Do you miss the great occasion that was Cardiff ?

[Phannan]

Went there many times. Always looked forward to that weekend despite the dodgy surfaces they had to race on. The buzz in the City before the meeting won’t be captured again. 

[Son of Shaleman]

It wasn’t a great occasion. Dodgy tracks, rip-off hotels, public transport awful and roadworks. Wembley knew how to deal with 90k fans. Tube trains lined up, coaches given parking space. Cardiff struggled with 30k fans. Cardiff was OK for those who wanted to be on the squirt but sadly fell short in other key areas. 

[foreverblue]

Cardiff was a great occasion and the last gp held there was pretty good racing wise, the year before was awful though and that is probably what killed it although I thought they pulled the plug too soon.  Nothing wrong with transport, plenty of trains and buses. You didn't have to book an expensive hotel, we always stayed locally, last time was Caerphilly 30 mins on the train.  

[Phannan]

6 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Cardiff was a great occasion and the last gp held there was pretty good racing wise, the year before was awful though and that is probably what killed it although I thought they pulled the plug too soon.  Nothing wrong with transport, plenty of trains and buses. You didn't have to book an expensive hotel, we always stayed locally, last time was Caerphilly 30 mins on the train.  

I once stayed in Neath which was a good hour away by train so hotel was reasonable. I remember that one well as I had a few quid on Crumpie to win and he went through the card . Unbeaten on the night. 

[YeOldPitGate]

what do you think killed it then ? my thoughts are crowds never came back post covid and the night Bewley won it the track was beyond terrible.

[foreverblue]

7 minutes ago, Phannan said:

I once stayed in Neath which was a good hour away by train so hotel was reasonable. I remember that one well as I had a few quid on Crumpie to win and he went through the card . Unbeaten on the night. 

Stayed at Bridgend a few times and Porthcawl caravan site both not far on the train. Never understood why people stayed in Cardiff and paid crazy prices for hotels. Like you  quid over the years especially when Bomber won. 

[Phannan]

3 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

what do you think killed it then ? my thoughts are crowds never came back post covid and the night Bewley won it the track was beyond terrible.

The track was definitely a factor because a percentage of the supporters were there for the social side of the weekend as well as the meeting itself, so track conditions, although important, weren’t the be all and end all. So they continued to come. However another percentage of the crowd went first and foremost for an exciting meeting with good racing, the social part not important, so when track conditions didn’t allow that , they became dissatisfied and stayed away , therefore numbers continued to fall. That’s how I saw it. 

[lucifer sam]

Went to every Cardiff GP, but don't miss it. Manchester is better - Friday's meeting last year was better than any meeting staged at Cardiff.  

[Phannan]

Being from a rugby league family , my parents went to Wembley every year for decades , to the challenge cup final. It was their sabbatical. No matter which teams were there , they went. Fans from everywhere attended. Speedway needs that sabbatical in this country. Wembley used to be it, then it was Cardiff . It’s vital we get a new one. The supporters deserve it . Whether it could happen is another story . 

[Phannan]

10 minutes ago, lucifer sam said:

Went to every Cardiff GP, but don't miss it. Manchester is better - Friday's meeting last year was better than any meeting staged at Cardiff.  

Cardiff could never match Manchester for quality of the racing . It had different things to offer though. To some people, that was just as, if not more important. 

[foreverblue]

36 minutes ago, lucifer sam said:

Went to every Cardiff GP, but don't miss it. Manchester is better - Friday's meeting last year was better than any meeting staged at Cardiff.  

I went to every Cardiff gp too and I miss it very much. It was an occasion and a big event, now it is great racing on a great racetrack  but a lot less people see it live.

[LagutaRacingFan]

Speedway at Cardiff felt like a big event, a spectacle.

Speedway at Belle Vue feels like another meeting.

Manchester will never replicate the roar when Harris passed Hancock on the final bend.

[IainB]

I miss it, it brought a different demographic to Speedway a younger and often female demographic that you just tended not to see at league Speedway, some of these were foreign but a lot seemed to be British. I know of people with little to no interest in Speedway who used to attend from Leicester, so there must have been others. 

As league Speedway is followed by an older, more male demographic, a lot of who arent interested in actually having a good time socially or enjoying the atmosphere that a big crowd generates and only interested in "the racing" and filling their programmes in before a race is complete and standing there in stoney faced silence offering no applause when a rider comes round and acknowledges the crowd... when they stopped going it only left "the normals" and that just wasn't enough to sustain it. (Controversial, sorry if that's you).

It's done the sport as much damage as the loss of Wembley did back in the 80's and it's going to take some coming back from. 

I went to every one and enjoyed every experience I had... even the ones with crap racing. I only stayed over twice, never in Cardiff, never went just to get p155ed up, never paid more than £30 for a ticket after year one and just had a cheap maccies to keep the costs down.

With the 14 odd tracks we currently have running today it's difficult to see how the British Speedway showpiece event can attract a crowd of more than 6,500 ever again in the current setup. 

Edited 3 hours ago by IainB

[Sir Sidney]

1 hour ago, Phannan said:

The track was definitely a factor because a percentage of the supporters were there for the social side of the weekend as well as the meeting itself, so track conditions, although important, weren’t the be all and end all. So they continued to come. However another percentage of the crowd went first and foremost for an exciting meeting with good racing, the social part not important, so when track conditions didn’t allow that , they became dissatisfied and stayed away , therefore numbers continued to fall. That’s how I saw it. 

That's probably it in a nutshell - and I don't think the promoters did enough to try to retain those people (I'm one of them) - and, without them, the event became unviable

[Phannan]

41 minutes ago, IainB said:

I miss it, it brought a different demographic to Speedway a younger and often female demographic that you just tended not to see at league Speedway, some of these were foreign but a lot seemed to be British. I know of people with little to no interest in Speedway who used to attend from Leicester, so there must have been others. 

As league Speedway is followed by an older, more male demographic, a lot of who arent interested in actually having a good time socially or enjoying the atmosphere that a big crowd generates and only interested in "the racing" and filling their programmes in before a race is complete and standing there in stoney faced silence offering no applause when a rider comes round and acknowledges the crowd... when they stopped going it only left "the normals" and that just wasn't enough to sustain it. (Controversial, sorry if that's you).

It's done the sport as much damage as the loss of Wembley did back in the 80's and it's going to take some coming back from. 

I went to every one and enjoyed every experience I had... even the ones with crap racing. I only stayed over twice, never in Cardiff, never went just to get p155ed up and just had a cheap maccies to keep the costs down.

With the 14 odd tracks we currently have running today it's difficult to see how the British Speedway showpiece event can attract a crowd of more than 6,500 ever again in the current setup. 

It’s that yearly experience of knowing where you’ll be on that weekend, with like minded people, enjoying it all again. The riders mingling with the crowd beforehand… and feeling proud of the fact that only in our sport would this happen , down to earth lads. ( the riders)

Edited 2 hours ago by Phannan

[IainB]

7 minutes ago, Phannan said:

It’s that yearly experience of knowing where you’ll be on that weekend, with like minded people, enjoying it all again. The riders mingling with the crowd beforehand… and feeling proud of the fact that only in our sport would this happen , down to earth lads (and lasses). 

Spot on, for me it was similar to attending a metal concert, it's not mainstream, gets zero media coverage but you're all there to watch you're "secret" thing... while everybody else is watching Taylor Swift (Football)

[GeneralMelchett]

I don’t miss it as I last went in 2018 when Tai came 2nd - I did used to love the whole event every year and went from 2001 to about 2008/9 - I was there to see the Trick wall of death ride the Emil / Scott handbags and of course Bombers win in 2007.

my old man, sadly departed in 2022, and I used to go every year we started at Coventry in 2000 that was a fab event too as were the old British finals we used to attend in the late 80s

it was more than just about the SGP tho it was a whole weekend event if you wanted it to be just like the old British finals etc were a big day out - there was a meeting on the Friday night at Somerset and then one at Newport before they closed on the Sunday or was that the other way round?. There was also the meeting of friends from this forum in the Prince of Wales for a few hrs before and after the event! 
 

Like most things I suppose it had it’s day - I don’t miss the scramble for the hotels and like a few others stayed well outside Cardiff in Bristol Newport etc on a few occasions as the hotels started ramping up prices! Glad I got to do it and really enjoyed it for a while! 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by GeneralMelchett

[Neila]

Been to several Cardiff gp over the years, either staying in Cardiff or travelling in from portishead (family) was great to meet up with friends/fans in Cardiff before and after the meeting and for food. Where this weekend at belle Vue theirs nowhere to meet up for a drink or meal. Yes longsight club but it is very small, and Kentucky on the other side of Hyde road, that's all, yes a fan zone but big queue for drinks, no central area in city centre to meet up before catching bus to belle Vue, may pop into spoons at Piccadilly before the bus, but the last time I was in there it was iffy . Give me Cardiff anyday dispite the racing 

[norbold]

What I do miss are the Wembley Finals set in the magnificence of the Empire Stadium with 90,000 fans yelling their heads off.....

But then I'm just an old codger, so what do you expect?