mikebv

Uniquely. Speedway is possibly the least impacted Sport when it comes to 'blind partizanship' I would suggest.. Many of its die hard fan base are now Speedway fans first and club fans second in a lot of cases.. Not many (bar a rabid few), would have any sour grapes about their teams losing simply because the prizes don't warrant that level of emotional attachment or response.. You only have to look at the Aces fans Facebook pages when they failed to reach the play offs to see how many mentioned they would accept defeats given the great racing they get served up each meeting, with an overall general consensus that winning the 'top prize' doesn't mean that much anyway, and that long may the entertainment value on offer continue.. Obviously can't reply for SPD but I wouldn't think the Aces getting beat in the KO Cup or not reaching the play offs had any bearing in his post..

Several reasons why teams request to drop.. With financial being the obvious one. With the underlying reasons of there being absolutely no kudos by winning any Speedway title nor any attainment levels to aspire too from the lowest league to the top.. No disrespect but a Grand Final in Speedway (UK), is akin to two bald men fighting over a comb.. Therefore what difference does it make to the clubs what league they race in? Hardly anyone cares who wins. There is almost zero National coverage.. And there is no financial reward worth speaking of, in fact, as we see, successful clubs can actually lose money and go bust by winning!! Therefore you might as well decide amongst yourselves where you want to compete, and at the end of the day you can watch pretty much the same set of riders anyway so no loss there.. As you say, it sends out all the wrong messages, but that's where the sport is in the UK, and I suppose the overall thoughts are better to have clubs still in existence than not.. An ever decreasing circle though isn't it?

Think it's more the director... Spends too long on the wrong camera... The riders have gone passed and he (or she, it is 2019), hasn't moved on to the next camera...

Be ok if Eurosport get involved... Joining two thirds of a way through a Speedway meeting is what they do best...

Maybe Tai could ride over here for loads of teams as 'unattached' and then ride in the British and Premiership Championships? Of course, the Premiership should have to hold such an event for it to happen..

Not beyond the realms of fantasy that, I would suggest......

A one league regionally based could work Steve if you race twice against your own region home and away and once against the teams from the other region. This would mean your nearest teams in the other region will still get a visit from you and vice versa.. Top two in each region play off against each other to decide who represents the region in the Grand Final. Run a National KO Cup, a Best Pairs and a Fours.. Maybe also a regional individual Championship where top eight from both go into a National Riders Championship? More local (ish) derbies cannot be a bad thing and you could always run a season or two with six man teams until more riders become available.. Something has to change though without a doubt.. If Poole were seriously considering to drop down it would only take Belle Vue to consider doing the same and 100% the PL would collapse.. Long overdue the Aces dropping down for me given the northern base of the Championship and they could race Friday's and Saturdays.. The reality is that crowds are now so low at most clubs just 200-300 more a night would genuinely make a huge difference to most places, and let's face it, the sport isn't going to gain any credible operating model overnight allowing it to be taken seriously by thousands, so might as well all run on nights they can get their best crowds. Crowd increases which generally will made up of those who either used to go or attend sporadically now but would attend more often if ran on nights they can traditionally get there...

I remember one night a few years ago when Martin Vaculik and Vaclav Milik raced against each other in the SEC... In just four laps we had. . Millichich.. Millichik Vaculich And Vacilik... And of course we have the 'How many variations of Kasper Woryna's surname can we muster?' Competition.. !!! Love listening to Sam.. Priceless...

You can see why some may fans simply "give up" can't you? We now have Kyle Bickley possibly missing the NL KO Cup Final as it's been arranged on the same night as a GB International match.. And the Championship Final will no doubt have a guest farce written into its contract somewhere along the line.. Lets be honest, if the supposed prestigious, showpiece events are treated (by those who run them), with such a lack of respect, why then should the fan base bother with them and attend? Sometimes you do actually feel that some one is possibly conducting a top level governmental experiment in the background, trying at every corner to undermine it with the most ridiculous decision making imaginable to see how far it can be stretched before breaking.. Or maybe it's a bunch of rabid environmentalists involved who just want the sport closed down on noise pollution grounds or because of the global air miles pollution footprint so many riders infest on the world? Or powerful property investers who want all tracks becoming housing estates? My own personal belief (and only rational conclusion I can make given what constantly goes on), is that "Dr Evil" from Austin Powers is actually in overall charge, has brainwashed everyone within UK Speedway, and is sat in his lair making up the most far fetched scenarios his warped mind could conceive, laughing hysterically and manically to himself as they all get endorsed and used by everyone involved within the sport who are trapped under his mind spells.. "When should we run the Championship Grand Final Dr Evil" "On the same night as the NLRC"!... "But that will mean riders needing to be in two places at the same time, and some will have to miss the final, making the meeting completely devalued. Many people will simply decide not to go and watch it".... "I know"!!! "Bwa ha" "Bwa ha, ha ha" "Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha" etc etc etc.. It does shoot itself in the foot so many times, year in year out, with self created issues that it has to be more than just coincidence surely? With the biggest frustration being for the fans of course, just how good it all could be if it was just organised well...

And I bet several promoters will still scratch their heads wondering why large professionally ran companies don't fall over themselves to sponsor it...

They work in several places as you allude to... Therefore the 'skill' is there... All it needs now is the collective 'will' to make it happen... Even if just for TV meetings which provide the 'window' for the sport for so many to see in.. Far, far too often you read about meetings getting called off due to issues not actually on the day of racing but before. With the race day itself absolutely fine.. Covers would give TV a far more favourable impression of the sport as they wouldn't keep shelling out to pay for cameras, equipment etc for no reason, and also give fans confidence to attend on those 50/50 'on or not' nights whereby currently so many decide not to bother.. Getting information out to a pre positioned list of volunteers has never been so easy as it is today with this wonderful tool called the Internet... Therefore someone involved in the clubs, with even the most basic organisational skills, could I am sure deliver covers being put down and lifted... If the clubs really wanted to do it..

Good call... It would need to be a fair few quid though to go across a lot more teams.. One thing is for sure for me, Matt Ford is no mug and will make the right decision for his business..

The year my team had in 1975 in the 2nd Division was certainly an early eye opener for this wide eyed 8 yr old lad... Certainly learned a lot of life skills watching them when my Uncle took me to the away matches in particular.... I presumed the whole country were United fans as every town and city we went to was completely taken over by thousands of reds and many an away game became effectively a home one such was the imbalance of home fans to away.. ... I think a few still haven't recovered... As you allude to. Your team is your team regardless of where they ply their trade..

It's been mentioned that there is a new TV deal, with money on the table.. (?) If that is the case you could only presume it's not considerable if a Premiership promotion (a very successful one), is not ruling out dropping down and sharing in its 'bounty'?

It will be the same next year I would think... And the same the year after that. . And the one after that. . And the etc etc etc.. Incredible really isn't it?

Quite possibly but no other sport feels the need to do it do they? For me, maybe go the other way and massively market the hell out of the event locally and make the night an advert for your club and the sport.. If there is TV money then reduce the admission costs and deliver a full nights entertainment. . So many people "used to go" and are still very interested in the sport but now just watch on TV. Therefore do something that makes them sit up and think "Now that might be worth another visit".. I always think Speedway clubs would benefit massively by having a mindset of treating every match like its their last meeting ever. ie if it was, how they would market it, how they would promote it, etc etc Sadly, maybe one day it will be their last meeting ever if they don't start promoting themselves better when the TV cameras come to town..?

Not surprisng really.. Most riders earn their money from their home meetings, hence usually join tracks they have had success on... For the fans it is all about entertainment, for a good many riders it is all about earning money.. (Not a criticism by the way, the jobs a dangerous one so they should seek to get as much reward as they can). For Speedway as a whole now, I do believe it's a false economy having massive home track advantage as the Leagues are simply so devoid of kudos (and financial reward), that winning 'at all costs" is a complete waste of time and money.. Putting on a full night of off track entertainment, allied to a fantastic night of racing on a well prepared track, should be the No1 priority and aim for all tracks if they want to prosper... Not 'doctoring' tracks to win something that not too many followers of the sport actually care about...

Must confess it's all a bit confusing,, Some fans wouldnt want to see their team in the Championship as they believe that the standard of racing wont be as good as the Premiership... Even though they have spent last season (and many before), watching Championship riders riding at their track every meeting, often for their own teams... In fact the majority of Premiership riders they will watch are also Championship riders.. I presume it's the same logic that has some saying that young novice British riders should be given plenty of opportunities to ride, but, at the same time, saying that they wouldn't pay to watch that standard of rider.. So in summary, (if I have it right)... Some people will quite happily watch Championship riders riding in the Premiership for their own teams, (and willingly pay Premiership prices to do so), but are not prepared to watch the very same Championship riders riding in the Championship for their own teams, (at a lower admission cost than they currently pay)..? Boris should really ask some of these people to sort out Brexit, the EU wouldnt stand a chance..

A dead cat bounce Steve.. Happens every time a world class rider returns.. A few weeks after the novelty has worn off we are back to the same crowd levels ( but with a huge earner now to pay).. Fixed nights meant superstars would come back and we wouldn't need guests to replace them anymore as the nights were fixed and fixtures were in stone.. What happened to that? Did they not get the memo? Or was the stark financial reality of bringing them back more the issue?

But crowds plummeted whilst top riders rode over here so how does that work? Woffy rode as World Champ for a season at Wolves but I didnt see any 'full house' signs going up at Monmore or indeed anywhere else.. Woffy,, Emil, Majic, Doyle, Ward, Holder, NKI, Nicki P, Zagar, Lindback, Lindgren and Hancock have all rode over here in the timeline when thousands of punters decided to stop going.. Maybe due to the annual inflation busting price increases to pay for them? Or maybe due to the ever changing fixture list to accommodate their own agendas? Or maybe down to when these guys had a meeting clash due to their full calendar (as so in demand), you ended up with a plethora of guests to replace them, thus rendering meetings with minimal credibility and fans feeling short changed? It's £18 to watch second, third, fourth and fifth level riders now.. How much would be charged to watch the top guys? They don't come cheap and are there enough sponsors willing to cough up what will need to be a whole leagues worth of superstars, as if each team doesn't have one then those without will struggle.. Thousands have deserted the domestic product over the past ten years or so.. Having Global superstars in front of them each week didn't prevent this exodus.. NB As an aside, the best meeting I saw this year was the Colts v Kent. All for a tenner for me and free for my 16 year old lad. I would actually defy any world class riders to have delivered better such was the quality of racing and entertainment on offer. Hence we went back six more times this season.

The names could be changed to protect the guilty... I mean the innocent...

of course. .. Over 60000 of us glory hunters there in Nov 1974 when we played Sunderland at OT in the 2nd Division.. My first game.. All from London, Singapore, Japan and Ireland, USA and Norway... If Citeh have one third of the citys football fans they are doing very well and will have improved their standing considerably since they started winning things.. Up to seven years or so ago there were more Liverpool shirts sold in Mcr than City's... Bless them...

1.1 billion of us fans now worldwide (allegedly), so there must be some even in such a far away place as Wuckintun...

I am sure many a Polish League manager, and team riders, have been filmed having a good laugh when getting beaten... And I am sure their fans would have keenly joined in with such hilarity... Or maybe not?

Well if you disagree, it's a good start. ..