Steve Shovlar

What a (insert Cov managers name here)! How do M&M make any money out of the booking fee? A booking fee is charged by the BIC for their work in dealing with the tickets. With 7,000 fans expected to be at the meeting o March 9th, M&M would have needed to employ a couple of staff to deal with all the enquiries and the taking of credit cards etc. NOt something that can be set up in a few hours or days for that matter. The BIC are on our doorstep and they have this setup in place. So they charge a booking fee for their services. Do you think it would have cost less for M&M to employ extra staff to deal with this meeting? Any large event where tickets are posted out in advance has a booking fee. Still, if you don't want to come it's your choice. No one is forcing you to cut your nose to spite your face. I am sure it will very exciting watching it on the live updates, while the other 7000 are thrilled at the speedway.

Parking at Poole is £2. Which has nothing to do with the speedway.

On principal of what? Poole are not charging the booking fee, the BIC are. Ever purchased tickets to a concert? If you have you would have paid a book fee to the ticket seller. Don't you ever go to Cardiff for the GP? If you buy your tickets before hand you pay a booking fee. And since when has parking at Poole been £5 Eastie? It's one thing to say you don't fancy the meeting, but to spread melicious lies to put people off coming is damaging to business.

Whoever is in the final its going to be a hell of a race and treat for the fans.

I wouldn't he isn't consistent enough around Poole to win it.

Bjarne, Nicki, Crump. Any of those three really.

Think he has always been in it. Though I may be wrong. Riders booked include Nicki Pedersen, Jason Crump, Leigh Adams, Hans Andersen, Greg Hancock, Andreas Jonsson, Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris, Bjarne Pedersen, Krzysztof Kasprzak all of whom will be GP competitors for 2008 along with Danish international Kenneth Bjerre, and Poole Castle Cover Pirate duo of Australian Davey Watt and debutant Karol Zabik. Thats only 13 riders. Who are the others?

Holder is in the lineup.

From what I can gather section 1 is first bend, section 7 fourth bend. So section 2 is in front of the starting gate. Hope that helps. Weather wise who knows?

First of all hope Travis is OK and it's nothing more than a check over. Well done Chris Holder. Two down and two wins.

Thanks heading there now.

What about the first 5 heats? Sorry where are they posted? Cheers Steve

Well I can't get anything to work. Clicked on the live radio link on the website and its not working at all. Anyone got a direct link to the live feed?

Unfortunately ignore doesn't "ignore" It only says you have blocked this post. So of course you click on it to see what it says. A waste of time.

You can hardly do it in one jump. But the sport has undersold itself for years.

I am off to the panto on Saturday at Poole with the family, and child prices are £14.50, adults £16.40, so almost the same.

Trouble is this sport is plagued with speedway fans who have paid less than the going rate for years. Put the price up a pound and the bleating goes on for months. The low admission prices over the last decade have held the sport back. Put on a special meeting, charge a couple of quid more than the ELRC, and moans and groan echo around the void ad finitum. Its quite simple. If you don't like the look of the meeting, don't come. No one is forcing you to. Its a special meeting for Poole fans. It's to celebrate 60 years of speedway at Poole. Regardless of what KevH or Brown or Orion say, its a massive meeting for Poole fans, as well as speedway fans in general and it will be packed out.

OK I will bite. Not a top speedway event? Only the Cardiff meeting is bigger. In fact this Poole meeting will have a bigger lineup than the Cardiff event. And bigger prize money. You have said on numerous occassions on this thread that the event stinks and is an overpriced waste of time. You are not attending, so why slag it off at every opportunity? There are many fans looking forward to this event and its a great way to start the season. If this event had been held at Lakeside you would have been crowing from the rooftops, but instead you come across as some depressed saddo and the old miserable type of fan speedway really doesn't need. You have made your point. You are not coming to the meeting. Now move on and leave this thread to people who want to talk about it. Because you sound like a stuck record.

I am comparing the cost of a second division football match with a top speedway event. The price is similar. Now how much would it cost to go watch Chelsea every week, or Arsenal? £40? £50? yet they are packed out with 40,000 plus. Not many fans moaning about paying that every two weeks. yes football is a different beast, but people are still prepared to put their hands in their pockets every fortnight.

Its funny that I read on here that £25 is far too expensive etc etc ( and yes I do understand what its like to have tight finances) yet I went to football yesterday and saw families there, and they pay this every two weeks to watch their team at home. So why do people pay it happily every other week to watch third rate football, but refuse to pay it for a one off speedway meeting featuring the worlds best riders in the sports biggest prize? Are speedway fans really that tight, or does this forum just attract all the moaners and groaners?

Both Hampel and Sheilds are riding. Matt has had a load of rider phone him desperate to take part. This isn't the ELRC. too much money at stake to miss out on a berth. The chance is there for every one of them. Could run a few qualifiers in the morning with the riders wanting to take part. A bit of luck, good riding and an ef at the right time could see an underdog into the final. Then a tangle and a rider excluded. A good gate, ride high wide and handsome, and shock horror, a rider who was give no chance walks away with a years salary. Highly unlikely but it could happen.

Being a STFC fan, god help me, I went to cheer on the boys. Haven't seen them for two years so turned up. £21 to get in, Bouirnemouth said before hand if more than a 1000 Swindon turn up, we are in trouble. Well 1400 turned up and they had two serving coffee and pies. Got in the queue, but when the teams came out I gace up and went back to my seat. Glad I did as we xcored two mins later. Crap football. Long ball from Sturrock (now gone) and only two reall decent players ( Corr and Ifil) The rest are hit and hope. New owner Fitton and his consortium are worth over 500 million. Get the money out boys. It's needed big time. £21 to get in. £3 for a program. Crap football. Waste of my time . Waste of money. Poole. First meeting of the season. £25 to get in with program. Top riders. Very exciting final. No comparison. At all. GUarentee a thriller at Poole even if there are naysayers on here. My money is on Nicki Pedersen and woe betide any ride who dares to try and pass him. Can't wait for one of them to try it. Hope the safety fence is pumped right up.

Hope you got a postage refund from the BIC! As for expensive, I disagree. I went to Bournemouth V Swindon FC yesterday and it cost £21 to get in plus a program on top. And not a star in sight, until it got dark. Third rate football and I felt ripped off afterwards. Compare that to this meeting, with every speedway star in attendance, and you will see its good value indeed.

Was told the contract is between Poole speedway and the BIC who are selling the tickets. If the BIC sell them at the stadium, they will want their commission. Ticket sales have been brisk, but obviously this is the quiet period between Christmas and New Year when people have other things on their minds. Probably what Orion meant by slow. It costs £28,000 to put up the temp stands on the bends, plus £800 a week rental. Doubt there will be temp stands! To counter the booking fee, Poole decided to give away free programs with every ticket.