waytogo28

I am eager to see a well done, knowledgeable "talk through " of the heat just run ( fortified with correct info from team managers, riders or mechanics ) about what actually happened. One of the downsides of the live match in the stadium experience is the yawning empty "silent" gap between races ( can be 10 mins). I don't want some pop / rock music chosen by someone else blasting out. I prefer some more speedway content in the form of a talk through re-living the previous heat. Costs prevent us seeing it on a big screen but the post race commentary and comment would retain the interest and build up to what the next one would bring the supporter. NOT I must add some banal comments from someone who is not very aware of speedway and it's terms! This need cost very little and when well done could add further ( much needed ) content to the match.

They ( the powers that be ) brought in the "no gardening" rule and " not getting off the bike " but either the referees were told of it or refused to consistently apply it that within a couple of months it was forgotten. There are many laws that apply in daily life but if they are not enforced they have no value. It seems that speedway officials, collectively, are disinterested introducing wasted time and making meetings run crisply. Far too much of all aspects of how a meeting is run is accepted under the " that is how we have always done it, so it must be the best way to do ". "It was alright like that when 12,000 came every week, so why change it now when we still get 1,200" . Speedway, same old same old attitudes.

As a recent member seeking interesting dialogue on speedway oriented topics, some threads are to say the least childish squabbles between old antagonists who rant on about each others alleged defects. To say they are off topic would be a huge understatement! Do the moderators ever intervene constructively? Or are these playground " mine's bigger, better, stronger than your's" - "so there" - actually the moderators? If these were discussions in the pub, bloody fights would have broken out very quickly. New posters are quickly put off by the sad bullying of personal attacks. I have no intention of pointing the finger because they must be well aware of their own keyboard diarrhoea.

Is no news the same as fake news ( regarding the "return" to Brandon )? If anyone was interested in doing so in a genuinely positive way it would have been started by now ( or at least a starting date released, purely to encourage fans to make the trek )

We do all have a financial interest in promoting speedway - as long as we continue to pay our money at the turnstiles. As that source of income has been drastically reduced at 90% of tracks the BSPA should be interested in our feedback but instead of taking comments and ideas as constructive, they are usually ( in my own experience ) ignored or treated as "moaners". When there are only a few "Yes, you are doing it all just right" supporters left - maybe, just maybe the fans point of view will be listened too and at least considered. Sadly that will be too late for the sport of speedway ( and long before the Centenary events are staged ).

Most important is the fact that we have one of the best ( if not THE best ) riders available to join us and I am pleased for that. Very different riders but who on track will probably offer the same kind of results.

If so as the dour full Fraser tells it " we're doomed, we're doomed - doomed I tell ye"

Long delays are unnatural if both parties are in full agreement with the terms in any contract. Let us hope that these long delays are only because the two parties are getting closer together and not further apart.

I am on the verge of becoming a non attendee - the expense is a factor ( I no longer buy a programme but make my own race card - not only because of the cost but also the text size in their race card is too small to read easily ) but most importantly because I feel that value for money is very poor on the average match. Maybe three decent races and most with no passing or prospect of passing ) Regardless of how many deny it - the first out of the second bend is very likely to be the winner.

Is the 'scandal" at Leicester re unpaid riders from 2016 ( and even 2015 ) being properly addressed prior to a new promotion under Bates starting up.? As Darcy is still part of the new promotion ( in some way ) and he has said ALL earlier debts have been will be paid - can we have the truth for once? It is immoral if not illegal for a new consortium to "carry on regardless" if there are debts especially to riders. Did the previous promotion actually go bankrupt? Have those debts been written off? Have the riders been paid?

Buster and the BSPA are now truly going to stand or fall by their - shortly due out - Big Marketing UK Wide push for new fans. If this fails to fill the yawning gaps on terraces then the entire basis of professional speedway will come to an end in the UK. The back to basics of racing ( on simpler, cheaper bikes and that one bike on the back of your car ) will be all that the sport can afford from turnstile incomes.

Mistakes all round then as we suspected. But as DG/CM went against legal advice and signed on accepting the stadium that is the weak point in their argument about who was really responsible overall. Rock and a hard place because if they didn't accept the stadium they could not have had a chance to run the NSS as speedway promoters. And once they did sign to accept the stadium it was down to them to make it work. Inexperience? Commercial naivety? One they let the relationship between them and the MCC deteriorate so badly, so quickly it was game over. The BSPA and the SCB do not cover themselves in glory if we are to accept what is in this leaked report. In fact they seem all too eager to oust DG?CM. Reflects badly on them all ISG / DG&CM / MCC / BSPA and the SCB. Same old, same old speedway. And it shows why the declared new promoters ay BV are pausing on their takeover of the NSS - very sensible and professional!

Indeed it is Gemini. And that is what concerns me about how speedway is run ( has been run for the last 15 years or so ). The "outside" people who we needed as positive sources of ideas that might contribute to positive change have been edged out / pushed out and in some cases taken a long look at themselves and their chances of dragging the BSPA forward. And taken their own choice to walk away. If those two prospective promoters at BV for 2017 fail to complete the deal ( perhaps because it makes running BV even more difficult ) we will be in even more of a pickle!

And if they don't get those assurances will they walk away? It is suspicious (?) that Kirky Lane as a fall back option may be being actively explored. I think if we do not get the NSS back as a speedway stadium we may never will. Lets hope that a workable compromise is worked out ASAP.

It is far from over, the BV fallout from 2016 - whoever you choose to blame and the new Promoters have not yet been accepted ( nor accepted what MCC expect of them ) it is not yet cut and dried that we will see speedway at the NSS in 2017. Hold your breath and cross your fingers.

The decline really began when promoters raked in profits from the well filled terraces days and failed to invest any of it the sport in any way. Marketing ( they deemed it unnecessary ) building up the stadiums they promoted in ( most were rented anyway) and finding young British riders ( they didn't bother ). Then when the Sky money rolled in most of that went to pay huge sums to the biggest stars and crumbs & leavings ( at the most were put back into the sport ). Now the BSPA is desperately trying to seek a remedy for falling attendances. Their much vaunted 2017 marketing - spoken of by Buster in his 'state of the nation" address - is what we should be most concerned about because if it fails to attract new fans, the slow decline will gather speed.

MF does not like the direction that speedway is heading in? There is a downward spiral that will affect even strong, well run clubs like Poole because if more clubs fold due to economic factors the whole sport will shrink further.

Matt Ford is the cryptic reference. I made no mention of his decision (?) to ease down his interest in speedway because I feel that the other points I made dwarfed the loss of someone who has hugely contributed to boosting speedway in his area at least and by building teams which have dominated the sport so far this century. I suspect that his announcement about partially withdrawing - in some way- is about how he does not like the direction the sport is currently heading in. Nor do i!

What does seem clear ( if anything is!) is that DG &CM did not have much of a contract for what they were taking over i.e. what must be completed within the stadium that was in writing. The new owners are unlikely to make the same mistake. From the facts so far known it is unlikely the DG&CM would win any court case even if they did decide that was their best way forward. It looks as if DG &CM paid none of their "within speedway" debts and that is why other promoters took away their licence. Fair enough if that is the case.

Three things in this weeks speedway star make me even more concerned for the health of speedway as a whole . 1) The in depth article about the resurgence of Glasgow under the Facenna brothers. We probably all applaud them ( as I do ) and wish that there were more promoters like them ( i.e. with huge resources and belief in the sport ). However they are aiming for a regular crowd pf around 1,200 this year ( and ultimately around 2,000 ). That figure of 1,200 is even after putting in a multi million pound investment. And in a major UK city with a 1,00,000 plus catchment area. That tells you a lot about the realistic hopes inside speedway even for those with money to put where their mouth is ( i.e. 1% perhaps 2% of the potential ), 2) If we believe all that we read in the 2016 Leicester Lions review ( and I do ) it is a terrible tale of the other kind of promoter. Worst of all in that that it is quite possible that some riders are still unpaid for 2016 and maybe even 2015. Horrific! I applaud them for riding week after week in those circumstances. And that is after the initial saviour for 2017 was paraded larger than life in the SS a month ago, who assured us all publicly that all debts to riders ,would be cleared. He is now a minority interest in the Lions latest incarnation - but - have those riders been fully paid and will they ever be? 3) In passing one of the more recent legends, forced from the sport by awful injuries says that he hopes in the long run that he sport keeps going. Me too Darcy! But the underlying stability of too many clubs is precarious to say the least and if clubs are desperate to average 1,000 or so every week ( even after spending hugely which few other clubs are never going to be able to copy ) their economic stability in the long term must be in doubt. The arguments over which engine etc etc will lower overall costs are not at all important if we can't attract 25% ( at least ) more regular fans than currently watch speedway.

Horton never was any kind of "saviour" ( remember Peterborough ) he is and always has been a chancer - as he is now with the "temporary" move to track share with Leicester. When it turns out he can't get back to Brandon ( as is very likely ) he will pull the shutters down on a loss making run in Leicester.

The number of teams operating in speedway is irrelevant to the decline of the sport. The only number to be compared is the number of people attending matches for each team. Do statistics exist comparing crowd levels from 1958 to 2016? That figure is the only one you can use to work out a decline of any kind. One look around the terraces of the team I support over the last three years says it all locally. Much bigger gaps and lots of empty areas around the stadium. Because speedway promoters do not publish attendance figures, we can only judge visually.

I think it is not any weaker as that depends on what you mean by "weaker". If it means less attractive, without some top stars - yes it is. But I think the riders listed so far means that it may well be better / closer racing and that is what speedway desperately needs if it is ever going to attract and hold onto new supporters. Fingers crossed.

Thank goodness RS is wealthy as the old maxim definitely still applies to speedway. If you want to make a million out of speedway - start with five million.

Colin Cook round Blackbird was so exciting to watch and one of the best of the truly " never give up" brigade! But remember that Blackbird Rd was a vastly superior track to BP newly built one for real racers to have a go.