mikebv

A similar story is sadly often told at these 'special offer' meetings... When three people have paid thirty quid, getting them to see 50 odd quid for the same product as 'good value' a week later is asking a lot... A shame as it shows that there is a huge untapped market out there for the sport... It is invariably though the 'price point' that is the key determinant whether these people attend or not.... Last night saw a 'top of the table' clash between BV and Wolves and delivered what looked like the Aces' worst gate of the season as the match was on Sky, football on the box, and full price charged... What should have been a showcase for the sport looked sadly nothing of the sort with the gaps in the stands... You would think, especially for the clubs who get the bar and food take, that getting as many punters in as possible would be the aim, lose a bit on the admission, gain a lot more in the bar and food outlets... And probably more importantly, let a full stadium show the wider TV watching sporting public that your sport is worth a visit....

Maybe, as it is Speedway obviously, he could 'guest' at other venues should a fan of another track not be able to attend...? His feedback and input could be invaluable to the incumbent promotional team I am sure.....!

Pretty basic but dont know why Periscope for instance isnt used to do interviews during breaks between races with managers and riders... Couldnt the dvd company provide the feed? BV has its own wifi (great idea by the way), so it would be accessible to the crowd.... Doesnt need fortunes invested to bring the sport into the modern era... Just a bit of thought...

Don't understand the EL v PL racing debate to be honest... Virtually every EL meeting has the majority of its riders from the PL so surely the two leagues' racing cannot be that much different as its delivered by mainly the same people..?

KK the enigma... Truly great to watch at times.. Truly awful at others.... A strange character, never seems to be any in-between...!?

And yet we had two PL meetings on TV last week and Swindon v Cov this Monday coming.. Maybe any of those dates could have been used for what should have been a very attractive fixture show casing two of the top teams in the EL..? Crowd may have been reduced from a 'normal' week due to TV being there but the 'TV payment' would have softened the blow and I would suggest more would still have attended than the level of crowd many say went last night.. Meetings like last night at Lakeside and BV just simply do the sport no favours at all... Yet it appears to be by design and not due to circumstance that these kind of 'select sides' get put together far too frequently.. Which can never be right can it?

We went to Lakeside last year and won with FOUR guests..... Didnt make me as an Aces fan feel any joy to be honest as it wasnt really 'our team'... Still, part of me does get some joy from the vocal Lakeside's promoters getting turned over when (yet again) they put on this type of 'nonsense' Speedway meeting...

To be fair.... When you only have almost a year to organise an event to avoid any clashes, it must be really difficult to remember every little detail (like which riders can be there)...!!! However, just a thought... Maybe matches that clash with FIM meetings when the fixtures are announced at the start of the season should become the 'Sky meetings' on various Mondays..? Everyone seems to move heaven and earth to deliver these matches and many appear to have much less than a years notice to arrange with often 'a few weeks notice' being the norm... We seem to have matches moved from Wednesdays and Thursdays to a Monday from Poole and Swindon so why not avoid those tracks on 'FIM Weeks' and pick a track that races Friday or Saturday..... Maybe BV v KL or Lakeside v Poole could have been this week's Monday offering rather than a PL meeting less effected by 'overseas' clashes meaning these meetings could remain actually credible....? Two PL meetings being shown in an 'FIM impacted' week doesn't seem very well planned does it?

Wow.... Lakeside v Poole and BV v KL..... Two matches..... Four teams..... Six Guests.... Two RR positions.... And Heaven knows how many actual teams represented on the night with the Guests and DU's.. Take it Friday wont be a fixed night in the EL? Still, on the bright side I will save circa 50 quid by now giving this one a miss.... These two matches bring zero integrity in the context of their position within a 'Professional' sports framework.... When will the penny drop with the Sports' organisers that in this day and age people simply wont have the urine extracted...? Not going well Speedway is it?...

Or maybe British Speedway is a total farce with zero credibility? Setting off now from Manchester so I beat the queues......... Dont want to get there too early though as I might end up riding for Poole!!!

One of the fundamental issues with the sport that never gets sorted... ie. Sticking to the original start of season 'theoretical' team average when a 'real' team average has evolved due to 'actual' points being scored... Too many teams have their seasons 'over by July' and suffer poor crowd levels accordingly... A big opportunity for the sport if they sort this... Getting to the end of the season, every team in a league of just eight should have something to ride for to keep their fans, (and when they go away) the home teams' punters interested and therefore still attending... Having teams with 'no hope' does no one any favours...

Still shouldn't ride in the SWC.? Danny King would have been third (at least)... Err... Cookie.... Cookie would have been third (at least).. Err... Scotty.. Scotty would have come third (at least).... Err... Robert... Robert Lambert, he would come third (at least)... Stevie, Richie, Kyle, Eddie, Ben etc etc, they all would have come third in a GP at least... Errr. No they wouldn't..... Well done Chris Harris....

Or possibly the EL Riders Championship fiasco the year before last which he may have attended and he got his timeline wrong...? Let's be fair, it is so very easy to get confused with so many 'British Speedway fiascos' to remember...!

Definitely take a point now.... Wolves very strong at home.... Should be a good meeting....

Surely a Speedway rider without machinery isn't a Speedway rider anymore but a Speedway spectator? Can you have a guest for a spectator now? Or maybe they should!? Thousands of guests replacing the thousands of missing fans could solve a lot of issues!!

To be fair... Looking at todays league table it may be 'squeeky bum time' for the team in fifth... Matches in hand are one thing, scoring points in them are another... Maybe we need an EGM to be called where this year the 'Top 5' qualify for the playoffs??? Or maybe should sudden injuries occur, a few meetings get postponed.. (in the interests of Speedway obviously)....☺

Has it finished yet!?

Ultimately though, it's just a shame a sport organises itself in such a way that we have threads and threads weekly full of comments like this one quoted and many more, as we debate the advantage/disadvantage gained by missing riders and 'ringers' brought in to replace them.. The wider mainstream media don't seem to take Speedway seriously in this country... Cannot think why.....

Maybe in next year's 'brave new world' such bollox will not be allowed to happen?

RR has never really been an issue to me as at least its the same teams riders taking the rides rather than a guest... Maybe the rider above the missing one could take two rides and any of the ones below can take the other three (as it will be if each rider gets five rides) with a max of seven rides per rider.. Presume guests will be a thing of the past if promotion and relegation comes in, which is great news... Cannot have a rider helping another team send his own team down.... But as this is British Speedway, you never know... Presume also that there wont be any DU's as you cannot have a rider helping promote one of his teams whilst helping relegate his other. If a play off is used he would end up riding against himself! But again as this is British Speedway etc etc etc... For me, the Danish model of five per team could be the one to use, thus meaning more 'replacements' available as supply may actually exceed demand... It may be less heats (not sure) but if it is, then tag on a compulsory 'Junior team' match every meeting and it could be value for money and create lots of track time for inexperienced riders... Whatever the detail though, its good to see some innovation being brought to the sport...

A couple of people in the south stand had folding chairs at the Lakeside match... Although, if you don't pitch up at the front you will need to stand up to watch the racing as (unlike sadly at so many tracks) you will have a crowd in front of you...!

Got my tickets today... West terrace, great viewing (will take a brolly just in case)....! £45 quid IN TOTAL for two nights of World Class Speedway for me and the lad.. That's rather good value for money I would suggest...!!! Cannot wait!!!

With a fanzone in the city centre during the day... Anyone who doesn't follow Speedway in Manchester wouldn't have had a clue that the British Final was being played out virtually within their city centre.... THE most prestigious individual title for British riders being played out at THE National Stadium of Great Britain .. And hardly anyone in quite possibly the Number one sporting city in Britain knew about it... Got to be a better plan...?

Keep sucking on that lemon son.... Keep sucking....

Well done Danny King, a true racer on a racers track... Took some knackers to blast round the outside in that last one given how deep and wet the track was... Great also to see Cookies interview, very mature, can only stand him in good stead for the rest of the year with that attitude.. Kelvin didnt mention Bombers engine much after the first ride on it did he? Strange that...! Cannot wait for the SWC at this track, held up fantastically well tonight... It must give fans confidence to attend a meeting even if the weather is not quite what we would like going forwards... (Might even prize me away from the TV next time!)...