Hawk127

What I do not understand is that most clubs do not own the stadia and rent them from independent landlords. For example, if I approached Spedeworth to run a Nora meeting at Foxhall Heath on a date when the stadium was not being used by anyone else, Spedeworth say OK, how can the BSPL then stop the witches racing claiming it is an exclusive venue for SCB meetings only (unless the SCB have entered into an exclusive covenant with every stadium regarding speedway which is highly unlikely as the landlords would undoubtedly no want to tied in to something like that unless they are receiving from the SCB a financial incentive). Or another scenario, what if the stadium owners at Mildenhall were to host Nora meetings in 2024 and agree a deal for 2025 and then the Fen Tigers applied to enter a team under the SCB/ BSPL arrangement in 2025, would they refuse the application? All seems crazy to me when the sport is on its knees and needs as much publicity and rider participation as is possible, the last thing it needs is a cartel.

I hope you got the reply, technology is not my forte. Thanks and appreciate all that you do to keep us all informed and anyone who has an interest in non u k speedway can only appreciate all that you do to keep luddites like me abreast of the European speedway scene and up to date particularly with Poland. All on here are indebted to you.

Is this the live match currently being shown on Kergel?

Technical issue now. Why do they bother or is it the failure to upgrade the systems. Oh well good stuff with technology getting in the way of coverage, Speedway updates never have an issue.

The sport lost the best opportunity ever for change and reinventing itself after the pandemic but it decided the same old thing and it now is reflecting the inept attitude of those who run it the sport. It has nothing to do with those who have the money to invest and would I put my money where my mouth is, no way given the cartel of hobbiest who run clubs and until it stops pretending to be something it no longer is, it will continue on a downward spiral under the current regime. It can be a great sport but not run the way it is today. Even listening to the commentary on the broadcast shows the heart is not in it.

Oh well, I was hoping the spectator numbers would improve but thanks for clearing that up, back to the pigeons for pushing the spectators up. Are they empty because of the raucous crowd following for the Brummies?

Agree but you do not need GP riders to attract respect and put bums on seats, just get Emil to turn up and you really appreciate how good it can be. You want to be entertained and rarely is that happening but that does not solve the fundamental problem, speedway simply does not excite enough people to part with the cash to watch it live. It needs to be more than 15 races and should be part of a spectacular with the league meeting being part of an event be it other speedway disciplines or short track etc. speedway as a sole form of entertainment in this country will not attract enough income from turnstile receipts, it needs more umph and someone with enough louse to drive it forward, not the dinosaurs who oversee the product.

Probably that many pigeons but not spectators unless you count those in the surrounding flats sitting on the balconies. The sport really needs to drop main channel coverage and allow BSN or others to stream live. Sparse crowds are doing so much damage given the chalk and cheese situation when even lower leagues in Poland attract more spectators. Accept the fact that sport cannot compete with Poland and move on.

I was trying to be diplomatic but clearly failed. I agree and when I look back at the Poles that rode for Ipswich, those days were so different but I guess the influence of the Polish authorities and clubs has some impact on the behaviour of some riders. Still it is sad that a dull meeting in Poland can still engender excitement with a packed stadium, but over here you can have some good racing but with no atmosphere due to lack of spectators, it takes the edge off the sport from a t v perspective and it would be better if the cameras were not present. I don’t know the answer but I still feel that the sport lacks strong leadership and is simply treading water. Dramatic changes are needed but I guess it will not happen until you have very few tracks left.

So why do some of these Polish riders bother? Is it because they are offered silly money simply to turn up and in doing so laugh at UK speedway so that the likes of Pawlicki are sticking two fingers up at the sport in this country and more importantly showing total disrespect for fans and in doing so those of his ilk believe they are more important than the sport in UK. It is unbelievable that these guys seem to pick and chose when they ride so have a real lack of commitment to the English club and seem to have decided that they will ride only if you you have an r in the month or I can’t make because my big toe hurts. From what we have seen so far, they have done enough to make the decision easy for any right minded business who should kick the rider out and publicise exactly why they had to take such action. Be open and honest with the fans in the UK. Poland have already decimated racing in this country with race days that suit themselves ( yes I like watch Polish racing and the packed stadia) but that does not mean I feel happy that the powers that be in this country simply roll over and take what is dealt out by the Polish authorities and allow riders to take the punters money back to Poland to boost their pension or whatever and leave the sport in this country on the verge of extinction. Those at all levels of authority and ownership in the sport need to get a grip.

Emil is a class act. A guy who has honed his craft and is probably the best speedway rider in the world today, it is just a shame he is not allowed to prove it.

Absolutely but it takes people with balls to call it and the current speedway authorities are not capable and prefer to err on the side of political caution. Shame on them.

What a race by lambert and Emil. So glad we have Emil at Ipswich, a class act and takes you back to the glory days. This guy is something else.

Lambert seems lost for answers.

Emil is just so good and deserves someone coming up with a way that allows the authorities to come up with a cunning plan on how he compete in a GP. The best competition in the world needs someone of his calibre.

Fourteen listed Thursday home meetings between March and the end of August even though you have twenty six Thursday’s in that period in between which Kings Lynn who never use to race on Thursday use up a date and Oxford and Leicester who now race on Thursday would have not been given priority over a traditional Thursday night club like Ipswich in days gone by. One home meeting in July sums up all that is wrong with the fixture planning.

They were and it use to be sacrosanct but now nothing is and with so little action I guess beggars cannot be choosers. Sums up speedway in the UK, shoe horned into race nights and that is it. What clubs are doing in this country god only knows but it ain’t looking at the supporters and traditional race nights that use to suit the local business model. Anything goes and that is where it has all gone so wrong. Still give it a few more years and only a few clubs will be viable and it will end up like German speedway.

Is Juky some sort of inter galactic month and if it is, based on that, Chapman will find a way to get it called off. Do not give KL any excuse. It only has to look like cloud with the possibility of some wet stuff (Usually Chapman pissing on everyone else) and it is postponed.

Not compared to what it use to be. The trouble is if the facility becomes under used ESC will jump on this will limit the number of race days further and it could become unviable. NIMBYs will have won.

Many memorable meetings at Rayleigh watching Dingle Brown, Hughie Saunders, Bob Young, Geoff Maloney, Tiger Beech, Red Ott, Trevor Barnwell, Terry Stone and I remember clearly the first time I saw Peter Moore with those strange handlebars. Boy could that guy gate. One meeting that does stick out is one bank holiday when the rockets took on Boston and a young reserve Ivan Miller whooped Arthur Price a heat leader.i still have the picture that appeared in the Evening Echo with Miller leading Price, suffice to say Price was not happy. Then you had the days of Eastbourne and Dave Lanning, Canterbury and Johnnie Hoskins and the coach loads of Ipswich fans that use to descend on the Weir and then rivalry's with Romford in the Essex Gold Cup when Romford’s main protagonist was the one and only Brian Foote. Happy days.

I think the moral of the story is don’t believe speedway is a summer sport. Shame for you and your girlfriend, I hope she enjoyed the SON. Not sure what it is like in Ipswich but just east of Colchester, bone dry, no rain and some intermittent evening sunshine. Back in the day of Sky ports, when the cameras were in town, the club would do its utmost to get the meeting on. Perhaps now with Eurosport they charge for turning up and no club is willing to take the risk. I cannot think why else it is called off so early these days.

Looking at a few weather sites most are showing virtually no rain until around 21.00. Shame really but it is what it is. I am not sure what the answer is but given what was witnessed at the NSS, who is really calling the shots, the riders or the promoters? As a general point it cannot do any favours to the stadium owners either. What would you rather have as an owner, weekly stocks/bangers when you not only get rent but food/drink and parking or speedway with sixteen dates unless you make it all the way in cup and league with just income from food and drink over possibly seven months. If I were an owner I know what I would opt for and make the facility work for itself. From a supporters point of view, the stop start fixture list (not talking about postponements) cannot help with punters finding other things to do and simply no longer bothering. The tribal followers of a team have probably long gone together with the previous weekly fix that use to be the norm. All very sad.

If only the press would recognise the win given the bigger sporting picture with England tomorrow. No doubt they don’t give a fig, just as well you have the supporters that the sport has.

I thought that the Aussies had won when Poland gave up. I don’t get it but hey ho, another race.

The aerial shots of the NSS really do tell you what a great facility it is and oh to live in one of the houses close by. We should all be proud of this stadium and the vision of those who saw it through. We know the opening day was not good but they have created a legacy to be proud of. Well done to everyone behind the scenes this week who have given us a great week of speedway. A big thank you, you have done the UK proud.