BWitcher Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 I went to the two meetings at Wolverhampton this week and thought there were possibly more people at the Cradley meeting than the Wolves so running in two competitions might work, as you say. Certainly the crowd seemed more enthusiastic and more tolerant of the riders' efforts. Out of interest, how much do Swedish clubs have to pay to rent their stadia? You do realise it is a completely different fan base? Wolverhampton had a NL team for a spell, also raced on Tuesday nights, less than 100 were there most meetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostwalker Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) I went to the two meetings at Wolverhampton this week and thought there were possibly more people at the Cradley meeting than the Wolves so running in two competitions might work, as you say. Certainly the crowd seemed more enthusiastic and more tolerant of the riders' efforts. Out of interest, how much do Swedish clubs have to pay to rent their stadia? I don't know exactly for all teams and it varies from one track/club to another. Some teams also own their own arena which means that they don't pay any rent at all. 8 years ago Rospiggarna paid 180'000SEK (about £15'400GBP with current exchange rate) / year in rent to the municipality /community in which they are located. In 2007 Smederna paid an annual rent of 144'000 SEK (about £12'000GBP with current exchange rate) to the municipality /community in which they are located. I don't have any more recent numbers but at least this gives you an estimate and as you can see the rents are definitely not free but from what I understand the rents are subsidized to some extent so. *edit I found some info from 2012 for Smederna which were in Allsvenskan (PL equivalent) that year. Also important to remember that Smederna pulled out of Elitserien in 2009, rode in division in 2010 and in Allsvenskan in 2011 and 2012 before advancing to Elitserien to the 2013 season. In 2012 they paid only 42'000SEK (£3600GBP) while a 100% rent would have costed about (2.1 million SEK, (~180'00GBP). I don't know what they are paying now but I would guess that is at least the double. Edited July 23, 2014 by Ghostwalker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john birch Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) I said some years ago that consecutive nights Wed/Thurs with any team unable to do one night or the other given priority of night with open weeks built into the schedule also to cover rainoffs. But Denmark seemingly having taken over Weds, it'll now need to be Monday's only. Suggest 8 team league 2 home + 2 away or 10 team with league cup (2 groups), possibly KO cup, anyway circa 16 home matches before playoffs. Could race home and away Easter Sunday and the other Bank hol. Mondays. No need for teams to race any other matches. Strict points limit in the first year and go from there. It MUST be tried - it's the only thing not tried in the last 30 years. Alternative: matches at Leicester, Coventry and Eastbourne with riders either racing in the P.L or on the continent. Eagles fans seem to have already voted with their feet. Tai won't be the only one not back next year unless things change neither will I. And especially if there are only 8 teams, bring in three English riders per team rule not this rotten fast track scheme with riders not even capable of getting in Premier League teams. An absolute farce. Edited July 23, 2014 by tiberon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Don't disagree with any of that, other than to add that their must also be some control of machinery/costs etc so that engine tuners cannot put so much financial pressure on the riders! Then the riders wouldn't need to demand higher (and higher and higher) pay deals. absolutely agree.. I'd go even further and be more radical and make the sport a 'one make series', all bikes having 'box standard' engines and parts, and any changes to any of the kit other than say foot pegs, handlebars and mudguards, need to be authorised by the governing authority.. The same governing authority would also buy the parts and sell them on to the riders to ensure no 'specials' can be brought into the sport and starting the snowball effect of increasing costs again by everyone else then wanting the same.. In this modern day and age the governing authority could even use video conferencing to watch the parts they have sent being fitted to the bike 100's of miles away!!., Catalogue every part with a serial number and the machine examiners would just need to use a checklist on each bike used at every meeting to guarantee that the bikes are as equal as they could be... You could even, something similar to F1 and other motor sports, have restrictions on work that can be done on the engines with maybe each team only having 'x' amount of tuning sessions per season with each team having to prove clear transparency when they want to do this? Pie in the sky bollox probably but something very radical needs to done as you simply cannot keep paying out 'Football Championship' salaries and costs on attendances that most 'Conference league' teams would find laughable.. Brum?, Eastie?, next please?? Last one out, turn the lights off... Edited July 23, 2014 by mikebv 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) I have just scanned through the current week's Speedway Star, focused my attentions for perhaps the first time this year on the Elite League averages. Although riders like Tai Woffinden are star names, his current sub-eight average isn't really doing his threat of quitting Britain much good. Looking down the names, this EL has to be the weakest in its entire history. I am not going to name names, but there are riders in the top 30 list that would struggle to score much more in the Premier League. Some are being hoodwinked into believing they are paying their hard-earned cash for a quality product, containing top stars. One poster has even stated, if the top stars were forced out of the EL, they wouldn't attend. But, after a brief study, I can see, apart from a few names, both EL and PL aren't that far apart in terms of quality. In my opinion, as Tai Woffinden has intimated, perhaps the lesser likes of PL racing aren't burning themselves out... and are fresh to wanna race and put on a show. We all know, even when fatigued, fed-up with something... we just don't perform the same as when we are bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Edited July 25, 2014 by moxey63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavan Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 And less fans to watch it. I wouldnt go if it wasnt for the top names as i have no interest in watching a lower standard rider why? blinkered view on your sport then or your club. Ive watched Ipswich win titles in the 80's and 90's ive seen the true greats and legends pull on a witches jacket. Sanders, Cook, Sigalos, Rickardsson, Gollob, Loram, Louis,Nicholls, Clouting and as amazing as those days were i love my sport love my club so i go as much as possible with nothing to cheer about for this millenium. Im happy to see my club run and ive seen some cracking meetings at Premier level. Its people like you who dont support their club that mean the sport is dying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 why? blinkered view on your sport then or your club. Ive watched Ipswich win titles in the 80's and 90's ive seen the true greats and legends pull on a witches jacket. Sanders, Cook, Sigalos, Rickardsson, Gollob, Loram, Louis,Nicholls, Clouting and as amazing as those days were i love my sport love my club so i go as much as possible with nothing to cheer about for this millenium. Im happy to see my club run and ive seen some cracking meetings at Premier level. Its people like you who dont support their club that mean the sport is dying. Very well aid Gavan. Supporting your Club means through THICK and - THIN!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillipsr Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Congrats on being able to waste money on poor standard riders. I unfortunately cant do that so i will only pay to watch riders who are the best in the sport. Get off your high horses 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Congrats on being able to waste money on poor standard riders. I unfortunately cant do that so i will only pay to watch riders who are the best in the sport. Get off your high horsesWell if that is the case all of us would not watch much speedway then, how many top dollar stars have we in the EL.?For me speedway is a great family sport over the years i have seen decent conference racing also the PL has a decent product.Entertainment is what it is all about if i see decent racing whatever level then i am more than happy. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTM Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Congrats on being able to waste money on poor standard riders. I unfortunately cant do that so i will only pay to watch riders who are the best in the sport. Get off your high horses It could cost you a lot more to watch the top riders if the current trend continues because IMO the top guys won,t be racing in UK next year as unfortunately Poland ,Sweden, Denmark can offer much more than our declining ancient E/L (the term Elite is used loosely here ) so you maybe flying to tracks afar if you want to see top stars .Also this is a discussion forum with different opinions no need for the HIgh Horses comment IMO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillipsr Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 As i already stated i wont fly all around the world i will just stop going other than Cardiff. Its a good job speedway can afford for people to walk away. Id also say the real problem with speedway are fans who blindly pay there money accepting watching an inferior product 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReturn Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Congrats on being able to waste money on poor standard riders. I unfortunately cant do that so i will only pay to watch riders who are the best in the sport. Get off your high horses Think your horse is higher than their horse! I used to love my speedway at Long Eaton. We never had the best riders in the world, but we had some of the best racing in the UK at times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 As i already stated i wont fly all around the world i will just stop going other than Cardiff. Its a good job speedway can afford for people to walk away. Id also say the real problem with speedway are fans who blindly pay there money accepting watching an inferior product I would say that they are realists - they recognise the way that Speedway has, often through it's own fault granted, lost Supporters. There is also the Recession to consider with folk having less disposable income to spend on fripperies (which Speedway IS if you consider putting food on the table as more important). These good folk are trying to SUPPORT their Speedway Team. If you can't afford it that is fine - but please don't criticise those of us who are trying to keep our Teams going. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catabracadabra Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 Out of interest what happened to the "speedway fans united" group that was formed few years ago? I agree that supporters are paying there hard earned money to watch a below par inferior product. Yes die hard fans do try supporting there team, but surely there comes a point where enough is enough. These people running these speedway clubs and more so the B.S.P.A will keep watering down the product for a quick fix or the so called 3 year plan ( how many times have we heard of this and that plan). Isn't it time that the speedway fans, including the die hard fans do a "walk out" like in the polish Grand Prix. You need a group like speedway fans united to organise and ideally do this at a televised meeting to maximise exposure of how fed up the fans are, maybe a B.S.P.A run meeting. Be outside the stadium but do not pay or go in, but has to be done in numbers. The clubs plod along year on, crowds very slowly get smaller, clubs beg for sponsors and hand outs to keep going, to balance the difference in crowd levels. If you keep paying to go in and watch rubbish, all your going to keep getting is rubbish. No fans, I mean no fans at all will really give them a wake up call. One or two protest meetings would give them a wake up call Would anyone do this, for the long term good, or be worried about the club folding? I'm not so sure. Maybe we should have a speedway fans union. Speedway fans are passionate And loyal, this type of Union would be strong and powerful. Most importantly unite the voice of supporters so they are not overlooked by these people running this speedway in the uk. After all if It wasn't for the fans there would be no professional speedway league. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavan Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Congrats on being able to waste money on poor standard riders. I unfortunately cant do that so i will only pay to watch riders who are the best in the sport. Get off your high horses not a speedway fan then are you. My club is Ipswich and ive watched the greats and the not so greats. We have riders like Gino that are great entertainment and value for money, and i admit our track isnt the greatest but i see as much good racing as i do poor. Back when we had the all dominating side of Gollob Rickardsson Louis and Nicholls we won most meetings easy so what is more value for money? Nothing to do with high horses but your attitude is part of the reason the attendances are so low. As i already stated i wont fly all around the world i will just stop going other than Cardiff. Its a good job speedway can afford for people to walk away. Id also say the real problem with speedway are fans who blindly pay there money accepting watching an inferior product great atmosphere usuallly poor racing. no mate the real problam is people who think the top boys always equals better racing so dont go anymore 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Surely folk support their team, fair enough if their team is defunct as it's not the same again. Atmosphere and/or the the lack of it is a quadruple way thing, racing, riders, promotion and fans, it needs to almost be studied ...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Congrats on being able to waste money on poor standard riders. I unfortunately cant do that so i will only pay to watch riders who are the best in the sport. Get off your high horses Some riders who are the best in the sport on view tonight in the SWC on what is reputed to be a top racetrack - not serving up much entertainment so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Hmmm six GP standard riders out of sixteen plus two or three more who might ride in any super league racing last night, not really a balanced meeting with often two riders way ahead of the other two. That said Lynn has gone downhill as a race track for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Posted on the SWC thread . . . The track consistence and safe. People on here have moaned about the racing, but to me it was OK. When you have big meetings with big riders, on fast bikes, you don't see many classic races . 2, 3, possibly 5 if your lucky. These class of riders don't make many mistakes My point entirely, against swerving speedway without the "top men"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy cookie returns? Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 The biggest problem speedway has is the equipment & rules both of which have played a major part in the sport going downhill in this country. If UK speedway had been run correctly in the past & the equipment used had aloud good racing the crowds would still be present to support paying for top riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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