old bob at herne bay

The secret world of speedway attendances......... not even MI5 know how many people attend speedway meetings in the UK

Marko, we are definitely on the same page on this re length of meetings. The only plus point of a televised meeting is that the TV company do have a schedule to follow, and barring a disaster will not tolerate all the incessant time wasting that goes on in the sport . It might take 2 hours , but it will be 2 hours. I agree though 15 heats in 90 minutes is the right answer , that now seems impossible to achieve. When I first went to speedway you could watch a league match (typically 13 heats), an interval and half a dozen heats of second half racing and see some novices practicing afterwards and still leave the stadium by 10 pm after a 7.45 pm start. The 2 minute warning was only sounded when a rider clearly was having problems getting to the start ..... I suggest now that a meeting would never START, UNLESS the ref sounded the 2 minute warning ! The riders would just sit at the pit gates posing. C'est speedway in the 21st century. :-( : -(

Funny how people's expectations have been lowered in the "premiership" 2 "half decent" teams which would be competitive in the championship.

Probably hawks 1975. There are more seagulls in the Eastbourne "squad" than we have s*****g all over the seafront here at Herne Bay.

not so simples skidder1 though is it ....... as mikebv states , same riders , same bikes, same costs and yet the promoters pay them more money???

Nothing changes it seems in British Speedway.......... same old same old ......... the only thing that changes is the cost of admission and programme. Remarkable that the "premiership" still lumbers on with the appallingly low standard of racers now being paraded ....... guess it just allows the promoters to charge higher admission fees compared to the championship. No idea why it now costs more to stage 15 heats in the premiership than the championship ........

That’s a plausible explanation. At least gives some hope that the stadium will reopen this season for speedway. For a company whose main interest is in “the catering side” according to Dan Ford, hope the poole fans like their burgers.

We have been locked down since before Christmas. Government announced roadmap out of lockdown over 6 weeks ago. Still Poole speedway and their new landlords haven’t agreed how to reopen the stadium

Anyone but Eastbourne to be champions would please me. They are so "cocky" about their fantastic team of young British riders, most of whom seem to feature every week in Speedway Star .

2nd bend beer hut has hit the nail on the head. Expect intial surge of interest for the opening meeintgs. Once everybody has seen whats on offer again , crowds will drop off. Still not long to wait for the P. offs this season.

"Anyone for F1 at £300 a pop" That's nearly as expensive as a weekend in Cardiff for 2 hours of ear deafening air horns at the SGP

Whatever the price of imported furniture has to do with speedway admisson prices is lost on me stu19. The clubs all made no losses in 2020, which must have been the first time for a long time , that is if we believe that they all run at a loss as they always claim ? Once again the speedway public have been taken for mugs, cost cutting by signing lower standard riders, (in the case of Kings Lynn no Rob Lambert) Once upon a time I was told that riders wages made up 80% of the costs of runnign a speedway team. Depsite the huge savings that clearly have been made the PL teams have taken the P and increased admission. If this were a temporary surcharge for PPE and other Covid 19 related precautions, then it would be understandable, and be removed once we have got past June . Chances are that there will be no hand soap or sanitiser in the toilets , which will be as filthy as ever. Yes the answer will be don't go if you dont want to shell out £20 per person plus £3 programme plus a £2 seat . Wise advice, stu 19.

Buy a £20 lottery advance ticket online and hope that the weather is good, the teams turn up as advertised and not full of R/R , guests. Speedway will have a big problem with advance online ticketing in the fickle British climate. Understand those are the rules imposed .... but upping admission charges for cut price riders and advance ticketing only is a hard sell.

I think most of the internet bandwidth in Scotland has been taken up by Nicola tonight

Maybe a letter to Justin Tomlinson (MP) Minister of State (Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work) Organisations: Department for Work and Pensions and Equality Hub would be more useful asking them to review the legality of the decisions made at the Peterborough Showground.

Well, once again despite all the hype about reducing costs by cutting points limits , one by one the "premiership" clubs are upping their admission prices. The ever ageing dwindling band of "diehards" will surely turn up, but if the aim is to attract new supporters to the sport , they are going a funny way about it. six green bottles sitting on the wall, six green bottles sitting on the wall....... How many green bottles will be sitting on the wall in 2022?

Pretty careless of the promotion to leave uninsured vehicles and equipment on a site with little security and in a high risk area during the winter. Lets hope they get in touch with Adrian Flux insurance at Kings Lynn and sort out some cover, or arrange secure storage for their machinery.

Don’t the club carry insurance for theft and damage to buildings?

Comparisons with a F1 meeting to a league speedway meeting are irrelevant. Maybe a speedway GP meeting is a more reasonable comparison. Even then they are entirely different sports that attract a different crowd. The F1 boys complain that speedway riders just go round and round in circles and follow the leader ! Bottom line is that the crowds turn up for F1 worldwide in far greater numbers than speedway GPs. In my “career “ of supporting speedway, I have felt short changed on several occasions. Endless delays to meetings due to so many excuses too numerous to mention...standing on a grass/mud bank in spartan conditions which often result in......... matches finished early due to “curfews” usually due to incompetent refereeing and/or meeting presentation. Declared result with 12 heats and no refunds. Arriving at stadiums to discover teams missing top riders and using R/R . ( pre internet days) now check online before travelling. Teams of 6 or even 5 riders ........infamous match England vs USA at Ipswich cancelled at short notice due to lack of a USA team! Wasted journey of 200 miles on a sunny evening. My £20 now pays for 15 heats, maybe only 12 with a declared result, as against my 2 bob paying for 19 or 20 heats . Oh yes 3d. for a programme, now laughingly priced at £3. Delays and more delays don’t deliver value for money for me and maybe have attended my last speedway meeting. I do however have to defend the Kent Kings stadium, who possibly have the best appointed spectator facilities in British Speedway.

Well Scott Nicholls was definitely at KingsLynn .... looked very quick.trying out a new Godden Engine.

Surely Speedway race nights and times at Kent are dictated by the local council planning authority? The NDL admission charge is the most expensive in the country, so IF as suggested the speedway has been running “rent free “ under Roger Cearns’ ownership, I would say that NDL racing at Sittingbourne will become untenable. I think much will depend on the profitability of CL speedway in 2021 . If not successful maybe dogs will take over every evening ..... I am sure the locals will prefer barking greyhounds every night rather than revving motorcycles.

Te complete lack of information coming from most clubs on their plans to restart the season in less than 4 weeks time fully supports my opinion that they have their heads in the sand and are hoping that this all goes away by May 16th, and it will "business as usual. " All pretty shabby, certainly doesn't inspire confidence that the speedway stadia will be low Covid 19 risk environments. Frankly I would be amazed if half the stadia were allowed to open as planned in May. Only Eastbourne appear to have grasped the nettle, and set out their plans to their supporters.

Go on surprise me “Trees” ..... soap is now available in the toilets at Saddlebow Road.....and there is more than one entrance to the race bowl from the field used as a car park ?

Much still to be done before crowds are allowed into Speedway "race bowls" in the UK IMHO. Gone are the days of banks of turnstiles located at several entry points around the tracks ....... with spectators located all around the entire circuit. The sanitary facilities at most "race bowls" are now so scarce and rudimentary , lacking even a bar of soap, that surely will be questioned by local authorities in assessing attendance limits. The last track I regularly supported struggled to maintain electric lighting in their facilities. Oddly, I suspect that social distancing there woudn't have been a problem, assuming you took a torch to the gents ;-) Eastbourne have laid out their stall with some commonsense planning ... but whether the local authority have given them any feedback on their plans ....

Talking of Eastbourne, I seem to remember some un sportmanslike behaviour from their NL team manager to delay a meeting at Kent and invoke the curfew, and prevent 15 heats being run. Seems there nothing in the rules to prevent "time wasting" .....