Hawk127

When you have riders like Scott who in fairness guests regularly and in most cases in a joy to watch as rider, given that he has no allegiance to any other team other than those he signed up for, why does no one want to see individual meetings with similar calibre of riders rather than just league meetings. The GPS provide entertainment and in years gone by many individual meetings offered up great competitive racing yet today’s league racing is feast and famine when it comes to quality of entertainment. I really wish a few punters would give the individual race format a chance and get behind riders rather than teams just as they use to in the 70’s and 80’s.

Jake Allen fell but our esteemed commentators referred to Connor. That was all I was saying.

Not me but that is what was said in the commentary in that heat. Listen again if you think I’m wrong.

I meant in that race not the meeting

Connor Mountain is not riding. Where did the commentators get that from as the faller. Another inept performance on and off track.

Few outside the current followers have ever heard of many of the top riders (except for Polish supporters perhaps) and the lapsed fans may well take the view that “we have seen it all before but it won’t last” . It might be too big a financial risk for many running tracks. It is sad but the U K version has to find its own level and rebuild at club level. Outside that you have some talented riders who will rise through the ranks but for now it would seem that the best option for the weekly fix in the U K is to plough our own furrow.

A genuine question as I do not know the rider but is purely down to the rider’s skill or in certain cases is it that their equipment is simply not as good as others and however good the riders ability is he may not make it because he cannot afford the cost of the equipment needed to compete at the next level up?

It will take a fool or someone with a lot of money to burn to continue running Ipswich at the current level. Sadly the sport is in decline and the entertainment value does not exist. I stopped watching after heat seven and found Clarkson's farm programme on Netflix more entertaining. As to consider paying to watch live in a stadium with it lacking atmosphere etc., no way. I use to go week in week out up until 2018 but now rarely go. I would rather watch meetings with riders out to race for themselves than club meetings. The young lad on BBC East tonight who suffered a horrific crash up, I think at Glasgow and is making tentative steps back by riding grass track was more entertaining in the few minutes of the interview. Sad to say that the once mighty witches have lost the plot and may find it hard to get supporters continuing to grace the stands if they stay at the current level in the sport. Teams should ride to entertain the public but that no longer happens and tonight was a lack lustre performance and probably due to poor management judge.

A good mix tonight with young talent challenging the old guard and a reminder of why it was so good in years gone by and I can go back to the 70’s when at Rayleigh those at 6 & 7 took on the the top guys so you had Ivan Miller beat Arthur’s Price and Red Ott beat Geoff Maloney when Red was riding for Scunthorpe. Tonight’s meeting took all those old enough, back to the good old days. Thanks guys.

Vintage racing, if only it could be like this every week. No losers tonight. Thanks to both sets of riders, restored the faith in what a great meeting can be achieved with a mix of talent be it young or old. Cheers guys you did the sport proud.

Forget the score, one of the most entertaining meetings thus far. Congratulations to both sets of riders for putting on a good show.

Take the contents of the interview with a pinch of salt. Having been put on the spot the defensive mechanism kicks in. Does he represent every club with his comments or just those who follow the party line. Given all that is going on in the sport with the failings, issues, weaknesses at various levels and the potential loss of three clubs what the hell are the BSPL doing to manage what has become a dire situation. It was sheer folly to run the divisions this year as if nothing has happened and with large question marks over tyres, a lengthening injury list, it seems that the class of 2021 are headless chickens. To cap it all BSPL directly or via the rule book when it suits them, try to put so many obstacles in the way of the IOW or any other track who would be better running on a open licence like they use to to which may keep those venues going until better times come around yet this option would make sense in a number of cases. The self interested clowns that are in control of speedway’s destiny care little for the bigger picture and are going to go down in history as those responsible for ruining what was once a highly entertaining two wheeled competitive sport. Some clubs are making efforts with streaming etc but those on the top table have their respective heads up their backsides. It is a pity that the sport does not have a rich benefactor to take on those in charge. For the time being how about every forum member writing to the local track asking what it is that the local promoters/ owners have against the IOW running open meetings and allowing any rider to compete/ gain track time and in the wider scheme of things tracks that could run on open licences so that they can continue to operate and not be lost to the sport. Then feed the responses to the Star to publish the results.

I don’t pay £19. Netflix at £5.99 for films and the rest is a licence fee for a public service broadcaster that lacks scrutiny and does what it likes which I cannot seem to get out of paying. When speedway bothers to put out seven man teams on a weekly basis and not Mr R/R to make up a team and runs from late March to October, uses local talent who grow into a team and have honed their craft and are not gate and go merchants, puts on individual meetings such as the 16 Lapper, then I might contribute to the coffers of the local promoter but given that this sort of entertainment is now confined to history and decent promoters no longer exist I seem to be saving money.

Perhaps entertainment is stretching it a bit. Fifteen races in two hours could compete with paint drying. Makes chess look exciting.

Fake wrestling but at least they are professional actors. Riders can neither act or be considered professional sportsmen given the cowboys that run the sport. Circus might better describe what goes on but even that might be an over generous description. Agree with everything you say apart from the wrestling. Long live World of Sport!!

Barry, thanks for the update. You have an lot of support on here and fans far and wide and it is understandable why you may want to throw in the towel but don’t let these selfish morons get the better of you and the club. Petty minded individuals hiding behind corporate BSPL none of whom have the balls to come on here or any other medium to rationally explain their stance. If genuine speedway fans can do anything to support your cause, let us all know as many really do believe in the two of you and the club. You have the vision so don’t give up, you will find a way.

A change of direction is needed not just at team level but for the sport as a whole. It cannot continue along the current path but those who own clubs have an exclusive agenda and stadia like the IOW get pissed on from a great height. If only the BSPL were more willing to listen then they may learn a thing or two about how to run an entertaining show for the punter instead of chasing averages and points limits. All most people seek is regular weekly competitive team racing, not the crap that is currently on offer. Standardise bikes, make riders hone their skills and cease the over powerful machines for the current track set ups in the U.K. It used to be good now it is dire.

I think the whole team has issues. Rewind, start again in 2022. Should have put together a team to ride at National league level as well. Could end up with a short season. Shame but life is not fair.

Not a lot of luck for the witches. Does cook have an aversion for riding for clubs south of the border.

Cannot get the scores right. Showed incorrect on bottom of screen and then our erstwhile announcers firstly called it the wrong way. Amateur hour comes to mind. Nothing changes really. Goofs running the sport and goofs broadcasting it.

Unfortunately whatever the legal position may be, you have young people starting off in the sport who do not have the money to test the situation having spent a fortune on equipment etc. and are/will be scared by these threats from what are older bullies who if the same was said to their sons or daughters they would be up in arms about it. The idea that the sport is professionally run is questionable as is the practices of those who make the rules and looking at the issues with injured riders and questions over whether some teams can field seven riders you really have to ask what risk assessments were carried out before they decided to run the league format this year given the potential rider shortage. One can only sympathise with the IOW and the dilemma they now find themselves in once again seemingly because someone somewhere has gone back on their word. I hope they call pull it off using foreign speedway riders and short track riders and sidecars and have fortnightly spectaculars throughout the rest of the summer. Take heart that the current speedway format is old hat, bad for business and short changes the punters. Keep the faith and the vision.

Unfortunately no one in authority is listening. A few clubs make the effort and like many On the forum I wish more would stream matches. Few people these days travel to away meetings particularly if it is not a Friday, Saturday or Sunday race day. Many who watch speedway are unlikely to travel a long distances given the unpredictability of the sport being on and as has been said already many would probably subscribe and what better way to put something into the coffers of the sport for the benefit of all clubs. This past weekend was a fine example when streaming may have paid dividends. Sadly nothing can change the dinosaurs in charge who still believe that main terrestrial/ satellite channels are the panacea for speedway. If that is the case why is Netflix so successful with not a live programme in sight. Streaming and highlights from around the tracks is not beyond the capabilities and frankly delayed streaming by say 15 or 20 mins might solve the problems for some who have concerns that it may affect attendances. After all, in few cases is it worth watching the same race twice as is currently the case on live screenings. What about a subscription streaming service with discounts for buying a certain number of meetings in advance? Something new needs to be trialed rather than let the idea die.

Add to this that some dictate when you can run your business irrespective of the fact that the race night will not necessarily attract the biggest possible crowd. Who would want to run a business/franchise where a dictatorship who have not invested in your business singularly decide what works best for you notwithstanding that their decisions may not serve the interest of the wider community at the track location and ignore those locally who are in the know and understand when they can attract the best possible numbers through the turnstiles and make a go of it. No wonder the sport is in the state it finds itself. Those in charge will bring speedway to its knees. Regular weekly speedway is now history and the current format does no work. When will these people in charge wake up to the fact?

A sad situation for the supporters etc and a blow to speedway in general but from a business perspective one can only bang your head against a brick wall for so long. It is seemingly the right decision for the family and it is after all their money not the sports or the supporters and perhaps you should applaud them for sticking at it for so long. When you look at the governing body, the state of the sport with lack lustre decision making or reformatting of the sport in what is a difficult ‘trading’ year, why would anyone throw money away at a lost cause. This really should serve as a wake up call to the cohorts who run speedway and have overseen its decline for many years. We should thank all involved with Somerset for their contribution to the sport and move on.

If clubs are having such difficulty in putting out seven man teams, why did they not bite the bullet and have six or five man teams and make up the evening with the junior league teams. They had an opportunity to do something different but failed to show any initiative and yet the owners, promoters, managers and racing officials continue to treat the punter with such contempt and as long as the minority put up with this, they will carry on regardless. The majority have long since walked away from this farce.