Ray Stadia

I know, it is a shame!

The fact remains, the sport is in trouble, not just Peterborough, Workington and other wobbley promotions, the sport in Britain as a whole. BSF offers the sport a free brain storming platform and sometimes, good ideas can come from what appear to be bad ideas at first glance. I say, keep the ideas coming, however daft they first seem. And as for the poster I am replying to, you seem to spend your time on here shooting posters down in flames. Perhaps we could have a sample of your 'bloody stupid' ideas!

In fairness, it was a fans suggestion, so we shouldn't be too hard. Any idea could be a good idea. Surely Keith will have signed a rental agreement with the owners of the stadium, the council I presume and unless it is a season only contract, he may have penalty clauses that will cost him money?, but maybe not the same penalty as losing money each week. Therefore, if he still has some appetite for speedway, he should, in my opinion, think about the NL. I do think now is an opportunity to make the NL work for the good of speedway. The chances are the BSPA will do very little over the closed season and will limp into next season hoping for a miracle. The NL part of speedway has an opportunity to grasp the nettle and increase the number of teams, probably from the fallout of PL and EL clubs and rebuild british speedway from scratch with home grown riders only, no overseas riders, just our own. And with a business model which is not out to make money, but to at the very least, break even.

I would have thought at this crisis time for the Comets, moving up to the 'Elite' is like trying to run after you have just broken both legs. If the promotion wish to have a go next year and the BSPA do bugger all over the closed season to reduce overall costs, for their survival chances next year and beyond, I would have thought a drop to the NL a better prospect and try to build up a home grown team, with a view to possibly go into a higher league in future seasons.

Wouldn't squads increase costs for the promoter?

Pudsey Bear is available, but says he wants £50.00 a point, as he is not a charity.

Why would an individual event need to be meaningless? I am sure there are many people on this forum that just want to see 4 speedway bikes go round a speedway track, with some good close racing and they will be entertained. The alternative could be no speedway if things do not alter. It would appear from what people are saying on many threads, is league racing is not doing it for them and for many reasons. How would you make league racing cheaper? Reduce the number of meetings? Reduce riders pay? Regionalise all tracks to reduce travelling costs? It is a big deal and needs a lot of thought, but let's hope it isn't swept under the carpet and next season doesn't open on a wing and a prayer. Regarding Australia, my understanding is a lot of the tracks are prepared for midget cars and they mix midget cars with speedway. The tracks are a clay type material which speedway riders find difficult to ride, especially after the cars have been on. For me, I would be happy to see short track and/or sidecars as an added attraction. However, I accept time could be an issue with some tracks.

Maybe it is time for speedway to drastically reduce league racing or do away with it altogether, that would probably see the foreign riders disappear. Then use the stadium, say, every other week and have different types of open meetings. Maybe even mix with sidecar speedway and perhaps short track. If there is a genuine shortage of riders, league racing is surely farcical? It wouldn't mean that you would need to see the same riders week in week out, as you could have regional meetings and national meetings.

You sound like you have been on the sherbet mate!

Good post. However, with respect, the last sentence may be a little unfair. I agree that promoters as a group organisation need to get to grips with the situation, but individual promoters are virtually powerless, as they are part of the 'big club' and it is the club as a whole that needs a makeover. The weather has been bad and distractions such as the olympics can't help, but speedway needs to be sound and resilient enough to be able to 'ride' these bumps.

And it isn't right that a promoter has to subsidise the 'show' with his own money. One way forward, I believe, to help get speedway back on it's feet is for riders to be paid based on what is left in the pot, after all other costs have been paid. Therefore, they ride on a commission only basis. Yes riders will leave and say not for me. If the situation is properly discussed with riders before the start of next year, that will allow the promoter to decide one of three things, pack up, drop down to NL or stay where they are. If the promoter wishes to stay in business, but sees his riders leaving, then perhaps he could have a year out of league racing and rebuild his team on challenge matches and individual meetings and re-enter the following season at whatever level he is able. The responsibility for the running of speedway should not just rest on the promoters shoulders, the riders should take some of the responsibility too. This way, you may see riders helping the promoter promote speedway in the local community, as they have a vested interest. The benefit to the fans, is in time, perhaps entry fees can be reduced. In addition, the 'powers that be' find ways of reducing costs for the riders, such as tuning limitations.

But the standards don't have to drop Kester. If the same talented riders are riding bikes which are cheaper to buy and maintain, the rider wil be the 'winner'. If the riders expenses are less, the rider will need less pay, therefore takes pressure off the promoter. If the pressure is off the promoter he can reduce admission prices. And it is just possible you may see gates increase. I don't believe fans need to see 4 riders go around a shale track faster and faster. What they want, me included, is good, close, skillfull racing, which can be achieved at less speed. One of the best races I saw at the recent Grasstrack I attended was the 350 cc racing. Not as fast as the 500 cc, but the racing was close and 'nip and tuck'.

I recently went to a local Grasstrack, the racing was excellent. It was only a centre meeting, but the standard was great. I still believe fans can enjoy a speedway night out, without big name riders who are bleeding the sport dry and those riders, riding bikes which are comparitively cheap to maintan. The sport needs to cut it's cloth accordingly.

By the same token, you can watch a Grasstrack meeting for around £10.00, including programme and watch race after race for about 4 hours, which I call value.

Buttons, a lot of people have been saying the same on here and for a few years now, me included. But I fear that it will only happen when it will be too late. However, if the penny does eventually drop, perhaps speedway will rise from the ashes, but with a different model and structure. Other motor sports have done it, such as road racing and that is now a success as moto gp and the superbikes.

Markov Loramski?

Is the track still open for training, does anybody know? I haven't seen anything on the forum this year and their webisite only has stuff from last year.

Thanks for that. It is always great to watch a class rider ride on their own. Saw a few at Hackney's training sessions back in the 80's, the likes of Bo Petersen, Martin Hagon and others.

Hi CP, is Dragons Practice, practice for older ladies? All the best

Oh ok...actually, it's 'born and bred'...and Hackney has a capital 'H', as it is a name....wouldn't want those yuppies to think you were illiterate!

True! LOL! But there is no doubt that Hackney is in London. Not Hertfordshire or Essex, definitely London. In any case, don't know why they bothered with the 'H' in Hackney, as it's always been known as Ackney.

I sincerely hope your optimism becomes reality. Not sure about East London Speedway as a name though. After all, West Ham Football Club will be using the main stadium and I assume they will still be using the name West Ham. An ideal opportunity for the rebirth of West Ham Speedway.

Like someone said, it is nice for some of the ex Hackney fans to see their team race jackets again, but in reality, what chance is there of a return of Speedway to the Hackney area? Therefore, for defunct teams to be using other existing stadiums, the only real benefit is to keep the name going and to publicise the name, in readiness for a new home, as is the reason behind Cradley Heath. Although they have been searching for a long while now and it's not happening yet, but could do, more chance than Hackney I would say.

Sorry, I had forgotten that we wouldn't be allocated the one off World Final every year, although when it was at Wembley, it was more often. And I can appreciate that the GP series has taken Speedway to some interesting locations around the world and will continue to do so. I am not saying I want Speedway to return to the old format, although there is good and bad with both systems. I think an ideal situation and I have said this before when this topic has cropt up, that both Wembley and Cardiff be available and perhaps alternate each year. That way Cardiff doesn't become stale. And just hope that the years it is at Wembley, it doesn't pee with rain!