Hawk127

In your circumstances the only offering that may be worth a look at is the IOW. Apart from this I agree with your sentiments but alas those in charge do not give a fig about the true speedway supporter as opposed to a club follower. Many like to watch the racing and if it is close and competitive most are happy. Teams are a joke with riders competing in all three leagues. It might be better if meetings were individual events made up of riders assigned to club names and at the end of September the riders with the most points were drawn to represent four clubs in a play off. Those clubs could be drawn out of a hat. Ridiculous it may seem but no more than what we have now.

Yep, I understand but speedway use to be a weekly event and was well supported. The point I was trying to make was how times have changed and it is not driven just by economic conditions but the state the sport is in where rider availability and the doubling up down and sideways makes it a nonsense. Ipswich and many other clubs were the stable of weekly track action and many supporters turned out to watch racing. I can remember supporting a Saturday night club and waiting for the results from Canterbury, Coventry, Berwick etc. but now the sport is a pale shadow of what it once was. Alas it will take a combined effort from many to re-establish itself as a serious form of club entertainment.

If I am not mistaken just three more home meetings. Long gone are those halcyon days of weekly meetings at Foxhall. What a sad state of affairs when you are in July and at the height of the school holidays etc. Just two home meetings in August and nothing other than league fixtures with no other offering including the 16 Lapper likely to be run. Ipswich has a loyal following but sadly the sport is shooting itself in the foot and is unlikely to attract a new following with a limited racing calendar.

We must remember that the powers that be run meetings for the benefit of a few riders and not the fee paying public who are basically given what is on offer on a take it or leave basis. Shame that the promoters show so little regard for those who turn out to watch what is sometimes dross and treat them which such contempt. I agree, if this was held on a Friday or Saturday more supporters would travel as they do to the GPs and surely the host stadium would make more money. Says it all when I think it was Tungate who was recently in the Star bemoaning the way speedway was run in this country because it did not suit the overseas riders who would coming flocking back if it changed. U K speedway can neither afford or should give in to rider demands and should plough its own furrow starting by allowing clubs to race on days that suit the business not the rider. Clubs should sign riders who want to commit to British speedway and not want to ride simply to top up the coffers when they have a lull in Poland or elsewhere. Sadly nothing will change and in a few years it will be into single figures the tracks left running and they will only survive if riders are part time and have jobs elsewhere.

What a race with Lambert. Out of the top drawer as one of our commentators would say.

Jason Doyle is a class act and a joy to watch in the purist sense of a quality rider. Great to have in any team but did not have the support he deserves but still enjoyed each race he was in. Presentation was dire and Sheffield got lucky with the curfew preceded by track delays/repairs to air fence. How anyone at the senior management level think speedway in this form is credible needs to take a long hard look at what you have left joe public with and the sooner you wake up to the fact that speedway in Great Britain is second rate and run it accordingly you will continue to end up with this sort of farce. Ditch the t v coverage and get back to basics before you the management committee finally kill it off.

Most would agree but some fault does llay with many supporters who for reasons best known to them will rarely turn out for anything other than a team league or cup match. Go back a good few years and you had a number of prestigious individual meetings and for local interest, three and four team tournaments (e g Eastbourne, Rayleigh, Canterbury etc. In the south east ) and admittedly a good few years back in that example but fans did turn up. League racing played a part but so did the array of other meetings which made up a seasons entertainment from March through to November but I guess the difference was that the sport had its villains and the good guys and that was not only the riders but the promoters so the entertainment value was on and off track. The promoters will not gamble money putting on a meeting knowing that they are unlikely to make a profit and with the lack of sponsorship for the big meetings which might attract the top names for the right money racing on a night when you will almost fill a stadium (Friday, Saturday or Sunday particularly when Poland take a summer break) means supporters are left with what you have today. The lack of large corporates/household names willing to underwrite a meeting is understandable as no one with a decent brand will want to be associated with a sport for all the reasons quoted by many of the more knowledgable contributors to this topic. So many issues arise be it from the state of the stadiums and facilities through to rider ability to rules. You then have the restrictions on rider movements between the U K and Europe so the sport has a lot to deal with but it is not helped by the custodians of the sport having failed miserably to grasp the post covid opportunity to reinvent the sport by trying something different to attract lapsed punters and new ones too. It will continue to experience a decline in interest from joe public until the promoters decide to look inwardly at what they have and stop looking at the sport through rose tinted glasses.

He may need to think with his head rather than his heart. Hawkins would not hold down a job anywhere else in the sport and should go. Maybe the riders are given generous terms that are sufficient to cover the costs of turning up and hence the pressure to perform is not on, who knows. Sadly the Ipswich teams in recent years have been made up of riders who have no real passion for the Ipswich name and notwithstanding the good support, the on the track performance has left fans wanting. Success is a long way off, riders and management talk about fortress Foxhall but that is hot air. Wholesale changes were needed at many levels but alas you have the same old and with the limited number of meetings in a season and nothing new in terms of promotion, speedway as a form of entertainment and racing formulas etc. that fails to inspire new followers. Added to this the early woeful performance of riders particularly Heeps and Batchelor in this league and a team that does not inspire confidence. How much longer must this continue before someone decides to get a grip with all that is sadly in wrong as far as speedway at Ipswich is concerned. It was nearly lost once before, it could still happen unless those in charge and the riders think about some pay back to those loyal followers who crave success.

And the banks have lost nothing during the pandemic. All loans underwritten by the government are what is described as ‘zero risk’ rated so no bank capital is used and the return on the loan goes straight to the bottom line of the bank as net as profit. The conservatives have been irresponsible in the loans/grants to businesses during the pandemic and those in receipt are surprised regarding the tax implications and are pleading ignorance on this point despite most having accountants who will have given best advice. The tax payer in the U.K. has been ripped off because of so many unscrupulous businesses falsely taking loans and an irresponsible government who with such abandon, threw money at a situation without thinking it through and consequently leaving a system open to abuse. How many businesses owners have taken the open cheques from the government and bought premium bonds etc. Those who doubt this are ill informed, most accountants know what has gone on and when tax returns are completed, accountants are alerted as to why the returns are wrong and most of the issues relate to the grants and loans dished out willy nilley by the government to businesses who are less than honest. The current financial implications for the domestic market re price caps on fuel etc. are because of the failure to manage the reduction in fossil fuel use over a reasonable period of time and the investment in alternatives which has lead to everyone paying over the odds in the short term rather than a managed financial strategy over a reasonable period of time. The hike in direct/indirect taxation through NI as well as the fuel increase etc. should never be solely down to one individual of the like of Sunak who through family wealth will never ever be impacted by the hardship of the average U.K. citizen. It says it where the country has a top table as a governing body which is made up of the privilege few who the rules do not apply and yet claim to understand the current financial crisis but will never be affected by the financial hardship many will suffer. They seem to be really taking the p... out of each and every struggling worker/household.

Because it is run by amateurs who have continually failed to market the product. Those in charge would have trouble making a corner shop successful let alone an entertainment product that could be so good if they had imagination and the foresight to promote it for what it is, four riders racing hell for leather for four laps on machines with no brakes and that in itself requires a specific set of skill sets. No instead let’s piss about with rules that no one understands, teams that are not unique with double up/down and a series of league meetings which mean dick all as you have a system of play offs that mean you need only ride to a certain standard, get guests and win the championship with a group of riders who have been brought together to boost the ego of the club owner. The sport is a joke and until it is managed professionally with clubs towing an external party line, it will never attract serious sponsorship or attract main stream publicity be it press, radio or television. It has a group of hard core ageing fans watching the decline in this country of sport that in its current form is part of a bygone era.

Today the issue of linking Cycle speedway would probably be an obesity problem and the lack of willing youngsters to drag themselves away from the on-line electronic world. If they could be attracted how many could ride/manage laps needed to complete a race? Whatever most forum members offer in terms of ideas and opinions about speedway those in charge are delusional and treat the punters with contempt. Those that watch and support the clubs simply want to be entertained. Finally the riders seem to think that they are owed a living and expect punters and sponsors to subsidise their ambitions and as a consequence spend thousands on machinery to race hoping to make up their lack of ability when in fact many could achieve greatness If that actually tried to hone their motor cycle skills rather then rely on a over powered piece of machinery which is not suited to most tracks in the U.K. Riders are not in touch with the fans and the club owners could not give a fig what punters think. To those in charge everything is hunky dory. Dream on you fools.

Absolutely correct but until you get the glory hunters running clubs realise first a foremost the objective is to entertain the punters who part with hard earned cash to watch no more that 18 minutes of racing, then nothing will change. Those in charge do not listen, acknowledge or take the slightest bit of notice from supporters who they generally think are a pain in the arse. The sport in this country with a current modus operandi that would make most sensible business people run a mile offers no incentive for sensible investment, the lack of a major sponsor is surely an issue that no one seems to have really cracked, intermittent t v coverage focusing on six teams (that in itself gives the wrong impression to joe public who probably think ‘what just six teams race in the U.K.. why bother’) added to which riders who have over inflated value of their worth, race nights to suit most apart from the punters, teams that cannot survive solely on turnstile income, rules that make no sense for a simple sport and no independent body to deal with issues and you wonder why outsiders cannot take speedway seriously. It is a fast and furious sport that fails to excite joe public because of the dinosaurs who are using a formula that is long overdue for a radicle change and have continually failed to properly market and promote what can be a good evenings entertainment if packaged correctly. As much as many on here offer constructive criticism, innovative ideas and continue to have a passion for speedway the only response from those in charge (who probably dare not read many comments on here) is to stick one or two fingers up at the punters and will as custodians carrying on presiding over the demise of speedway u k. I hope they are proud of the status the sport finds itself in.

If a sport was crying out to be reinvented and those in charge show some imagination this was what speedway 2022 should have been about in order to excite the existing punters and attract new interest from those who have drifted away as well as tempting first timers to come and watch. Instead you have the same tired routine and the top tier with just six teams racing each other maybe two, three or four times in a season of fixture fits and starts with the summer months probably being wasted with a sparse list of team matches interspersed with GP’s and World Cup type fixtures. Will the play offs be held in early September and completed mid month, no chance, they will drag on into October despite the lack of teams. How you can make a season interesting with just six teams is anyone’s guess. Sad that speedway has got to this stage and that those in charge are neither understanding how the market has changed (Poland is an example of what needs and can be done in terms of presentation) nor acknowledging that it is no longer what it was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s as a spectator sport. The bikes have changed, the skill sets are different but the stadia are awful (not much can be done as most clubs don’t own them) but the presentation and content as well as offering value money is in the hands of the club owners/promoters. Unfortunately these custodians of the sport continually ignore those frustrated fans who so desperately want the sport to return to its glory days but that is never going to happen as long as you have no independent body overseeing the sport and you do not have someone in charge with vision to want to take it to another level.

Totally agree. The only thought has to be that with Swindon unlikely to return, Somerset gone forever, Reading never to return, Weymouth having no chance of happening and Poole seemingly living on borrowed time, that just leaves Plymouth as the last outpost down west. With little chance of revivals elsewhere in that part of the country, Oxford does seem to be an overly optimistic opportunity for someone with more money than sense to perhaps try and turn a ten year lease into a profitable business proposition by putting on speedway alongside some other motorsport and perhaps greyhound racing.. Unfortunately I cannot see that enough fans or riders exist to make Speedway pay at another track unless it is at an amateur level and riders pay to participate. T V money will not filter down assuming that the broadcaster is happy to relay a sport with so few teams in the top tier of what would be a minor league sport/competition.The best Speedway UK can do is reinvent itself and stop pretending that it can compete as a team sport on the world stage.

ARC do not seem to mention the ownership of Kent on the website but do mention Birmingham, Newcastle and Nottingham in terms of dog racing. Do we have another stadium landlord who is anti speedway? However from an impartial business perspective, it would not take a rocket scientist to work/find out that speedway is on its knees and with the deteriorating level of support for a dying sport added to which we have seen examples of clubs experiencing financial difficulties mid season, why would any landlord entertain the idea of hiring your stadium with the chances being that you might not get the revenue you want to make it worthwhile as the speedway club folds because financially the owners of club work on wafer thin margins with a business model which is flawed and has so many risks and rarely makes financial sense. The fact is that turnstile money is nowhere near enough to keep a club afloat, hence the club relies on third parties (sponsors etc) whose financial condition the stadium owners would need to assess, be fully understood in order to give them an idea of the financial risks they are taking on with the club. Given the foregoing why let speedway or for that matter any other sport that operates a similar business model, through the door. Len has not only a knowledgeable and wonderful servant/advocate to speedway, he is an astute businessman and if he has finally walked away, then the writing is well and truly on the wall and those in charge of the sport in this country need to act decisively to protect the remnants.

The sad thing is that the sport does not excite enough people to turn out and watch it. Why anyone would bother with the hassle of running a club only to look out on race night at a few hundred hardy souls standing watching, is anyone’s guess. On the other side if you want a decent return on the time invested in running a track then you only have to look at bangers and stock cars. A prime example would be the meeting at Kings Lynn on the 31st October. How speedway would like a crowd like that at a meeting. Tinkering around at the edges is not going to work. The sport requires extensive surgery and a long period to build back up. Poland is only going to make life more difficult and with riders able to earn a reasonable living and commute by road to a nearby country for extra club meetings, why bother flying in and out of the U.K. with all the hassle. So whilst training new British talent is essential that in itself does not solve the fundamental problem that the sport simply has little appeal and no serious sponsors at domestic level and is incapable of attracting decent crowds on a weekly basis to watch a league meeting in which you have a pool of riders thrown together under the banner of a club name who the following night are riding for another track/club.

As long as those in charge deny that a problem exists then the sport will continue to decline. Regionalisation is now a non-starter with so few teams in the South. Those on the top table including the likes of CL etc. will have lost the respect of fans for the way that they have failed to come up with something more innovative during a crisis and unless they offer radical changes accepting that the top European riders are not going to grace the tracks in the UK, then the sport is dead in the water. Speedway U.K. needs to re-invent itself and become an all round form of entertainment and not a niche offering supported by a few diehards with some self interested owners who are not even running the sport as franchise with a common set of interests rules and policies, but prefer to look after number one, which is fine but it is not the answer to the current predicament.

Absolutely agree. I have been fortunate enough to witness leaping Len at Hackney, Rayleigh and Rye House and he is the old school always wanting to put on a show whatever the circumstances or conditions. Many a time the sawdust came into play at Rayleigh to get a meeting on and riders gave it a go unlike today’s crop. Also very sad the way the south east has lost so many clubs over the years. Whatever the reason this loyal servant to the sport and it’s fans, riders and officials really does deserve a relaxing and healthy retirement and if many of us could be as enthusiastic about speedway as Len has been over the years then perhaps things may not be quite so dire. Mr Silver you are a legend and deserve some official recognition for your contribution to the sport. Thank you for all that you have done.

On the website it is still showing as being on with times for meetings/practices on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Look up on the net Eis speedway Grand Prix Berlin.

I think I read that some Eurosport channels in Europe will carry the GPS live but this was not the case in the U.K. hence Discovery+. I believe it may have been in a article in Speedway Star a couple of weeks back.

I think that the 2021 team had nothing really to prove as they had all seen it all and it is a very long time since we have seen a group of riders who have honed their craft, have in depth experience and actually seemed to be enjoying the day job and it showed in their determination in each race. Because of who they are and well respected, it was almost a throw back to when fans could relate to the team of riders with individual characters who made it fun again. Thanks Peterborough.

Not necessarily but I answered the question.

I think he is better than Lambert.

That seemed a bit underwhelming for a major speedway event. Predictable from the Poles and the rest can fight it out for the minor placing. I think that this would have been a good opportunity to try Bewley which at least meant that you had one home grown rider who plied his tried in British speedway this year. Let’s hope the track and racing produces a tad more excitement tomorrow. On this showing it will be a long time before GB host this event as it is not exactly a TV spectacle.

Well done to the four teams who made it this far. The final should be a cracker and good luck to both teams, a well balanced bunch of racers and hopefully a safe two nights of racing. Look forward to next week.