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And the final nail in the coffin of the Northampton venture 🤐

Majority on here seem very negative towards this new venture. A shame really as they need to have fans behind them. Peterborough, Birmingham and Coventry are lost and fans could easily head over to Northampton to give their support. I wish them all the best in this venture. It’s going to be hard to start from scratch in a town not known for speedway. Hopefully the locals will come out to see what it’s all about and a fanbase can be built. Good luck to them.

The Brafield team of the 1950's and 60's were called the Badgers. Given that Badgers are mostly seen dead on their ar$es they do share some other similarities with those who run British Speedway. They have very poor vision and they are creatures of habit who will follow the same paths for generations despite the dangers and do not adapt well to changes in their territory. Badgers would be ideal. All we need is a Bodger to manage the mashed potatoes.

Depends what levels you set the leagues and how many riders in a team I guess. doubling up is killing the sport in this country. We have to either limit it to uk residents first and then get rid or the whole system in say 5 years time. for the sport to grow it has to have credibility.

Only just read last weeks copy of the Speedway Star and they do a two page spread on Northampton... Mark Lemon is quoted as saying that they needed a sixth team for the "integrity and credibility" of the sport... I do hope when he used those words, he managed to do it with a straight face... Fair play if he did....

And right there is why the sport is on its arse because you justify mediocrity, it matters, the little things all add up, if you want the sport to expand to the outside world it matters,?every little thing matters no matter if you think it doesn’t, at least Phil morris understands this, first impressions matter more now than ever

Could have been Luke Becker as the replacement if America hadn't started an illegal war with Iran 😂 ... I presume the FIM will be banning all American and Israeli riders from all of their events 🤔

It's certainly a strange thing to say. I re read it a few times, but am still wondering what he means by that! The other part of the article that struck me, was the explanation of why they were so desperate to invent the 6th team. In a 5 team league where the top team goes straight to the playoff final, riders may find it preferable to finish second or third in order to get 2 extra meetings. If that's the ethos of professional sportsmen that represent their teams, how can you expect fans to invest in it? I know I'll be accused of being negative or moaning, but while I sincerely hope that Northampton and the season as a whole is a success, it does smack of desperation.

While that might be true that doubling up is keeping the sport running it does nothing to make it credible. without credibility it won’t grow and the media certainly isn’t interested in it’s current guise. try going into your local pub and explaining how doubling up and guests work in our sport. It’s embarrassing

Really I didn't realise Ouch had a pro Belle Vue bias!!!!

That's a whole season these days! 😂

Instead of doubling up and down why not double the fixtures instead like we used to have. a meaningful league with promotion and relegation settled via play offs while the team who tops the league are crowned champions would mean every meeting meaningful.

In a word, no! 99% of the population would not know the name of or recognise any speedway rider if they stood at a bus stop. This is why I have previously said that if British speedway were brave enough organise an affordable sport structure without trying to retain certain riders as a top priority, the current so called stars will not be missed in a few years time. Being blunt, get rid of doubling up. If riders can’t afford to stay in the sport, go part time or quit. Targeted new followers of the sport (which are vital) will not give a damn, so long as racing is competitive and their own new hero’s will emerge. Common business strategy I would have thought.

I’ve told this before but it is relevent about schools, back around 20 years ago when the sport had the speedway riders association we had monthly meetings where various issues/problems/ ideas were discussed, one of the ideas was to visit schools to promote the sport and we the SRA would send 2 or 3 riders to each one(whoever lived closest to the school) as there was a bit of money in the pot we would fund the travel expenses ourselves, so come the AGM me,Craig boyce and Shane Parker sat at the table with all the promoters and told them what we would like to do except we didn’t tell them how it would be paid for and all we got back was it costs too much money and not worth doing for the cost and in a nutshell went down like a lead balloon and quickly moved on too the next subject, over the years I’ve done various promotions for different teams, been to shopping centres, rugby matches, ice hockey matches and other days and even took my bikes to the scouts one night and to a car show and still do Telford off road show every year, I don’t know how much success any of them have but to me we need to be everywhere no matter how small the presence or significance is, a lot of tiny things put together make a big thing, you do nothing you get nothing

Firstly it wasn’t me who mentioned the podium it was MikeBV talking about his son, I just quoted him and I can remember last year someone making a post about it on FB but it isn’t about the podium it’s about all the unnecessary little things, the podium just happens to be one of them and it’s so unnecessary and cheap to fix ,your later point is valid about them entering the stadium but I’m talking about people who may see it on tv or on YouTube or wherever as their first impression, something I saw a couple of years back on tv was I think the speedway of nations and everytime the camera panned round to the pits there were around 30 people who were standing around talking or drinking tea and it looked like a branch of primark, totally unprofessional and shambolic so I messaged the promotion and FIM and told them and the next day there was nobody standing there in the pits, it’s the little things that matter, I understand the sport hasn’t got a pot to piss in but a lot of little things cost peanuts

Can’t believe that someone who seems to trawl through posts on this forum looking to pick a fight is telling someone else to calm down 😂😂

Oh my,someone DOES need to calm down, another one that accepts and makes excuses for mediocrity and poor practices and wonders why we are where we are and because you obviously need a little help the post I made was sarcasm

An important part of season planning for a professional sport as set out by Dave However as is seen through this winter it seems that others want to reset the sport to the level of a village fete.....

Great!!! It would be super to see black leathers and proper racejackets again. 👍🙂

Armando is writing the citation for the FIM Peace Prize as we speak. 🥇

I think they got a lot more stick putting Woffy in then they would have putting Parnitskyi in!

The season is 1 day old and just 1 meeting in and King's Lynn has lost at home already After the turmoil of the winter some normality at last

https://ipswichwitches.co/ipswich-seek-next-generation-with-young-person-tickets/ they’re listening!

Seemingly no ill effects from his double leg break. Good first meeting back.

While these 2 and their fake tv programs should not be ignored they appeal to the old generation and they are not the future of speedway, we need to be looking to influencers, now don’t get me wrong imo they are useless twats but for some reason they appeal to the yoof and that’s where we need to be looking

The impression I get is that, at the club I've had conversations with at least, there just isn't anyone who has the capacity, contacts and experience to set that kind of thing up. I know that certain major cities have police initiatives focused on bike crime, not all of those have speedway but Manchester is one. I imagine that when it comes round to noise complaints or fending off developers, being the in council's good books would come in handy. As you say as much as anything that kind of project is about building good relations with the local community and local government, rather than directly attracting fans or even riders (although it might do those things too!). This is obviously massively important for speedway, because fundamentally, the thing that separates British and Polish speedway, and the thing that has secured Belle Vue ther stadium, is local government support. But I can imagine how these kind of long-term, diagonal strategies might seem like luxuries if you're flat-out fighting crisis on all fronts. One angle that has only just occurred to me, and could well be a good seller in the current educational contexts, is that I've got a little hunch that both in terms of spectators and participants, speedway might be a sport that favours neurodiverse people. The connection to ADHD is obvious: massively intense, massively sensory, short bursts of violent action; impossible to ignore; regular hits. I think there are connections to some points on the autism spectrum too. All the numbers, the averages, then the physics, the immersion again. As a spectator it's a very attention grabbing all-senses experience (apart from the food). I would imagine it's exactly the kind of job for someone who needs to be in-the-moment. Speaking as someone who has these conditions. So... this line of argument could be used in schools and universities to students. That is a growing proportion of students (up to around a quarter in some universities) who might respond very well to a welcoming community that invites them in, especially if they've got a mega-exciting entertainment at the centre of it. But again developing these kinds of projects and arguments requires a certain kind of mindset and experience which, if you haven't worked in those kinds of areas, you might not have. Which I imagine is the main reason they haven't happened. Certainly to actually get funding you need to be able to speak their language. From the perspective of speedway it would be about: how can we solve a problem for someone else? That's basically how you lever them into being willing to solve yours. Once you get started down that path there's all kinds of places you can take it though. Arts council? Performing rights society foundation?

Business Studies... how not to run a business 😂

Yeah... f*#king media... f*#k 'em 🖕😉

You are using your club bias to forge a debate against other clubs, be better and that goes for all clubs, it’s not acceptable anywhere, your argument is well they are crap so we can be crap too

Both Swedish and Danish teams do this. Typically the free meeting gets around double the usual crowd. Not sure that there is much evidence of increased crowds, but some teams do it every year so there ust be some perceived benefit.

It's to help the teams, press agencies, the BSPA etc get content they can use in their social media posts. It is a useful resource to be fair. The BSPA used interviews from the press day to pad out the British Speedway Podcast throughout the season for one example.

Perhaps, but by leaving it so late he has robbed someone the opportunity to plan ahead to ride the GP season and get sponsors ready for the campaign. Actually I blame whoever thought it was a good idea to offer him a wildcard, his GP form for two seasons was average (at best) and that was before the injury. He really should not have been offered a place.

Just to give a slightly different view of last night from an attendee. Yes, the delayed start was a bit frustrating and clubs should run to time. Yes, the centre green presenter seemed a little quiet, but Chase always makes up for that Given the amount of rain they had clearly had Andy Meredith and team provided an excellent race surface. The first few races did serve to turn the top surface over, but the racing imprived as the night progressed. Some were as good as any I expect to see elsewhere any time this season. I don't remember there being any fallers or race stoppages, other than a couple of tapes infringements. It wasn't apparent to me that there were delays in the meeting caused by catering for BVTV. Overall,I thought it was a more than acceptable first meeting of the season for me. Chris Holder exceeded my expectations, and, being an old traditionalist, I think he should have won with a 15 point max - but then we would have missed out on a top quality final with Holder and Bewley passing each other until Bewley established a lead and won. Could the whole meeting have been run better? Could all the entertainment around the racing have been slicker? Yes to both, but Belle Vue are not alone in being a bit lacking in that. If the remainder of the meetings I see this season are as good as last night then I will be happy

In effect it was , he ran a "sh*t show" & in my opinion he was a stain on the history of the club.

For God's sake, don't mention Horton! They're still looking to name a figurehead promoter....

You mean the world under 21 champion who should have got the place ahead of Tai anyway?

Pleased it looks like Tom Brennen's recovered well from his mishap in America, always been a tough lad physically and mentally.

Me and my wife will be there every match we are twenty minutes away .

Now you know that's not true Daniel 🤔

100%... And the vast majority of 80 million people have never heard of the sport, never mind any rider... What an opportunity for a reset... 5 rider teams, and play with the heat system so the disparate levels of ability, from one to five, race more against each other of the sane level.. Or six rider teams with both reserves very much "junior level"... Drop the level, drop the price... If a track does a "special" the crowds rise significantly, with those extra people being fans who no longer rgularly attend, but come back for one night only, thus suggesting twenty five quid per visit isn't seen as worth paying... But (insert price here), is....... Reduce costs, and invest the money in price reduction.. And start UK Speedway again, from scratch... But don't do the same thing you do now because it clearly isn't fit for purpose....

The season Emil came over he certainly brought that, it was noted by promoters that everyone had their biggest crowds that season on his visits, people turned up to see him for sure. I think that probably subsided a bit over year 2 & 3 though, hard to say really how to make that draw more sustainable with the quantity of teams and top riders we now have riding here. “back in the good old days” when you had a much bigger league and only rode home and away once against everyone and some ko cup matches people would want to be there for the one chance too see say Jason crump visit Foxhall with belle vue, I love watching bewley and Kurtz visit the heath but last season they visited 4 times which reduces that excitement to get to see them for less die hard fans. so in a way I agree with the one top star per team to be the target but I think ultimately the goal should be to have say 10-12 teams with that one top star and drive that draw of “this is your chance to see “top rider X” at your home track this season” but that just seems to so far away from reality with the current state of affairs in uk speedway doesn’t it

The thing is surely it's better to have a bunch of 18-24 year olds in for £15-£18... + maybe burger, chips and a pint (I know some tracks don't receive catering money) rather than none at £25. Speedway's pricing structure is so rigid, you go from next to nothing as a non adult to a massive £25 minimum as an adult whatever your age. As a sport with such an aging supporter base there doesn't seem to be any middle ground for the next generation of supporter.

Don’t mention it, it’s not allowed on here

Well looking at her she well below average

The correct move. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a reserves list in order?

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They set the whole show up pretending it’s real and film it, I had a stall right behind them at the classic off road show a few weeks back, a 2 day event,they turn up on the Sunday for a couple of hours, set a fake stall out, pretend to buy/ haggle with someone for their own stuff film it then film them buying a cup of tea and then pack up and leave, all done in a couple of hours, nothing new most tv is scripted and fake, they not inventing the wheel

The jubilant scenes from the 5k+ that attended the final, coupled with the celebrations from management, riders and staff, definitely proves it was worth winning 😉

Or get Eddie Kennett in for opening night then go with your plan match 2 to season end or Niki Pederson for another one of those awesome first corners.

Easy to compare £45 with £75 when you are the father and his two sons with the choice to make.....