mikebv

getting dropped when out of form is fine, but bringing in a replacement who isnt as good and has been there before and failed seems a strange decision... the marketa will be slick, one line and a gaters paradise.. ideal for craig cook... britain is crap at speedway so we should keep the faith with cook, worrall, lawson, birks etc etc and see if in a year or two improvements are made.. let's be honest, no one in the wider sporting public even know what the sport is never mind that the world cup is taking place, so running a last place will not be even noticed... who knows, give these lads more exposure, maybe some test matches? and maybe, just maybe in a few years we will be competing..

so the plan didnt work then?? rugby doesnt get massive publicity in the national media? rugby doesnt get endorsed by national companies' sponsorship? rugby players are not very well known in the wider sorting domain? 'only winning a world cup' is now not a major achievement, as well as reaching finals? and using your rationale in a sport that even less countries take seriously, with 3 leagues and over 200 team places up for grabs then surely british speedway should be 'failing' like rugby and cricket seem to be??!!

2003 if i remember correctly... approx 10 years after the rfu put a vision in place to increase attendances for the domestic game by delivering a great national team... they realised that the national media and national sponsors would come on board if 'the game' at international level was successful.. central contracts, restrictions on foreigners, and greater proffessionalism from the players and clubs were all part of the plan.. you can see today how this plan has benefited the sport domestically and even though england are no longer No1 the legacy of that plan still lingers...

said it before on here... the football leagues are following the same 'hugely successful' blueprint that speedway embarked on during the eighties.. ie bring over hundreds of journeymen foreigners rather than develop your own,.. rugby and cricket used to do this but then changed tack and started to restrict overseas players and put their focus instead on young british players... amazingly since that plan was delivered (from independent governing bodies) the england team in those sports became the best in the world... can't imagine how and why....

in the speedway star edition that asked why speedway in this country was not doing 'too well'.. rob godfrey came across as someone who had his finger right on the pulse,, shame he wont get listened to, shame he wont get to be chairman of the bspa... great night at scunthorpe, and when you attend you feel that your custom is valued and respected... dont feel that at too many tracks..

in the early seventies on world final night my mum would ring up the newsdesk of (I think) the sunday people which was based in manchester.... i would stay up till she did it, about 10.30, and she would then pass me the note with the top four written on it.... when I saw 'first Ivan' on it there was no need to read the rest, it was running round the room, going ballistic time! I do also remember being in Rhyl the sunday after PC won in 1976 and seeing on one of those newspaper boards outside the shop (again for the sunday people) with the words "Collins - World Champ" on it... dont get many national media headlines any more now do we?

look at what cricket has done this evening with its 20/20 games... a joined up country wide as well as local marketing plan, some thought around a complete entertainment package, reduced adult admission, kids in for a quid, noise, colour, a public address system that works (and all scheduled participants turning up )... result? full houses across the country..... some great ideas for no real outlay have already been mentioned, but another zero cost one for me is when a team gets a five one (or even the winner of every race) should do a lap of honour so the fans can show appreciation, too many times you have a great race and all go straight back to the pits.... take every opportunity to keep the fans involved and part of the experience..

..... and then the track runs a stock car meeting and the bangers leave half their engine fluids all over the pits!!! need a big 'freakin' mat for that!!! speedway bikes need new quieter silencers for four bikes for 15 mins to ensure the sport continues in residential areas, yet the week before on the same track 80 v8 cars thundered round for six hours!!! shows just what a load of bollox these rules are...

agreed, variations on a 'same old, same old' theme in most cases so not much to be gained... ice hockey/basketball/rugby would be worth a visit... and maybe also visit a 'mcdonalds' and a 'wimpy'?? see which establishment is busiest and review why, ie whose got the youngest customer demographic, whose got the highest level of brand loyalty, which establishment in the customers' eyes delivers the best value for money and which of the two is seen as clean, modern, vibrant and exciting.... and then maybe also review which one is seen as ageing, hasnt moved with the times and has a brand perceived by many as being a relic from the '70's that simply didn't adapt to the modern day customers needs till it was too late and is now eventually updating its business model to meet the 21st century expectations of its customers... might be hard to find a 'wimpy' to review though to be honest, as 'amazingly' there are not that many left....

In a land of make believe - bucks fizz

agreed, no comparison to be made, similar to how we cannot compare the cardiff gp crowds with the league racing numbers... i wonder how many attend a weekly/monthly 'club' athletics event? - not many if don valley is a barometer.. it does show though that there are enough people willing to pay for the 'right product' if the show is good enough, today in birmingham they saw the world class mo farah, however how many would pay 66 quid next time if they had announced today, after you had arrived at the stadium, that mo couldnt make it so he has been replaced by someone from the local athletics team? you wouldnt get away with that too many times would you?? speedway in this country tries to get away with it almost weekly it seems, hence it is where it is...

just read the piece in speedway star xtra. Excellent, objective comment from Philip Rising... my concern sadly is that in Philip's comments, nothing is new, as all is blindingly obvious and has been put into print thousands of times over the past ten to fifteen years or so by fans the length and breadth of the country.. however, when I say 'blindingly obvious' it seems to have only been so by an ever decreasing fan base themselves and not the people who have driven speedway down a cul de sac the wrong way for what seems like forever. let's be honest, even as recent as the start of the season in an edition of the speedway star, one promoter deemed everything as rosy in the garden and wondered why fans knocked what was on offer each week !, truly, truly mind blowing.. perversely though, maybe the sport is so knackered now that even the most blind of promoters are seeing the true picture of the dire situation that exists and 'one or two' may even be considering that 'the recession', 'the olympics', 'the world cup', 'the euros', 'wimbledon', the boat race', 'climate change' etc etc etc are not the reasons fans have deserted the sport in droves over the years and maybe, just maybe, 'one or two' may feel that they too have had a 'small part' to play in the sports demise in this country? sadly, given the evidence of their track record, I do fear that those who run the sport haven't got the capability, or foresight, to do something anywhere near radical enough to completely change the sports direction and fortunes, such is the frankly amateurish way the sport 'governs itself'.. without an independent, strong, leadership team who have a clear vision for success (and more importantly can deliver it over a set period of time) then the sport in this country is I would suggest for want of a better phrase irrevocably 'donald ducked'... that would be a great shame, however you do reap what you sow, and the head in the sand/make it up as you go along/survival of the weakest/stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and go "laaa laaa I cant hear you" mentality which has prevailed for so long is certainly delivering the only outcome it could.... maybe they will listen to you Philip? God knows the fans that are left have tried!!

Brilliant idea!!! After every winning race, the guest rider could do a lap of honour, and when he gets back to the tapes the starting marshal could 'clothes line' him and try to remove his helmet and mask , but he would only get as far as exposing his chin before the announcer calls '2 minutes' and 'kendo' escapes as the starting marshal is distracted; .. Imagine the frenzy in the crowd that would create... it'd pack 'em in I tell ya, pack 'em in... NB - If anyone from the BSPA is reading this, I am not being serious... (honestly, don't do this)

I think it would have been on if so many on here hadn't kept posting 'poor' weather updates.. You almost 'willed' it to rain if you ask me.... Shame on you.... Your fault this, your fault....

often wondered why the EL promoters dont just make the league a 'one make league' and buy all bikes themselves then employ one mechanic per team to look after all of them... you could then pay a rider a lower points money as they wouldnt have any costs themselves other than their safety kit, they simply turn up and ride.. go down to six man teams to save a wage, buy the bikes as a 'job lot' to get best prices and then sell them off each year to PL/NL/newbie riders to recoup a fair proportion of your initial outlay to re invest on the next years purchases... make plenty of rules around what can and cannot be done to the machinery (they are good at making rules), get rid of dirt deflectors and other 'non essentials', ensure proper policing and I am sure watching riders performing on bog standard kit would mean closer racing, with talent winning over those who currently have more machinery investment? many motorsports now run 'one make' championships with clear rules around what can be done to improve performance (even F1 has rules around what can be modified to reduce costs) therefore surely in EL speedway it is worth a go?.. if as you show deano, the costs have gone out of control then something has to be done and that something needs to be radical, not another 'variation on a theme' that promoters seem to just come up with..

just got a copy of 'speedway now' july 1991 from a car boot sale.. there is an advert in it for a tri nation test match at poole, - england, aussie and sweden.. admission 4.50... what would it be today to watch a test match? based on the 16.50 I pay to watch the EL about 20 quid?? if so that would be an increase of just under 350 percent in a little over 20 years... if the admission had matched the inflation rate since 1991 then todays admission should be 8.60*!! wonder if that effects attendance figures? (* figs from the Historical UK Inflation and price conversion website)..

well it's obviously to leave everything 'as is' .. as it is working so well for the credibility of the sport isnt it?

to save loads of people coming on I'll fill in the counter argument "ahhhh, but this is speedway"... not a very good one really though is it?? ...

arlll wash me fookin' speedyweh for that, ar wood, und neva aft ter bray me missus fet ter go neetha.. I go back 40 odd years watching the sport 'off and on' and have to say that taking the rose tinted specs off, a lot of what I watched even in 'the good old days' was processional racing with my team BV, in particular at hyde rd, hammering most teams by 20 point margins.. The difference from then to now is when we got yet another 5-1 the crowd level, and therefore subsequent noise level, created an 'atmosphere' that was far greater than the sum of what entertainment value we had watched.., Thus it became a self fulfilling prophecy in that the crowd were involved (as you were stood with thousands you were not inhibited to join in), more away fans were there so more banter took place and therefore regardless of result, you had had a 'good night' and would return the week later... Therefore the equation isnt so much about ten pound speedway but what price level will fill the stadium to bring back that elusive crowd level and 'lost atmosphere'.. The debate about whether cheaper entrance could be afforded could be counted with how much could you charge for sponsorship/season tickets/bar take/prorammes etc if you had 5000 attending every week and how much extra revenue would the increased local (national?) media interest bring in? Always wondered why promoters dont budget their seasons costs with one less meeting's income and let the 'world' in for free to kick start their season, a full house would persuade far more to return the week after I would venture as it would maybe give them the impression the sport was a success and they had been 'missing out'... One thing is for sure, the sport at its current admission levels is unsustainable in its current guise, as its ever dwindling fan base, eroding almost weekly, is testament to.. .

used to attend sheffield in the early nineties, even though a bv fan, as the racing was fantastic.. in the main we used to think it was due to the great track shape.. one week they held an individual meeting with many EL world class riders..... Hans Neilsen I seem to remember went thru the card with a fifteen max and the racing was garbage with most races being won by thirty metres or so.. the track was the same, it was the calibre of rider that meant races were processional on any track, get 14 riders of similar ability and you have more chance of close racing.. throw in a great race track and you have everything you need for a proper nights entertainment...

great meeting, well done to all the riders... if you could pay a tenner every week to watch speedway like this then people would attend in much greater numbers i am sure.. as for those who bemoaned roscos' commentary, my remote has a 'mute' button, see if yours has too, they are quite common I believe, might help your enjoyment more next time..... well done the mon arrrrkkks.... and cookie in particular, shoe in for the SWC surely?

craig could qualify for a league winners medal for about 8 teams so far!!!!! total joke really isnt it?.... sorry, I forgot... aaahhhh, but this is speedway...

doesnt matter what emil thinks.... these riders are going for a world title and as such they are so committed that sometimes they literally need to be saved from themselves.. you know more than most how these lads have nothing more than tunnel vision ie the world title is everything.., the track was a total disgrace and freddie's crash in particular when the bike just 'stops' is often the most dangerous as the rider has simply no time to react or brace/defend himself.. very, very lucky tonight to see no major injuries.. (if as we do in our blase way class broken bones as minor) still the viewing figures were good..

well done the organisers for providing a dreadful and dangerous track........ very, very lucky freddie then.. and nki.... a disgrace to be honest to let these lads risk their neck on such a 'p' poor surface

nicholls a 'natural' at this pundit lark... 10 out of 10... far more intense work than on sky as just dual 'talking heads' tonight with no other guests.... and sophie shows a few others how to interview speedway riders properly in the pits..... eurosport should keep them and use this way of working at every gp...