BurntFaceMan

I am a Poole fan but I have a lot of love for Swindon. As our local rivals for a very long time I've made many a visit to Swindon and enjoyed every one of them, even when we've not been winning. IMO however, a team that has spent nearly half it's points allowance on just 2 riders, with an average of just 5.75 to fill the remaining 5 places, is not a good looking contender. And as a man with many trophies under his belt, I am sure this is why Matt Ford had to make the decision not to sign them.

You know how Poole have been winning for years and years too? Is that why you like hanging out on the Poole thread so much? I'd love to see this mythical sport you speak of where all the teams sacrifice winning in exchange for holding hands and cuddling each other for years to come. It's a sport mate, a competition. You clearly cannot go 2 or 3 posts without insulting Poole in some way. I cannot imagine how sad, pathetic and depressing my life would be if I had spent many of life's precious hours getting upset over a club hundreds of miles away. You're like that jealous ex that can't let go.

I'd of had (assuming AL would ride here): 1. Chris Holder 2. Kyle Newman 3. Antonio Lindback 4. Paul Starke 5. Brady Kurtz 6. Ellis Perks 7. Richard Hall or 1. Chris Holder 2. Kyle Newman 3. Chris Harris 4. Paul Starke 5. Brady Kurtz 6. Ellis Perks 7. Max Clegg Yeah Swindon looking really strong with almost half their points allowance gone on just 2 riders. I'm sure they'll be right up there next season.

You have got to really wonder how much lower our sport can go when a rider that was competing in the NL can come into the EL with a heat leader average the following season.

Matt Ford is in it to win it. Winning is top priority for Matt and that's nothing to be ashamed of, it is a competition after all. People like Matt don't just want to win it occasionally, the want to write the history books.

The heavily disabled young man who gave his future and freedom away for our sport. Dick.

This has got to be a joke post right? All Poole get all year round is everybody else whinging about our club.

Sadly this is all very true. I've spent the last 10 years observing and talking about the slow demise of Elite League speedway but this is the first season I have felt like it's really reached breaking point.

I think if you tally up combined total of all Poole fans posting in a Swindon threads vs your posts alone in a Poole thread you'd still outnumber us 10 to 1. Nobody is jealous of Swindon's number 1. Just like nobody was jealous when we had Jason Crump.

I'm a Poole fan but I'm afraid Matt Ford does not do his job either. He is lucky enough to be in Speedway town that doesn't require an awful lot of promoting. There is already a large following here and all he has to do is put together great teams. If Matt Ford were relocated elsewhere he'd have to do an awful lot more than just bring together great teams. The only place I've ever come across speedway in Poole (other than by attending) is on the little roundabout signs that say "Poole Speedway". Not really going to attract new audiences with that are they?!

http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=82747&page=22&do=findComment&comment=2877594 Stop making excuses. It's not our job to have an idea on how to increase attendances (although given my role in marketing I do have some ideas) but it is a job that can be done by the right people. Again, ask yourself when was last time you was that you personally came across speedway other than by directly attending or looking for it? The promoters are simply not doing enough to promote the sport.

I get what you're saying but it's really not something that is up for debate. Either they come together and put the time and money in to the right places, or this trend of cutting costs and dropping attendances will go on year after year.

It's just not enough. Kid's don't really understand what it's all about and their parents aren't going to take them unless you interest them as well. It has to be one big concerted effort and it should be a joint effort. Every club should financially contribute towards a full time marketing team to develop speedway in the UK, rather than resting on it's laurels. It can be done. The problem is a combination of ignorant promoters who do not understand what more they can be doing, and selfish promoters who are only interested in lining their own pockets.

Good on them! That's exactly what they should be doing. Grasping social media, sharing lots of clips, sharing lots of gossip, lots of fan interaction, getting out around the town, the schools, the colleges, the universities, getting on the radio, getting on local news, getting in magazines, papers, working out their demographic and giving out free entry to those who they aren't already attending, etc. There is no end to what you can do if you care enough to invest the right time, people and money in the right places. I really don't get how some promoters and even people on this forum can be so dismissive of the facts. Either speedway simply isn't good enough to sell, and we need to accept that we now need to pay the highest prices in Europe for amongst the lowest quality, or we appreciate that the promoters simply aren't doing enough and we're footing the bill!

Yeah, he had a bad second half to the season.

What? It doesn't contradict my last post at all. Your question was will Poole go bankrupt then? No, they have far better support than Swindon, there won't be enough clubs left for them to compete with before they go bankrupt. Maybe I should offer to run BV or Leicester? Why? I'm not a promoter! But ask yourself this... when was the last time you came across speedway outside of the speedway world? When was the last time you saw speedway out and about in public, on the internet, on the television, in a capacity other than you directly attending? The time for excuses is over. The promoters had a choice; either come together and forge a plan for the future, or continue to cut costs and line their own pockets. They made their choice and it will soon be beyond repair.

He rode at 1, 4 and 5 and usually scored 9 - 13pts each meeting.

Take a look at Hans scores from the start of last season. With the sort of p1ss poor teams people are putting together this year he's not going to have any real competition to struggle to beat!

There are many foreign clubs in Second League. I don't believe they have the same rule of 4 Polish riders?

Clubs like Poole will be amongst the hardest hit by these changes. Many Poole fans expect to see the best riders in the world, and it looks like we can't even stick one of them in this year. Whenever you dilute the quality like this, you reduce the attendances. When the attendances reduce, the income reduces. When the income reduces, the costs need to be reduced. When the costs need to be reduced, you restart the process of diluting the quality. Anybody with a nut in their head should be able to see this is not a sustainable model. All you will be left with is the die hard fans paying through the nose for increasingly poor speedway. The past 10 years is a screaming testimony to this.

It's nothing to do with honouring the contract... It's a desperate attempt to keep the attendances high enough to pay the bills.

Poole could bankroll the biggest stars in the world. It's the sport you should be gutted for, not Poole. The fact the club has to stoop so low to put a competitive team together really shows you how pathetic this league has become. Sadly this is likely to be the first and last SGB Premiership season. I can see a lot of clubs failing to make ends meet this season off the back of these rules.

It can't afford it because the promoters don't do their job.

With the quality (or lack thereof) of the "SGB Premiership" we can only expect riders in our league that: 1) Were half decent 10 years ago 2) Are desperate for a pay cheque 3) Are completely inexperienced Any foreign riders serious about progressing their career or competing in the Grand Prix's will have no interest in competing in a league that does not offer them any useful experience or competition. Even Matt Ford's bank account won't attract these riders over.

That's brilliant. If I were new to speedway I'd be really interested in finding out more about this sport that has complex and ever changing rules, almost no distinction between top and lower divisions and team averages that require mathematics and explanation to make sense of.