BERWICK v GLASGOW (CL) Saturday, June 13th (7pm)

[Robinh88]

11 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

 

Tigers will struggle away from home with the present bottom end of the Team IMO.

 

Yeah mate very true!

[TheWellBehavedWorrall]

7 hours ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Not to worry, as long as it was entertaining eh? Not sure Poole will do any better next Saturday?!

Correct.

The best meeting I was at last season was the play-off final second leg at Ashfield and we lost.

Do not misinterpret me Steve; speedway in the UK will die without entertaining racing.

[TheWellBehavedWorrall]

7 hours ago, Stuntdouble said:

He put in a shift for you tonight’s the same can’t be said for others. You blew a massive chance of a win as Berwicks heat leaders didn’t  score a point between them until heat 6 . 

He done well, but speedway is toe-to-toe and moments matter. Heat seven was the turning point last night and we needed more from Flint.

Similar to last season in the play-off final when Kerr passed Dan Thompson in heat 11 or 12 (I can’t remember).

Those are the fine lines that win meetings. There are fifteen opportunities to win a speedway match, but there are isolated moments in which champions elects deliver.

[SteveLyric2]

2 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

Correct.

The best meeting I was at last season was the play-off final second leg at Ashfield and we lost.

Do not misinterpret me Steve; speedway in the UK will die without entertaining racing.

...but people's definition of what makes 'entertaining speedway' clearly varies.

League Speedway will continue in some form or other if all clubs, first and foremost, are financially stable, which means clubs providing what their fans want/expect to attract  enough income to outweigh their costs.

[TheWellBehavedWorrall]

2 hours ago, SteveLyric2 said:

...but people's definition of what makes 'entertaining speedway' clearly varies.

League Speedway will continue in some form or other if all clubs, first and foremost, are financially stable, which means clubs providing what their fans want/expect to attract  enough income to outweigh their costs.

Steve, there isn’t another sport in this country demonstrating the visible, year-on-year decline as British speedway.

At the turn of the century, there were 23 professional clubs in the UK. There are now 15, one of which has just been manufactured and several which are struggling to keep the lights on.

For you to imply that theirs is profitability in speedway is complete and utter delusion.

For you to also suggest that entertaining speedway is up for interpretation simply means this discussion is a waste of time.

[Normski]

Pleased for Jordan Jenkins last night basically won us the match. Had we not signed him and went down guest route only 2 available were Cluff & Loftus

[SteveLyric2]

2 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

Steve, there isn’t another sport in this country demonstrating the visible, year-on-year decline as British speedway.

At the turn of the century, there were 23 professional clubs in the UK. There are now 15, one of which has just been manufactured and several which are struggling to keep the lights on.

For you to imply that theirs is profitability in speedway is complete and utter delusion.

For you to also suggest that entertaining speedway is up for interpretation simply means this discussion is a waste of time.

Much of the reason for fewer clubs is due to stadium owners selling off their venues for development rather than lack of interest in the sport itself. OK one could argue that speedway clubs (BSPL) should have invested in their own stadia - but that is so much easier said than done.

As for lack of profitability that imo is as much to do with clubs paying out 'big bucks' for 'star' riders rather than operating at a level that is sustainable.

Onwards and upwards - with whatever works for our clubs.....

(PS. apologies Berwick fans)

Edited yesterday at 12:11 PM by SteveLyric2

[mikebv]

13 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Much of the reason for fewer clubs is due to stadium owners selling off their venues for development rather than lack of interest in the sport itself. OK one could argue that speedway clubs (BSPL) should have invested in their own stadia - but that is so much easier said than done.

As for lack of profitability that imo is as much to do with clubs paying out 'big bucks' for 'star' riders rather than operating at a level that is sustainable.

Onwards and upwards - with whatever works for our clubs.....

(PS. apologies Berwick fans)

Far too easy to blame landlords and developers...

If crowds were such that the clubs paid £20k+ a night, twenty or so times a season, then a good few number of tracks would still exist I am sure...

Let's be honest, crowds of 3,000 to 5,000 each week would have meant much bigger rents could have been afforded, and would also have meant more challlenge to closures from the local communities, given the number of people impacted by them...

The first few closures also then gave the optics that the sport was in steep decline, especially given so few challenged the closures due to crowds of 1500 or so, max, which then had the domino effect of further closures as landlords saw no big money coming to them in the future given the dwindling number of meetings the reduced numbers brought. 

Let's also be honest and say that should Coventry, Swindon, Peterborough, Birmingham and Wolves have still been running, who would have ridden for them?...

That's another 35 places to fill with 10 "top level" riders and 15 of tier two HL level to be "competitive"...

A six team league, and a seven team league last year, cannot put together more than four teams of the required  level, therefore another five would have no chance...

Great entertainment, and/or a successful team, can, hopefully, both deliver a sustainable business model which sees that much needed growth... 

[screm]

First meeting of the season for me at Berwick and I picked a good one. Super debut from new signing Jenkins, keep that up and he will surely be riding himself into Berwick`s team or someone elses.

Hopefully the person taking away in an ambulance is feeling better today.

What was the booing of Leon Flint all about.

 

[Fromafar]

8 hours ago, Normski said:

Pleased for Jordan Jenkins last night basically won us the match. Had we not signed him and went down guest route only 2 available were Cluff & Loftus

Certainly showed up Berwick weaknesses.Looked good.Morris has quite a lot of bike troubles,needs to cut them out when riding for Bandits.

[JanAndersen]

10 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

Steve, there isn’t another sport in this country demonstrating the visible, year-on-year decline as British speedway.

At the turn of the century, there were 23 professional clubs in the UK. There are now 15, one of which has just been manufactured and several which are struggling to keep the lights on.

For you to imply that theirs is profitability in speedway is complete and utter delusion.

For you to also suggest that entertaining speedway is up for interpretation simply means this discussion is a waste of time.

 

Death, taxes and Glasgow Tigers fans pontificating about 'entertaining racing'. Gie's peace man. 

[Fromafar]

16 hours ago, TheWellBehavedWorrall said:

He done well, but speedway is toe-to-toe and moments matter. Heat seven was the turning point last night and we needed more from Flint.

Similar to last season in the play-off final when Kerr passed Dan Thompson in heat 11 or 12 (I can’t remember).

Those are the fine lines that win meetings. There are fifteen opportunities to win a speedway match, but there are isolated moments in which champions elects deliver.

Said at beginning of season that Flint would be under pressure as 3rd heat with that line up if the 5 pt men didn’t live up to expectations. iMO Flint is at his level and has had good season though.

[ragdoll64]

13 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Said at beginning of season that Flint would be under pressure as 3rd heat with that line up if the 5 pt men didn’t live up to expectations. iMO Flint is at his level and has had good season though.

What are the indicators that make you assume Flint is at his level?

[Fromafar]

38 minutes ago, ragdoll64 said:

What are the indicators that make you assume Flint is at his level?

Just my opinion.Very fast when gates ,not great at passing mainly rides outside lines.Been riding at the same level last couple of seasons(league is getting weaker so his average is very good).Happy to be proved wrong and hope he does well.He is not Glasgow reason for their average season (so far)as someone was saying. 

[PersonalResponsibility]

23 hours ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Much of the reason for fewer clubs is due to stadium owners selling off their venues for development rather than lack of interest in the sport itself. OK one could argue that speedway clubs (BSPL) should have invested in their own stadia - but that is so much easier said than done.

As for lack of profitability that imo is as much to do with clubs paying out 'big bucks' for 'star' riders rather than operating at a level that is sustainable.

Onwards and upwards - with whatever works for our clubs.....

(PS. apologies Berwick fans)

Have you not just proved their point to some extent? If clubs are spending beyond their means to sign better riders, and presumably winning sides, but still not making a profit, then maybe not as many people are "entertained" by success as you think. 

Ultimately, 2 or maybe 3 teams will get any success in a given season, from 15(?) clubs. If success is what keeps people coming back then the majority will struggle. 

I'm not actually even sure great racing (or lack of it) is the real issue. I'm sure most people would rather have it than not, but for me it's the lack of competitiveness or meaning to most matches.

When you look at Ekstraliga 2 in Poland, they're all aiming and building for promotion, to get more fans/tickets sold/TV money, etc. It means something. It's like the Championship in football.

Where is anything like that in British speedway? It doesn't really matter if you finish top or bottom of the Championship, nobody will remember in 3 months anyway, you can just start again next season.

[ragdoll64]

2 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Just my opinion.Very fast when gates ,not great at passing mainly rides outside lines.Been riding at the same level last couple of seasons(league is getting weaker so his average is very good).Happy to be proved wrong and hope he does well.He is not Glasgow reason for their average season (so far)as someone was saying. 

Yeah, it’s all about opinions I suppose. Personally, I think there’s more to come from him as he’s not one to rest on his laurels.