oldswindonsupporter

A first visit to the Abbey in 2016 and at a bargain price of £10 which included a programme thanks I believe to an online blip post last week's cancellation. About the right price in reality. Not the best of meetings and not the worst, some good races for those that used their heads rather than blast flat out mid track outwards which as a spectacle does nothing - are the bikes too fast for the tracks and this is what is required to ride them or something else? As a result it offers little in the ways of entertainment to tempt anyone back. And where was the crowd, quite sparse compared to my last visit, expected more and absolutely no atmosphere! I stood near the start line and nothing, completely flat and noise free, wouldn't have upset the neighbours for sure. Doyle - did all you could ask of, close to Kennett but never looked likely to pass, never close to Cook Tungate - when gated fine, poor otherwise Morris - good effort and would have been more if hadn't got out of shape in heat 6 Sedgeman - solid performer, can gate but like Tungate, if he doesn't, not much else in the locker Josh - another good effort like Morris Wright - deserved his heat 15 Nielsen - engine problems in first two rides but showed he can gate and go in heat 8 Cook - broke tapes in heat 1, good effort to catch up from 15m, bailed out in heat 9 going for the big blast around 3 / 4 which probably wasn't on. Solid and put effort into his racing in trying to catch the opposition Bridger - scored points in every race but needed more Lawson - wasn't his day, on his Glasgow bike after his first ride, gated but last by the first bend tells it's own story Kennett - the score will say top man, gate and move out wide round bends 1 and 2 proved a good tactic Kerr - cracking effort in heat 12, last to 2nd and kept Wright honest, best race of the night Mear - looked slightly out of control to me but easily had the beating of Nielsen prior to ef and Tungate Finished around 21:25 which neatly fits in with the TV schedule, what a surprise. Three welcome points for Swindon, Kennett and Cook apart, didn't have too beat too much. Too drawn out for me and the gate then hang on whilst blasting round is not my ideal meeting for entertainment but good to see live speedway and of course the smell! All in all, probably 6 / 10, heat 12 the best for entertainment, attention held until heat 5 and then it drifted probably due to chips and tea time, 10 / 10 for the tea and 7/ 10 for the chips, not freshly cooked.

Looking fair after 14:00 according to the Met Office with the sun maybe appearing early evening. Let's go racing!

Had mine for a few weeks now.

Frankly the opposition aren't attractive to warrant spending £17 plus travel costs and with footie on terrestrial TV tonight guess which wins. I'd agree the B/H fixture was a money spinner who schedules a dull fixture up against an England football fixture shown live. No doubt we will have comments about the dire attendance level and that the fans need to demonstrate they back speedway at Swindon but eyes need to be opened promotion wise in order to foresee the clash and bigger picture. Even more so, given the reported lack of entertainment on offer on Monday (glad I had a pre-arranged theatre trip now!). But hey, don't let that stop Rosco and Co having a go!

And £10 admission to boot! Good bit of PR by the Leicester promotion.

Superb and passing in a few heats yes, the rest gate and go I'm afraid. Poole excellent out of the traps, Swindon asleep. Doyle give it a go, Wright good value although if a tad faster would have scored more, Josh, scored points but nothing special. Sedgemen unlucky to be the meat in a third bend sandwich in the 1st heat gated for his points. Nielsen far too slow out of the gate. Tungate and Morris, should have stayed at home. I wouldn't have thought Swindon could have a worse meeting.

No-one complaining track side. Scoreline explained by Poole being able to get out of the gate, Swindon shocking. Like EL against PL.

Whilst it is extremely bad news and timing it has been announced there have to be some lessons / observations. In summary: A loss of a sponsor Average crowds surely give you a figure to work on and allow a budget to work with Decide to plough ahead in the PL Crowd numbers for opening night nowhere near the 800 needed, surprisingly, about the average. Now plainly obvious it wasn't going to work. With hindsight it is easy to say, however, those in charge of the finances had the single and only view needed, finance. I don't know when the finances were known, nor when the sponsor was lost, however, the most obvious was, we are going to loose money. Time to rethink. Why wasn't the NL an option to cut the cloth accordingly? It is about time, this great sport of ours, got its financial house in order before, it gets much worse. Gone are the days of mega bucks, riders may whinge, PJ revealed the true costs of engines the other week in the star, very simply, you can't pay more than you get in. Is it time again for semi professionals and no stars? Speedway is simple yet it seems to be so complex. Look at the Eastbourne model for instance. I shall miss going to Plymouth a couple of times a year and hope that it can be resurrected.

One challenge for the sport is how to entice more customers through the gate. Any live sport is better at the venue rather then from the armchair as you have the atmosphere. Speedway is no different, it has the smell, the noise, ok curtailed) and the barracking of the fans etc. Speedway can't afford to loose any more paying supporters to stay at homes, rather, it needs to be promoting the live aspect and getting more people in. Witness the crowd increases when the entrance fee is set at a reasonable / realistic / affordable level. Speedway just has to cut the cloth accordingly, is it a viable professional sport in the UK, questionable in my view. Riders demands and the costs associated with riding have to reflect the income. Simple business logic. Is it time for semi professional?

As Rosco has said, an out and out No 1. I hope Batch doesn't return, such a let down at times and goes missing when needed to step up and or pull out a heat win. Re Sedgie, I note it is only Elite for next year, last time he did that, well, all went sour / pear shaped so hoping that is not repeated. Would have thought he would need Premier League as well. Would he fit at the OTA?

As suggested, both sides have agreed these dates...I suspect, both are waiting for injured riders returning or riders being available. However, the momentum for the Devils is probably lost, nigh on three weeks before they ride the 1st leg whereas Glasgow have two meetings the week before. Play offs normally favour the form team and those that are riding regularly. Having said that, with both having a vacant date this week you would have thought these would have been the obvious ones.

As others have said, huge credit to the track staff for sorting out the track. Rye gave it a go to be fair. Monarchs far quicker out the traps. Couple of races to excite but pretty drab mtg in total to watch. Impressed by Jakobsen. Worrall the party pooper in ht13 when rye on a 5-1 only for cookie to fall and excluded, rerun a 3-3. As a neutral, nit the best track for the spectator and a £17 entrance fee, poor value for money.

To be fair Rene did try and clear the track, on that basis the ref couldn't have left it any later. Uprorar in the crowd as the ref awarded the race when it was very clear than Hansen had more than an even chance of passing for the win. From my view, ref got the decision to stop it right but not to award it. Should have been re-run. For those who despise the tac sub rule, fine, but that is the rule, from the spectator view, it kept the meeting alive, not the rules fault that Newcastle didn't deal with it. Same for both sides regardless of location and teams.

On the way to Fort Bill today, took in Workington last night, looking to call in to see the changes. If Wells questing, he had his gating gloves on last only beaten once in five. Be grateful for any updates on the weather / track before 11.

Well only the 2nd time visit. Eight down after two, you wondered where the first win was coming from. Sad to Marry Wethers so off the pace. First win for the comets in ht 4 thanks to Ricky Wells and a stonking t-1 in ht 5. Nielsen popping Harrison on the line for a point in ht 6. Raffa in for Rose two rides, five points shd have done better in ht 8, dropped it when challenging for 3rd. Rosen two out of two, diamonds well in control. Into ht 9 and a 4-2 takes them 10 clear. Ht 10 and Howarth on a tactical and Hansen flew out the gate, 8 massive points and the gap down to 3. Ht 11 and what a ride by Matt Williamson, has the beating of Henry who then unfortunately clipped his back wheel, bike cleared the fence. Henry off to hospital, shoulder and neck pain. Ht 12 Wethers held 2ns for a while but did very well to hang onto 3rd. Another 4-2. Same in ht 13. 3pts up now and then the suspect ht 14 which Hansen had to win. But step up Williamson, held 2nd for a lap, Raffa under him but held off Rosen until the final bend losing out on the run in. All to ride for in the last. Easy 5-1 from the two top performers, Wells and Hansen. Enjoyed it. Diamonds so much sharper till ht 9. That 8-1 seemed to knock them.

See https://twitter.com/AJROSCO/status/620621382469218304

Stuck in a hotel for the night, wonder if anyone would be kind enough to advise of a stream for tonight. This in advance.

Does anyone have a stream link for this? Thks

For the record...I took in last night's match as I was in Reading with work and thought why not. To correct assumptions made, I am not a PL supporter, nor a Somerset supporter, nor a Swindon supporter these days, rather a speedway supporter who just hasn't been to Swindon for a couple of seasons. For me, Somerset is the closest track to where I live, my visits have always resulted in an entertaining meeting. Speedway should be entertaining, last night it wasn't. It is my opinion / view to which we are all entitled. Further, it is my money, I'll choose to spend it where I want, based on last night, it will not be at Swindon in a hurry. Apologies if that offends but that's the way I saw things.

From someone who hasn't been to the Abbey for a couple of seasons.... For me, the meeting was too drawn out, it was not until post the interval that things seemed to get slicker, 5 heats in 20 minutes, meeting over at 21:10 which might argue was good but still, far too much waiting between races and too many tractor laps. I remember the old Belle Vue not needing grading at all, why was that? Anyway, onto the racing, after the 2nd bend, passing was at a premium, Blackbird in heat 2, Bech passing Nicholls in heat 7, Howarth passing Lawson in heat 11, Lawson passing Nicholls in heat 13 and Morris passing in heat 14 along the back straight 1st lap. The track to me never looked like it would encourage passing or offer the racers something to pass with, disappointing given Swindon's track record. Atmosphere was not existent, given the closeness of the scores, you might have thought that would have generated some excitement. Perhaps it was the aftermath of Monday, who knows. Entertainment value, about 6 out of 10, star of the meeting, Hans Andersen, rode as a true number 1 and reminded me of Martin Ashby in heat 1 when riding the white line. Tom Perry not competitive at all, didn't seem to learn what lines Eliis would ride and never close enough to pass. If Lawson had been better, it might have been a different outcome. Boxall did far better than expected, always could gate which was a bonus last night. For me, it will be Somerset as a first choice, I came, I saw, I wasn't impressed. Maybe that is Elite league racing but it just wasn't entertaining enough to prompt a return. Some say the product is good, I'd agree but tracks need to encourage racing rather than riding and present / promote a show. £17 to stand around getting cold and wishing the night away says it all. Just my view of course. I'll take my money elsewhere thanks.

Just been informed there heavy rain in Clevedon, two junctions up on the M5, therefore, would also appreciate a weather update from those closer to the OTA and or the track. A

Thks for the update. Well decision just been made, started to pour down here!

Can anyone give a weather / track update for tonight's meeting, currently debating whether to go or not. Thks A

Thanks to Penny Cross and Former Devil for the information - I shall be contacting Groupon forthwith, shame Groupon didn't contact the buyers of these as they obviously know the buyers! Not a good PR move by the promotion though especially for those who turn up expecting them to be honoured. Did the promotion put a new item on the web site to the same effect? If not, why not? Thks A

I have a spare Groupon voucher entitling the owner of the voucher entrance for two adults to a home fixture i.e. one of Plymouth v Somerset or Plymouth v Sheffield. Save yourself £££'s on the admission price of £28, offers upwards of £11 before 18.00 on Thursday. Voucher sent electronically. PM if interested. Payment by PayPal only.