IainB

The trouble with attracting new fans or even enticing old ones back is that it's just such a lottery going to the Speedway and that's not just whether it's going to be a good match or not it's the weather, the make up of the teams, the delays, the standard of the track, the number of ambulances in attendance, the tractor racing, the standard of the stadium... the list goes on I hate taking new people along to Speedway because there's always the chance of a disaster happening, fortunately on the few occasions that I have taken new folk along I have got away with it and even then non of them had a burning desire to return. When I was stood at KL the other week as that disaster unfolded I was thinking to myself... what if I had brought a first timer along with me... who would take that chance. Similar happened at Peterborough a few weeks before. Fortunately I am able to travel for my Speedway so I just vow never to return to KL again, but if I didn't and KL was "my track" that'd be me done with Speedway after being treated like that.

I kind of am

Why don't the put their hands in their pockets then and splash some of the polish Jack Holder cash!

I'm not having a pop at the guy, I just wondered why the op thinks he's going to be the saviour... I remember the super7 series, I'll take your word for the KL promotion... Does he have the respect of many people in the sport... Like Colin Pratt and Peter Oakes for example?

... But what has Jonathan Chapman ever done for Speedway?

I don't know if I've missed something but what is the point of removing the Friday dates for the clubs mentioned? Are they looking at abandoning/switching FRN mid-season? Or do we just not know?

If that's true he should be asking for a refund

maybe give them a free rattle and a club rosette?

Just in my time following Speedway you can pin point so many beginning of the ends... Thatcherism and the rise of the economy and the value/price of building land The loss of Wembley Wiggy race fixing sting Amalgamation of BL & NL World of Sport ending and the loss of pretty regular free to air TV coverage Sky getting TV rights and BSPA falling over themselves to attend to their every whim... and usually ballsing it up Double Points Cov/Peterborough BSPA stand off Poor tracks Faster and faster bikes The rise of Poland The list goes on and on the truth is it's a gradual chipping away of the integrity and excitement of the sport, lack of decent facilities, a refusal to move with the times... etc. etc.

All of the Croats and French that follow the Bees

Yes kids should be let in for free, but when they're in the stadium I'm just not sure things like photo's, sweets and caps cut it anymore with kids. The majority of kids I see at Speedway couldn't be any less bothered with what his happening on the other side of the fence. What the sport needs to invest in is some kind of interactive app that kids can install on their phones and couple that to the action that is happening on the track, that is the addiction that will keep them wanting to come back and when they grow out of that smartphone adddiction hopefully they've created enough of a bond with their club to continue to attend as a paying adult

NO! I won't have this... they changed the white helmet colour to green! They did all they could

I can't agree with that, watching Speedway live at Leicester is crap, it was less crap watching it on TV the other night... it was still crap though. The TV coverage adds value with the rest of the presentation, rider interviews, replays, (comedy) commentary etc. I have seen a lot of cracking meetings on TV over the years, normally SGP/SWC and play off semis and finals, when there is something at stake and something to ride for it's well worth watching, live or on TV... too often though, especially a league level there's very little at stake. For me Sky hyped a lot of their matches up more than BT do, who remembers the return of Darcy Ward match? A lot of us probably do, but who can remember who the teams riding were, what the score was or who even won!! The point is sometimes you can make the best of a bad job especially when the product on offer more often than not in this country is plodding along through the season building up to 6 meetings at the end of the season

What's his pedigree, track record? What's his CV like? What other accomplishments has he done inside or outside of Speedway? I ask this genuinely, not having a go at the bloke, what has he done that's been so great before? I remember he re-branded the big events as the Super Seven Series, I'm not aware of anything else though, does he even want to do it?

I'd say they already have had a reality check and just stopped going to Speedway

Have you seen the banking on turn 2? add any more and it'll be like a wall of death!

Don't forget a certain cockney gentleman who also skimmed the cream off the top of the pie!

It was better... just better than diabolical... it was still crap though

Somebody will

It's pretty much normal Leicester, there's normally at least a couple of half decent races but not nearly enough! 3rd and 4th bends seem pretty unrideable again

Don't be fooled by the spectator facilities either, unless you're stood on the fence getting filled in the sight lines ain't great... Fortunately there's nothing to see

It's good to see Speedway being LGBTQ friendly

I agree with everything you say except for Coventry riding at Leicester is not Coventry... If it had been a continuation of the same or similar team in the same league then maybe, but for me not a completely different set of riders in a different league

Believe me, I was asking myself the very same question!

It was alright I suppose... just wait until you see Leicester vs Poole on Monday though!