mikebv

Cracking rider Madsen... You don't be top five in Poland for several years without being world class and a bit ruthless.. Not many riders could ride so narrow at that speed down a straight and not drift to the fence on a slick track.. Proper talent... And whilst I have a soft spot for Dudek, Madsen isn't Polish... Tai 3 Poland 1...

"He was as slow as Christmas"...

Poland and Sweden replace injured riders with unattached riders... They find it it adds a modicum of credibility to ensure fans, sponsors and media remain interested.. They can do this because they work on supply exceeding demand, (particularly Poland), meaning riders do have to wait to be given a chance.. Where as over here it does appear the whole set up is driven by the desire to provide riders with as many nights Speedway as is possible, regardless of who they end up representing on any given evening..

How about the following as a starter.. 1 Don't arrange meetings when riders are then needed to be in two places at once.. 2. Don't run a rider replacement facility that means your fifth best rider replaces your No1. Just let all rides take seven rides max and the rider below whoever the rider missing is takes three of his rides, whilst the one above him takes one. A Number seven missing means a No8 gets drafted in and the Number six can take three of sevens' rides).. 3. Have less riders per team meaning unattached subs on the bench to bring in.. 4. Have less teams at the top two leagues levels, meaning again unattached subs available.. Injuries will always be a part of it, but so much could be done to reduce significantly the amount of guests... And remember, Sweden and Poland have injuries too as its often the same rider being shared around all three leagues.. But they don't replace him using guests..

Maybe swap five or six riders around from yourselves, Ipswich and Kings Lynn??

Like the Speedway Stories shoot interviews...

Hope you get paid overtime Dave..

He over slept...

The Promoters disrespect their own competitions by using a truly ridiculous operating model, taking away any credibilty or kudos in winning them.. Speedway meetings become meaningless under such administration.. Fans are not daft, therefore many who still follow the sport closely, and love watching it, don't attend domestic speedway but will pay good money to travel to Poland regularly to watch their Leagues, and attend GP's, SoN etc around the globe.. Stop running meaningless meetings by bringing integrity to the competitions and make them worth winning, and maybe those many, many disillusioned fans would start to return? One thing is for sure, keep doing the "same old, same old" and you only have one outcome..

No big company would touch it with a barge pole... Taking away the fact the level of crowds attending, the media interest that gets generated currently, and the small TV audiences that watch it wouldn't justify their sponsorship outlay given the lack of brand awareness delivered... Just put yourself in a major company CEO's shoes going into last year's play offs where you have your name (and therefore 'brand values' in the publics eyes) emblazoned across all the pre meeting publicity, and then get told by the sports governing body that they have sanctioned that both teams will be sharing two competitors and swapping them during 'half time'... Neither of whom are actually contracted to either of the finalists by the way, but ringers brought in for the occasion.. The watching public would consider the final a laughing stock and your companies name will be associated with it.. And this scenario was actually signed off by those who run the sport don't forget... I would suggest Speedway is a long, long way off from getting any major sponsorship given its operating model allows such things to take place.. I would also suggest if Poland ran Britain's current operating model it too would be in a similar position.. Hence it doesn't. ..

Don't think anyone would seriously say we should follow Poland.. The sport wouldn't last a month... Woffy's one match salary alone would need every club in the land to pay it as Wroclaw would have a crowd of more than double what the whole of Premiership would get combined at home in a week.. Sadly, don't have the money to set up as an 'independent' and let's face it, anyone trying to muscle in would face insurmountable opposition.. However, if I was burning money hand over fist doing the same thing over and over again I might consider trying something different and even if I end up burning more cash, at least I had tried to see if another way would work... But, ultimately you are right, probably best keep running the sport in the country the way it has been now for donkeys years without any radical, innovative changes.... Especially, as it's all going so very, very well. .

Spot on... Should just sell the spectacle... Which currently gets completely diluted by trying to shoe horn it into a team concept... (A very, very inadequate, and nowhere near fit for purpose team concept which does the actual spectacle absolutely no favours).. Running once a month at the NSS for example, at weekends, with circa 40 races on show of differing levels eg kids to juniors to experts, (maybe a 'Festival Of Speedway' over two days?), in competitions with some authenticity, would generate pretty decent crowds I would think.. Ran once a month, with credibility, and properly marketed in the weeks leading up to it, with circa four thousand in attendance, would deliver a much better impression of the sport and enhance its brand far more to help it's long term sustainability than running contrived meetings, four times a month on a Monday or a Thursday, with a thousand at each meeting.. Run one 'biggie' individual during the season, and bang in a couple of Test Matches, and maybe it could kick start a renaissance of the sport in this country.. There definitely is still a fairly large following out there for Speedway, its just not being engaged by the current way it is ran.. So find an operating model that does..

100%... If it wasn't, more people would go.. People often come on here and compare prices to football and say that speedways prices are on a par with the lower leagues.. The huge difference of course is that football has a brand identity and is recognised by the wider public.. Speedway has no sutch brand recognition so any non speedway aware man my age, with a 16 yr old son like I have, is hardly likely to see a £25 admission for them both as something that would entice him to give it a go.. Those who run the sport may see their pricing structure as reasonable, justified and value for money, and have a million perfectly valid reasons why it is what it is, however, that is irrelevant, as its the amount of customers who purchase your product which validates the pricing structure.. Or not as it would appear in the case of speedway,. NB it was cheaper for me and my lad to watch the SoN on a Saturday night at the NSS than an Aces match on a Thursday there.. The SoN was a sell out.... "Quelle surprise!" as Dimitri Berge may say...

I would say that British Speedway is 'bomb proof' in the views of the die hards.. Let's be honest, if they still attend like they do now they are pretty much immune to all the nonsense that exists.. I would even suggest that they are enjoying themselves, hence go so regularly..

The Bull by the horn should have been taken years ago.. British Speedway cannot compete with other leagues so shouldn't even bother.. I do suspect that it is more the Ego of those within the BSPA that prevents them acknowledging that reality, and then carries them forward, fudging and fiddling with a never ending ludicrous operating model.. In the vain hope that the next fudge or fiddle might succeed.. They seem to want to cling on to 'their' riders at all costs, even though 'their' riders are not even theirs.. And then build their own ridiculous fixture list to suit them rather than the fans.. It is crackers isn't it?

Like watching the 'magazine' programmes on NSPORT and ELEVEN... Both showing tonight, one live and one from yesterday.. Not a clue what they are saying but great to watch the race highlights and key moments from those races.. Presents the sport so professionally... Can see why major companies want to be involved to sponsor it..

Or... Allow the second and third best riders in the team take all his four rides between them..? Unless the manager thinks someone else might score more..? All riders below the No1 should be able take as many of his rides as needed up to a max of seven each per meeting.. At present the two Second Strings are scheduled to take two of his rides, which isn't much of a plan..

Or alternatively... Just re-arrange the meeting... And maybe do it on a night that doesn't clash with an FIM meeting...

Which I personally think the sport should do James.. ie. take away any personal attachment to any team.. The sport can be great, so showcase it at an individual level and with national teams.. Run domestic speedway like stock cars do their sport and run regular test matches v other nations.. if it cannot run itself successfully as a team sport, them simply don't as you cannot ever win.. Therefore try something else.. The operating model used is a complete failure, as is validated by the loss of a huge amount of fans over the past two decades by using it... There is though, still a reasonable demand for Speedway when it has relevance.. So make more meetings relevant..

I suppose in those days it was a much less media focused age... You could get away with such nonsense and the first you would here of it was when you had paid your money to get in, or if you didn't attend, in the SS a week later.. Now you know well in advance of who the teams are going to made up of and can decide whether to collude with the promoters or not that what you are watching is credible.. £25, plus the inevitable extras, for me and my lad is a lot of money to pay out for something contrived and ultimately unimportant as to who the victors are.. Maybe running the sport 'properly' won't turn around the sports fortunes.. But I would suggest it might be worth a go, before it becomes far too late to have any impact at all..

You are forgetting though that Speedway (in Britain) is the only sport that has ever existed since the dawn of time, where competitors can actually get injured... My 'final, final straw' (after several other just 'final' ones).. Was a couple of years ago, when Max Fricke rode against Poole for the Aces in the morning then rode for Poole against Leicester the same day, just a few hours later... Poole suffered an injury during the Aces meeting so Max was asked to go along and represent them.. I decided finally that Mickey Mouse had indeed completely taken over and that any organising body that decides such nonsense is 100% acceptable, (and actively encourages it), simply isn't worth your hard earned in following it.. Any competition ran that allows such a ridiculous state of affairs is rendered contrived and worthless.. Therefore why go an watch it? Those that allow such nonsense are truly asking a lot for people to take it seriously and follow it with any emotional attachment to their team... Which is so fundamental to the success of any team sport.. Thankfully Poland and Sweden still run the sport properly and get beamed into my TV each week via the wonders of modern science... And this year the SoN, the U21 World Cup and Cardiff are either on my doorstep or just a car ride away... A shame as is it is a great sporting spectacle when done well, and properly..

And a guaranteed wild card next year no doubt so as you say, no need to rush things..

To be fair Steve, you should see the amount of homework... Not sure what they actually do at school!!... My lad has been in over ten times during the past two holiday breaks doing 'compulsory revision', including Saturdays... "Eeee, it's all changed since I were a lad" etc etc etc.

£20 for me and my 16yr old lad.. Very good value given the riders who should be on view and the status of the meeting.. £5 cheaper than a Premiership match... Looks like my second visit this year then after the SoN.. Hope they get the crowd they deserve at those prices.. And for resisting what must have been a huge and obvious temptation to run it on a Monday or a Thursday...

Probably something to do with Brexit?