barrybishop

The next My First Skid on the IOW is February 1st - 18.15 to 21.30 on track. Why not come and experience speedway for the first time on one of our hire bikes, or come to perfect your skills on our 385m track. Please email speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk for more details.

Thats brills... please let me know when you do as it will be great to meet you and have a chat all the best

Emails replied to and I look forward to welcome you to Smallbrook

Hello Everyone, I has struck me that this is one of the finest medium in which to communicate to the speedway community so I would like to offer you or your business an opportunity to get involved with the 2018 Wightlink Warriors. Hopefully you will have read about the club and how we promote speedway on the Island. We truly believe in this sport of our, we believe in our riders, in its community and educational values, as well as being the best entertainment and fun around. We know we are fortunate. Hardwork, delivery of promises and a strong community ethos has helped us achieve a strong sponsorship backing and as we continue to improve the stadium, the track, our community, as well as the goodtime feel about speedway, we know we cannot afford not to offer you all the opportunity to get involved with the club no matter how big or small. It's always valued and always welcomed. So if the Warriors, or Wizards, could be for you please reach out on here or via speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk and we can discuss what we can do together. Come be a Warrior in 2018, sponsorship is great, rewarding and works both ways. Thank you and no matter who you shout for in 2018, have a great season. See you trackside. Barry

ha ha not to miss out on your staged crash

Write to me at Speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk and I will be delighted to send you and yours a family ticket to experience the Warrior Way with us in 2018. If at the end of it you dont like it, or feel we can improve it (this is always possible) then tell me, but if you and yours like it, shake my hand to visit your local track or us again. All the best Barry (Co-promoter IOW)

I must talk to him about that.... as there is a limit ha ha ha ha ha ha... joking.. thats great to hear.

I read all your comments with interest and I thank you all for them. One of the things that determined this years team for us was a hunger to come to the club. In seasons past, we have struggled to get people over to the island and this has narrowed our opportunity for rider selection. The very young 15 - 18, normally have school during the week, so reserves the opportunity to the next hot shot to their local or weekend club and they remain quite a challenge to find. Although, as a club we have never prevented starlets coming over and indeed encourage them as part of the GB Young Lions. I have also invested time and support to various young riders including Drew Kemp, Kyle Bickley, Chad Wirtzfeld and James Shanes to name but a few, because I believe in them as much as I believe in the riders we have selected this season, all of whom can progress this year. The second aspect we want are team players and all of the riders announced so far fit that bill perfectly. We want unity and a belief in the common goal.... which I know is always easier when you have a winning side for sure, but with strong, fun characters in the team along with very capable heat leaders and experience the combination is there for success. The other factor for us is pay....simple as. We cannot afford to pay the requirements that some riders have asked for, nor we will get into any price war. We have a scale and thats that, and the core objective remains the same... be the best we can be and hopefully that is trophy winner, while remaining viable, providing a fun filled family night out where our guests are valued and get value, while developing riders via the school and our NDL/SDL Teams. #comeonyouwarriors .

I guess we may be the difference to the norm, but we only managed 5 wins last season in all competitions yet our crowd went up on the previous season. We saw an influx of families, a lot of travelling fans who wanted to experience an evening with us and our season ticket sales increased from 2016. As I wrote earlier, not one person said to me, sort the team out, we have had enough..... they really enjoyed their evening, because they were properly entertained, received value for money, felt valued and I guess felt/knew that Martin, our team and I were putting everything we had (I don’t mean financial) to make their evening fun. As someone wrote before...as the crowds grew, so did the atmosphere, which in turn probably helped the crowd grow again. I truly don’t believe that fans of speedway want to see the best in the world week in week out. If they see close racing, with excitement and a bit of controversy, plus they feel valued, safe, their kids make friends, they interact with riders, in my view it’s a winning combination. If their team happens to involve the world's best and they have the close racing still than that's even better. We market as much as we can, but it is actually expensive to do all mediums, radio, paper, magazine, billboards and so on, so if I had one wish that would be an unlimited marketing budget to prove that marketed correctly the turnstiles will click again Thanks again, it’s interesting to read your views, as I try to see how they stack up in our stadium and what we do, and if using your views we can tweak what we do or implement something new. As always, if you come to the island come grab me for a chat, I'm always in yellow and blue

This is really interesting to read.... strange we do give away bits for example free sweets every week for kids and we will extend this to include fruit this year too. We "give away" used tearoffs and the kids love it... riders sign them of course. I take note of your digital communication and we all to often use social media as the "main tool" but now when texts are mainly free there could be an opportunity to increase our communication flow to those who have mobiles but do not use social media. Atmosphere is really important to us and this does increase the crowd interaction. Something we continue to work on and improve. Thanks for inspiring the grey matter and the advice, appreciate it. Barry

exactly right, speed is relative to the others in the race. Close racing, with incident, strong characters, fan interaction and kids involvement is what we strive for.

There is actually a discount code available for fans to come over for about 20%, plus we operate a free taxi service from Ryde Pier to the stadium and back again. If you are bringing a car book early to avoid higher costs (in the event of a rain off or some other reason you cannot travel the ticket can be moved to a later date). I will meet with Wightlink soon and will pass on your feedback... I guess the question is what would be a price, that would be reasonable to pay to use the ferry to come to the stadium just for speedway?

actually not entirely true... on the island kids 16 and under are free and we have a young adult pricing for ages 17 - 20 .When we announced this last year one club, I think Kings Lynn, did the same.

We actually employed community service (you have to pay to have them unless you are a public building) and I was amazed that of the 20 or so lads that came to help us tidy Smallbrook none had been to and most had not heard of the sport. After we explained it to them, showed them a bike... they were really interested to come pay us a visit and I know of at least one who is now a regular. True story that...

Actually thats not the case.... when we give tickets away we do it via their name on the gate, on the supply of an email/telephone number (in most cases). However, the way we do it, is there is no mention of any ticket possibility until we understand where they come from... Normally people plonk their kids on a bike or senior people say "I used to love the speedway" it is the ice breaker we need to find out where they are from. However, having said that, if someone was on holiday and I thought I could help them out, why not. Actually this was indeed the case at My First Skid where the Elliott family were on holiday and they wanted their nipper, Leon, to try speedway. The school was full but some how I found a way to get them in... .they loved it.... If you care to take a look a Iwades pages you will see this lad now has his own bike, and has progressed massively in a very short space of time... Had I not been accomodating or valued their request, probably speedway would have lost a potential rider of the future Finally regards our tickets... I can throw away many tickets and it doesnt actually do anything for me..... but what does, is the follow up. Understanding why they came, why the will or will not come back, even thanking them for making use of the free ticket I gave them... and it worked. Not 100 percent for sure... but every entry was taken, they will have gone to the bar, food outlet, retail store perhaps, and in general the positivity we gained was worth the invetment.

Hi everyone, This is a very interesting thread to read and a great post here, although of course I wish that I wasn’t reading it. Anyways, these are very useful when I am doing research into speedway and the general feedback about it. It is clear that there is a lot of frustration out there and I know this thread is dedicated to trying to identify what has gone wrong as opposed to the all the successes it has too. If I look at the points and how it affects my own club (when I write my, me or I, I always mean Martin Widman and myself) there are some very interesting comparisons.... For example, I completely agree about the darts - we watched it on the box last night and I said to my Lisa, how on earth did darts get so good - what took it up to this level and why isn't it possible with speedway. Of course, we all know that it is possible to do it with speedway - we try to put on as much "quality" razzmatazz as possible on race night, the build-up, and all our social events because speedway is no longer just about speedway. However, in my view, the main difference about darts and speedway is anyone can nip down the pub, pick up some arrows and throw them, you can’t for speedway and that the darts we see on the box is the elite players in a conference centre packed with fans, PLUS one-time attenders who are there for the social and fun factor and not just the darts. What we do not see is the regular dart league games. So that is a huge difference – what we are saying is that we want our league matches to have the fun packed adventure of, for example the PDC darts scene, and this is something on the Island we strive to do each week – so aim high. But, there is more… I can play darts easily but I cannot ride a speedway bike easily can I?.... uhhh well actually you can. Come to My First Skid on the island for example (or one of the other great schools across the country). Why have I added this bit…... well because I can prove that people who know nothing about speedway will come to our speedway school with little Johnny or Evie and try riding a speedway / twist and shoot bike (we even have a bike with stabilizers on). Then when they have tried it and realise that they have signed up their baby to ride a bike without brakes and watch some of the more advance riders a flying around their interest is caught... and this has been a big success on the island for us. I cannot begin to tell you, but I would suspect it has put at least 20 families on our gate each week over last year. Attendances.... our attendances last year increased for every meeting bar one... but it was hard work to achieve this.. My First Skid, shows, schools, scouts, you name it we went there. We held a free meeting too which attracted a lot of people but our core focus is on making speedway part of a bigger show that involves kids, rider interaction, fun, up to date music, slick presentation, and for us, this has really worked. While of course we value massively our senior supporters, for example the nice story about Ann Barrett, but at the same time we focus on tomorrow's support too and what makes them want to come to speedway. The truth of this in my view is 2 fold... one they need to feel valued, be entertained, follow a team and receive value for money. (I am not sure I agree with what is the right price to admit someone to speedway thought - but I do know that what you charge for entry must reflect what the person receives. This actually applies to everything – if you received a Micky D’s burger in a Michelin 5 star restaurant you would have cause for disappointment – yet both at the right price offer value to their customer. In other words, if someone leaves and thinks to themselves, that was awful, I didn’t get value, they will not return) and secondly, community.... we now have groups of kids running around the stadium of different ages, going to different schools, from across the Island and the first time I saw this I thought "yes.... that's it". Because I know as a child attending speedway I had different friends there compared to sea cadets, or school... and the truth is I still do. Fixtures... without doubt for us, we run every week and we are expected to run every week and this is vital, in our view, to the clubs success. Admission - we do offer lots of offers for free entry to newbies... but this comes at a “cost” to them. We would like them to give us feedback and to tell us their thoughts. This was another area where we won lots of new fans over the last two years. Integrity.... agree totally. However, I am not sure how we ensure it as I am sure that rule manipulation has always happened. The difference of today vice yesterday is social media and the ability for anyone to find a problem and declare it to the world - I am not suggesting this is wrong of course... it is just very different to how things were, and the sport needs to adapt to this accordingly. Correct it’s not just speedway - it is a fun family night out.... or as we say a fun packed family adventure. We want to entertain from entry to exit and this includes up to 10 mascots out on track for 30 minutes prior to the meeting, open pits, centre green visits, rider interaction, kids cycle race, me getting on a loudhailer when we were losing... and what is interesting for me last year when we had such a tough season not one person said to me - "Barry sort this out", they said, "thanks for another great night loved it.. we will win next week...." (I try to say goodbye to everyone after the meeting). A business plan and a vision... you know when we looked at bringing speedway back we needed a business plan, we still use it, it is a vital part of our daily life, but it also enables us to look at what worked, what cost what, and so on... but all this is encompassed by a vision and when you have a vision you need your sponsors to share this with you (otherwise why would they invest in you and your club), and you need your fans to not only share it but help you achieve it and you need to prove it. When you prove it tell the world about it. We made a promise to never charge for kids 16 and under and we will not (but interestingly I know have people writing to me to offer to buy kids tickets to social events - we never charge for them and they say we know, we want to just help... amazing hey?). Our second promise was to find riders from the island and we do this through My First Skid and we will enter the SDL league with the Wightlink Wizards with a team of students from the school. Finally, I view you coming to watch the Warriors, Wizards or attending a My First Skid session as though you are coming to visit my house. I would be totally gutted if you didn’t have a great time, it’s personal to me, you have actually invested in our club by coming and that is important. Of course we can never get everything right, but we do listen and we do read lots of information on forums and social media, as well as asking our fans for their feedback on how we perform. We never lose sight the we are not millionaires and without a healthy sponsorship and fan base there could not be speedway on the island which is why we put every effort we can to make it succeed. Anyway, thanks for the feedback on here about your views, we appreciate it..... if I could make one request as a promoter, fan, ex-rider, school instructor... is try and match your concern with positivity too because there are lots of it... if we all collectively talk our sport down, it will only go down, nothing will be able to bring it back up, but if we focus on our positives, while working on our concerns we can return our sport to the level it should be at. I know this works.. when kids come through the school… everyone cheers them for their first ride, they are my superstar every time they go out, we educate, we are disciplined but we have the most fun and you know what…. They come back… but you knew I would write that didn’t you. Positivity does work, trust me. Thanks again and I hope to see you trackside in 2018. If you come to the island grab me for a chat I am always in yellow and blue, probably with kids all around me as I look like Mr Tumble, or screaming with the fans. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and thanks again for supporting your club wherever that may be.

Conner Coles told us pretty early on that he would have loved to return to the island but his work committment in the midlands was a struggle for him to continue. He kind of asked permission to look elsewhere, which of course he received with our absolute blessing. Connor is a great guy, with a great family and we will miss him.

Just a few things which really worked well on the Isle of Wight.... Shows/carnivals/displays.... we offered free tickets to islanders with two conditions... If they liked it they promised to come back, if they didnt they told me why (100% returned rate) Bring my class...offering a kid from the crowd to bring their class and all their parents at their school class, scouts, guides... any youth group. Tickets as prizes for any community event.... these are the kind of things that worked for us... and we never will charge for kids 16 and under, we also have youth pricing 17 - 20

Great idea..... let me know

We are very excited about this development for us all on the Island. The plan for the Wizards is to be made up on My First Skid students, that we can develop and work with. Entering the SDL is a natural step for the riders and us as a club and I believe this will not only bring riders further training but potentially huge benefits to the club. This will come through further exposure of the Wightlink Warrior/Wizard and Warrior Way marketing brands, opportunity to expand our local sponsor relationships, proof of our investment in to Island kids/economy, as well as the feel good factor..... Thanks for all your support of this and I look forward to sharing its progress with you all. Barry

I would really love to win this...not for me or Martin, but for all our volunteer staff, all those who run around all season organising, attending and presenting the Warriors at events across the Island and UK. Can you imagine that... if we won... how great would that be? Thanks everyone for a great 2017 and whatever the result today, wherever we finish, for me its been absolutely fantastic on and off the track.... we cannot wait for next year. See you trackside.

We also have a leaflet which we give out to first timers, which has gone down really well with our guests. Barry

There are a couple of options for cars - Wightlink or Red Funnel. We do have a 20% discount with WIghtlink and both companies run special offers quite regularly. Other ways to save money is to book you accomodation with one of the BnBs / Campsite/ Caravan parks that include the travel over or offer a reduced rate. Day returns in the car - start at around £25 - £30 or so in the off season for both companies.

maybe it was a memory issue by the author.... here is where I found it from but of course I bow to your better judgement as for sure that was even before I was a twinkle in my grandfathers eye let alone my dads http://www.speedwayplus.com/FansGone.shtml

To my knowledge no one has missed a ferry for the last two seasons that Martin and I have been in charge. The taxi service provided free of charge from our sponsors Ryde Taxis is completely unique in speedway. I will pass this information on to them though, as I know they are extremely proud of the support and service they offer the club and those who travel to it from the mainland be that Warrior or away fans. Sadly, Smallbrook Station is not actually on any type of main train line, it is for a steam engine attraction that operates on the Island. Fan dabi dozy my friend.... was great to have the final piece of the jigsaw as they say Well to be fare New Cross did have an immediate catchment area of about 6 million (Actually 8.35m), with excellent communications to the Old Kent Road,....so it will be interesting to see if our attendance of 450 (its actually often more than that but in general around 450), when compared to the isalnd population of 150,000 as a percentage works out . I did a little research and in 1943 New Cross crowds were 22,000 or 0.26% of the catchment - our crowds are 450 or 0.3% of the catchment..... The two cannot be overly compared in my view. By the way I am not picking a fight here... just trying to present figures to people in a different way. I think the question really is, if New Cross ran today what would the figure be? Can the Isle of Wight restore their crowd to the crowd levels of the first two season or so? Martin and I would love to be able to achieve this and as I was told and now tell everyone "aim high...." Our target for the sport at our level is to break even and grow... when speedway died here two years ago they had crowds of 50 - 100, yes you read it correct... our crowds continue to grow, despite our location, despite our league position, with all the troubles we endured team wise at the start and during the season and, for me, that's the message which needs stand up to be embraced.