HGould

(right thread this time) Star still getting to local Supermarket thankfully - well done to all involved. Post seems to be very delayed from some areas, had a letter sent from Bank in Sheffield today posted 31 March 1st Class yet had letter posted in Scotland on Thursday 9th April at same time. Got to be patient.

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Read that Poole and Eastbourne have already announced some free NHS deals. Hope more will follow.

Very enjoyable. Loved the Sam Norris update. The short Eastbourne fight clips told us nothing other than Cook was probably the biggest "idiot" on the night.. whether you insert Craig or John is entirely up to you!

They certainly are and it's because they devote time and effort and financial investment. Everything about BSPA Media is cheap and reactive but as long as a few people can milk the system it will be no different nor any better.

Might be a nice bloke, might have methanol in his veins, Scunny is a decent track although poorly supported numbers wise . As the head man of our Sport though and on his record as Vice Chairman he was and still is way out of his depth. No marketing ideas, no vision, no charisma, look at the Scunthorpe programme (a joke) website (an embarassment) social media ( non existant ) and then compare with Barry Bishop, Lee Kilby, Peter Faceena and a few other Promoters and the likes of Rob Painter GB man Sport is cooked with "dumb down Godfrey" in charge. Time for an Independent professional approach.

Totally agree with DC2. Can't we all accept that Covid-19 is a variant of Flu - IT IS and that's irrefutable. Can't we all accept that if normal flu was reported in the same way as Covid-19 there would be far more incidences of normal flu reported. Can't we all accept though that it's a particularly virulent strain for those that develop pneumonia (or similar complications) and that death rates amongst that small percentage are a lot higher than other flu strains but that as Covid 19 has global attention and been reported differently it is clearly a bigger danger to susceptible groups. Can we all accept that 95% of the population could have it and either not know or have very minor short term symptoms but that 5% could develop worse symptoms of which a yes undetermined but significant number could die a very painful death with little than can currently be done to save them.

I went to Eastbourne last year to see Brummies twice and both times Pits open before and after meeting, Stadium Tours and Home Riders mingling with Supporters in Pits and on Centre Green after the meeting. Got to talk to Brummies riders I usually can't get to see at PB although that had changed by end of the season. Went to Shield Final at Arlington with a mate from Leicester, what an effort then put on, dozens of Harley's and a Harley parade and again Pits open before and after and a Parade for Leicester who won the meeting. Brummies too making real efforts last season with Groups and features and involving kids at Interval. David and Peter Mason deserve great credit for that and notable improvement through the season. Same when I went to Somerset and Redcar. Trips to Wolverhampton though on the other hand far less enthusiasm same old Presentation as 10 years ago.

There you go again though, generalising based on one Track one annoucer. Every track is different some better than others. My visits to Swindon, old configuration and new have always been very enjoyable.

there were children on some occasions always with as many if not more adults and at one of the tracks (can't remember which when I went away) all seemed to be adults - was announced as a major Company... may be pointless to you with respect but not pointless to the Clubs!

Saw that at Birmingham last year predominantly in School Holidays, and also when Brummies were at Somerset and Redcar and at Eastbourne. Groups invited Free being shown around and being made a fuss of. Some of the best work is done in the Championship from what I've seen promoting wise.

That's a generalisation. There is no Leadership at the top that's true. There are some Clubs though who using their own initiatives are seeing crowd growth and are seeing newcomers coming to Speedway. A number in the Championship I saw with my own eyes at Birmingham and on travels last season. It works locally, that may be the way to go.

Some people seem to think we have to wait for all the foreign riders to arrive, we have to wait until Covid 19 is totally eradicated, we have to have perfect conditions, perfect team strengths, perfect crowd levels. If we wait too long for the second wave, scared to go out late summer, the second wave will arrive in winter and be 10x more dangerous as a result. Herd immunity idea is not dead, it has to be allowed once the NHS can cope. We have to go out and every day we all take "a risk" in any form of life. Things to some degree will never be the same. Some Teams WILL fold if no speedway in 2020 for sure. Some riders will retire if no Speedway in 2020 for sure, many foreign riders will never come back if teams fold so in their interests to do 1/2 or 1/4 of a season. seems some on here want to see speedway die so they can say "I told you so".

Speedway could take place though, of some kind as plenty of British riders and UK based riders would be clamouring to ride. It's very unfortunate that a team like Wolverhampton can't offer a team place and a job to a British rider but that's a topic for another day.

I would go to speedway at the first opportunity. I'm an OAP and get more or less chance of getting infected at Perry Barr as I have the local Tesco. Most people will be keen to get back to any level of normality. It's not as if I'm going to be in a crowd of 40,000 at Villa Park....700 at PB minimal risk and far more exciting.

Wimbledon, Glastonbury, other massive Events cancelled as the lead time to set up and organise logistics is MONTHS....you don't organise them in weeks. By cancelling now that limit losses massively. Speedway could theoretically be given green light and actually facing within a week. To suggest there is and correlation between putting Wimbledon on and organising Swindon Robins v Wolverhampton Wolves within a week is scaremongering nonsense. Speedway meetings with initially British riders could be organised very quickly. Clubs will have everything ready to go very quickly

There will surely come a point when restrictions have to be lifted as the death rate follows the infection rate in falling to early march levels. Millions of jobs in retail / leisure and especially our own Coastal and Tourist Towns will implore that restrictions are eased otherwise we won't have a pandemic we'll have a great depression. Many of the Events being cancelled are major ones that take a huge amount of logistical planning and expense and so have to be cancelled now to save unnecessary expense. Speedway could resume in part one would assume within 7 days. It would take longer for foreign riders to arrive back in UK and some may decide not to bother. The issue by then may not be "social distancing" as the Government has suggested more than once that it is willing to try "herd immunity" again in summer once NHS can cope. The big problem for speedway may not be lockdown, may not be social distancing, may not even be crowds of up to a few thousand, it'll be the medical cover and possible usage of A+E departments. That's a practical and ethical issue. I am still hopeful that we may see "some speedway" in July / August, what form it takes is another matter entirely.

Two Clubs, I've seen so far has suggested reduced / free admission - £10 all 16 and above at Eastborne for first 2 Fixtures due to likely financial hardship. Poole also offering free admission all 2020 meetings to NHS Staff. Hope more will follow suit

If Poland gets green light and races every night, why shouldn't UK.??? British Clubs and specifically British riders need to earn. If a few Brits and some overseas riders have to decide, that's up to them their choice. If UK shuts down due to Poles many UK Clubs would not reopen. If any UK Clubs do close and seems likely some will if we are not racing by August, it'll be vad enough, without just lying down and letting Poland ride all over us. Their model is frighteningly like PL soccer, and probably more at risk from Global economic crash than UK is

Would be nice if The BSPA announced they were giving some of the Eurosport money to PL/CL/NDL Clubs don't you all think? It was clearly given to the Sport by Eurosport and not just for a few promoters at the top table of PL to guzzle up. 22 Clubs - if they gave just £100 k of the rumoured 500k deal at about 5 grand a club it might help a few through difficult times. Doubt a penny will trickle down though.

I have removed Curtis as requested. I mistakenly believed / was told Curtis and AP who do the website are all part of Nigel Pearsons Media empire. I apologise for any offence caused.

Laurence and David are the Promoters. I don'r blame Laurence or David (or Peter for that matter) for the poor website and media. It's one of many controlled and run by AP It was a website format that looked great 4-5 years ago, now very tired and dated. Some Clubs are formatting and developing their own unique styles and they look a lot smarter and up to date

Sums up the problem . Three of those names agree 100% with. They have little or no influence though at BSPA which is a closed shop of inward looking thinking.. Bishop promotes an NDL team very well but NDL has always been something the BSPA treat as an aside. Kilby has been around a few Clubs and seems to have found a niche at Swindon, meaning he didn't have time to do much with us brummies, but very positive force. Painter is probably the most interesting, involved in motor sport and speedway for a number of years, he now runs Team GB and in a few years they have developed incredibly well and professionally. throw in 2 other names who could have a lot more influence. Adrian Smith CEO at Belle Vue very professional and forward thinking. Peter Facenna at Glasgow is part of a family who have delivered an amazing business model and invested significant sums in to Glasgow. Smith and Facenna should be spearheading the Sport with Painter (all very successful businessmen) guys like Kilby and Bishop focused on marketing it. Not product that needs tinkering with but dead heading those driving the product and bringing in real talent. All of those will be lost though if they feel they are just banging there head against an immovable brick wall.

Completely different in every way. Global event attracting around 1 million spectators over 2 weeks and with players from all Continents needing huge infrastructure and planning that can't be stopped at a few weeks notice...equivalent to a huge oil tanker. League speedway if you are lucky 1000 to 1500 fans in many cases less, no massive infrastructure and can be arranged / cancelled very quickly. Equivalent of a coracle

Heard that too although I think much of it may be linked to what City Council claimed is owed by Dave Gorton (is it Gorton or Gordon - sorry) and Chris Morton. Good race track yet reputed to be losing money each season. Look at Glasgow, another good race track, probably the best in terms of professionalism in the UK and they admit they lose tens of thousands a season. Which Clubs (if any) do make any money based purely on Speedway? Scunthorpe (mainly you'd guess from track rental) Ipswich (big crowds and great Sponsors) Swindon - possibly Kent - Len claims he's never had a season where he has lost money. Almost every other one I can think of has at some point admitted either hanging on or losing hand over fist. Very worrying times.