mikebv

They don't muck about in Poland do they with "their" riders... Could be a big issue for KL....

The same team got 54 last week... On a much tighter track...

This hasn't aged too well....

How very dare you.... Ouch is a lot less subtle... Makes me laugh though... Some Ippo fans do seem to bite easily... Not your good self though, fair play... Anyone mentioned injuries yet? The Aces have zero chance of the bonus I would think.. Personally if I was an Ipswich fan I would be a little worried with the "engine room". No injuries there, and all good riders, but they do appear a bit of a weak link when the pressure is on and they don't get Heat Leader and Reserve scoring protection.. Leicester definitely would fancy going head to head with Witches in the play offs, especially if they can keep RR second in the averages...

The Ipswich "NHS" Witches, must be very disappointed by that result. A severely depleted Aces, yet no rider stepped up to support Emil... The racing wasn't great, as some Witches fans have alluded to, however, like was said last week at Foxhall by the Witches fans... You can only beat what is in front of you, and if the other team are poor then the racing suffers... Nice to see Lidsey step up (again) when needed.. Three off Norick's rides was around three to four less than his usual scoring around the NSS, but the Witches couldn't take advantage.. I have a sneaky feeling Leicester could be the team to beat if the Witches horrendous injury list doesn't get sorted...

He will say any victory would need Lazarus like powers of recovery from the Witches riders...

But you are not taking into consideration the huge injury problems Ipswich have......

The lack of away fans is one of the major issues the sport has.. Without them, the atmosphere is flat... I remember when "local" teams to BV, (Halifax and Sheffield), would bring several hundred and have 10 coaches and more in the car park.. Meaning a proper "tribal" atmosphere... More of that and maybe "the qualifiers" would be worth attending more? So, how to do it? Well, if we are going radical.. Why not make the away team buy 100 tickets for a tenner and either flog them at that price to their fans, or simply give them away.. Who knows, maybe they could even pay for coaches to get their fans there? 100 away fans, mostly stood or sat together, would add hugely to the evening "off track"... And, if demand ever grew, more tickets could be sold.. Also, whilst in radical mode.. Maybe they should run a "SON" type competition? Six teams (if that is the top league), with their top 3 riders.. Each team holds two rounds over the season and, here's the kicker, again, each team buys 100 tickets at a tenner... 500 away fans in total.. The hosting club could even possibly then knock £5 off 1000 tickets for the home fans with the five grand.. The event will have no guests, no out of their depth juniors, and could be made into the flagship team competition..

100℅... Dean has mentioned (without quite correctly breaking any confidences), that next season some "radical" changes hav e already been decided upon which "may upset a few die hards" of the sport... This means that the actual promoters who have led the sport to its current position (by avoiding all the clear and obvious changes that needed to be made), have now put together the plan to sort the mess out.. But have done it, once again, without actually finding out from the fans why the mess is there in the first place... The company I worked for spent millions on designing the largest loyalty card database in the world and have reaped many, many more thousand's of millions in return through it. With the biggest opportunity being those who go several weeks without using it, "the goneaways" being sent money off vouchers for their next several visits... We also ensured literally thousands of customers fed back to us each week as to their concerns or issues. We then used this feedback to sort the issues out at both local level, or national level as part of the overall strategy if it was a generic national issue.. I genuinely hope their plan is a great one, however, history suggests they are not the best at running a team sport with clear strategy and fit for purpose regulations.. And they definitely haven't been great at listening to the myriad of unsolicited constructive feedback they have been given through social media,letters in the Speedway Star, and, probably biggest of all, they havent "listened" to all the ever growing gaps in their stadia, and found out why "the goneaways" went.

Since the GP riders effed off to Poland when the Sky money ended, this has been the only outcome... However. Steadfastly, season after season, it's been avoided by the promoters... Even COVID saw zero change and it was a free hit to be radical.. Why? No idea, the reality must have stared them in the face, yet they spent the best part of a decade fudging each week and pretending what they delivered had some relevance. (With the collusion of a compliant fanbase)... When Speedway was successful, the top 3 or so in each team were fully professional, with good sponsorship off setting the cost to the clubs.. The other four members of each team usually had jobs but were happy to earn a weeks money worth from their main job, each night, several times a week, by riding Speedway.. Now we have professional NDL riders.... And punters pay for this with ridiculous admission fees given the miniscule size of the sport, year on year.. Utterly effing crackers...

I used to pay a tenner EVERY meeting to watch the Colts at the NSS... A tenner for me AND my U16 lad... The crowds filled half the NSS 1700 Grandstand and I no longer was prepared to pay over thirty five quid to watch the "top riders" for us both, as the entertainment at NDL level was just as good.. Even if 3 seconds a race slower.. (And guess what, I didn't notice until the announcer told me).….

If you want to run a team sport.. It needs that emotional attachment .. "These lads, good, bad, indifferent, are my team"... UK Speedway does its level best to destroy that concept... Four guests and RR everyone? Let's get it on.... Give us your fifty quid for you and your missus...

It isn't whether the riders think it is important... It is whether the fans do...

And all to win something that the promoters very own operating model, devalues and destroys any kudos and credibility in winning... You really cannot make it up, can you...

On Phil The Aces FB page, Phillip Lanning goes into great detail about what the Aces are doing, (at some cost), to attract new fans... Sadly, they are missing the point.. Getting the "lapsed ones" back is what should be being focused on.. Dean says cost of living is an issue, and I agree.. I say Mickey Mouse WWE rules keep people away in 2025, (you could get away with it in 1975 to 1995, now you cannot)... (Four guests and RR anyone? Lovely, form an orderly queue, no pushing in)... Some say the overall entertainment package is poor, and they are correct.. The sport is trying to attract a younger demographic. And it is not the right target market.. These kids are either at Uni dreaming about a zero hours contract somewhere at the end of it... Or, already working on a zero hours contract, with a maximum 16 hours a week guaranteed... Those of us, of "ahem" a "certain age" had full time jobs, and pensions which had full time earnings feeding in to them... "We" (the many thousands of us), who used to go regularly, and still passionately follow the sport, but attend "now and again", are the ones to target... We have the disposable income to spend, the Under 30's often don't... First though, instead of reading and listening to "conjecture and theory" as to why crowds are down... EFFING FIND OUT!!! Get the facts!!! Dont waste marketing money on attracting a cash strapped younger singles and family demographic, who they expect to go once, spend £25 and upwards on something they have little knowledge of, and be immediately hooked, (again folly but that's for another time).. And instead, spend the money on market research to find out why more passionate Speedway fans WONT attend meetings this week than the numbers that will... Find out the collective generic 3 biggest barriers to attending... And fix the b*stards...

I am having less customers that last year... So... Should I? a) Do some research to find out the truth as to why and fix the issues? Or.. b) Increase my prices to those who still visit me to cover the shortfall? It must be such a tricky one to answer, hence so many promoters seem to opt for b)....

A surprising first 6 heats...

Have they not dispensed with that daft "nearly every team qualifies"?

Considering they made it so slick, it was a bit puzzling to see them riding mid track...

Important win for Wroclaw... You don't want to finish fourth... That would be season over .. The racing wasn't up to much but that was due to the very slick track.. Thomsen always seems to flatter to decieve....

Agreed.... Also, Drabik for me...

GP hangover too? Many Gorzow fans would have paid out some big money to attend last Saturday... Good to see a club do some "specials" though to try and bring a few more in to watch something which is live on TV...

Ultra slick too... They have obviously tried to negate the racers in Wroclaw's team...

Brady still injured....😀

There has been riders riding for Team A, who have been sponsored by Team B, as Team A hadn't the relevant criteria to be allowed to employ the certain "Tier" that is required... I presume Brexit has brought even more complications... One thing is for sure... You get caught employing overseas nationals, without the right for you to do so, or their right to be here, and you can face serious consequence...