ouch

Very enjoyable GP again from the NSS with plenty of good racing and a few exceptional ones. Our seats remained empty in the grandstand as we stayed in the Craven suit for the whole meeting. Kasper (as all riders are) was committed to a last bend manoeuvre for position and Madsen was trying to pull it back and gain an inside advantage on the wide riding Max. It was just speedway and this can often happen though thankfully not too often. If the crowd seemed flat it is probably due to the fact that the vast majority there were Aces fans still feeling the effects of Dans injury. With such a small capacity at the NSS I’d say 50+ were locals. With so few of the competitors lining up for UK clubs it’s not surprising that other fans don’t make the trip. Everything seemed to go smoothly yesterday and I hope the fan experience (from a NSS responsibility) was a good one. Mark seemed happy but exhausted when we chatted. Looking forward to the same today and with an improved forecast I’m anticipating another memorable occasion. I’ll be sinking a few during and after the meeting and look forward to mingling later on chatting all things speedway.

I have checked the BSF forum this morning and a lot of posts are dreadful. Unfortunately, the forecast is for very much the same.

He’ll leave us alone. Working with Phil Morris was great, he was absolutely fantastic. He just took advice on what we could do with the track and pretty much everything I said he went with. It was good he had that much trust in us.”

Freight Island would be good near Piccadilly, only 24 min on public transport or less if they lay on shuttle buses or a 50min walk. The problem there is the cost to use it and the fact it would likely be just fans there. The alternative is Piccadilly Gardens (27 or 63 mins). The problem with Manchester as opposed to Cardiff is the crowd wouldn’t make a dent in the city, even with a Cardiff sized crowd of tens of thousands. Lastly would be the area a the rear of the hotel near the old bingo hall. Setting up many marquees for food and drink plus entertainment would give an area for fans to mingle nearby. For me they have never thought about the greater experience as the fanzone just doesn’t cut it from my experience at any of them. Ok for a bit of a wander but nothing to occupy any great length of time. There are many screen around the city some with seating either temporary or permanent. These have been used for football, tennis, F1 etc. It would be good to get the whole meeting live up onto those screen as a Manchester event. I’ve had pubs up and down the country put speedway on for me whilst away and the response from customers has always been positive considering I was the only fan there.

For me, he’s gone about it the right way. Hey boss, we’re signing Eddie. Great, let everyone know. Problem with Eddie so I’ll have to sort a replacement. Great, let everyone know. Great news, Phillip is back. Great, let everyone know. Alternatively at every of the above stages just keep the customers in the dark, I mean they will know when they arrive. Poor. One time, we had to make a change and the staging (cartel) promoter vetoed us putting any information out. We did leak it on social media outlets such as this though.

Guests were introduced in the 60’s as fans were sick of seeing walkovers when injury hit teams took to the track and there was a lot of unrest about the system from the get go and that continues to this day. I’ve always said if more than two members are missing from one team or a total of four from both teams then the meeting should not go ahead. The problem there is rearranging in the age where riders jet her there and everywhere. The other solution would have been to use riders from the second division and even better, buddy up with a team from that division. You are then seeing riders you wouldn’t normally see and not using riders from your direct opposition. The problem now though is double up/down is rife so it can’t work. Another solution is a squad system but there isn’t enough money in the sport to have riders sat in the bench awaiting a call. Lastly, with so few fixtures we shouldn’t be having ANY clashes where our riders are known to be required elsewhere. For us in the UK, guests are here to stay but they must be the absolute last resort and not the go to solution so currently overused.

I’d recommend the Longsite Sports & Social club down the road. There’s a collectors fare on and Lynn & Co will ply you with cheap booze. Plenty of banter with our Polish friends as well plus lots of speedway memorabilia to idle the time away with (mostly Aces based).

We think it is important too. Andy has done a fine job at Glasgow since he first started helping them out a while back.

You missed a trick then as you could have made a bob or two out of it but then it would have diverted your attention away from posting negatively about someone that did.

You missed a trick then as you could have made a bob or two out of it but then it would have diverted your attention away from posting negatively about someone that did.

And if we had had this forum back then there would be some having a pop at him for missing domestic fixtures. 😡

And if we had had this forum back then there would be some having a pop at him for missing domestic fixtures. 😡

Manchester is always cited as the rainiest of cities time and time again so Belle Vue should be the benchmark when setting an acceptable amount of rain offs per season. The five seasons between 21-25, we had to cancel eight league meetings whereas the stars cancelled 18. I think a fair figure would be two per season and anything above this sanctions or investigations need to be in place to get to the root cause of these persistent call offs. EVERYTHING needs to be done to ensure these meetings go ahead on an acceptable surface.

A few years ago in the top flight you had Belle Vue as a lone voice against the old guard of Ipswich, Kings Lynn, Leicester, Sheffield & Wolves with the lower division sides supporting an as you were policy as the top flight is where their big hitters come from. This set up saw Adrian Smith jump/pushed and be lost to the sport due to the cartel’s reluctance for change. We now have the best chance to make a difference as there are only Kings Lynn & Sheffield left of the old cartel. With regards promotions, Northampton & Ipswich are in their first year and Leicester have two under their belts so this added to Belle Vues ongoing crusade sees the balance of power shift. Don’t get me wrong it’s not going to happen overnight (though we pretty much did that with Northampton) but with these new alliances and Colman in particular I can see change for the good happening. Also even though Rob Lyon wears his Stars hat on match days, he is another who wants speedway as a whole to alter despite his paymaster, so he is another valuable ally in the quest for change. One thing for certain, if it doesn’t happen now, it never will.

Mike, we had loads of guests back in the heyday as the excellent Speedway Researcher will testify. The percentage was lower as we had way more fixtures back then. Teams did ride on their preferred racenight but they do now. Sheffield & Ipswich did/do run on a Thursday. Northampton are new, Kings Lynn changed from the weekend but Leicester moved from a Tuesday! Belle Vue needed to change as there is now such competition for a Saturday night in Manchester that speedway would always lose out. Most of the top league teams we have lost has been due to planners/developers and not the race nights or competition value. If I’m being honest I see little difference in the credibility and reward in winning stuff now and back then. One of the big “rewards” was when Dave Lanning took out an insurance policy on the Racers winning the league and when they did, it was duly paid out. This was more a publicity stunt which we do not get now as promoters are not in the same mould as Lanning, Mawdsley, Thomas & Berry, sadly. Back then there were meetings like the Golden Apple or Warburtons Trophy that had no consequences or rewards but were dam fine meetings as there was thousands there. Halifax always won the Warburtons trophy against us (usually on a last heat decider) as it was good for their business, no matter how contrived. Promoters realised back then that we were a sports entertainment business where’s now they just think we are a proper sport. Doubling up/down is a mess - no question. That is a result of a lack of investment in the next generation and the fact it is way more expensive to throw your leg over a bike than back then.