uk_martin

Maybe you are unaware that sports like basketball and handball have a far higher profile in Poland than in the UK. Just as hard for us to grasp the importance of basketball as it is for a Pole to grasp the importance of rugby or cricket.

Something all Polish teams seem to do better than the British teams. - Here's some photos of Stal Gorzow doing something similar - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.947708788599484.1073742065.119682784735426&type=3

Er yeah...lol...Every day was baking that trip though. That's one to think about when going to Poland. Temperatures there can be higher than in the UK. 30c-35c is common in the summer. And it's humid. Don't skimp on aircon when booking hotel rooms.

Interesting timing... http://birminghambrummies.co/news.php?extend.2230

Ok, so the Gorzow to Poznan train was a bit full...A victim of it's own popularity lol. Maybe so many Stal fans traveling home? Perhaps? But despite all the people getting on and off, it still arrived in Poznan on time!

I don't think that they do. My understanding is that speedway in Great Britain is run by the SCB by authority of the ACU, who in turn are the recognised authority by the FIM. The BSPA's job is to run the leagues and the competitions within the leagues.

I've driven the round trip from Poznan to Gorzow (SGP) and on to Zielona Gora (Sunday league meeting) and back to Poznan, and I'd say that there's nothing to worry about. The roads are in good condition, and traffic is moderate at worst and light most of the time. I've even driven to Zielona Gora from Szczecin and back in a day, and again, it's one long road, (OK, I picked up passengers in Gorzow on the way) and no problems incurred on that trip either. Szczecin may not be an obvious airport to think about, but there are some cheap flights to be had there. So if you don't mind driving in a straight line for a couple of hours, then it's worth considering.

The one obvious difficulty in running a speedway meeting at a "black track" is who is going to referee it? All referees belong to the SCB, and of course that's the organisation that is being by-passed, So if it's going to be done amateurishly, then why not pass on the job of officiating to a committee of BSF "scribes"? After all, who knows better than the people on here?

I wonder which way round it was? Did the promoters "go for it" or was the deal thrust upon them by Ronnie Russell (t/a Slow Speed International Ltd) on the back of his latest mortgage installment pay-off by Bet365? I wonder what any promoter actually earned from it. On the other hand, there were several home meetings that year that I happily watched on Bet365 rather than going to the track, and I know others that did the same. So that deal cost several admission tickets to be sure. Make it easy for the fans to be lazy and lazy fans is what you'll get.

Or a 6-year-old great great great grandchild that has one...This is a family sport after all.

Maybe he was referring to Lee Smart?

Good luck to the guy, and I hope that he can improve on last year... Now the reality check. He's in at #1. He'll be facing other #1's much more often. Last year he got the bulk of his points against #6's and #7's at the start of the season, then brim full of confidence from that he did well in the main body of the team after that. This year, with the infamous "second year syndrome" he has to hit the ground running against the big boys of the league, otherwise he'll be in unfamiliar territory, and that could well be a test of character. He also needs to show that his talent means more than just gating well and holding his position, or in just being in the right place when other riders make mistakes. He needs to create and execute his own passing maneuvers out of being better and quicker than the opponents not just more fault-free. It'll be hard for the guy, but I wish him all the best in achieving his successes.

Very cheap. The trains are not the fastest but I've not been let down by them reliability or punctuality wise, although we always get to hear the horror stories. Since Poland has been getting more and more German rolling stock "hand me down's" things have improved from the olden days. There are more inter-city coach options now too. Check out the PolskiBus web site. Inter-City coaches are often quicker than trains between destinations, so if the timetable suits, that is well worth looking at. Car hire is also very cheap over there. I've had weekend deals for £55-£60 or so which when there are a few of you traveling together and sharing the cost, can be a good option.

Where?

Slightly less hectic and more holiday-like for those further away from Stansted (or not wanting to get up at 1am in the morning to catch the oh Christ hundred hours flight) would be the Ryanair flight to Bydgoszcz from Birmingham on the Thursday, then using buses and trains to and from the end destinations, returning from Bydgoszcz to Birmingham on the Tuesday after a leisurely touristy day of R & R in Torun on the Monday. And like with yourself, for the speedway tourist, this will be mana from heaven. That said, this is all at the whim of the TV companies. IF they want something else on the Friday instead of the speedway, the meetings will get shifted just as readily as the start times get shifted around to fit in with the TV schedules. Bear in mind this is Olympic year and there's some Association Football event going on in Europe, there will be plenty of options for a sports broadcaster to fill their schedules with. Am I right in remembering (and interpreting the Google translation correctly) that the Poznan track does not have any lighting yet so the Sparta Wroclaw home meetings will have to be early afternoon so that it doesn't get too dark for the TV cameras? If that's the case, and if the lords of the TV schedules play ball, it could be possible to get to a Wroclaw meeting in Poznan in the early afternoon and then drive down the road to Gorzow for the evening meeting. Flying into / out of Poznan offers the opportunity, for instance, of something like 3rd June - Torun v Rybnik, and on 5th June - Wroclaw v Mickey Mouse followed up by Gorzow v Leszno.

Thank you. In installments apparently. Anyone with a 3-day InterRail ticket for Poland will have a whale of a time on the weekend of 8-10 April. The rest though, we'll have to wait for. Friday 8th April = Leszno v Stal Gorzow Saturday 9th April = Grudziadz v Tarnow Sunday 10th April = Ribnik v Torun & Mickey Mouse v Sparta Poznan Wroclaw

On the contrary. Clubs like Birmingham get most of their revenue from the Derby & Joan Club's day out.

Yeah but we live now in a "what do others think" culture. Suggest a holiday somewhere and people look at what others say about it on TripAdvisor. Suggest a product and people read reviews on Amazon and ebay. Suggest speedway and where else will people find out what people are saying about it?

Poland update - fixtures could be out any time on or before the 15th January. Just hope Wizzair / Ryanair / etc don't increase their prices between now and then...

Has anyone ever met a new convert to speedway who confessed to being lured into the sport by reading all about it on BSF first? Just wondering like...

Shall we wait "a few weeks" (as per the article provided by Ghostwalker) to see what the situation is about the Pairs tournament's TV coverage?

Let's be clear about this Arabic/ Middle Eastern connection, it's only a supposition of one person on this thread. FIM EUROPE are still the governing body behind this venture so the chances of this going outside Europe are nil IMHO. What I would like to see though is an effort to be made to open up a new territory like motorcycle-mad Spain. A meeting in Spain in the Spring is a very feasible proposition if the ambition and resources are there.

A company wants to promote speedway. Well there's a crime against humanity isn't it? Elsewhere on BSF there are numerous threads about the sport is under-promoted or in the hands of people who don't know how to promote or even how the sport is dying on its feet. Of course when the sport is dead and buried the fans won't blame themselves or each other for the demise, they'll be blaming the promoters won't they? These promoters who are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Anyone heard when the fixtures are being announced?

Oh well...Germany it will be then, judging by the number of Arabic speaking refugees setting up home there now.