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You’re posting pics of the track before any work has taken place and declaring it a death trap! They know what needs to be done to make it a speedway racetrack and like every other track in the country it will be subject to a full independent inspection before it’s granted a license from the SCB. It amazes me, most people said this had no chance of happening, even suggested the 6th team was made up for the BSPL press release. And yet when it is announced, rather than be happy that we have a new team in the league and we have a premiership of 6 teams, everybody can’t wait to mock it or tear it to shreds before it’s even opened. And you wonder why there isn’t a lot of people willing to run/keep a speedway track going for us?

Not sure the size of track makes for good racing,, it's the room on entry and exits of the corners that make for good or bad racing.

This is literally the same as posting a picture of a field before the new Workington track was laid and saying "it's a bit bumpy at the new Worky track" 🤣

I saw him at Scunny at weekend. I tried to take a photo, but my phone was stuck on zoom and I only got his arm

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.

The application to build on the stadium has been rejected. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A5dPxTP8J Not out of the woods yet, but this is a good start.

Good luck to all at Swindon. Planning meeting just started (6pm) but Blunsdon is item 8 on the agenda, so a while to wait

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

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.

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

https://tru7.com/a-new-chapter-ipswich-witches/

The first thing speedway needs to do is get in the public eye, no matter how small but getting there, something I saw a month a so back really brought it home to me how far out the loop we are, when Linda lusardi did her cup draw and it made the news papers, what was interesting was the comments about it from the general public and one stuck with me, it was guy from Essex around his 20s and his reply was what is speedway Genuine question ? Now that to me and you is ridiculous but he genuinely didn’t seem to know, now you would assume he would google it but up till that point it didn’t even cross his mind, how many other people are like this ? Last week I was talking to a customer who is massively into in fast bikes and I said I’d sell him an engine that would blow his bike out the water for acceleration and went on to tell him it was GM speedway engine and he said he didn’t know what I was talking about, as I went into an explanation he said oh you mean flat track racing like they do in the USA, speedway is just not in the public consciousness and that’s something we need to address

There should be no other meetings than the British final run on this date. It will maximise the amount of fans attending and free up all riders. It's not rocket science, we have so many free dates throughout the year it can't be that difficult can it?

Dan and Brady who? That would be the question from 99.9% of the 2.75 million who live within 45 mins of Manchester.. That's how well Belle Vue market them... However, even the "Best Supported Clubs" run with a pretty poor levels of punters in real terms... An average of 1500 or so isn't being "successful" really is it? My lad will play in front of many more than that several tines a season, at step six of football, and last week at Hyde Utd, two Amateur Sunday League teams played out a final in front of over 1000 spectators.. I am always amazed when teams do a "special" and reduce admission, or even let fans in for free, and then the promoters are quoted as saying "We did this and the week after the crowd was back to normal"... Of course it was... Clearly by definition of the increase in crowd for the "special" it shows there is a strong market of ex attendees out there who still follow sport, but don't turn up due to the normal price point... Laying out six figure salaries to riders who, whether there or not have little impact to crowd numbers, will mean you can never drop admission charges to a level that may regularly attract more of those who turn up for a "special"...

Back to Northampton, announce they running and then silence again, what a strange way to conduct a business

If that was the case the sport would be in a far better place than it currently is lol.

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

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.

2500 or so will turn up at the NSS for the PCMT... 14,000 will turn up at the GP's at the NSS... 2500 - 3000 will turn up at the PO Final if the Aces get there... Proving there still is a reasonable demand if the product has some decent levels of relevance, jeopardy, consequence and authenticity.... The issue is that the vast majority of meetings have very little of the above.... That is what needs sorting...

The Northampton promotion must be BSPL lack of information. No team announced. No nickname. No promotion announced secrecy and no engagement with the customers. Must be BSPL

No because Godfrey has got Bradfords stock car meetings. And that’s why he is opposed to two home and away in the championship. self interest from the chairman

I do wonder if we just have to accept the sport is beyond saving now, I've mentioned before nightclubs that were packed in the 90's early noughties are now virtually all gone, loads of pubs closing daily, when I used to go in the 80's early 90's there were generally a couple of tracks in trouble every winter but generally a new owner stepped forward to save them. You didn't have Sky in the 80's, streaming services, mobile phone and broadband monthly subs, multi plex cinemas, online shopping and so many other things these days tugging for attention of the monthly pay packet, that's before you get onto gas and electric and the cost of running a car going though the roof in the last decade. I have a feeling if it does survive and someone takes it on it will look radically different to what we know and love and that probably won't include league racing in its current form if at all. I wish the Northampton team all the very best but there's no getting away from the fact they have a massive task on their hands on multiple fronts.

£15 and All kids free was for the Colts.. Men and Motors was the local channel with around 652 viewers... There hasnt been an advert on local radio for around 20 years that I have heard.. The MEN don't cover Speedway anymore but the Tameside "Whatever" does.. Tremendous reach in Tameside... Not seen 100's of kids from any school on an organised visit once, but do remember "Junior Vue" which seemed to be quite popular in the 90's, maybe that could get started sgain? Never seen any billboards used other than for GPs and SON... Never seen any bikes in city centre Manchester... And as for flyers, fairs, etc, etc etc, its 2026... TV watching is the lowest it has ever been so going out on local TV news won't make much (any) difference... One of the Sunday League teams I mentioned who got over 1000 watching them has their own YouTube Vlog which has over 5000 subscribers... Another Sunday League team has a YouTube Vlog with over 152,000 subscribers, and got 4,000 to a Sunday League final a couple of years ago.. An easy, cheap, 2026, way for Speedway Clubs to promote themselves, with riders' personalities being shown... My local football team Stockport County, when in their non league days, did pretty much what it looks like the Aces has tried, but they did it with a "County in the Community" team dedicated to visiting schools, organising visits to the ground, both on match days and not, and then doing follow ups with the schools to keep that communication going... And doing things like painting local eyesores, organising litter picks etc, making a difference to the local community, but, more importantly, showing fhe local community they still existed... They gave out thousands of free tickets to schools and community projects, as they may as well fill the empty seats and spaces in the terraces, (and earn more in the food and drink outlets), but ensured it wasnt a one off and followed up with the attendees to encourage more repeat visits.. They also dropped ticket prices from their league two days as they knew crowds would drop if they didn't... They reduced their wage bill, so reduced fhe admission fee.. Speedway would benefit hugely from that I would think, would one less HL and SS make any difference to the spectacle? And then use that money to drop prices... Running the Aces for £20, on a Saturday, with all kids in for free, would deliver a much larger crowd than paying £27, and whatever a kids fee is in the grandstand, on a Monday night... Dan and Brady wouldn't be there but fhe DU'ers would, so a decent level.. There is still a reasonable following for Speedway, as the play offs often show, its just getting these numbers to attend regularly being the challenge.. Laying out not far off £30, and on a Monday night, won't meet that challenge...

He's a director of Swindon Motorsports Ltd, so the logic would be that he believes in the Studley Grange project. Of course, with Gaming International being the company with significant control of Swindon Motorsports Ltd, an alternative view is that if and when permission to demolish the Abbey Stadium were given there would suddenly be a reason why Studley Grange could not proceed

They do have a website though 😉😂 http://www.northampton-speedway.com/

Surely, anyone willing to run a speedway venue is not going to be so thin-skinned or woke as to be deterred by comments which are mainly observational, questioning, or humorous?

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

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?

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.

And Richard Lawson.... Edit. And obviously Scott if no TV duties come about...

Keep a space open for bomber . He’ll be there most weeks

Agree but if Northampton flops it could have the opposite effect on those groups trying to bring tracks back, it really needs to succeed to benefit the sport overall.

Park made a big deal about being Swindon speedway’s director both in person and in writing. However, he only became a director in 2017 and probably had little or no knowledge of speedway. Now he claims to be an expert just in time for a big payday!

At the start of last year Speedway Star asked supporters for their opinions on how to improve British Speedway and I was lucky enough to have my own article published. In that piece I made the point that it should be made compulsory by the BSPL that ALL UK teams should visit a minimum of three primary schools in the local vicinity of their tracks in pre-season between January and March. It's their duty to promote both themselves and the sport to the local community, as research suggests the attention span for sports develops around the ages of six to seven while they are susceptible to social influence between eight and ten. Introducing pupils to an exciting new sport they may never have heard of before with bikes on display with a couple of riders present would be the perfect way to promote the sport. Visits to school fetes at the height of the season in summer needs to be compulsory too.

Who will head up the venture? A promoter can't run two tracks can they? Presume they will need a figurehead? Chris Louis maybe???

Order of priority International National Premiership Championship Know your place

That speaks volumes

Perhaps they won't get the choice It's the British Final and should get full priority

Whoever is control of media/marketing clearly isn't on it. The season starts next month and we don't know who the owners are, the riders they've signed, team nickname or team colours. They are going to need to get every man and his dog they can get through the turnstiles to give this venture a chance. They need to look outside the current speedway bubble for interest. Supporters of other teams will visit the track initially for the novelty, but a core fan base is essential for it to be sustainable.

Vintage races are Jade Mudgway & Theo Pijper for Redcar vs Stuart Swales and Stuart Robson for Newcastle. 🤣

Ryan and Luke both raced in yesterdays amateur meeting, and both put in some very impressive performances, especially Ryan pulling off some fantastic moves to beat Jake Mulford three times, and recording a time of 59.36 too!

https://workingtoncomets.com/kids-go-free-for-2026/ Well done to the Comets management kids go free for 2026 these are the future supporters of speedway 😀 UTC 🏁🔵⚪

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.

Didn't White City do just that in the mid 70's?

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

Is it Plymouth who have utilised local students to build their website and advertising? Young, creative thinkers and innovators, is exactly what the sport needs... And I would imagine, and hope, that their line of attack is a bit more than.. "0-60 faster than an F1 car"... "No brakes"... "It's a family sport".. Etc, etc, etc... All clichéd, unsuccessful, decades old, sound bites... Glasgow with the distribution of free tickets to existing fans to share around with family, friends, workmates etc is a great idea and seems to be working... Those who can actually promote and market Speedway do seem to do "quite well" even in today's world where so many are chasing disposable income..

Well said MM. Seems a lot of people come on here just trying to pick holes in everything. Probably goes against the grain for them when there is some good news for once. Get a glass half full is what I say and yes, although I'm an optimist, I'm also a realist.

Looking forward to this. Will be good after the crap winter to watch some Speedway again. Fingers crossed for decent weather and a good turnout.