oldace

Thinking outside the box, a bit radical I know but it could work for all clubs. After they have tried lotteries, duel football and speedway tickets, vouchers for 1 free match in ten etc it may be worth considering, as a last resort offering fans a value for money night out at a price on a par with the entertainment on offer. Like I said a bit radical, maybe just go back to the tried and tested strategy of accepting lost fans by upping admission costs to the rest and ignoring why the fans are walking away in the first place

If every fan brings someone along that would be another potential fan lost to the sport. Don't you get it!! eben fans of many years serice with a real affinnity for the sport are stopping going in their droves, there is zero chance of anyone wanting to repeat the first time experience with the sport as it is. First off address the reasons why fans no longer go before you even think about any marketing excercise.

Don't understand the problem really. According to The White Knight the Premier League is in good shape and yet in recent weeks, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Workington, Berwick, Redcar and Plymouth have all expressed grave concerns over their futures. Maybe the Premier League has all the same problems as the Elite after all. Too expensive and not enough entertainment,

Indeed cause that way this could have been on at 11.00 AM this morning when it was released

What about him?

It was Staechman and Larsen, neither rode but Staechman was 17th by virtue of his higher placing in the series to date. It was a strange format that year where there were 17? permanent riders with the two who finished last dropping down to reserve for the next GP. Well it was along those lines anyway!!!!

The "what went on" was never in doubt. The case was, as you say, was it consensual or not. The jury decided it was and so however unpleasant the act Darcy is not guilty of any crime.

I agree with you Trees, whenever I see British clubs in dire straits, crowds measured in only a few hundred, constant rain offs and the future of the sport in this country in grave danger it always gives me a good laugh

This forum is amazing, about the only events in the sport that draw big crowds and usually provide great racing are the SGP, SWC and the Elite League play offs. Amazingly the luddites usually suggest doing away with these events.

I hope the forum members are more helpful to you than they were to me. All day I waited at the cinema because no one could be arsed to look what time my movie started, and i didnt get to see any speedway on Sunday in the wilds of the outer hebrides because no one told me whether there was any on or not

Not got a clue as to which track but that contraption isn't doing anywhere near "116 mph on the straights". 40 or 50 mph tops

Wednesfield v Birmingham in the Elite League is taking place on Saturday and being recorded for future transmission on Sky. It is not actually on TV on Saturday

Indeed, it is hard to give meeting the credibility a National Final deserves in front of a few hundred people at Oxford or Wolves etc, Brandon was, and still is the best setting for the event from both stadium and geography point of view

Not so unfortunately, the 20,000 crowds died away at the end of the 70s, by the late 80s the British Final was a mere shadow of the event it once was playing to only a few thousand although as you say a sight more than today. I attended many Wednesday nights in the seventies but missed a few from early 80s onwards and remember going again in 1986 and thinking how much the event had declined

Actually no, the exact opposite, the switch to Sundays was the start of the decline in the event although it really just mirrored the decline in the sport in general.

Actually the golden era of Brandon British Finals was Wednesday evenings, Sundays only came in the mid eighties

I don't think he would Sidney. not that he wasn't good enough, the Sanders of 83/84 vintage could easily beat the best in the world. Billy's problem was always channelling that determination and aggression into something positive, with Billy it seemed to turn into desperation. The focus seemed lost because of his ever increasing desperation to win a world title and I think it would have prevented him ever doing it. Truth is though no one really knows as regards what might have been, fun trying to dissect it though isn't it

Ole could be ruthless, to the point of dirty on occassion. He blatantly stopped in front of Egon Muller in a World pairs event sending him crashing down hard. Also Mort was less than pleased with Ole's methods in the 1983 Inter Continental Final!!!!!!!!!!

I tend to agree with you, although I wouldn't undermine Nicki Pedersen who has evolved into a great rider (sometimes even safe). I do think that Olsen at his peak just shades it over Nicki. As regards being ruthless Olsen was no gentleman on track and could be hard to the point of dirty on the odd occasion. Nicki still gets judged on his early GP years when he was riding a little harder than his ability level at the time and it got him into some situations, but the the last 5 or 6 years have seen Pedersen mature a lot as a racer

Yes Craig did indeed make the correct decision, in fact there really was no decision to make, the ref is not there to make up his own rules, merely to apply them as per the rulebook, that is what Craig did. Of course it doesn't help fans understanding when the commentators keep repeating incorrect info.

Yes Sidney 1965,1967,1969 and 1970 British Finals were at Custom House

We had a lot of success in the seventies in the world team cup, we won 4 (5 if you stretch it to 1980) titles, but we are 32 years without a genuine win in that competition (I dont consider we were worthy winners in 1989 really) Post war, those few years aside, England never really ruled the world, not unless we were borrowing commonwealth riders anyway, We did though usually have a few genuine contenders about and in the 60s and 70s it was rare that at the beginning of the season you knew for certain an Englishman would not be crowned world champion, the situation we are in today

We have only had one world champion per decade in the last 5 decades. Craven in the 60s, Collins in the 70s, Lee in the 80s, Havvy in the 90s, Loram in the 00s. We are only 2 years into this decade so plenty of time to keep the sequence going.

Can't help with regard who rode in that match at Crayford but Clayton Isbel was young Aussie who came over from Claremont in 1983. He was a regular at Belle Vue training schools and a few Colts matches and looked really fast, particularly round Hyde Road which was probably due to his Claremont upbringing. Newcastle and Crayford would not likely have been the two best tracks to showcase his talents on I suspect. He went home at the end of 83 and if I recall never came back

I have no issues with Nigel Pearson, I quite like him nowadays, nor do I have any gripe with the Sky coverage. I am also under no illusions as to how insignificant speedway is to Sky, it is purely something to show between the ads and its format lends itself to multiple ad breaks. As long as viewing figures are reasonable speedway will stay on Sky, when they drop, speedway will be off our screens like a shot. What I thought strange was you coming on here stating that you, in essence, steal the service (for whatever reason). While your case may be different the internet streams are partly responsible for lower viewing figures year on year for Elite League and this ultimately threatens the sport staying on Sky. Stealing is stealing, however you dress it up