GeneralMelchett Posted 8 hours ago Report Share Posted 8 hours ago 3 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said: I certainly did, i will be going again, racing wasnt the best but they will iron out any track issues over the winter. amenities are fantastic. Viewing is ok, car park is massive, stewarded well and was pretty easy to get out for saying how many people there was, and the staff were very friendly, recommend anyone to give it a go TY - looking forward to it even more now - sadly i am designated driver so no beer for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted 7 hours ago Report Share Posted 7 hours ago 57 minutes ago, Hamster00 said: First trip to Northampton last night and it is an impressive venue with great facilities, helped by the fact it was a beautiful night. The track is poor right now and I would say it is definitely one of the poorer meetings I’ve seen all season but hopefully they can work on the shape and surface during the off season. As someone who only really ever goes to Championship meetings I did find the atmosphere completely different and frankly disappointing, I can understand it to a certain degree from the Northampton perspective as they are trying to build up a fanbase, I was surprised that given there was so many Belle Vue fans and that they won the meeting they didn’t seem to react to anything all night, no cheers, no big reactions when they got a 5-1 or anything like that. It felt the total opposite to the Championship on that front for sure. It would be good to see the Foxes pick up a few more wins and build a winning team next season, British speedway needs it and the setup is arguably the best in the league apart from Belle Vue. The barman was also very good especially given how busy it was. The question is though of the crowds that they are getting, are they fans for other tracks that no longer run like P'boro or Coventy? the Foxes are not their team and never will be so they wont make a lot of noise if any if they get a 5-1, its like in the days when i used to go to Rye House, I didn't cheer for the Rockets, I went their as a neutral to watch second division as Arena Essex were in the first division and at that time you saw different riders in each division. If that is the case not winning at home is not important but going forward they will need to find their own fans, because the neutrals will drift away in time once they have got their fix and realised its not the same as watching their own teams which has gone. The sport in this country tends to build something, then think that's the job done and not build upon it, it has to be forward thinking all the time, you can't rest on your laurels, that's what too many did when times were better, its always reactive not proactive. As someone said on here, there are no signs around Northampton, the people who are going already know its there, your preaching to the converted. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulnolan Posted 7 hours ago Report Share Posted 7 hours ago A home defeat is a home defeat is a home defeat. The league table doesn't have asterisks for effort and bad luck. It doesn't make one want to attend the next meeting, knowing that it will be the same again. Changes needed, at team manager and at reserve, at least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szkocjasid Posted 6 hours ago Report Share Posted 6 hours ago 12 hours ago, Pinny said: They are rock bottom and have won one match all season. If you call that competitive then good luck to you. I'd say there's a difference between being competitive & being successful. Northampton haven't been successful, but mostly have been competitive. How I'd explain it is a rider with 4 last places, but only losing out on the line is competitive, a rider half a lap behind isn't. Likewise a team losing by 2 or 4 points each week is competitive, losing by 20 or 30 points isn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago I think Pinny has a point. So I looked at 1982 in the British League, that season saw Poole finish 15th out 15, next team finished on 21 points, so they were well out of it yes? They only got 9 points overall, three home wins, three draws and eight loses, most of those home defeats were only by 2-6 points, but you would not say looking at 1982 that they were a competitive team in the grand scheme of things. Sheffield fans were walking prior to heat 15 last night, they had seen enough, a defeat no matter the margin is still a defeat and people don't want to see their team lose at home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldPitGate Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago 6 hours ago, Whitelinehugger said: Yes but they have not been hammered. All meetings home and away have been close. A one rider change is enough to make the difference between losing and winning. But it needs to be a decent rider it won't happen but if you could swap Batch for Becker they would win most home matches. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitelinehugger Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago You can’t get better than a WHITELINEHUGGER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinny Posted 59 minutes ago Report Share Posted 59 minutes ago 2 hours ago, marko said: I think Pinny has a point. So I looked at 1982 in the British League, that season saw Poole finish 15th out 15, next team finished on 21 points, so they were well out of it yes? They only got 9 points overall, three home wins, three draws and eight loses, most of those home defeats were only by 2-6 points, but you would not say looking at 1982 that they were a competitive team in the grand scheme of things. Sheffield fans were walking prior to heat 15 last night, they had seen enough, a defeat no matter the margin is still a defeat and people don't want to see their team lose at home Correct. losing home and away every week at rock bottom of the table is not being competitive. i should know, i was a Newport fan and apart from one memorable season in 1999 and a decent last season in 2011, i seen us win about 8 wooden spoons and lose at home most weeks. The crowd levels hit rock bottom and i cannot count the amount of times the racing was great and it was a last heat decider. as I said before, home wins are absolutely essential to maintain a decent fan base and Exeter are proof of that. The experience of the venue and track was superb in being so close to the action and it being a big, fast daunting track but the racing was absolutely dire but they won at home every week and kept a great fanbase because of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitelinehugger Posted 8 minutes ago Report Share Posted 8 minutes ago 50 minutes ago, Pinny said: Correct. losing home and away every week at rock bottom of the table is not being competitive. i should know, i was a Newport fan and apart from one memorable season in 1999 and a decent last season in 2011, i seen us win about 8 wooden spoons and lose at home most weeks. The crowd levels hit rock bottom and i cannot count the amount of times the racing was great and it was a last heat decider. as I said before, home wins are absolutely essential to maintain a decent fan base and Exeter are proof of that. The experience of the venue and track was superb in being so close to the action and it being a big, fast daunting track but the racing was absolutely dire but they won at home every week and kept a great fanbase because of that. As long as the meeting is a close result and great racing, who cares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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