IainB

I was looking at the NDL from 10 years ago the other day to see what the development rate actually was for riders to make a career from competing in the NDL, it was about 20%. Which I think is woefully low. That's not to criticise anything that goes on in the NDL but the middle league has elected to take riders from the top league to make their teams up rather than the lower league and while that continues the development rate will stay at around 20%

Whoever is involved... they keep getting it wrong

Win, Win then... you can FFWD through all of the cr@p in the Polish match while recording the UK match and then FFWD through all of that cr@p too... and have an early night Win, Win, Win

I'm not sure what the rules say about riders taking to the track before racing starts, obviously we see riders on their bikes on parade but as for actually putting some laps in at racing speed I don't know where we stand. In all of my 44 years watching the sport I have only ever seen riders test the track once and that was one Good Friday morning at Oxford vs Cradley Heath. It was called off because the riders "couldn't turn their bikes" due to track conditions. After it was called off a few riders went out and did some practicing, if my memory serves me!

Absomutemy (for @Gemini), as good as it is that our boys are riding abroad I do think we're neglecting the home market. The GB Speedway team generally brings out the fans and attracts a crowd but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw them ride in the country outside of an FIM event. Also as good as the kids are when they're riding abroad it would be good for them to ride at home and hopefully get some wins on the board because, understandably, they rarely come first when riding abroad. Which is exactly what it used to be like in the old National League here in the UK, Dave Jessup going to Mildenhall, Gordon Kennett at Eastbourne etc. etc. It was actually a crowd puller for these clubs... it was exclusivity

Wow Indeed... so you've stooped down to emotional blackmail now! For some reason you seem to have taken against me after you sided with everyone's favourite Bwitcher when he made, at best disrespectful and at worst despicable, comments about the death of my Father, when I had the misfortune to stray onto the Covid thread, before it became the home of the nutjob that it is today. Now you can't separate what I say from who you think I am... So if we're going down the emotional blackmail route... I don't know you, I have no opinion of you, a lot of what you say I agree with, some I don't, but I've never called you a tw*t, I've never called you a worthless piece of sh*t... but you have called me small minded and you have also called me a pr*ck. You know we all have our problems... I'm not going to go into mine on here, just to say that covid has also taken it's toll in my life circumstances. I also come on here for a bit of fun and for the most part I have it. I've tried to make our spats a bit of fun but you seem to have had a bit of a sense of humour failure. As for putting a season in, it's clearly not possible at the moment, but you did wonder why people still go to Speedway while they criticise it on here, I engaged with you, gave you a full and lengthy account of what Speedway has been like in this country over the last 30 years since you last regularly attended... and then the toys come out of the pram. I am most certainly not an ignorant troll. I am passionate about my Speedway and will stand up for my opinion on it even when the insults and name calling comes my way. My opinion counts just as much as yours... for nothing. All the best to you and to Mrs Chunky, I hope she recovers well soon.

Oh stop it, you're making me laugh. I really can't take you seriously anymore. How is it there, back in 1991? Say hello to Bill Clinton for me

1991 your last season! That's 30 years ago! You're on the wrong forum my chunky friend. It's almost not worth engaging with you because you're so far out of touch with the reality of Speedway in the UK. Speedway was great in 1991 but has taken a sharp decline in the UK, especially in the last 5 or 6 years. So much so that we were binned off by Sky Sports. Come back and try doing a season, actually paying out your hard earned and then come back with an opinion.

Perhaps less is more in your case. When was the last time you did a full season of attendance?

We go because we know that when it's good there is nothing to beat it, yet we have seen all the fluff around it deteriorate over the years, many opportunities to see improvement blown, tracks close down, attendances drop. If I didn't have 40 years under my belt I wouldn't give it the time of day if I was a noob. I started to go to Leicester in 1977, closed in 83, then Coventry, closed, and Long Eaton, closed, used to regularly goto to Cradley, closed, Oxford, closed, Bradford, closed, Milton Keynes, closed, Stoke, closed, enjoyed my trips to Lakeside, closed, Swindon, closed, Reading, closed, Exeter, closed, Somerset, closed, Newport, closed. I used to watch the world's top stars competing on well prepared tracks in front of large crowds. Now I watch riders riding for numerous clubs at the same time on poorly prepared tracks in front of a few hundred people... and that's when a match hasn't been cancelled because of a weather forecast. But occasionally, very rarely, I'll luck a good match or see a fantastic race like the one at Leicester, of all places, the other week and as stupid as it may seem I think to myself it's going to be like that again next week... and of course invariably it isn't. I'd say for me the overall package is 75% rubbish but it's that 25% that keeps me coming back, or the hope of the 25%. What keeps you going?

I'm just having a bit of banter with my old mate @chunky as there's no GP on tonight we'll have to argue about this. Look at those tracks that have closed in the last 5 years! That's a lot of people not going to Speedway anymore. We as fans are completely powerless to do anything to improve the sport other than withholding our attendance to show our disapproval, as many have done over the years. Our sport is not going to somehow magic itself back into the big time, somebody, somewhere needs to do something... and quickly!

So, some guy walks into the track shop at Leicester with dust in his eyes and all is well with the sport in the UK? Cluck Cluck (that's an ostrich burying it's head in the sand btw )

In the last 5 years the people at: Somerset Stoke Lakeside Rye House Workington (Champions) Coventry Also probably had tears in their eyes And maybe next year: Birmingham Eastbourne Newcastle Peterborough Kings Lynn Swindon (Champions) Fans may have tears in their eyes

Can you say what the right sort of day is? And how many days notice they'd need to arrange this fixture at short notice. And how many fans would have turned up anyway as this fixture received ZERO promotion... couldn't even be bothered to preview it on the website. We had this at the beginning of the 2019 season if my memory serves me. An early season fixture called off based on an incorrect forecast and all of the apologists for the Leicester "promotion" were on here saying that it was too cold for speedway anyway... consequently we were scratching around at the end of the season for a day to race on when it wasn't actually raining... and the fans STILL haven't seen the trophy! Come on! Wake up to what's actually going on, you'll realise one day and it'll probably be too late!

... from a different country!

I'm sat at home looking out of my window wondering why I'm not at the Speedway tonight with both Leicester/Glasgow matches cancelled this weekend based on incorrect weather forecasts. I'm watching The Hundred final... they didn't cancel their event based on a weather forecast. They've got 30,000 people in attendance...

Took 91 years to not arrive.

It's 7pm, I'm a mile and a half from the stadium and this 100% could and should have gone ahead. We've not had anywhere near enough rain to waterlog the track, the ground is almost dry and the sun was trying to come through. Ah well, I shall settle in and watch The Hundred final as they didn't call their event off based on a weather forecast... consequently there's 30 odd thousand that have turned up to watch. Does anybody know what the forecast is saying for next Saturday? But the GP is on from Russia, may give Leicester a miss and watch the GP instead... losing a bit of interest in Leicester now.

You sound like George Bush and Tony Blair with their WMD's

It's the home promoter that calls the fixture off though until the ref gets there

The ULTIMATE forecast!

Do you get to see any of the Speedway?

Then we need to find a way of declaring it a wet meeting, with a wet setup, whatever that may be. Can't just keep calling them off based on forecasts

I do, and that's why the sooner we move to awarding these matches and not trying to put them on in perfect conditions the sooner the riders will realise they're missing out on a pay packet

To be fair there is rain about, I'm a mile and a half from the track and we've just had a shower, nothing that would have come anywhere near to canceling a meeting... but they're not even giving themselves a chance of putting a match on.