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Berwick 2015


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i dont know if it would, as long as the racing is good most people will be happy. For me the thought of having 2 new riders to British speedway and watching their progress as well as having Ben Barker leading the team is good enough reason to go. For a few meetings with indifferent results with the prospect of an exciting young team for the remaining 20 odd home meetings is a price well worth paying.

Signing the likes of Harrison, Pjiper etc who to be fair would all do a job does not get me excited.

Where has the crowd disappeared too if the racing is good at Shielfield or more important why.I would settle for new faces rather than the usual journeymen who end up at Berwick these days.You have to be able to keep them though.Alden.Aspregren,Jensen,Bellego all entertained but then seemed to lose interest.
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i dont know if it would, as long as the racing is good most people will be happy. For me the thought of having 2 new riders to British speedway and watching their progress as well as having Ben Barker leading the team is good enough reason to go. For a few meetings with indifferent results with the prospect of an exciting young team for the remaining 20 odd home meetings is a price well worth paying.

Signing the likes of Harrison, Pjiper etc who to be fair would all do a job does not get me excited.

 

I agree with you, unfortunately a vast majority of "fans" want to see team winning and if you got hammered they would stop.

 

Anyhow - top marks for innovative thinking - (don't see it happening mind get ready to cheer Harrison, Pjiper, Hall & Dilger :t: )

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1. do they not get 2 years? even so i would still take a chance with Jake, the other 7 could be an EU rider

2. A 3.00 youngster could be happy to get 12 meetings PL experience, as long as he knows the deal then not an issue

3. Agree there will be potential heavy defeats away, but should still have 6 close home meetings, 3 of them league cup so imo meaningless anyway.

 

The key would be getting the right rider(s) in after 12 meetings

 

I'd rather win the league cup than nothing at all plus two meetings against Edinburgh they mean something to the fans.

 

i dont know if it would, as long as the racing is good most people will be happy. For me the thought of having 2 new riders to British speedway and watching their progress as well as having Ben Barker leading the team is good enough reason to go. For a few meetings with indifferent results with the prospect of an exciting young team for the remaining 20 odd home meetings is a price well worth paying.

Signing the likes of Harrison, Pjiper etc who to be fair would all do a job does not get me excited.

 

I enjoy good racing but if that's all I wanted to see I would be going to Sheffield or Somerset not Berwick where at times you see more racing in the car park, it's quick and its a very well prepared surface but it can be gate and go at times just due to the shape

 

I go to Berwick to support them and I want to see them win home and away not just to have a fun night out and see some good racing whether it's a good meeting or not I will go home disappointed if Berwick get beat

 

There's plenty of riders out there who are good Premier League riders that do have the potential to up there average no I don't want to see Rusty Harrison or Theo Pijper either but someone like Anders Mellgren I would like to see

 

Having one new assessed rider is a very good move and I'm happy with the Jake Allen signing but lets build around him and try and be competitive from the get go and build on last seasons success.

Edited by Hamster00
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Time has been kind to Peter (and rightly so, many should have been a lot kinder to him at the time as well).

 

But let’s not pretend Peter knew he was going to sign guys like Hawkins in December and went to press and practice and meetings with 6 riders despite actually knowing his team (it is possible to rewrite certain parts of history not events that actually took place), he rode his luck many a season, part of the game, a team building genius, no.

Didnt he just ride his luck :D But my point was more, you can plan and plan and plan. And it can still go wrong (Poole 2009!) but you can also sign whatever the hell you can get your hands on and if it goes wrong sack it and sign whatever else you can get your hands on, eventually you'll strike it lucky - Thats was Peter Waites approach and it meant he was able to give a club with a small fan base some teams that punched above their weight. It meant Berwick were built into a stronger club with a great fan base and a new promotion were able to take over and take a more controlled approach.

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Where has the crowd disappeared too if the racing is good at Shielfield or more important why.I would settle for new faces rather than the usual journeymen who end up at Berwick these days.You have to be able to keep them though.Alden.Aspregren,Jensen,Bellego all entertained but then seemed to lose interest.

i dont think the crowd has gone anywhere imo its mostly down to financial restraints the general public find themselves in and people simply struggle to justify the costs of going every week. Whenever there is a big meeting at Berwick there is always a good turnout which shows the support is still there. Berwick was one of the cheapest in the PL and still struggled to get enough people in. Speedway for me should be £10 -£12 at PL level but to make this happen the costs for riders / bikes would have to be slashed but thats a different arguement altogether

Edited by neil
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Absolutely, and bring another 5 or 7 assessed with him, we will only be weak for 12 meetings. Sign the right riders after 12 meetings then we could really push on and finish strong. The time has come to take matters into our own hands re having first call on a few assets.

 

Agree with you, I`d love Berwick to now go out and bring in two or three new assets, and if that means signing the likes of Allen on a seven then so be it, though in this instance its a real gamble. One thing though, if these new riders take time to settle and Berwick start losing at home will the crowd start dwindling, though the basic concept of bringing in new riders is a good one.

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i dont think the crowd has gone anywhere imo its mostly down to financial restraints the general public find themselves in and people simply struggle to justify the costs of going every week. Whenever there is a big meeting at Berwick there is always a good turnout which shows the support is still there. Berwick was one of the cheapest in the PL and still struggled to get enough people in. Speedway for me should be £10 -£12 at PL level but to make this happen the costs for riders / bikes would have to be slashed but thats a different arguement altogether

The problem is the Promotion have stated that Speedway is unsustainable in Berwick with the level of weekly support whether it be people picking and choosing meetings or not.speedway is not going to get any cheaper at PL level IMO so they have to attract more fans every week not just when it is a big meeting in the fans eyes.I agree times are hard and financial restraints stop people attending regularly unfortunately.

Ps

Did the £10 entry attract more fans ,I think the jury is out on that one,so it is not just the cost of admission .IMO

Edited by Fromafar
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Did the £10 entry attract more fans ,I think the jury is out on that one,so it is not just the cost of admission .IMO

 

In a word no, any increase in crowd levels was mainly due to the numbers of kids going, and they got in free. Interesting though that when the promotion push the boat and truly promote a meeting they are usually rewarded with a decent crowd, there`s a lesson there somewhere.

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The meetings that have had the larger attendances have been GP Qualifiers and World under 21 Finals, of course more people are going to attend!

 

It has offered fans from Newcastle, Workington, Edinburgh and Glasgow the chance to see riders that they wouldn’t usually see racing in the North, even attracting 10 or 12 from each track will see an increase in attendance. As well as the increased number of travelling fans selling a guy who appears on TV often is a lot easier to push to someone with minimal interest in the sport.

 

The lesson learned is, bigger meetings attract more fans, it’s the reason Play-Offs have been introduced to the sport. If clubs could find a way to make every meeting mean as much as a GP Qualifier or Play Off that important there would be bigger crowds.

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In a word no, any increase in crowd levels was mainly due to the numbers of kids going, and they got in free. Interesting though that when the promotion push the boat and truly promote a meeting they are usually rewarded with a decent crowd, there`s a lesson there somewhere.

 

This is a genuine question, which meetings were truly promoted, and what was the resulting increase in numbers?

Aside from FIM and Sky meetings which are anomalous.

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For me the thought of having 2 new riders to British speedway and watching their progress as well as having Ben Barker leading the team is good enough reason to go. For a few meetings with indifferent results with the prospect of an exciting young team for the remaining 20 odd home meetings is a price well worth paying.

 

I completely agree, Barker as a signing alone is exciting. Watching two new riders is also exciting. There has to be a long-term view with that as they are usually handicapped with an unrealistic average at the start, but again - as you say - get the first 12 meetings out of the way, then you really see them fit into the team. To give one example, I think Palovaara at Glasgow will be one to watch.

 

Now, where these riders come from, I haven't a clue, and I wouldn't want to be the one having to hunt them out!

Peter had a lot of crackers, but not many can forget Benny!

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Tero Aarnio Steve Worrall Theo Pijper and Rusty Harrison I would imagine will be in contention

 

I'm all for assessed riders but they need to be half decent

 

Krcmar the Swede would be a great start

As long as it isn't the aged carthorse from Rye you've been punting on the club all winter!

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Great rider I hope we are looking at a GP rider like Jason Bunyan

Do I think he will be an 8 point man again? honestly no?

But he's certain to put a point or two on his average this season.

Decent bloke I think he would be able to help the younger lads which is what it is all about

 

I mean if people are suggesting Richard Hall why not Jason Bunyan....... absolute lunacy in my opinion


 

Is he related to Eduard Krcmar from Czech republic :rofl:

 

He's something special though

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I should think Barker alone would be enough to attract more through the gate, plus the new young Aussie. It's vital that the Bandits get off to a good start to keep attendances up. Bandits fans are notoriously fickle when the results go against them

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Surprised Facundo Albin hasn't popped up in this thread. Wasn't he initially destined for Berwick before team changes and a move to Sheffield?

Probably because he's not very good
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