Birmingham Speedway

[eric i]

You have to take your hat off to Tolley, a nice bloke who is willing to throw some money at speedway.

[IainB]

31 minutes ago, eric i said:

You have to take your hat off to Tolley, a nice bloke who is willing to throw some money at speedway.

It could and should have been so much better than it was though, unfortunately the PL was just a continuation of their CL years. 

[MRJHP]

Any news who we might sign to replace MJJ?

Edited 20 hours ago by MRJHP

[LagutaRacingFan]

1 hour ago, MRJHP said:

Any news who we might sign to replace MJJ?

Wouldn't surprise me to see MJJ back.

 

[Youhave2minutes]

1 minute ago, LagutaRacingFan said:

Wouldn't surprise me to see MJJ back.

 

Christ the man’s only been to the loo

[mikebv]

On 5/25/2025 at 8:24 PM, eric i said:

You have to take your hat off to Tolley, a nice bloke who is willing to throw some money at speedway.

In his interview he said that hardly anyone in Birmingham knows that speedway exists, and it's similar around the country...

And I thought it was his, and his other promoters' job to ensure that wasn't the case..!!! 

They had ONE job....😁

 

 

[ShanoXtra]

10 minutes ago, mikebv said:

In his interview he said that hardly anyone in Birmingham knows that speedway exists, and it's similar around the country...

And I thought it was his, and his other promoters' job to ensure that wasn't the case..!!! 

They had ONE job....😁

 

 

That’s so true though to be fair, as a PROMOTER surely you have to be good at promoting the sport as well as just your team. How much can it cost to even put signs around each city about the local meetings taking place. In Gorzów, before every meeting they have the Stał flags waving on all the buses and signs on every main entry route into the city. That doesn’t really take that much planning does it?

Edited 19 hours ago by ShanoXtra
Spelling

[Hawk127]

8 minutes ago, mikebv said:

In his interview he said that hardly anyone in Birmingham knows that speedway exists, and it's similar around the country...

And I thought it was his, and his other promoters' job to ensure that wasn't the case..!!! 

They had ONE job....😁

 

 

Promoting stopped back in the late 70’s. I can remember seeing posters etc around Rayleigh and on the A127 etc on most race nights and plenty of articles in the local press. Saturday night and bank holidays at the Weir were packed with families in the stadium and a good smattering of away fans on the back straight. Best were Eastbourne, Ipswich, Canterbury and Crayford  but you also had Bradford, Sunderland, Crewe, Ellesmere Port and others who made the journey. Alas this has all gone now and we are left with a shadow of what it used to to be.

[mikebv]

1 hour ago, ShanoXtra said:

That’s so true though to be fair, as a PROMOTER surely you have to be good at promoting the sport as well as just your team. How much can it cost to even put signs around each city about the local meetings taking place. In Gorzów, before every meeting they have the Stał flags waving on all the buses and signs on every main entry route into the city. That doesn’t really take that much planning does it?

Several million will be paid to riders this season across both pro leagues ..

Who hardly anyone on their own street would recognise for most of them .

Yet hardly one penny will be spent on some professionals generating an increase in crowd numbers and an awareness of the sport and it's riders ..

Absolute madness. 

[IainB]

1 hour ago, ShanoXtra said:

That’s so true though to be fair, as a PROMOTER surely you have to be good at promoting the sport as well as just your team. How much can it cost to even put signs around each city about the local meetings taking place. In Gorzów, before every meeting they have the Stał flags waving on all the buses and signs on every main entry route into the city. That doesn’t really take that much planning does it?

The trouble is, these days, they're not promoters, they're badge makers and scrap metal merchants etc. that have bought a speedway club. I'm not sure there are any promoters left in the game. 

[mikebv]

Just now, IainB said:

The trouble is, these days, they're not promoters, they're badge makers and scrap metal merchants etc. that have bought a speedway club. I'm not sure there are any promoters left in the game. 

It's no surprise that those whose livelihood depends on speedway often produce the best teams...

No "expensive hobby" for them...

[S4r4h]

1 hour ago, ShanoXtra said:

That’s so true though to be fair, as a PROMOTER surely you have to be good at promoting the sport as well as just your team. How much can it cost to even put signs around each city about the local meetings taking place. In Gorzów, before every meeting they have the Stał flags waving on all the buses and signs on every main entry route into the city. That doesn’t really take that much planning does it?

There were adverts placed on the back of Birmingham buses a couple of seasons ago. Not sure which areas of Birmingham the advertising buses covered. I live approximately 2 miles from the track and didn't see one bus with a speedway advert on it. They have also promoted with a small stand and a couple of bikes at One Stop where the old track was, but again it may raise numbers for a couple of meetings but few people seem to return when they have to pay full price.

[mikebv]

30 minutes ago, S4r4h said:

There were adverts placed on the back of Birmingham buses a couple of seasons ago. Not sure which areas of Birmingham the advertising buses covered. I live approximately 2 miles from the track and didn't see one bus with a speedway advert on it. They have also promoted with a small stand and a couple of bikes at One Stop where the old track was, but again it may raise numbers for a couple of meetings but few people seem to return when they have to pay full price.

And that goes back to the fundamental issue of the admission price being set too hight just to pay competitors to be fully professional...

The sport also charges an admission fee that it feel reflects it's standing amongst its peer sports...

The truth is, it is miles away from even Ice Hockey attendance wise..

Asking a couple to pay out well over fifty quid to watch 15 mins of action is truly a major ask, and a definite hard sell, even for a marketing professional let alone someone with a zero skill set in marketing and event promotions..

And throw in that ludicrous operating model whereby, should you actually get hooked on the sport, you can spend many hundreds of pounds in a season, and your reward is to see your best rider helping someone else on an ad-hoc basis which can help prevent his own, (and your), team from resching the play offs..

Thanks for your money, roll on next season for more of the same..!!!!😁

[IainB]

34 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Thanks for your money, roll on next season for more of the same..!!!!😁

... with (at least) one club less

[Fromafar]

42 minutes ago, mikebv said:

And that goes back to the fundamental issue of the admission price being set too hight just to pay competitors to be fully professional...

The sport also charges an admission fee that it feel reflects it's standing amongst its peer sports...

The truth is, it is miles away from even Ice Hockey attendance wise..

Asking a couple to pay out well over fifty quid to watch 15 mins of action is truly a major ask, and a definite hard sell, even for a marketing professional let alone someone with a zero skill set in marketing and event promotions..

And throw in that ludicrous operating model whereby, should you actually get hooked on the sport, you can spend many hundreds of pounds in a season, and your reward is to see your best rider helping someone else on an ad-hoc basis which can help prevent his own, (and your), team from resching the play offs..

Thanks for your money, roll on next season for more of the same..!!!!😁

Have to agree.

[GiveusaB]

13 hours ago, S4r4h said:

There were adverts placed on the back of Birmingham buses a couple of seasons ago. Not sure which areas of Birmingham the advertising buses covered. I live approximately 2 miles from the track and didn't see one bus with a speedway advert on it. They have also promoted with a small stand and a couple of bikes at One Stop where the old track was, but again it may raise numbers for a couple of meetings but few people seem to return when they have to pay full price.

Its not the cost for me? 

Its the 'shi#e' team that Rogers keeps putting together! 😀

Edited 3 hours ago by GiveusaB

[SuperStarsFan91]

14 hours ago, MRJHP said:

Any news who we might sign to replace MJJ?

Will end up being MPT I bet 

[ShanoXtra]

9 hours ago, mikebv said:

And that goes back to the fundamental issue of the admission price being set too hight just to pay competitors to be fully professional...

The sport also charges an admission fee that it feel reflects it's standing amongst its peer sports...

The truth is, it is miles away from even Ice Hockey attendance wise..

Asking a couple to pay out well over fifty quid to watch 15 mins of action is truly a major ask, and a definite hard sell, even for a marketing professional let alone someone with a zero skill set in marketing and event promotions..

And throw in that ludicrous operating model whereby, should you actually get hooked on the sport, you can spend many hundreds of pounds in a season, and your reward is to see your best rider helping someone else on an ad-hoc basis which can help prevent his own, (and your), team from resching the play offs..

Thanks for your money, roll on next season for more of the same..!!!!😁

The last paragraph is far to true, to invest in YOUR team and then watch the same riders guest for someone else and help them is so backwards for a competitive sport. And I get it, riders need to make a living and all that jazz, it just doesn’t sit right with me. Nothing against kings Lynn, but I’m an Ipswich fan and to watch some witches riders guest for Lynn was weird. Imagine a Norwich player getting injured so town loan them a player to help out! 
It’s another reason why I don’t like the averages (but fully understand why for competitiveness), you build a team over years which you feel is yours then have to break it up just because you’re too good. 

[GiveusaB]

2 hours ago, SuperStarsFan91 said:

Will end up being MPT I bet 

Till July 12th?

Nick Morris will be back on the scene!

[Teromaafan]

3 hours ago, GiveusaB said:

Till July 12th?

Nick Morris will be back on the scene!

People often comment on riders being spaced out during a race. The likes of Morris and Worrall were banned for being in a similar state before taking to the track! Who is going to offer either of them a team place? Ah…. forgot….it’s a Brum thread!