uk_martin

I know it's fashionable to blame the last promoter, however if you think about it the problem is a lot more deep-seated than that, and it goes back to when the gates re-opened in 2007. The biggest problem has been the "lost generation" of fans, meaning that those fans who came back when speedway re-started were mainly in their 50's-80's. There has never since 2007 been any form of long term strategy for developing a younger fan base. Had there have been then the 12-13-year-olds of 2007 (what there were and who could be "hooked" on to the sport) would be full admission payers today, and the cash shortfall caused by dwindling attendances may have been averted. Sadly, the promoter (Tony Mole) had no incentive to go in for long term strategies, as his own business plan was always to sell the club on, so his investment in the younger fans wouldn't have given him any rewards. It was always going to be "someone else's problem"

A common Google coq-up. It should translate as "Zloties" - which when converted, = £95,000 or so.

Feeling really sorry for any Kings Lynn fan who went to Poole yesterday. Dastardly & Mutley did a fantastic job of putting the meeting on last week despite the rain, so when the track conditions became a bit of a leveler, Poole were all too keen to race. And of course we remember how a year ago at Belle Vue, the rain and positively dangerous conditions didn't get in the way of an engineered 7 point win for the Pirates that scraped them into the play-offs when Sky and the "establishment" wanted them there. But yesterday, it was all too easy for Poole, who were facing the meeting with having to track 5 guests in a much weakened team, just to say, "it's been raining, the meeting's off". What a joke British speedway has become that Poole are allowed to call the tune while the rest of the sport has to dance to it. I gather that Buster Chapman tweeted that he couldn't believe that a club with all the resources to employ the most expensive riders couldn't invest to the right equipment to either prevent track damage or to fix and prepare the track after a bit of rain. How true! The other thing is the irony that the team that fell foul of Belle Vue's "plumbing failure" last year, now has a track unfit for racing through water damage just at a time when they would have faced going into the meeting with a severely weakened team. Funny that, innit?

Mickey Mouse's last hurrah, as Polish "champions" lol. Wonder where this competition will be held next year? Will Stal Gorzow host it, or will it "go abroad"? If Zielona Gora host it then it will really be like an away meeting for Stal Gorzow with the hatred that goes on between those two clubs. Could also make the potential attendance (for the same reason) unviable there next year.

It's Poole innit? The second leg will be abandoned and the result from the first leg only will stand.......possibly.

So by process of elimination, that means that the NL is the place to be! Let's all follow Eastbourne into the NL next year.

Here's food for thought for anyone convinced that the PL is the answer...Peterborough are citing losses of £60,000 in the last year as the reason why Mick Horton (honourable man that he is - ) is pulling out of his arrangement with messrs Frost and Maloney. http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.27463.20

Polish crowds are a strange thing. What matters to them is their team result first and foremost. after that (and some way after that too) their country, and barely on the radar are star riders, with the sole exception of Tomasz Gollob. British fans will have their favourite riders, and they will look to where there is a prospect of an exciting meeting and go to it, irrespective of their home team loyalties...that's why you will always get "speedway tourists" on the terraces at British tracks, e.g. Coventry fans to see Birmiingham v Belle Vue, or whatever. In Poland, you'll never see a Falubaz fan at Gdansk v Wroclaw. What matters to a Stal, or a Falubaz fan is their team. Quality racing is almost secondary to them, as are the riders involved in a meeting. An example of this was when I went to Gorzow when the SWC was there a couple of years ago. On the Thursday, in the play-offs then, there were 25 races, and the 4 teams featured 11 SGP riders, and 9 other top notch riders. British logic would say that for £5 admission for that meeting, the stadium would be packed. None of it. It was emptier than the next week when Stal Gorzow rode a league meeting. An interesting side line to the "how do they do that" question, is how is it that the average age of the crowd at a Polish league match is under 30, compared to the average age of fans in Britalin who are over 60? To answer to the second part of the post quoted, you're probably right, there won't be many. Part of the reason may be my observation above, and the other part may be that if a 20-something year old Pole visits a British track, and is amongst people two or three times his age, what's he going to have in common with any of them? Fish out of water tend not to survive very long.

Czestochowa and Malilla for me.

Additionally the land on which the stadium is built has a deed of covenant on it, requiring it to be used for sporting purposes...although which sport is staged there has changed over the years and has included athletics, greyhound racing, and speedway, as well as occasional forays into American Football and other passing sports. It will go on as a sports stadium in the new Perry Barr redevelopment plan, but there is no stipulation as to what sports are to continue there into the future.

I wouldn't rule out the "Euro's" though.

Thank you for that very sobering contribution to the discussion. Maybe you're right, and maybe I'm wrong. And maybe a lot of Birmingham supporters will be really cheered up by reading what you've written.

For as long as the nags attract a crowd, there will be a "social element" that will keep it going. Having been to Ascot, and been well impressed with the stadium and with how they make an effort to attract people to the races then maybe there is still a future. If it ever gets to the "one man and his dog" levels of attendences though, like with greyhounds, then the slippery slope will just get steeper.

But not future proof. People are broadening their directions and horizons when it comes to gambling and "old fashioned dog racing" may go out of fashion without notice. Put the BAGS business model to a vote at the Dragons Den and I think you'll get a unanimous "I'm OUT". Let's face it, punters can win or lose money gambling on virtual dog racing...why should the providers of a gambling service go to the expense of paying for the real thing?

Have you seen the attendance at a BAGS meeting? - The dogs owners are there, and maybe some close family. That's it. If they are relying on television broadcast revenues then they are on a dodgy wicket for the long term IMHO

Nothing personal against Adam Roynon, as I really loved watching him in action in 2008...HOWEVER...let's face facts, he can't go through a season without picking up horrible injuries. To see him break his leg in 5 places at Rye House just from laying his bike down to avoid Phil Morris, just showed one inescapable fact about his physical make-up, that he is too brittle boned. Someone close to him ought to be telling that to him as well, as he's going to suffer in later life from the complications all these injuries could inflict on him. Sorry, but I'd rather pay for Roynon to retire and preserve his health than to see him on a countdown to another injury in Brummies colours.

I think that the GRA are hoping and praying that Tony Mole will bring speedway back, and that next Wednesday's meeting will be a success. Without speedway's rental revenue, there's a belief that the GRA can't make the stadium pay for itself from greyhound racing alone. The last 7 years have seen greyhound racing whittling down from 4 nights a week to just two. Without the speedway, that stadium may well close of its own accord. The good news there then is that it improves Tony Mole's bargaining position from where he was in 2006/2007 in that the GRA probably need the Brummies now, more than they did 7-8 years ago, and their terms and conditions could be a lot more attractive as a result. Let's hope so anyway.

There was talk of the 28th last night. Too early for anything official at that point. I'm on a train all day today heading to Katowicz so not always in the loop to hear any more.

Cheers. I ain't gonna let Mickey Mouse get me down although I can understand Gorzów fans not wanting anything to do with this fixture again in the future. There's more to a meeting out here than just the racing. I keep meeting some really nice welcoming people whom I've made friends with over the years so it's become a social event as well. I obviously won't be able to come to the restaged date but I'll be here again for "The Derby" again next year as when it goes well it's the best fixture in speedway.

Good news. A riot has been averted. Poland won the Voleyball World Cup tonight so an inordinate number of Stal fans who left the stadium baying for blood and who called in to a pub on their way home have been cheered up. (Amazed at how popular volleyball is over here)

Time wasting a go go by Falubaz because they know that thunderstorms have been predicted all day

Basically Mickey Mouse is running scared. That's the top and bottom of it.

I'm in the Gorzów stadium and it's just been announced that the match goes ahead

Absolutely spot on post!

Did anyone here buy a Belle Vue Brick? Do brick owners get any updates on how their investment is getting on?