SteveLyric2 Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 18 minutes ago, gjcone44 said: yes last years as woeful, and produced the best race of the season, i was away last year, but would of loved to witness that live, in the stadium. Lets hope the Presenters/Commentators do their research on who the riders race for - Premiership and Championship - as 11 of the declared 16 (as of 13/8) are Championship riders. It'll be a missed opportunity if only the Prem clubs are mentioned imo! A graphic should also show the forthcoming meetings - where and when - that could 'flash up' on screen throughout the broadcast! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShanoXtra Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 1 hour ago, mikebv said: It is a National Championship... Fans should be there, in numbers, from any track that has a competitor, and even if they haven't... Like used to happen.... The reality of course is that the BF is no longer what it was once, and the Aces fans will make up the majority of a small crowd.. If Dan Bewley gets confirmed it will attract more Aces fans to the event, (plus others), however, possibly, the Aces only have a RS rider in the meeting.... This is the third meeting in less than three weeks at the NSS, which I would say is a gamble in today's economic climate... To be honest, I do feel that the BF should move given the NSS holds two GP's which, whilst being great, and much more expensive, do deliver VFM and massively take the shine of the BF, especially when so many RS's and Championship riders are included... There is minimal advertising for the event, if any, locally, but that aligns with the usual Aces lack of marketing.. I am baffled why every track doesn't try and flog, at least 100 tickets each (since April), with these tickets being discounted heavily to offset the high travel costs... Maybe clubs should even organise coaches to get their fans there?.. The BF should be a "Festival of Speedway" pushing the sport forward, instead it becomes just another Speedway meeting... 1 hour ago, mikebv said: It is a National Championship... Fans should be there, in numbers, from any track that has a competitor, and even if they haven't... Like used to happen.... The reality of course is that the BF is no longer what it was once, and the Aces fans will make up the majority of a small crowd.. If Dan Bewley gets confirmed it will attract more Aces fans to the event, (plus others), however, possibly, the Aces only have a RS rider in the meeting.... This is the third meeting in less than three weeks at the NSS, which I would say is a gamble in today's economic climate... To be honest, I do feel that the BF should move given the NSS holds two GP's which, whilst being great, and much more expensive, do deliver VFM and massively take the shine of the BF, especially when so many RS's and Championship riders are included... There is minimal advertising for the event, if any, locally, but that aligns with the usual Aces lack of marketing.. I am baffled why every track doesn't try and flog, at least 100 tickets each (since April), with these tickets being discounted heavily to offset the high travel costs... Maybe clubs should even organise coaches to get their fans there?.. The BF should be a "Festival of Speedway" pushing the sport forward, instead it becomes just another Speedway meeting... I do agree with some of what you are saying especially that you have the SGPs as well so it isn’t that easy to keep spending the money. The other issue I have with it being staged at BV is that it’s a trade off for ; having the best racing track in the country vs having it so far away from any southern clubs so fans can’t make it. I don’t know how other clubs feel but being in Ipswich I’m travelling all that way when I have to work that weekend. It should be at a centralised position within the country, and yes I know we have Scottish clubs too but I would say Leicester or midlands area would be ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noelinho Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago (edited) Just move it around different clubs each year. Btw, the centre of the Great Britain is north of Manchester so it’s more central there than it would be in the Midlands! Edited 6 hours ago by Noelinho 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShanoXtra Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago (edited) 7 minutes ago, Noelinho said: Just move it around different clubs each year. Btw, the centre of the Great Britain is north of Manchester so it’s more central there than it would be in the Midlands! I wasn’t talking about geographically on the map as a pinpoint central location, I was talking central to speedway clubs, hence why I said Leicester. Also I did say best track in the country, England is the country. Great Britain is not a country is it 🤦🏼 Edited 6 hours ago by ShanoXtra .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDY69 Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 3 minutes ago, Noelinho said: Just move it around different clubs each year. Btw, the centre of the Great Britain is north of Manchester so it’s more central there than it would be in the Midlands! Strictly geographically or by population? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevePark Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 22 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said: I do agree with some of what you are saying especially that you have the SGPs as well so it isn’t that easy to keep spending the money. The other issue I have with it being staged at BV is that it’s a trade off for ; having the best racing track in the country vs having it so far away from any southern clubs so fans can’t make it. I don’t know how other clubs feel but being in Ipswich I’m travelling all that way when I have to work that weekend. It should be at a centralised position within the country, and yes I know we have Scottish clubs too but I would say Leicester or midlands area would be ideal. It's the National Stadium. So, that's like the equivalent of Wembley for football. All major UK speedway events should be held there IMO. Otherwise it's not a National Stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago (edited) 30 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said: I do agree with some of what you are saying especially that you have the SGPs as well so it isn’t that easy to keep spending the money. The other issue I have with it being staged at BV is that it’s a trade off for ; having the best racing track in the country vs having it so far away from any southern clubs so fans can’t make it. I don’t know how other clubs feel but being in Ipswich I’m travelling all that way when I have to work that weekend. It should be at a centralised position within the country, and yes I know we have Scottish clubs too but I would say Leicester or midlands area would be ideal. There are seven teams, BV, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berwick, Workington, Redcar, and Sheffield, that are "Northern" however there never appears to be too many from any of them at the BF, even Sheffield.. To be fair, not too many turn up from Sheffield for play offs.. Maybe moving it to somewhere like Glasgow one year, and Ipswich or Kings Lynn the next would get more interest? Given they have current tracks around them, and/or reasonably recently closed tracks around them... Poole would deliver a decent crowd too I would think, as the likes of Lambert and Bewley will be, like if any Championship team had it, a novelty so would generate interest... Whatever happens they need to do some marketing and, like with all the UK Speedway titles, make the competition actually worth winning, as currently, riders can just pull out such is their lack of desire to win it.... And that cannot be good optics for a National Championship if they want to engage a decent following... As for being Central? Manchester is probably the most Central point from the Scottish teams to the South Coast ones... It's more the lack of prestige in the BF title, and the level of riders on view nowadays, that keep people away for me, more than the venue location... Edited 6 hours ago by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neila Posted 6 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 2 hours ago, ShanoXtra said: Can anyone who actually supports or is from near Belle Vue genuinely say how come the stadium is always empty a lot of the time? I get league meetings for obvious reasons but I hope people locals turn out and get a full stadium for the final. I hate watching an event on TV and the stadium is half empty, surely people will turn out for this one!? Just been on the website and the main stand again has loads of seats left, this there a real reason why people don’t attend? This isn’t to get at Belle Vue or their fans as I actually love watching BV but I always feel like Ipswich would have a better crowd for the BS final than BV. And yes, I’ll wait for the comment about how poor our track is and the racing would be shocking but like I said it’s a genuine question and no digs at anyone. I live in Workington, years ago used to go to Coventry for the British final, car full of mates, now in our 60's still watch speedway but more traffic on the roads, 3 hour drive each way, £70 for petrol, £25 to get in, £5 for a programme, somewhere for food, as nothing anywhere near belle Vue or stay at home watch it for free or before the ITV news, pay £14 for a stream . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 6 minutes ago, StevePark said: It's the National Stadium. So, that's like the equivalent of Wembley for football. All major UK speedway events should be held there IMO. Otherwise it's not a National Stadium. I actually think "less is more"... The NSS holds the PCMT at the start of the season, featuring top level GP riders. This attracts a 2000+ crowd... They also then host two GP's with more than 3,000 Aces fans attending both nights.. The BF, no disrespect to it, is the equivalent of the "Football League Cup" when compared to the "Champions League" of the GP's... And, the League Cup is always a tough seller for the Premiership clubs compared to their Premiership matches.. Moving it around could give it a new lease of life...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neila Posted 6 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 1 hour ago, mikebv said: The BF should be a "Festival of Speedway" pushing the sport forward, instead it becomes just another Speedway meeting... Even the GP could not manage that, I stayed 2 days in the city centre no advertising anywhere, even nothing on Hyde road 200 meters from the track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neila Posted 5 hours ago Author Report Share Posted 5 hours ago 16 minutes ago, mikebv said: Poole would deliver a decent crowd too I would think, as the likes of Lambert and Bewley will be, like if any Championship team had it, a novelty so would generate interest... Would certainly be a novelty for several riders trying to put a good show on the blue groove at Poole 😜 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nw42 Posted 5 hours ago Report Share Posted 5 hours ago 36 minutes ago, mikebv said: There are seven teams, BV, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berwick, Workington, Redcar, and Sheffield, that are "Northern" however there never appears to be too many from any of them at the BF, even Sheffield.. To be fair, not too many turn up from Sheffield for play offs.. Maybe moving it to somewhere like Glasgow one year, and Ipswich or Kings Lynn the next would get more interest? Given they have current tracks around them, and/or reasonably recently closed tracks around them... Poole would deliver a decent crowd too I would think, as the likes of Lambert and Bewley will be, like if any Championship team had it, a novelty so would generate interest... Whatever happens they need to do some marketing and, like with all the UK Speedway titles, make the competition actually worth winning, as currently, riders can just pull out such is their lack of desire to win it.... And that cannot be good optics for a National Championship if they want to engage a decent following... As for being Central? Manchester is probably the most Central point from the Scottish teams to the South Coast ones... It's more the lack of prestige in the BF title, and the level of riders on view nowadays, that keep people away for me, more than the venue location... Scunthorpe is north of Manchester, there's also Buxton just 25 miles to the south, so I'd say 9 'northern' tracks, 7 'southern'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noelinho Posted 5 hours ago Report Share Posted 5 hours ago 1 hour ago, StevePark said: It's the National Stadium. So, that's like the equivalent of Wembley for football. All major UK speedway events should be held there IMO. Otherwise it's not a National Stadium. But is it really a national stadium outside of Belle Vue?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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