waytogo28

Now. Now, Mr Webb - all that looking backwards is frowned upon by so many modern fans (of the last twenty years ). Ivan Who? He never even won a GP round did he? Of course, to us creaky old uns he was once one of of the greatest ( just under Ove Fundin and above Barry Briggs ). Someone should ask them what their memories are of racing at Saddlebow Rd back in the day are like. Cookie and any others can say what they like but when Buster gets behind the wheel for a 12-hour stint of track prep, he is sure of what the riders need - or rather, what they are going to get. Have they ever prepared a "racing" strip, I can hear him saying? Anway if they can't gate, they are not real riders, are they! Only the first 150 yards count nowadays. Sorry metres ( showing my age there ).

Is this meeting ( Round 2 ) SEC being broadcast?

So Buster beginning the track prep at 5 am, as we were told, means that it's all wasted effort. But if he wears top quality ear muffs on the tractor it means he cannot hear the rider advice. Anyway, what do they know about track prep?

I Just can't see the straight-through exhaust being acceptable, from a noise perspective in many stadiums. As for capacity then any single cylinder from 250cc up would allow for racing that is fast enough and safe enough for the UK tracks. For UK speedway to survive it has to break away from what is happening on better tracks in Europe. Yes, call it Formula 2 speedway. What matters is the quality and excitement of on-track racing.

cityrebel said this on another thread " The British public don't want to go to speedway anymore. Cheaper admission would only be a short term fix. Once all of us old fogies have died off, its days as a professional sport will be over." And I believe that is correct. It is not an attractive leisure activity worth spending your money on - increasingly this century it is either invisible to the general public or uncool. When newbies do get there they find out that only 2 or 3 minutes out of two hours plus, is exciting enough to merit the word and that "races" are very rarely that. NSS excepted. Reduced prices might attract some fallen by the wayside diehards but it is as cityrebel says not at the heart of the problem,

2. 3 or four - even a Boris style clear out, would not put one extra bum on a seat. If you can't sell the thrilling racing invariably on offer at the NSS, you never will, except perhaps on another day when many more people want to watch speedway.

Unless he has not spent the money Buster paid him ( to therefore repay the Buy Back clause ) obviously very little, S.F.A. in fact.

Just the same at KL although there is a growing club of persistent " does it really have to be like this under Buster" thinkers & posters. Of course, we know that sadly the answer is , Yes!. He is a very hard man to persuade that even thinking that someone's point of view ( especially one different to his ) is worthy of hearing ( even if not listening to it or considering it).

Excellent. thank you for your efforts and now for your honest feedback. Much more constructive a result than when a small group of us prepared something for our local promoter. Not even a Thank You. Just deafening, disinterested silence ( that promoter has now left the sport ). The only thing that surprises me is that 65% of fans ( of 20 years standing ) said that the standard of race meetings now was better than in the past. So why would you think that so many have traipsed off the terraces? Incidentally, when was "now" ie when was this done? Thank you.

You are quite naturally forgiven. Genuine repentance means just that. What is unusual is that you found a location that normally offers peace and quiet to be infested with humans. The Abbey has much to be thankful for last night at least. A better crowd than normal is sadly the best any club can hope for nowadays.

I'm not "picking" on you. I never pick on anyone or insult them. I do pick up on factual inaccuracies, particularly from anyone who is trying to Big Up UK speedway while it slowly fades into an ignominious extinction. So if it was better than normal, Sidney's estimate is perhaps right for a "normal" match?

And "worship" of all things Buster. Funny how Trees never notices or accepts any of the negative facts like low crowds, very poor racing ( even after Buster works on the track from 5 a.m, ) and more people being unhappy with VFM at Saddlenow Road nowadays ( those who have just walked away because offering constructive feedback is pointless ). Where are the hordes of lost fans? They have not all died ( as some posters hope the fate of those offering feedback might be ). They are doing other things that offer better VFM.

Sadly I could not see the size of the crowd on the home straight. The Live feed was not working. I was commenting on your "reckoning" which was 30% out.

You said it here. Your reckoning was 500 out.

But did you ( and your associates ) Read, Mark, Learn and Inwardly Digest the feedback given to you? And was any of it worth implementing? Would you care to post on here the things which fans and prospective fans want from speedway racing and hope to get ( as contained in the feedback you collected ).

But lose money they do at KLS - hand over fist - only the fact that the sponsors are prepared to prop up the losses means they go on as they do. Overall including income from the leasing of the stockcar side of things ( and the catering receipts from stockcar fans ) plus sponsorship support means that Buster ( we hope ) has his head above water financially. But the KL speedway side of things IS withering away in terms of crowd support. And there are no indications that anything is being done to change that.

I know that song! Doesn't it go " Godfrey has only got one ball, etc etc to "and Buster has no balls at all". Three tracks, but no idea that what he is laying before UK speedway fans is so far away from what they are interested in paying for. Unable to contemplate failure during his tenure, leads him to blunder blindly on with his Great Plan for the Reconstruction of UK speedway. Delusional and it will all end just like a deflated balloon. Cue - tears all round, on the terraces, in the offices and in those riders workshops ( staring at redundant rocketships ) of no use to anyone just scrap ( except to beginners abroad ). Beyond sad.

12 races FTG is the main reason I choose carefully when I go. Usually to meet up with a good friend of 40 years standing with whom the banter ( about the world as much as speedway overall ) allows the boring processional racing not to intrude too much into our pleasure from the evening. For the last three years, it has increasingly been like that, with very, very little motivation to go to matches. This is not just slagging off but is a reflection of how a lifelong fervent supporter of 65 years standing at Norwich and KL ( plus a huge number of away tracks and matches supporting The Stars ) has come to be hardly bothered. I assure you that it is not "just age" ( as I remain lively in other areas of life! ). It truly is how Buster chooses to run KL ( and his other teams ) and how his lack of interest or priority in existing fans and their concerns about what is on offer. With a very poor crowd, again and for a local derby, it seems that nothing will bring Buster to see the situation objectively and start with the $64,000 Question ( nowadays £100 million Euromillions win ). Why do the fans continually drift away? Am I do doing something wrong? What do they need, to be encouraged to return?

At least we now know what a "hat full" of points means = as scored by Simon Lambert.

Very much the same for me although I go from time to time ( once so far this season ). So little VFM, so few races worthy of the name. Long drawn-out process with too much paint drying time. Was going tonight but my friend from Peterborough decided that the heat would not make the journey nor the racing worthwhile ( in fact from near Kettering ). So sunned off! He is coming for a playoff match - if of course.......like so many I do not miss it much when I do not attend. Thursday usually means Swedish speedway and with them not having a heatwave, it might be worth watching. When you think I retired to KL in 2002 mostly because I would be near a speedway track, the lustre has definitely worn off.

I will up that offer, considerably, to £9.99 but will not take on any debt liability within that purchase.

Proper speedway they were. Out of the top draw! I kid you not and after having my cataracts done, I never wear rose-tinted spectacles.

What it needs and what it's going to get are two very different things. Nothing except vastly better racing on standardised bikes ( as in the Nice trial ) is going to bring in new fans. That really could be a saviour for the UK sport, if rider power does not thwart it.

Buster's displeasure will soon begin to show more clearly, just how disappointed he is with the fans of his three clubs who are not supporting them as hey should. The cry of "you will be sorry when it's not there to support" will soon be heard across East Anglia. He will never realise that what he organises now are far from exciting matches on track, even if they are local derbies. It's a mirage Buster that "everything is all right, it's on TV" only the sponsors are happy with that - for now.

Tai is IMHO the best ever Brit. but Ove Fundin remains my choice as the Best Ever Speedway Rider.