Do you miss the great occasion that was Cardiff ?

[YeOldPitGate]

8 hours ago, norbold said:

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?

Here you go probably when the sport was near its peak how it missed Bruce

 

[old bob at herne bay]

I have to say Wembley,  in its later years wasn’t the greatest track for racing ! 
 

To be fair with the modern style of speedway , the Manchester raceway is the best track for racing that has been used in the UK. As a “stadium”  honestly Wembley has to be the best - with its huge capacity and atmosphere, and ability to handle the huge crowds.  
manchester is only half a stadium and has little atmosphere in comparison with  industrial units surrounding half the site, and poor crowd capacity leading to high ticket prices. 
Glasgow is mooted - good track but again poor crowd capacity leading- high ticket prices . 
 

with a 6 team premier league lucky to have 2 GPs in the UK tbh. 

[Baldyman]

Nope not missed at all from me 

[foreverblue]

Part of the enjoyment was the whole city seemed to embrace it and  people were talking about it everywhere you went. Also you could guarantee it would be on although the drainage and facilities at the NSS seem to be so good the meetings there are rarely affected.

[Neila]

6 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Part of the enjoyment was the whole city seemed to embrace it and  people were talking about it everywhere you went. Also you could guarantee it would be on although the drainage and facilities at the NSS seem to be so good the meetings there are rarely affected.

Wait till Saturday on the rarely affected by the weather 😜

[Mr Bee]

Do I miss Cardiff? Absolutely. I miss the whole experience of the day.

Cardiff felt like a genuine event. The atmosphere in the city, the build-up, and the sheer scale of it made it a massive occasion on the calendar.

We all know the track itself wasn't always brilliant, and if we are talking purely about the racing, Belle Vue is leagues ahead. NSS is a phenomenal racetrack, probably the best in the world right now, but the location is the big letdown. There is very little to do around the stadium compared to a city centre venue. If Cardiff was an 'event' day, Belle Vue relies purely on the track action, which I suppose for Speedway is really what you want. For a GP to really work there long-term, the Fan Zone is going to have to be incredibly special. We need proper entertainment and engagement, not just a rider doing a back-wheel burnout on a stage.

Being realistic about why Cardiff ended, you could actively see the crowds falling away year on year. It perfectly mirrored the decline of British Speedway and the closure of so many of traditional tracks over the last couple of decades. The fan base shrunk, and the event sadly lost its momentum.

I don't see the need for a double-header weekend at BV. Just keep it to a single GP on the Saturday night. I'd like to see Glasgow get one as well.

Looking at the current meeting thread, almost all the talk is about the weather forecast. That just highlights one of the biggest perks of the Principality Stadium, we never had that worry at Cardiff. Rain or shine, you knew the meeting was ON. We just had to wait and see what sort of track they served up.

[lucifer sam]

11 minutes ago, Mr Bee said:

 

Looking at the current meeting thread, almost all the talk is about the weather forecast. That just highlights one of the biggest perks of the Principality Stadium, we never had that worry at Cardiff. Rain or shine, you knew the meeting was ON. We just had to wait and see what sort of track they served up.

In 2022, those who went back on Sunday had to endure sitting there for FOUR hours with a track grade every TWO races. The big pay-off of the semi-finals and final were called off, because the track had supposedly suddenly deteriorated, when in truth it had been awful since around Heat 12 of the previous day. So the most three important races weren't ON that day, whatever you may choose to claim. Rose-tinted specs, perhaps? 

I did go to the subsequent two Cardiffs, but many didn't bother. The racing at Cardiff varied between poor and awful - I think that's why the majority stopping going.

 

[mikebv]

23 minutes ago, Mr Bee said:

Do I miss Cardiff? Absolutely. I miss the whole experience of the day.

Cardiff felt like a genuine event. The atmosphere in the city, the build-up, and the sheer scale of it made it a massive occasion on the calendar.

We all know the track itself wasn't always brilliant, and if we are talking purely about the racing, Belle Vue is leagues ahead. NSS is a phenomenal racetrack, probably the best in the world right now, but the location is the big letdown. There is very little to do around the stadium compared to a city centre venue. If Cardiff was an 'event' day, Belle Vue relies purely on the track action, which I suppose for Speedway is really what you want. For a GP to really work there long-term, the Fan Zone is going to have to be incredibly special. We need proper entertainment and engagement, not just a rider doing a back-wheel burnout on a stage.

Being realistic about why Cardiff ended, you could actively see the crowds falling away year on year. It perfectly mirrored the decline of British Speedway and the closure of so many of traditional tracks over the last couple of decades. The fan base shrunk, and the event sadly lost its momentum.

I don't see the need for a double-header weekend at BV. Just keep it to a single GP on the Saturday night. I'd like to see Glasgow get one as well.

Looking at the current meeting thread, almost all the talk is about the weather forecast. That just highlights one of the biggest perks of the Principality Stadium, we never had that worry at Cardiff. Rain or shine, you knew the meeting was ON. We just had to wait and see what sort of track they served up.

All good points...

One GP at the NSS wouldn't be viable though....

Capacity would be around 4,500 as the East Stand would be cost prohibitive...

You would be looking at every standing ticket over £100, and over £150 to sit down...

I do think that the city centre in Manchester is untapped potential for the GP's to do a "proper" fanzone as all it does at the stadium is preach to the already converted..

The Aces would also benefit by doing something in the city centre alongside it...

[Mr Bee]

34 minutes ago, lucifer sam said:

In 2022, those who went back on Sunday had to endure sitting there for FOUR hours with a track grade every TWO races. The big pay-off of the semi-finals and final were called off, because the track had supposedly suddenly deteriorated, when in truth it had been awful since around Heat 12 of the previous day. So the most three important races weren't ON that day, whatever you may choose to claim. Rose-tinted specs, perhaps? 

I did go to the subsequent two Cardiffs, but many didn't bother. The racing at Cardiff varied between poor and awful - I think that's why the majority stopping going.

 

Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that disaster. I actually went on the Saturday but missed the Sunday because we were heading off on holiday the next day. You're spot on though, that was an absolute shambles.

Even so, in my opinion the crowds were visibly dropping well in the lead-up to that 2022 meeting, you could see the empty seats growing year on year before that weekend happened. The poor track presentation definitely didn't help endear people to the place towards the end, but the decline was already well underway.