Crump99

Trouble is that there's no consistency. You can't just throw a meeting on an expect people to turn up. How many Saturday meetings have we had? People were saying only recently that Fridays were a must! He was more your 33210 man Tel. When the going got tough he didn't, apart from a few rare occasions. Wed Aug 14 2013 was one of those times when he was magnificent (bearing in mind I'm not a fan: "1. Kenneth Bjerre - 2', 3, 3, 3, 3 = 14+1 - unexpectedly came to the party big time and was untouchable."

It didn't say that so what do you know that nobody else seems to: "Rathbone also reiterated on a number of occasions that important meetings lie ahead with their East of England Showground landlords and the club owners. The suggestion is that significantly more Sunday meetings could feature in the 2016 schedule" (peterboroughtoday/speedway/speedway-the-weird-world-of-a-peterborough-panthers-fans-forum) Hopefully the suggestion didn't evolve into anything more than that.

What new era would that be then?

Spoken like a true Pirate

At it's current level it probably can, but as they are our club's owner (although that seems open to question atm), I don't want to test your theory tbh. I have this fantasy that Rick & Julie ditch Poole and return to the Showground to complete the job they started

What concern for speedway in Peterborough?

He'll celebrate the Peterborough connection with our owner propping you up and our club supplying some ammunition.

And your solution is?

Rye House appalling, how ironic! Ideas should be visual and not out of the ether. To be fair to Peterborough they do try with the presentation but always ignore the obvious and just chop and change far too much. I'd also have the return of choice of gates when 6 points down - reverting to programme when not. Countdown clock is good example of WYSI not WYG when Sky are not in town. The clock has appeared twice at Peterborough in the last couple of seasons when Sky is in town but disappears when they do. In this technological age it's surely not to difficult or expensive to do this? With pride of place near the start, a sponsored 2 min clock would surely be one of the better commercial opportunities?

Well that was a big part of it.

With 15 mins of action in 2+ hours it's hard to ignore what comes out of the PA. These days the thought of the spare 100mins makes me think hard whether the 15mins is actually worth it. You'd take the risk irrespective by the sounds of it whereas I no longer will. We (Panthers) were certainly on the right lines here presentation wise (and track prep was generally good) but sadly clueless for some reason when it came to picking the winning side to complement the package, which sort of covers your post: Peter Oakes said: “I will be looking to add a more complete entertainment package and we have discussed and we will be exploring new ideas. I will in conjunction with Rick Frost and Team Manager Trevor Swales be putting together next year’s team although I don’t officially start in the role until December 1st” - peterboroughpanthers.co/news Nov 1 2009

And to think that Panthers had Darren Fletcher as presenter a few years ago but never used it as a selling point. I would have made that known for starters.

I'm sure that you could work that out for yourself, but if you think everything is fine and attendances are stable or increasing then you could just say that it's all tickeyty boo as it is and that I'm wrong (wouldn't be the first time).

The basic product is fine. It's the lack of quality and professional presentation that's the problem. I know that Tsunami would say that costs and who would pay for it, but that's what British speedway chose not to do and attendances reflect that as it continues to a grass roots level. It may recover if we discover a stream of British talent but you wouldn't put money on that.

.......Crump99....... "only a handful of diehards are going to pay 17 quid to watch 15 heats dragged out over 2 hours. Races need to be run more swiftly" Just to clarify that I didn't say that, it was a quote from Humpy's post. You must know what WYSIWYG is? WYS (what you see) at a Sky meeting (in terms of presentation, swift running and above average effort by all concerned) is not WYG (what you get) next time around. Certainly applies at Peterborough (not so much when Rick & Julie were here but swiftness of running often went pear shaped) so I guess that it does elsewhere? It irritates me that that still say about putting on a show for the Sky cameras. Rather hear them say that it's like this every week so come and experience it live, but of course next week we revert to the standard package.

"only a handful of diehards are going to pay 17 quid to watch 15 heats dragged out over 2 hours. Races need to be run more swiftly" That's nearer the problem but it's like banging your head against a brick wall. I don't mind the 17 quid (well for EL, not PL) as long as they get on with it and seriously improve the communications. How hard is it to tell you who is in the race before the riders leave the pit gate, or who's in heat 15 before everyone falls asleep? I read in 2014 whereby a lad leaving a Sky meeting was heard to say to his dad that that was good and could they go next week? (he'd need to check the fixtures first to see whether we're on a 2 or 3 week break and what day the next meeting is) Problem being that WYSI not WYG next week. Meeting efficiency and the best cutlery only appears when the cameras do, not a standard practice.

Not necessarily in speedway? During my time at Peterborough, I have done everything humanly possible to attract newcomers to our sport and all I might add on little or no budget. I have presented to over 2500 kids in various schools road show initiatives, I have invited and hosted whole organisations along for free and whole streets along for free. I have put up banners and posters, I have given away 1000’s of (sponsored) car stickers and more kids goodie bags than you can shake a stick at. I have offered free admission to members of the thriving local Polish club (one person came – once), 2 for 1 offers, Kids for a quid and Kids for free. We have on occasions been overrun by hundreds of Scout groups and I have undertaken umpteen radio interviews and quite a few local TV vox pops. I have put leaflets in newspapers, I have put leaflets through letterboxes, I have handed leaflets out in shopping malls and I have put 1000’s of leaflets on cars (with apologies to the owner of the Blue Vauxhall Astra in the Peterborough Railway Station Car Park in September 2007, honestly, it really did come off in my hand, so it must have already been broken). You name it and I’ve pretty much done it and all the time, our attendances have remained constant. Constantly poor. borospeedway.proboards/Mick Bratley final-curtain

So it was verbal and Glasgow just waved their wad before he put pen to paper?

What agreed deal? "“He was in our plans but was then offered a deal elsewhere" "Rathbone revealed a number of deals have been done in principle"

As you'll need a mug shot Rodders (holding a numbered board) and that all needs to be processed and produced, my money is on just the forms. Deciphering the press release could be a question at the quiz though.

All 7 would be good. Anything which stops another bloody team being posted.

I wasn't talking specifically about Lambert which is why I put as a general point. However, in hindsight it no doubt isn't that straight forward and getting a team together with a Crump, Adams, Andersen (when he was a Panther) attitude on attendance is probably history As for Lambert and the SWC. Nobody would not wish him to ride if selected, although Mrs Lambert posting on Facebook about let's see how irritated Panthers fans are when he misses meetings because of it wasn't the brightest piece of electronic communication, neither were the excuses as to why he couldn't make a Panthers fixture that his fellow competitors found quite easy to do so?

As a general point though, if a rider signs for a club for the season (not for life) then he has agreed to turn out for that club during that season, irrespective of whether someone waves a bigger wad in front of their face at some point.

Asking the Pope when he was leaving because Matt Ford was looking for a new challenge and the possibility of building a track in the Vatican City did cause a bit of a stink.

Finally a good point!