AFCB Wildcat

It's not just prices that have changed over the years. In researching how much they had changed in other sports, I found a Chesterfield v AFC Bournemouth program from a div 3 away game I attended in 1985 amongst my speedway programmes. There is a section giving details of their upcoming away trip to Derby County at the old Baseball ground. They say that the cheapest admission on the away terrace is an "extortionate £3", which is £9 odd in today's Monday. In describing the ground it says " The ground is situated in an unsavoury area. Some houses around the ground have been demolished in a slum clearance scheme, the others have been occupied by immigrants and the area has some of the qualities of a ghetto" In today's money that would equate to "a vibrant cosmopolitan area rich with cultural diversity"

They justify this by saying that the gigs are their main source of income now because they don't make so much from recorded music these days with most people streaming from the internet or illegally downloading. At one time bands toured to promote the albums.

That's true, and looking at historic football prices it tells a similar story. 1975 admission prices seem to have been between 50p for a 1st/ 2nd Division game and £1 for the league cup final. It's also true though to say that since then, top flight football and probably Rugby too, has been rebranded and and is no longer just the domain of working class people. Many working class people have been priced out of top flight football but the old terraces once their domain have been replaced by magnificent stadiums where the plebs have been replaced by the prawn sandwich brigade, new breed of happy clappers and football tourists who can afford the eye watering prices. Speedway as a product and the Stadiums it's held in unfortunately haven't moved on enough to attract people in numbers who can afford to pay the extra money now involved.

I just found an old programme from 1975. The programme was 10p. On the back were details of the next week's Blue Riband individual meeting. Admission for this was 75p for the grandstand, 60p for West stand & terraces and children 50p & 42p. Prize money for the event was, winner £50 and a portable TV (value £85!! ) 2nd £30 and 3rd £20. An inflation checker calculates this at about £14 admission for an adult and 2 kids with programs!

Out of interest, how does this compare pro rata to admission prices from the 70's heydays? My Dad wasn't in a highly paid job but he took me and my sister to Poole every week and to Weymouth on Tuesday nights in the summer holidays. We didn't buy drinks or food unless it was out of our pocket money but we always had a programme each. Can anyone remember what the admission prices were then? I can't!

Does anyone know if there is going to be a stream for this one?

It's a bit of a mystery isn't it? Looking at the company's website it appears that they are a subcontract engineering company offering CNC milling and turning services rather than being a design authority. I guess you will have done the same but doing a Google search, nothing comes up at all about this company and a speedway engine other than the page that you linked. I would be interested to know more about it and you would have thought someone in Speedway circles would have been involved and/or know something about it?

I clicked the link and so far nobody has died. It is a link to UK research and innovation website which gives details of funding given to a company called P Mason engineering to develop a new 500cc engine for Speedway/ grass track etc. use.

Yes you're absolutely correct in my opinion, it would be "what about me?" When I was at school 40 odd years ago I remember the girls protesting that the uniform code was sexist as they couldn't wear trousers and it was changed. So then all the boys turned up the next day wearing skirts. Did they really want to wear skirts? No. Did they do it because they were sexist and hate women? No. It was as you say, "what about me?" If it's been accepted that it's sexist for girls to have to wear skirts then it's sexist for boys to have to wear trousers, that was the point. This is the same mentality where people are saying, we've indulged you in celebrating your sexuality, what about me? Sad maybe? But not right wing, homophobic etc.

I would agree with that. With so little time between the start of the stream and the 1st heat and after the failure of the cast option it didn't give long to sort out the problems so I ended up with a crude mirror of a phone screen on my TV with peripheral icons via Google home app. It did the job so I stuck with it as experimenting further meant missing more of the action. If it hadn't been for the unfortunate lengthy delay I would have missed half the meeting. Having said that, I too was impressed with the production and will certainly purchase again if I can resolve the casting issues. I can't believe the comments on social media complaining about the cost of the stream though.What do people expect FFS ? After putting on a meeting at considerable cost with no paying spectators in the stadium, coupled with the production costs of the stream. "Too expensive" "short sighted" they are all moaning It cost me £38 for the takeaway we ate while the 4 of us watched it & only £11:95 for the stream. I know which I enjoyed the most!

Not got any apple products unfortunately. My phone and Chromecast worked admirably for the football streams on AFCB TV and the Belle Vue meetings. Epic fail on this one though

Well it's not gone well so far! I want to watch it with my family but although the cast symbol appears on the stream, it comes up 'error' when I try to connect to my Chromecast. It doesn't seem to be available through my TV browser. My phone is only a cheaper android so tried again with my wife's S20 plus. That's got smart view but for whatever reason it's not detecting my Chromecast or TV although next doors tv seems to be an option Tried screen mirroring on mine but just kept stopping. Eventually got screen mirror to work on the S20 but with all the phones icons round the outside but that's better than nothing. So just in time to watch an ambulance and lots of people sitting around. What happened to Rory??

Exactly my point. That would be the perception so although there is nothing to say it isn't allowed it would be vilified. I don't give a toss about anybody's sexuality, why do I even want to know? Just seems odd to me that anyone needs to celebrate their sexuality anyway but anyone 'straight' would be by default 'right wing' for doing so.

While there's nothing to say it's not allowed, it would be seen as a homophobic slur against gay pride and anyone involved would vilified as haters.

Thanks, I'm sure it will be fine then. It's just that I know some live sports streams and my Virgin TV go app block casting or screen mirroring. I suppose to stop it being being re broadcast to a larger group like in a pub for instance. I watched most of the football season on streams and in the FAQ's it said they couldn't be cast as it was against league rules or something but when I pressed 'watch live' the cast symbol appeared anyway and I cast to my TV no problem.

Thanks, I'm definitely going to support this initiative. I hope it proves profitable for the Tigers and continues after the lockdown. I don't get to see live speedway since the demise of Weymouth as I can't attend weekdays. My only live speedway in recent years apart from Cardiff was weekend breaks in Eastbourne, but now due to the popularity of staycations, availablity of accommodation is limited & expensive. I might even become a Tigers fan if I can watch them every week

Do you know if you can Chromecast the Glasgow stream from phone to TV? I'm fairly new to streaming having only streamed the British Final & Craven memorial meeting for speedway before, both of which let me cast to my TV. Also, is it available to watch on demand once purchased if I can't watch it live?

I don't expect anything. My concern is how this situation moves forward. I have no knowledge of the lease details so I'm only going on what I've read on here or bits and pieces I've seen in the media. From what's been said, we have a situation where the lease holders don't want to operate it as a sporting venue but from what you've said it was gifted to the people of Poole as a sporting venue so it would seem they are in breach of the lease conditions by operating the venue as solely a carpark? Apart from the glass enclosure which was primarily for dogs, the stadium is just the same as it was 50 years ago when I first went there so it needs significant investment for its future use as a sporting venue. Who makes that investment, I don't know? The landlords (the council) certainly won't, the lease holders don't want to and the speedway can't afford to which is my concern. So where do we go from here? I certainly wasn't suggesting that moving the track was something that could be done easily to accommodate Poole Town and obviously the loan situations to develop their current home complicates things but if it's future is as a sporting venue for the people of Poole it has to accommodate more than Speedway.

Yes, exactly that. I know times have changed and I haven't been to Wimborne Road regularly for many years but when we were kids we could make our own way there easily and lots of kids and families from local estates walked there. If it was out in the sticks somewhere and only accessible by car I think attendances would plummet.

Geography maybe, but different administration isn't it? I think it comes under East Dorset then & Poole is BCP. It's all a bit confusing round that area. I've seen the address given as Ringwood Hampshire but it's not my neck of the woods so I'm sure. As you say though, not viable as a Speedway venue.

I'm assuming you mean the Ringwood Raceway at Matchams park? I think this would be a non starter. I don't even know who operates it now but the area has been hemmed in by high end housing since the days it was used as a training track in the 70's. The Moto X track has been closed due to noise issues I believe so I don't think permission would be given for speedway. It's probably about 10 - 15 miles or so from Poole but in a different county. Poole's biggest asset is its town centre location but unfortunately that makes the land more valuable for other purposes.

It's good to get one meeting on but what's the long term solution here? From what I've read in the Star over the past couple of weeks and in the local press it's a bit of a worry. The only thing that makes sense to me is for Stadia UK to forfeit their lease if they don't intend to use it as a sporting venue. If Stadia UK are still operating the venue how does it work bringing in staff to replace ones that have been made redundant regardless of who's paying them? Now that the dogs are gone could there now be room for Poole Town to return to the stadium and share with the Speedway? I realise that the track would need to be moved as there's not currently enough room. That would be the ideal solution to me, with the council as the landlord. It seems though that there are plans to develop the whole site though and it all sounds a bit like the Swindon situation to me and frankly I fear the worst.

Did you do that on a Flex booking or pay upfront with no cancellation and no amendments? You need to be careful on the flex & other pay on the day booking options because their terms & conditions, which no one reads, say that they can amend the price up to I think from memory, 30 days before you stay. I had this happen one year where I booked cheap rooms a year in advance like you did but was notified a month or 2 before the GP that the price was now double what I'd booked it at. The prices are constantly changing with Premier Inn and start off high when they first become aware of an event. I'm going anyway so what I do now is book it straight away on Flex at whatever the price is because they normally come down when the rooms are either not sold or cancelled. I just keep monitoring the prices from there on and if I see it cheaper I cancel the original booking & re book at the cheaper price. Quite often it becomes significantly cheaper nearer the event on the standard pay upfront rate, in which case I cancel the flex which you can do up to midday on the arrival date.

I was about to say more or less the same. I think the Star has done a first class job in the absence of domestic speedway this year. The content has been excellent and a cover to cover read for me.

Was all good again this week. Latest issue on sale