Aces51

I doubt think anybody would suggest it was every Poole fan who cheered when Cook fell. You have only to look at Twitter where a number of Poole fans have expressed their disgust at the cheering. I wasn't there last night. I stopped making the long journey to Poole when they decided that leaving the holes and bumps was a good idea but looking at the updates it seems it was from the gate in almost every race. Which maybe explains the tape exclusions. The race where Cook came from 15 metres to pass Jakobsen and fell whilst chasing Sundstrom seems to have been the most exciting of the night.

You have to feel for the Rye House fans and riders. I just hope that something can be salvaged to allow the club to be resurrected next season. As for Chapman, his chairmanship has been a disaster. Yes, he inherited many problems but has failed totally to achieve even the minor improvements that he promised when taking office. The openness and transparency he made a priority is a total joke, the BSPA is now even more secretive and where is the promised new rule book. Instead we agreed to fixed nights, which included the worst night of the week for attracting crowds and even managed to make a mess of that by changing the other agreed fixed night to Wednesday, when Denmark have priority. Now, more than ever, we need someone to step forward who has the ability and the vision to take the sport forward and to give that person the authority to do what is necessary. Self interest had to be put aside for the sport to survive.

The flaw in that argument is that Rohan was struggling everywhere at the beginning of the season but is now riding well everywhere. If Scott scores 13 from 5 rides he will have done better than Rohan but anything less than 10/11 from 5 rides or 8/9 from 4 and he won't have done.

And on what do you base your opinion? So far as I know you have not yet visited the NSS so it can't be from having attended every week. The promotion are trying many ideas to increase crowds, a new social media campaign is going to start soon and running the Colts with an entrance fee of £10 and kids under 18 free is seen as a way of attracting new and younger fans. The hope before FNR was to increase the 1500 average last year year towards 2000 this year but the enforced Monday nights have had the opposite effect. I would estimate our average crowds this year at more than 1000, maybe 1200 with the bank holiday meetings.

Tungate is riding well this year so I wouldn't say there is much between him and Nicholls. Garrity could be a significant loss, it would depend on which Jason turned up. Covatti has done well for Somerset so lots of if's, buts and maybe's. Hopefully, we see the Poole who lost to Somerset and who have been poor most of the season.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. Belle Vue lost money last year even with average crowds of 1500 and I'm sure they weren't the only ones. This year, so far, crowds are noticeably down on last year and the only difference is the change of race night. In fact you might reasonably have expected crowds to have gone up with fewer riders missing due to doubling up.

But 4 of those 6 have been racing on their regular race night. Of the 4 who had to change night, you have mentioned Rye House and Belle Vue are struggling, it seems that Somerset may be ok but that could be helped but fans no longer having to face the M5 on a Friday and I don't know how crowds are holding up at Leicester.

He certainly looked impressive at the NSS.

I don't dispute that the absence of the top riders may have contributed to the sports problems but the reality is that the decline started in the 1980's, long before the top riders started to disappear, which was about 2005. We lost more fans in that period than we have since. I can only speak from personal experience but I can't recall that crowds dropped noticeably at Belle Vue when Zagar departed or, returned when he came back, or even when we lost Crump. We are now down to the hardcore and I suspect that many of those are more concerned about seeing good racing than the absence of a GP star. I didn't even notice any increase when Somerset visited this year with the World Champion. The SON had the rare appearance of Woffinden in the UK and other world class riders but attracted a very poor crowd at the NSS although, to be fair, the ticket prices may have put off some. The public profile of the sport is zero so advertising the appearance of a world class rider isn't likely to attract many newbies to attend. They won't have heard of him so won't have a clue who he is. Go back to the drawing board. Use only riders prepared to commit to the UK, pay out only what is affordable, rebrand the sport as extreme, emphasise the dangers, allow riders to react to situations and to the referees decisions, make the governance and operation of the sport credible and make the presentation dynamic and up to date. and maybe crowds will start to build. Over time new stars and heroes will be made. Ensure that they interact with the fans. Continue to develop British youngsters and the standards here will improve and if the sport prospers we will at some point be able to compete again with the Poles and Swedes. There isn't really an alternative. We can't afford to bring back the top riders now, the money isn't there and they don't want to come. We can't carry on as we are this year because it isn't working or even providing a basis on which we can build fur the future.

Damian Drozdz came in on 5 so not all Poles.

Obviously, that is far from ideal but it seems fans at at least some of the teams who had to change their race night attend in bigger numbers on the traditional race night, even with guests and r/r, than they do on the fixed night. It's all about survival and that will depend on the BSPA doing whatever is necessary to get the most people through the turnstiles. Maybe the way forward is more educated fixture planning and a phasing out of doubling up over a set period of time, other than for youngsters using it as a transition to move up permanently to the PL.

If the TV and KO Cup meeting were only 30/40% down crowds are clearly not good and that must be a concern because Wolves are one of the select few not affected by having to change their race night for the FNR.

You obviously want speedway and maybe Belle Vue in particular, to succeed. You often make what seem to be knowledgeable posts about the marketing possibilities of the sport. You may already have done so but, if not, would it not be a good idea to set out in writing and send to Adrian Smith, the CEO at Belle Vue, your experience and credentials in this field and a detailed business plan setting out what you consider to be a successful marketing plan that a business with limited financial resources could probably afford. Aidrian is very approachable and always about in the crowd at meetings so, if you preferred, you could even make an initial approach by speaking to him face to face.

This Poole team are not currently league winners but they will qualify for the play offs. I can understand the disappointment after the team didn't live up to the pre season expectations but if you compare points lost at home to points gained away, a more realistic guide to the league table, they are currently 6th and most of those above are in reach. I can't see this team losing again at home, not after after next week and they are picking up points on the road. Everyone in the team is inconsistent but there will always been good reserves and generally, enough of the team will have good nights to get results.

Prior to heat 14 the only riders Woryna had beaten were the Aces reserves, Sundstrom and Josh G. I wouldn't criticise Middleditch for failing to use him before then. A brilliant nights racing. I always felt confident that we were going to win. Poole were lucky that Fricke's chain snapping gave them a point but they deserved it after putting up a good fight.

According to the updates site Howarth has suffered a shoulder injury at Newcastle and been taken to hospital. Hopefully, it is nothing too serious and he will be fit to ride tomorrow but if not it will be difficult to cover his rides, especially at Monmore.

What happened was that crowds increased significantly in 2016 and 2017. Last year the management said that the average was 1500, which is not enough but compares well against what I would estimate at about 1000 at the dog track. It looks as if the figures are going to be down this year but I think you can put that down to the change of race night. Monday is about the worst night of the week to get people to come out. The main problem is that despite radio and print media advertising most people in the Manchester conurbation are still unaware of its existence. The social media presence has been improved and I'm sure that the are many other things that the promotion can try but the reality is that the type of advertising that would significantly improve the visibility of the club costs far more than is affordable.

Poole will gain from having Woryna at reserve and a big score from him could keep it close. Overall, though I think that the Aces will win 50-40 and send the Pirates away without any points.

Wolves should win this fairly easily. They will be determined to make amends after the defeat last week and Leicester are weaker without King and Newman. Hopefully, the track will be prepared differently to last week when there was only the one racing line around the inside.

It's a remarkable achievement that Dan seems able to ride well on tracks he hasn't seen before in countries he hasn't raced in before. Keep it up and the future really could be bright for GB.

That was exactly my point that you disagreed with yesterday but related to the fans. You have a far better chance of riders improving if everyone involved with the club encourages them. As you now say there is no hope if you don't.

You are looking at the rolling averages. Cook's average this year is 7.76, including his good score on Wednesday, about 0.75 below his starting average and the expectation was that he would improve on last year. Drozdz was assessed at 5 but is currently averaging 3.59, again including his good score this week. You say he is a young Pole and not expected to do well but I doubt that would be sufficient reason to avoid calls for his head at Poole. Look at Shanes. A young Brit, not expected to do well but actually achieving what many expected. Agreed some fans were supportive but others and the management were happy to sacrifice him in the hope of better results. Until the win at Rye on Wednesday Belle Vue were in a false position in the league. If you compared their points lost at home to points gained away they were in a similar position to Poole. Without looking it up again I think Belle Vue stood at -1 and Poole -2. So two riders not performing as expected, in reality not in a play off position but still the fans remained loyal and stood behind them.

There's a noticeable difference in the attitudes from fans of different teams. Poole fans seem quick to criticise and want changes as soon as riders go through a bad patch or don't live up to their expectations. Kurtz was a hero, the new superstar and now he is going through a bad patch he is constantly criticised, Josh G is what he is, a good second string, possible third heat leader, he is having a difficult time and so must go, Szczepaniak is not far off his starting average but because he was expected to be far better, a ringer, he must go. At Belle Vue Cook had been going through a difficult time, the fans are loyal and supportive not calling for him to go and if this week is any guide, it seems he may be getting back to form. Drozdz has struggled, not achieving his starting average but again fans are not calling for his head, they can see he is giving 100% and like Cook,. he has had two impressive performance this week. Maybe, just maybe, riders respond better when fans and teams offer encouragement and show loyalty than when they must feel the insecurity of knowing that there is a sword hanging over them.

Idiots can and do make difficult decisions. Unfortunately, they usually get it wrong. The trick is in making the right difficult decisions.

As someone who also started following the sport in the 50's I must say that it doesn't bother me if Belle Vue riders race for other teams so long as they are available when we race. When we had riders like Soren Sjosten and Gote Nordin I didn't regard them as any less members of the team just because they also raced for their Swedish teams. In recent times Belle Vue have had a lot of continuity of riders from year to year and I identify with the likes of Cook, Fricke Worrall and Bewley as our riders, just as much as I did with Collins, Morton, Sharpies, Johnston etc. The real problems are many and varied but some examples are; the silly rules that have to be amended within weeks, the inconsistent application of the rules, the ever increasing costs of machinery, too many riders thinking they are entitled to race as a full time job, losing the opportunity for PL clubs to race at the weekends, many promoters ignoring, rather than embracing, the fans and making them feel they are the integral part of the sport that they are, poor presentation, the failure by the BSPA to get the message out there that Speedway is alive and an exciting sport to follow, etc., etc., etc.