cowboy cookie returns?

Remember when Sky would show both semi finals at the same time now that was top notch coverage! Sadly the BSPA played a blinder and pissed that up! Now instead of selling their product to the TV companies the BSPA go around seeing who will take it free of charge......the BSPA a top notch marketing organisation!!

As taken from the Speedway GB website the years I have been an avid fan of Speedway, It was a family treat every Monday night going down to watch the Exeter Falcons. After moving away from my home town I lost track of the Speedway scene but the thought of the atmosphere and the smell and flying shale was still in my mind. I ended up starting to go to Belle Vue Aces and everything I remembered about my days at Exeter came flooding back even though I don't go every week it is still a thrill the next time I go back. Pete - Stockport From the first race it became obvious that, despite this being a testimonial, the riders meant business. As they jostled for position around the tight bends, every sinew straining to keep control of the sliding back wheels, the crowd roared on their favourite, struggling to be heard over the deep growl of the engines. The blur of sound and colour, as they passed only yards away, was replaced by the one sensation that, for me, made the whole experience real. The exhaust fumes from the methanol fuel forced their way up my nostrils and left an overpowering but not unpleasant lingering smell reminiscent of cooking oil. It was at this point that I felt a connection with my fellow spectators, as if I had just experienced some rite of passage, which no amount of armchair viewing could bestow upon me. Daren Cowen I went to my first Speedway meeting at Poole in 1979. It was generally thought by those who knew me best that it would not be "my cup of tea" at all, but how wrong they were! I absolutely loved it! I didn't understand about helmet colours and teams and so on, but I bought the Speedway Star and the Speedway Mail at the track, asked a few questions and I was hooked! From that time on, I went to meetings home and away as often as I could and four of us become regulars at our home track Poole and at Swindon in the Phil Crump era. So what makes it such an exciting sport? The smell of the methanol, the buzz when the bikes are roaring, friendly supporters, the Stadium atmosphere and the fact that Speedway is so unpredictable. Even the score card is important. Mary Speedway racing is the most exciting and breathtaking 1minute of action available. The emotions that occur from the build-up of the riders coming onto the track, to the final chequered flag is sometimes more than you can take! The air of awe from around the stadium is a phenomena that no other sport can bring. The sounds, the smell, the taste and the feeling in the air of the dust mixed together with the oil and fumes leads to nothing but memories that you will never forget! As a spectator, my heart pumps really fast and that feeling as the tapes fly up, is not comparable to anything in the world. The thrills of seeing 4 riders bumping and grinding into the first corner and the leader trying to get away is superb! Speedway is modern day hunting, where the leader will be chased by other riders trying to outwit them, out-manoeuvre them and ultimately push them to the limit of making a slight error upon which to capitalize on. A minute of speedway racing combines all emotions, reactions and fear for success. The sounds of the crescendo of the crowd cheering, the air-horns blowing and the announcer going crazy is one word! HEAVEN!!! David Hensby - Canada It's great to support your local and national team, lots of passion comes from that. The bravery and skill of the riders is special, as much as we might moan about the lack of passing or whatever, no way would the majority of fans have the guts to get out there and do what the riders are doing in the first place. No brakes, boarded circuits, racing centimetres from one another ............ scary but exciting to watch!! The camaraderie and banter of the fans is good, discussions maybe heated but they never turn to violence. The accessibility of the riders to the fans is unheard of in sport, there's no having a pint with Wayne Rooney in the bar after a match like you could with Scott Nicholls for instance. Same with referees, team managers and promoters, everyone is accessible if you want to talk to them. Theresa Carman Speedway is the best sport in the world - Speedway rules!!!!!!! Tracey Knights I Love Speedway! It was a trip on the train to Cradley Heath on July 18th 1970 that did it. My Dad and my brother took me to my first meeting to see the Swindon Robins race the Heathens. That wide eyed 10 year old boy was enthralled, from the moment the gleaming bikes lined up for the parade to the wind down lap of heat 13. It was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, or heard, or smelled. On the way home, I raced in my mind, me against Chris Bass or Bernie Persson or Martin Ashby. I was in a speedway world of my own. And now, almost 37 years later, I still am. The sport still enthralls me. After being slightly concerned that a 20 year wait for the return of our famous Brummies may diminish my interest in the sport, I'm now as enthusiastic as ever, if not more so. It's like being 16 again, when I chose to read Speedway Star from cover to cover, or paint another program board, rather than revise for my O levels or do my homework. Race days are now spent with the same excited, butterflies in the stomach feeling that I had way back then. And that's just brilliant. Our sport isn't the "beautiful game", even that game is as ugly as sin now, it isn't the sport of kings and it certainly isn't a noble art. What it is though, is a people's sport, a fans' sport, where the stars are within easy reach and the opposing fans approachable, where you can walk around your local stadium, have a pie, a pint, a chat, make new friends, relax

Brilliant post.

A speedway fixture in front of a full house with plenty of atmosphere and chanting crowds. This is how it should be done BSPL please take note

Just another example of the make it up as you go along approach that is British speedway & people wonder why it's on its backside.

As a chap who spent far too much of his life from the age of 10 to his early 30s traveling all over supporting not only his team but speedway in general I find myself in despair! Throughout most my time as an active supporter the sport was slowly losing its way & losing customers. Towards the end of my time as a regular 2009/10 it had become noticeable worse. Now on the odd occasion I've been in the last 10 years every time I attended you can see that it's gotten worse. It really is now at a critical point. The reason for my despair is I'm now in my mid 40s with disposable income the type of ex fan who the powers that be should be trying to win back. However when I go I am severed up a product that is poorer than the last time I attended & if I'm lucky only a couple of missing riders. It still appears that even though there are thousands of unhappy customers on here those in power do nothing about it or worse still come across as having no interest in trying to! So looking at it 2022 will be another year of the same old same old with possibly 4 tracks having closed down. No doubt more will follow after 2022 it really is a race to the bottom!

They may see it as that.... however in all honesty it's far from that. Many on here who have questioned the operating model & the un professional manner in which the sport is run are told to ignore all that & focus on 4 blokes racing. You yourself have stated ignore everything that goes on & watch the racing. Hardly the viewpoint some who believes it to be a professional sport would take.

Their the old farts who currently attend and don't want change, the very issue that will kill the sport off. The sport needs radical change to entice a new audience. Sadly the old farts who don't want change are reducing in numbers each year nature sees to that. In turn so is speedways audience.

You're employees can dictate when they turn up for work because there working elsewhere and those days will be when you can make the least money. Also they can work for your biggest rival & cost you the chance of success. And for three years a body will dictate how you run your business while you have no say. Finally if you give me £100000 I'll double that as a loss in 3 years. Who's in??

The thing is American wrestling isn't being marketed as a professional team sport is it. It's being marketed as a entertainment and knows it's place. And to be fair if one of the top names is missing they don't draft in a guest or wrestler replacement. Speedway needs to decide what it is & fast. Either its a contrived entertainment that people don't take too serious so it reinvents itself as that. Or it's a professional genuine team sport in which case it reinvents its self as that. Currently it's the former pretending to be the latter.

Your welcome it's great taking part!

The infighting was happening back in the 70s & 80s when speedway attracted massive crowds. With the poles they have always ran it properly with the good of the sport at the heart of everything they do. The sport here since it's birth has always been ran where individual promotions try to out smart each other. The crowds were dropping before WW2 then after the war a massive boom as people wanted live entertainment. The bubble started to pop in the early 50s leading to the decline upto 65 when the BL was born. Then a period of 6 to 7 years when the sport was put first taking you to the early 70s boom however soon it was back to one upmanship and the decline that started in the mid 80s that led to the rapid decline you see today.

You miss the point Polish speedway has always been ran as a proper professional team sport. Therefore has earned the respect and the passion of the town's people & the wider general polish population as well as big business. The UK operating model deliveries the opposite. It doesn't have the respect outside of speedway circles the team structure here does the opposite of building a connection between a town & the local people. The sport is now to fragile here to fight. Imagine trying to secure funding to build a stadium and the outline of your business plan for the build is it will be used by 1000 people a week for 12 weeks of the year we'll also generate zero revenue & coverage for the local area too. The big issues the sport has is nothing new promoter infighting guests make it up as you go along rule book. Instead of doing something about it all that's ever happened is watering the product down hike up admission prices and introduce rules that further erode the sport. I know you said elsewhere just enjoy the racing well I guess an ever decreasing number will take that advise while the vast majority stay home. For me do something about the product to make it more exciting & bring a true team feel to it so there is some emotional attachment & I'll return failing that I'll keep the memories.

Totally spot on, you & I have the same thoughts. They have had years to come up with something better and 10 very good years with SKY involved but did the square route of nothing. Now the sport is to fragile with such a small fanbase it can't afford to change.

It has everything to do with it if you want to run a league or cup competition. Without credibility you won't get major backers unless they are speedway fans. There are plenty on here who have said credibility is a major issue & why they have given up! If you want to run a Micky mouse league that means nothing to anyone bar about 20000 people nationwide each week then you don't need it. Just to put that in context 20000 people a week roughly attend UK speedway possibly less if the same person attendeds more that one meeting. My local football club Ipswich had more than that to watch league one game on Saturday.

The thing is Poland has always been ran as a professional League. Therefore in Poland they have the credibility & a history of mass support that means that the both the local & national authorities take the sport seriously. The Polish league you have today hasn't just happened. All though the communist era the sport has attracted mass support not like over here with peaks and troughs. Attendance levels have been pretty static for decades. It's only in the last 15 to 20 years the big bucks have really come to the fore in Poland. To say the polish club owners had it easy is total rubbish. The truth is that Polish Speedway has has worked to continually have a product that attracts public affection therefore becomes a Huge part of the community & ultimately means that the big blue chip companies & TV stations are falling over themselves to become involved with it today. The mess that British speedway finds its self in today has nothing to do with the top riders not riding here, the grand Prix or the Polish League. It's totally to do with mismanagement by the authorities here. They even managed to smash the last golden egg that came their way though sky I suspect that will be the last such egg.

Leagues of 'fun' speedway is what we have in the UK at present they are fun from professional.

I disagree although the other items you mention play a part. You have to get some form of credibility back into the sport to try & attract new investment both though more spectators but more importantly through sponsorship & awareness though the media both digitally & print. I used Chris Harris as an example a couple of weeks ago elsewhere on here. During one week in late August he rode for Peterborough, Birmingham & Ipswich. His week was completed by riding for Peterborough against Ipswich. That sort of thing is destroying any form of credibility the sport has. To improve the issues you mentioned tracks, stadia etc you need the investment which requires credibility. Doubling up & the guest fest also makes it impossible to have the emotional attachment supporters of team sport need with their team. Lastly on the point of world-class riders the sport in at such a low point in this country that those world class riders aren't known outside of speedway over here.

Doubling up is one of the major reasons in this country along with guests that is driving people away and makes it impossible to find any national sponsor. It makes the sport non credible. The sport in the uk needs to become a mix of semi pro/amateur with standard equipment in use in our leagues. It needs a major overhaul.

Maybe in the interest of speedway they are going to allow doubling up in the same league.

Louis & Hawkins should have a word with Paul Cook on how to conduct a clear out. On a serious note Rowe & Kemp would be in my team for no other reason than the talent both these have.

Just a thought to help the sport move forward, add a touch of supporter interaction & add some much needed suspense. Each club runs a competition on their website for two supporters to experience an interactive evening. The winning supporters have to arrive at the stadium 2 hours before the meeting. They are then escorted to the new VIP caravan that each track must have. Inside there are 14 riders all dressed in black leathers with BSPL approved paper bags over their heads. The 2 winning supporters then toss a coin to decide who is the representing the 'home' team & who represents the 'away' team. After this another coin is tossed to decide who has first pick of the riders.. They then take it in turns to pick a rider until each team has 7 riders. At this point the riders are asked to remove the paper bags to reveal to the excided winners who they are. At this point all those who know the true identity of the riders have to sign the official because this is speedway document that states they can never reveal the rider identities. After the big reveal the away team can demand a rider swap under the 'in the interest of speedway' rule. Once both teams have been confirmed with the officials the supporters then get to team manage for the evening. At this point the riders then put on their helmets & the turnstiles are opened. These cannot be removed until the last supporter has left the stadium after the meeting. The teams are then introduced as the home team & riders are introduced a rider 1 etc the same happens with the away team. As the riders are all in black leathers the only identity they have is a race jacket & helmet colour. I can only imagine the excitement of those spectators on the terrace not knowing who is representing 'their' team The keys positive points to this is that it removes the doubling up issues there will be no guests or rider replacement as the BSPL will always send 14 fit riders to each track for team selection. As the teams are simply known as the home & away team it's possible to have a league with more teams taking part than available venues. At the end of the season the prize for winning the various competitions are just simply returned to the BSPL office. Another benefit of this new operating model is there are no points limit issues as each team selection is based on pure luck.

Just a thought to help the sport move forward, add a touch of supporter interaction & add some much needed suspense. Each club runs a competition on their website for two supporters to experience an interactive evening. The winning supporters have to arrive at the stadium 2 hours before the meeting. They are then escorted to the new VIP caravan that each track must have. Inside there are 14 riders all dressed in black leathers with BSPL approved paper bags over their heads. The 2 winning supporters then toss a coin to decide who is the representing the 'home' team & who represents the 'away' team. After this another coin is tossed to decide who has first pick of the riders.. They then take it in turns to pick a rider until each team has 7 riders. At this point the riders are asked to remove the paper bags to reveal to the excided winners who they are. At this point all those who know the true identity of the riders have to sign the official because this is speedway document that states they can never reveal the rider identities. After the big reveal the away team can demand a rider swap under the 'in the interest of speedway' rule. Once both teams have been confirmed with the officials the supporters then get to team manage for the evening. At this point the riders then put on their helmets & the turnstiles are opened. These cannot be removed until the last supporter has left the stadium after the meeting. The teams are then introduced as the home team & riders are introduced a rider 1 etc the same happens with the away team. As the riders are all in black leathers the only identity they have is a race jacket & helmet colour. I can only imagine the excitement of those spectators on the terrace not knowing who is representing 'their' team The keys positive points to this is that it removes the doubling up issues there will be no guests or rider replacement as the BSPL will always send 14 fit riders to each track for team selection. As the teams are simply known as the home & away team it's possible to have a league with more teams taking part than available venues. At the end of the season the prize for winning the various competitions are just simply returned to the BSPL office. Another benefit of this new operating model is there are no points limit issues as each team selection is based on pure luck.

I might try that. I'll work all weekend and then phone my employer up on Monday sick because I'm too knackered to go in. On a serious note are the promotors ever going to wake up to the shambles that is UK speedway.

For me the strongest second tier was the old National League up until it was broken up to save the top flight during the winter of 90/91. All those riders only rode in that one league & you had the benefit of a fully functioning junior League to keep the reserves on their toes. It was also a professionally ran league to ie no guests.....in fact probably Everything speedway needs today. The overall strength of UK speedway was stronger then too. The British championship had quarter finals in the qualifying process due to the number riders. Oh happy days!