Skid Sprocket

And there's the crunch, there are that many opinions that no change will ever happen due to the differing opinions on this forum. Its time for another "referendum" (but would the results would be accepted anymore than the last one?) maybe then, with a clear voice coming from supporters, the powers that be might just listen. Just my opinion .

I hope that all comments are positive. A bit of background info would be helpful for those of us who don't know you. Only having 50 posts means that you are not a prolific poster but that could be to your advantage, it could show you are more of a thinker than a ranter. I for one look forward to hearing more.

Our new promoter recently stated that as supporters we were all promoters, and rightly so. When speaking to potential new supporters one of the first questions they ask is what are the attendance figures, how can you answer that. Ok if figures are bad then it may not be easy but that is when your promoting skills come in to play and rivalry sets in to try and beat the figures of the club up the road. This example may only play a very small part in righting the wrongs in speedway today but every bit of information helps in the right situation.

Thanks Gemini as you can see it worked

I would think there is very good reason for keeping the current fans sweet. Any sponsors putting money in will already have the answers we are trying to find.

Can someone explain how to multi quote, I have tried clicking on "MultiQuote" but there is no explanation of what to do next. I would like to multiquote on this thread but simply quoting loses the original quoted post.

The two age old questions. What are the attendance figures? and why won't clubs disclose figures? Its often said that its some kind of tax dodge but I cant believe that, even if were true then why cant we be given the figures the taxman gets and then we can make our own mind up. How about some investigative journalism from the Speedway Star?

To try and bring this topic back to life and pull us out of the doom and gloom I have copied this from the topic "When Did UK Speedway Decline Start". I hope thats ok with Lucifer Sam. Its easy to find the bad news and moan about it so lets dig deep and find some uplifting stories. Posted Today, 12:34 PM by Lucifer Sam It's worth pointing out there hasn't been a constant decline since 1930, as some seem to be suggesting. The sport was much healthier in the mid 70s than the mid 50s. In fact, there's never been as few teams as there were in 1958. Even the SAL didn't run that year. So there were just 10 league teams that year. For some reason, they needed much bigger crowds to be able to operate back then (maybe admission prices were incredibly cheap in comparison), but as you can see, speedway is in a healthier state in 2017 than it was in 1958. All the best Rob

I agree, understandably the newspapers are in it to make money. Slightly off the newspaper theme this is where the BBC should take a lead and cover topics that don't have a cash creating incentive. While I dislike paying the BBC licence fee as much as anyone at least it should mean they can lead the way in promoting anything that is not right in the public eye.

There must be something we can we collectively do about it? There are enough members on the BSF to at least make a few ripples if an effort was made!

I only read one National newspaper, The People, (I know even I don't know why I bother) and every week mainly in the speedway season I look for some snippet of speedway news and not even a column half inch, ever, and yet every Sunday there is a 16 page pullout called Total Football and around 13 pages of other sports news. What is the situation with other National newspapers are there any that ever mention speedway? Maybe the BSPA could do more with regular press releases but would the Nationals print them? One thing that we as supporters can do is to let the papers know that there are readers out here and badger them to cover our sport. There are plenty of problems with the sport but in my opinion one of the main ones is that the general public don't even know speedway exists. Has anyone tried to persuade the press to change their attitude by such as bombarding them with pleas to publish news? I know nothing will come of all this but at least I've got it off my chest.

Yes he was a good track man just don't look any deeper.

I spent a morning with KK introducing him to a couple of sponsors and I don't know when I have ever seen such enthusiasm, confidence and forward thinking.

Gazette news; page 11 update on Bears school/college competition. Page 33 quiz question on Skidmore. Page 52 Ecco to sponsor the Cubs and a second half supporting a "junior grand prix". First race tapes up at 7:30 sharp to allow a bit of extra time later and a shorter break. The rest is mainly on the keenness of Keith Miller of Ecco to support the Cubs.

I think it was in yesterdays Gazette, three separate mentions of Redcar speedway throughout the paper.

A teaspoon of shale three times a day until the atrack settles down!

Two sections just like this topic, I think the original slid under the fence way back Another way is burying the skirt in the shale but its not very practical and all you are doing really is weighing it down so why not part fill with water to give it some weight and get he same effect if you have somewhere to drain the water after the meeting, the downside is that a punctured section could cause a flood.

There is a way to find out what the majority want and that is an anonymous poll but the BSF doesn't seem to have that option for members. If polls could be run on this site the problem then is knowing the subject for a particular poll, maybe members could list their top ten voteable subjects in one short sentence (eg, Do you want to do away with the play off system?) and then a priority list could be drawn up to vote on. As in all forums there is a silent majority who will not post for fear of being shot down by the more "forceful" members, polls would get a true picture of supporters wants and feelings and would send a very strong message to the promoters.

Although you have to carefully read every word that Gustic posts, on this occasion "the good news is" that he did post a link to this one on both the other threads. You have to give credit where its due.

I haven't seen it yet but to keep a balance I assume you will be posting a link to this topic in the two you mention.

If thats your opinion of a cheerful comment then so be it!

Its very easy and justified to discus all that is wrong with speedway today but to take us into 2017 with a bit of optimism what are the good news speedway stories? So please, in this topic, uplifting stories ONLY. Anything from your 5 year old grandson meeting his "supporter friendly" idol to what is your club doing to make a contribution to the future of the sport.

I thought that myself

And in the close season we have the fans forums to air our hopes and fears for the new season usually at no cost. We have management, marketing and even riders chipping in all year round in our forum. To sum up; Websites for official news , announcements and results etc. Fans forums for us all to interact and have our say.

The sad truth is that at least 95% of the population of the U.K. could not answer that!