...

Are you actually saying that British Speedway would have lost Rye and the Aces rather than let them drop down? Not a chance... A mainly Northern Championship would have snatched the Aces hands off if they suggested they wanted to drop down.. As for sweeteners? I think all Champ teams will see through any of that... Several have been bitten before so won't make that mistake again...

It would appear Turkey's actually DID vote for Christmas...

Of course they did.. They could just have refused to ride in the Prem under the conditions agreed.. If Rye and The Aces had said 'not happening' the idea would have been dead.. No one would have come up from the Championship and took on a huge increase in costs even if Monday, Wednesday and Thursday were their current race nights.. Nobody who runs a business in the entertainment sector would, in their right mind, give up a weekend slot for a Monday or a Wednesday slot.. It could never make sense, therefore it hasnt...

I think your price point is around ball park where it should be.... Not sure it would support 14 riders per night... I would suggest though it would support 10... If the five per team were the following.. 1. Prem Heat Leader (current No1 or No2 in averages for their teams)@ £1500 a night 2. Championship Heat Leader/Prem Second String @£1000 a night 3. As above... 4. Champ Second String/Prem Reserve@£750 a night 5. As above... Total cost £5k a night (£10k for two matches).. At £12 you will need 1000 to pay VAT and riders.. Obviously there are other costs.. If you were looking at an average team strength I would suggest 27.5 based on the Prem.. So every teams mean average per rider is a 5.5... With a No5 on no less than a 3.00 ave to ensure no 'make weights' and keep the racing hopefully competitive.. Eg No1@8.50, No2@6.50, No3@5.00, No4@4.00, and No5@3.50 Two teams made up of roughly that should see a competitive meeting, and hopefully be afforded..

I run a Supermarket 1.6 miles away from the NSS and often mention going to Belle Vue to my team.. My team often then say 'it's a great night at the dogs'... I do my best to educate and mention it's not 'the dogs' but 'Speedway'... The comments then range from "Is that still going?" to "Is that still going I used to love going to Speedway"... The 'World Famous' Belle Vue Aces'? The 'Manchester United' of Speedway? The reality is they are not even heard of 1.6 miles away... That is the size of the task the Sport faces...

7th of April 2019.. The Boat Race.. Oxford v Cambridge... (Again).. Dont plan in any Speedway just in case...

PC is still the finest exponent of 'pure' Speedway racing on a bike I have ever had the privilege to see Moxey.. (Which is saying something given the truly exceptional talents that I have been lucky to see over 48 years watching the Sport).. I've said before on this forum that when 'domestic speedway' was going well so much of it was based on the likes of PC, John Louis, Mike Lee, Dave Jessup, Malc Simmons, Martin Ashby, Gordon Kennett, etc etc etc, being beamed into literally millions of homes regularly on a Saturday afternoon often delivering success to a sporting success starved nation.. There were only three channels and Speedway had fantastic coverage on one of them... PC truly was the figurehead as he had the 'X factor' but more importantly, England was hugely successful and the domestic Leagues benefited on the back of it.. Belle Vue rode in front of thousands not just because they were Belle Vue but because they had the likes of PC and Mort who many recognised from World Of Sport ripping up tracks around the World riding for England.. Then along came the promotion by the British Speedway Promoters of the Danes, the Yanks and the Swedes.. When Cricket in this Country, and Rugby in this Country, realised that a National Team delivering success would enormously benefit their domestic Leagues, they implemented central contracts to ensure that the best players were well trained and physically looked after.. They realised that a successful National Team would bring crowds in domestically far in excess of what would be delivered by 'Essex' or 'Saracens' doing well domestically in their respective sports.. British Speedway on the other hand thought promoting the Danes, Yanks and Swedes was a great idea.. That for me was where it started to all go wrong.. And the Sport hasn't recovered since..

The answer? A 100% overhaul for an unfit for purpose organisation.... A root and branch enquiry as to why the Sport is going down the plug hole with clear recommendations as to how it can be saved.. An independent Chairperson free of all vested interest, with a main board made up of marketing and advertising people, finance and operational experts, who all have a similar lack of possible bias to any team... Allied to a "thinktank" of experienced Speedway people who can explain the Sports nuances to the independent body which ensures Speedway's 'uniqueness' is recognised but also that any operating model still delivers both the credibility and integrity needed that befits a Professional Team Sport.. In other words... Not A Cat in Hells Chance!...

And you had true team sport rivalry when Wolves came to the Aces and vice versa.. Proper 'your team' v 'their team' rivalry.. We were Moran(s), Screen, Ott, Lyons, Schott etc etc They were Ermolenko(s), Correy, Jones, Karlsson(s) etc etc.. Teams who were easily identifiable and synonymous by their riders.. Riders who were easily identifiable and synonymous by their teams.. Oxford were Nielsen, Wigg, Cox etc. Cov were Tatum, Knudsen, Miller etc. Cradley were Hancock, Hamill, Cross etc etc etc.. All ran on a Friday at BV, a good night to attract a crowd, (and maybe most importantly if you want 'atmosphere', away fans too).. And ran 9 times out of 10 with the riders who should have been there actually turning up.. No changing around year on year the core of each team to appease the weakest links.. No riders missing due to having to attend the 'Azerbaijan Open'... And, no cobbled together "Roll up, Roll up, For One Night Only Folks!" random septet of ringers.. Just 'your team' v 'their team'.. And do you know what? In the main. It seemed to work quite well too.. Who'd have thought that? Amazing!

Who would replace the current MC? More of the same surely? All established Promoters got a chance to vote on the proposals... Those without a vote still got the chance to decide whether to run or not with the cards they were dealt.. Running on two of the worst nights of the week for the entertainment business was always going to be a bad idea, especially bad for those giving up two of the best nights you can entice punters out of their armchairs in Friday and Saturday.. Then changing it to three nights, with one night of the three meaning you must play second fiddle to Denmark, just compounded a bad idea to ludicrous levels.. Cannot blame just the Chair and Vice Chair given the fact the majority followed this blindly... Which is doubly ironic considering they ended up following a plan that a blind man could have seen was wholly unfit for purpose.... If collectively the BSPA thought that this was the way forward for the Sport then changing the people at the top won't resolve too much I would suggest....

And me... And a good 'few' others I reckon...

Fancy running a business where your main competitors are allowed to tell you when you can open? So they can then use your employees... Only in Speedway.. Edit: British Speedway... Thank goodness it is ran so brilliantly, as if it wasn't ran so brilliantly I could actually see a day when it might end up struggling...