spanner47

Happy with a point, glad the silencer thing didn't make any difference to the end result (in terms of points gained).

As for the meeting tonight, I'm with most on here, haven't a clue which way It'll go, but good luck to the Lads.

Only just got home and seen the result, great stuff lads, you certainly made us Witches fans proud. Chris said after our last performance up there "it wont happen again", certain people scoffed at that remark, seems like our top notch Promoter was right, AGAIN!!!!!!

Certainly not expecting anything here, Pete Simmons was quoted as saying he wants a point each from these 2 away meetings. I want nothing less than 3, but I expect to get them on Sunday.

I never stated that the PL is in an amazing state, but I reckon it's a lot healthier than the EL. Every league in every sport will have at least one crap team, but at least they turned up with all their own riders. As for Richie not being there, we haven't been told the reason yet, all they said was personal reasons, that's good enough for me. You know as well as I do, the EL cant possibly continue in it's current state, I'm just glad we got out when we did.

Another very decent evenings entertainment, excellent track that all the riders could attack. Ben was totally awesome, the last ditch passes by Morten and Leigh were also out of the top drawer. Nice to see old Joe still chucking the bike around, but sadly on this occasion Ben was just too good. Another 4 figure crowd to keep the hardest working promoter in the land happy, and while on the subject of CL, I've said it on the elite league is dead thread and I'll say it on here, a massive thank you to Chris for taking us out of the unaffordable, unsustainable joke league that's full of guests and riders (if they turn up) not getting paid (allegedly), and taking us into a real speedway league, you are a diamond geyser Sir!!!, and I'm sure all genuine supporters are very grateful. I know those who stand with me certainly are.

I haven't answered my own question, this is the reason why I don't go to Elite league anymore, the reason why I'm sitting at home now (instead of being at Mildenhall) is the bloody weather. I thought we were discussing all the reasons why people don't go anymore, and trying to find out if there is a main reason or it's an accumulation of many things, probably the latter, but the BSPA need to try and find out how to get people back on the terraces before our beloved sport dies.

I can afford to go out, but like most others I pick and choose these days. I used to go to Kings Lynn 5/6 times a season when they were Premier league, but don't bother these days as I can see them on the box. But my point was, we've somehow got to find out what is the main reason for dwindling crowds. As others have said, It's probably a bit of everything, but unless we find out, we cant begin to address the problem.

We've got to find out where the missing fans are. Why do 15-20,000 people go to Cardiff but not go to speedway on a regular basis? Is it crap stadia? poor product? value for money? prefer to watch it on the telly? As it's the riders who will also suffer in the long run, I'd love to see a week of free (or dirt cheap) speedway for everyone, the riders ride for expenses for just one meeting, then all the clubs give out a questionnaire and plead with the fans to fill it in and tell them why they don't go anymore. When Lakeside did a free night, thousands turned up, I'm sure this would be repeated, but it would only be worth it if we found out why these people don't go anymore. I think it's a case of disposable income, we used to get home from work on a Friday, pay our bills, put a bit away for a rainy day and spend the rest. When I was a boy, if my dad had said to me on a Monday night, do you fancy going out and watching bowls, I'd have probably have said yes. What were my options? Panorama on BBC1 and World in action on ITV. It's not just speedway that is suffering, 1,000's of pubs have shut, midweek crowds at non league football are awful. But the main reason for lack of disposable income is home entertainment, I spend about £100 a month on Sky TV, internet access and mobile phone bills, never had to do that years ago. that's where the money has gone. and from where I'm looking, people cant afford to go out to midweek sport and pay for all these extras we have these days.

Hardly a genuine local derby, not that close and no history. When the fence was being repaired i decided to start counting the crowd, got about 2/3's of the way round, got bored, but was surprised when it was obvious there was at least a 1,000 in there. More fans are sitting in the new stand, and that makes the rest of the crowd look a bit sparse. Christ knows what the crowds will look like when the stadium improvements are complete, you'll need 3,000 in there to make it look like a poor crowd. Crowds have dwindled in Speedway due to many things, crap stadia being one of them. The stadium owner appears to have money to burn, the improvements certainly appear to be over the top, but lets hope we'll get top meetings when it's finished. It'll certainly be the best Speedway/Stock car venue in the Country.

Getting a bit nervy are we Ray? Will you still have the balls to come on here and slag people off when we find out who you are? I very much doubt it, sad little freaks that hide behind an alias don't usually have any balls, do they?

Delete Ipswich and replace with Leicester. Ipswich spent a lot of money on reshaping the track, and us Ippo fans are seeing decent speedway again, after years of dross. Reading and hearing reports from Coventry, I cant see sky going there in the near future, or back to Poole until they get a trackman that knows what he's doing. But I really hope that sky pull out, at the start it was going to be great for speedway, but lets face it, fans stay at home to watch it on the telly, and it hasn't done that much for the sport. And as with every sport that sky get involved with, for every £1,000 that comes in, the riders/players want £1,200 of it.

They were -6 10/11, now -8 8/11. Also on Sporting index, I've never seen the prices change as quickly, seems like everybody lumping on Somerset.

Ipswich offered them some dates, they kept saying no. One of their excuses was saying they'd told their riders to go on holiday, Ipswich asked the BSPA to intervene, but no chance there, considering who the top man is. Lets just hope the Monarchs are a bit more helpful this season, but I wont hold my breath. Speedway riders are used to lots of travelling, Somerset Tues, Ipswich Thurs cant be that difficult, unless you're Edinburgh.

Well done to the best team in the league, once the track settled down the racing was good, heats 13/14 were out of the top drawer. Shame Rohan got in Bens way in 15, nobody had a stinker, but nobody had a good un either. Cant remember the last time I went to a meeting without a stoppage or rerun, even when Tully jumped the start in heat 8, and had a bike length lead before the other 3 had moved it wasn't called back. A decent evenings entertainment and home by 21-25, just how I like it, except for the result, but you cant win every week.

Looking forward to the mighty Diamonds coming to town. Too early to tell who's the best team in the league at this stage, but (in my opinion) Newcastle have put together the best team for the past 2 seasons, only to be hit by terrible luck with injuries. 2 years ago their top end decimated by injuries, and last year the bottom end. I know all teams get injuries, but they have suffered more than most. P.S. Would aljerk like to tell us which clubs in the Country still get crowds of 2,000? I don't know of many. Also, why doesn't he go on the elite league section and post under the elite league death imminent thread, maybe he could tell all the realists how wonderful it is. Awful track preparation, teams calling meetings off at short notice, riders putting a pointless practice before their clubs, I could go on and on, but I'm just happy we're in a realistic league. Has there ever been in a league, in any sport, in any Country that has dragged through the mud like our "wonderful" diluted league was last month? I very much doubt it. A total embarrassment to British Speedway!!!

I hope all had a good evening. But when will the BSPA allow the "best pairs" to compete. The current rules aren't working, Robbo & Richie would certainly have improved the meeting, and Ipswich weren't allowed to track their (current) best rider. Not too sure if the rules stopped other decent riders competing, but in future, please don't keep short changing the fans with rules that obviously don't work.

You beat me to it bruv, they were obviously out of there depth riding against decent opposition.

I looked at that and it was padlocked, when i left the stadium i couldn't see anyone leaving from anywhere else. The place has got more good bits than bad, but please, when the lads are repairing the fence, why not water the track then? The Ref did her best to keep the meeting moving but she was flogging a dead horse most of the time. In future please do the track grading while the riders are recovering from falls, wouldn't that make sense? Or do the promotion think fans enjoy hanging around for 2 1/2 hours for 15 mins racing? I dont!!

Have the BSPA joined us in the real World at last? Not charging extra for a stronger than normal product is not usually the way they work, or is it down to each individual promotion to set the prices? When these matches were first talked about, i was under the impression that it would be just Premier League riders, so it's nice to see a stronger than expected field. Shame Cookie,Cam and Rohan have got better things to do, but riding for your Country seems to be more of a chore than an honour thses days. It'll be interesting to see if this captures the imagination of the local public, but historically we dont get a decent crowd the same day as the Suffolk Show, and with the weather horrible yesterday, not much better today, those going to the show will go Thursday, and probably wont do both.

Feared the worst as I got close to the track, but need not have worried. Many promoters would have called it off, but luckily the club invested heavily in an excellent drainage system, and with CL in charge of operations, and Bob doing his bit, we ended up with a decent evenings entertainment. Ok, Plymouth were there for the taking, but there was some decent passing and hopefully a further confidence boost for the whole team. I see Ben only scored a couple for Brum tonight, I bet he's cursing that new rule, I'm sure even he'd have managed double figures tonight.

Luckily i'm not one of those embarrassing sad little freaks that hide behind an alias. I've told you where i stand before, but you've never paid me a visit. For the record, I've been called Spanner for 40 years. If you think Sky will splash the cash next season ask yourself this, what was on Sky Sports Monday night this week? They've got Monday night footy, now they've moved some Rugby League, 20/20 to come, why bother with a dreadfully run sport that has stupid gimmicks like the double points nonsense? I certainly dont know it all, but they've spent a fortune of footy and F1, something has got to give.

Aljack, what planet are you on? There will not be an elite league next season in it's current form. Sky will either pull the plug, or offer a vastly reduced contract. Unless of course you think that elite league clubs can just brush off a hit of £100,000 (ish) each and still employ the current 2nd rate international stars (Holder,Ward & a couple of others apart) that they currently do.

There's nothing wrong with the team or the track at Foxhall these days, so i can only assume it's the cold weather keeping a few fans away. But compared to (certain) other tracks, our crowds are holding up reasonably well. Last season we only had one Thursday night when i didn't need a jacket, the lovely weather brought the fans out that night, and i'm sure if the weather warms up, the fair weather fans will come out. Speedway is a summer sport, a lot of people dont like standing around for 2 hours for 15 mins action in chilly temperatures.

Shame that Emil touched the tapes, but at least it gets us ready for the SWC final. 3 rider races will be the norm in that, unless the Czechs can find some world beaters in the next 2 Months.