MattK

Newbury Nukes Aldermaston Atomics Thames Valley Thermonuclear Weapons

I'd have thought that the cost of land close to urban areas would be a far bigger hurdle to speedway than the noise issue?

Don't the wages/allowances in each league effectively regulate that already?

OK. We'll have to agree to disagree. I'll take promoters and their sob stories at face value and you can take them as the biggest conspiracy since the JFK's assassination.

So Newport closing, Oxford not paying their rent, riders not getting paid, promoters entering the sport for a season or two and then leaving without a pot to p1ss in - this is all part of British speedway's elaborate plan to fake losses?

No really the same, is it? Those companies have one aim, make a profit for their shareholders. Speedway clubs are typically owned by a rich benefactor who enjoys the "glamour" of owning a team. Anyone who buys a sports club with the aim of making a profit is in for a shock.

If that was the case Belle Vue would be the most profitable team in world speedway.

Anyone heard of this? Apparently it's a 6 round competition starting at Leicester in April. http://www.ukspeedwayseries.com/

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.468192293216181.97247.100000762428606&type=1 It looks awesome. I'd love to know how much input Monster Energy had to this. If they had a major hand then they should be given carte blanche to promote their product in the league. This is what speedway in Britain could be.

If not, it will also test the hypothesis that the GP needs a British rider in order to maintain interest in the UK. Interesting times ahead.

Let's hope the European Individual Championship is shown on Eurosport UK. It will be an interesting test to see how many additional viewers speedway will get when shown on a "free" channel.

Anybody?

I've got a bit of a mixed bag here. These belonged to my Dad who passed away a few months ago. It consists of: Mainly Oxford Cheetahs programmes from late 1970s to mid 1980s Some Speedway Stars and Mails from same time period Some Oxford United (and a few City) programmes, including 1986 Milk Cup Final programme and Oxford Mail pullout. Even some Swindon, Reading, Wimbledon, Halifax, Rye House, Exeter and a programme from the 1981 World Final at Wembley. Some of the programmes have been completed (by what looks like a seven year old in many cases), others are blank but come with a completed homemade scorecard. Several of the Oxford programmes include the relevant clippings from the Oxford Mail. There are five boxes in total, I reckon a good couple of hundred different items. Free to a good home.

It would be nice to see some new blood in the SGP. Ward would be the obvious choice, but I also think Janowski would be able to hold his own in the series.

I wasn't following speedway back in 2000 when Mark Loram won the world championship and I can't remember any coverage if the event in the mainstream media.

You are right that Swindon's crowd does attract people of all ages, but you will also have noticed something else about Swindon's crowd over the years, it is constantly going down. You simply cannot appeal to every man. Successful businesses have recognised this and spend a lot of time and effort defining their target market, but speedway continues to aim in to dark. On the one hand it claims to be a "family" sport, but then you some clubs marketing it as an extreme sport. Speedway tries to attract young and trendy sponsors like Red Bull and Monster, but when youngsters come to meetings they are turned off by the 1970s style presentation and music. As Chewbacca said, you will upset some of the diehard supporters if you try to rebrand speedway, but the alternative is what we are seeing now, a slow and steady decline in numbers until the inevitable.

Really? Does Apple, the world's most valuable company need all age groups? Or Nike, BMW, Facebook - need I go on? The difference between these companies and speedway is that these companies know their target market and they go after them. Speedway doesn't know who it's target market is and therefore tries to be all things to all people - and fails. As Chewie says, at least if speedway went for an "extreme sport" angle it could target a specific group of people. I've long thought that speedway could do a lot worse than try to shake off it's family friendly image.

What sort of crowds do Plymouth get?

Event One Janowski Madsen Jepsen Jensen B Jensen Event Two Smolinski Ales Dryml King Watt

I agree, the Olympic Stadium would also be my choice over Wembley, but it all comes down to economics. Can Britain support two GPs? I guess this year's Cardiff might be a good indication of the chances of having two GPs in this country.

I think it would attract much more media attention if it was held in London, but from a purely personal point of view, I prefer Cardiff.

http://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=world&action=display&thread=10224&page=1

How much land do you realistically need to construct a speedway stadium? I once worked out that Swindon was about 16 acres, but we have a huge car park. I'm sure somewhere like Newport is significantly smaller. Would there be a possibility of clearing some of the unwanted Olympic "legacy" in future years, to make way for a stadium?

I thought heat 15 was a fluke, but that first lap by Franc was sublime.

Glad to see Holder walk away from that one