Scunthorpe 2015

[thebaron]

Please for the love of God NO!!

Mossy, Superstar your missing the point we dont have to be JQ died fans but I bet a lot of young people are especially round Scunny are.

 

Remember Ian Thomas one of the best promoters of speedway of his time. Had "em all" up at Derwent Park Workington - many famous TV names of the 70-80s.

 

We get speedway but a awful lot of people dont or did but no longer do!. We gotta give them a reason to come through the door and try it. This is not really about US the regulars its the newbies and used to be"s we need to connect with them.

 

Johnnie Hoskins at Bradford in the 40s -50s knew how to promote. He pulled endless stunts for the public and if "the wer nowt to report from Odsal he just made summat up!". Genius.

Edited January 17, 2015 by the outsider

[Paul Johnson]

The Outsider.. if you were in charge of the music at Scunny would you use the themes tunes as the riders did a parade lap or when they won? there was talk of riders on a back of a truck waving to the crowd so what about a team theme tune as they go around, bit like sheffield do with the Terminator theme tune? What about at the end of the meeting when the riders thank the crowd,Rob could say "play that music Barry,then he plays The Bee Gees.. You win again?

think we need to entertain the crowds with more than just racing

[mossy666]

Mossy, Superstar your missing the point we dont have to be JQ died fans but I bet a lot of young people are especially round Scunny are.

Remember Ian Thomas one of the best promoters of speedway of his time. Had "em all" up at Derwent Park Workington - many famous TV names of the 70-80s.

We get speedway but a awful lot of people dont or did but no longer do!. We gotta give them a reason to come through the door and try it. This is not really about US the regulars its the newbies and used to be"s we need to connect with them.

Johnnie Hoskins at Bradford in the 40s -50s knew how to promote. He pulled endless stunts for the public and if "the wer nowt to report from Odsal he just made summat up!". Genius.

Please don't tell me I'm missing the point,I've followed speedway since my early years and hope to follow it till my latter years and MOST ideas that have been on here are good ones but I'm sorry some just won't..just my opinion

[montie]

JQ..would he bring in extra fans? im not sure.

I was in local town last night and town was full of 18 -35 year old spending money...lots of it.Thats what your against..sex ..drugs and booze on a Friday ,or 15 heats of speedway and a bit of the Bee Gees

 

I no where i would rather be!!

[Willowman]

I no where i would rather be!!

But decided on the speedway instead!

[brylcream boy]

I feel the stadium location is a double edged sword. No curfews, unlimited practices and weekend meetings, unfortunately there is no public transport or local housing and is difficult to get there without your own transport. if you are unable to get there, it does not matter who appears or what the music is. I am not knocking all the efforts by Julie, etc and if I did not work away during the week I would have gone to the recent meeting to help.

There are many good ideas on this thread, but I feel access is the biggest problem.

[montie]

But decided on the speedway instead!

Sadly i dont fit into that 18-35 agebracket now...!

[Paul Johnson]

Maybe the people on here who have argued about some of the ideas could give some of theirs, instead of knocking mine? im trying to keep the crowd entertained instead of turning up and watching then going home, with a feeling of wasting their monies.

Maybe we should just give up this year and go to the pub instead, then all reminisce about how we miss speedway.All we are looking at is about 100 people to come back, not 5000, , we just have to find out why those 100 or so fans have stopped going? is it because they lost their job and cant afford it. have to chose between Football or Speedway?,was it the fact we seemed to race Sheffield 10 times?, is it the price?,The track is good, Rob is good and the racing is good so what are we doing wrong?

[southern1]

why not try and attract the 18-35 years olds by stocking the bar with more variety of drinks and advertise the speedway as somewhere fun to go before they all head into town, most people in their 20s generally dont head out till 9 anyway. like nbt said update the music and have rider themes after they have won their heats and try and get finished for 9.30 at the latest (if no major incidents). ive heard few of complaints about the sound system not being very good and not being able to hear scores so why not build a scoreboard, it dosent have to be too expensive something based on the old cricket ones a big bit of board painted white with home and away in big black letters on top then you just hang numbers on a nail with current score and maybe last heat result on it, it could be put in corner of pits by the entrance to the track and one of the pit marshalls update it.

[thebaron]

Please don't tell me I'm missing the point,I've followed speedway since my early years and hope to follow it till my latter years and MOST ideas that have been on here are good ones but I'm sorry some just won't..just my opinion

Of which you are perfectly entitled; but my point is that we as speedway regulars might have to admit it could take more than what's happening on track to get them through the door. Ian Thomas had all manner of "celebrities" head lining at Derwent Park in the 70's-80's just to get folks in the door. Then once they're in they can start having a closer look at what's on offer. Like him or not JQ is a Scunny celeb and he comes into the category that might bring young Scunthorpe people to the EWR. Personally yes I would prefer Guy Martin anytime.

[mossy666]

Apologies if I came across argumentative,but most people who go or are likely to enjoy speedway are the ones who follow one motor sport or another..so Guy Martin would probably be a bigger crowd pull..This is was the point I should of put over.

Also,I've seen mention of Lincs FM but all I ever hear is Lincoln City this Grimsby town that..I actually heard more mention on Viking FM last season.

[neb]

it seems that guy martin would be a popular addition to a race night for various reasons would any of the management like to comment on the possibility of being able to get him down one night? i think guy would stir up a lot of interest and maybe bring some new faces through the door.

[thebaron]

The Outsider.. if you were in charge of the music at Scunny would you use the themes tunes as the riders did a parade lap or when they won? there was talk of riders on a back of a truck waving to the crowd so what about a team theme tune as they go around, bit like sheffield do with the Terminator theme tune? What about at the end of the meeting when the riders thank the crowd,Rob could say "play that music Barry,then he plays The Bee Gees.. You win again?

think we need to entertain the crowds with more than just racing

Mmm if I was in charge of the music; I would try to theme it for the meeting; thinking not only of our riders (and their backing tracks) but also come up with something that fits the opposition. .

 

At the start of the meeting we usually have all 14 riders (home and away) do a lap or two coming out from the pits. The trouble is that there is not a great deal of time; and if the weather is against us then it tends to become truncated. But preferably we should always have a full parade. The away team should be introduced first; and the Scorpions second. They could come out on their machines; or as a team on the parade truck.

 

When the Scorpions take to the track I would use the Scorpion Theme Extended Remix - for the new Scorpion TV Series by Brian Tyler & Xonosphere . It is quite dramatic as we are building up to the riders taking to the track. Have a listen. So that's the intro theme when the Scorpions take to the track together at the start of the meeting.

 

Look it up on YouTube. I don't want to embed the link on here for fear of messing anything up for the moderator.

 

We use each of the previously suggested Individual Rider "Scorps Sound tracks" when they have won a race (lap of honour always with the chequered race flag) or when we want to focus on them as Individuals.

 

We should retain the That's The Way by KC & The Sunshine Band (very familiar tune now at Scunny for the 5-1 MAX Heat Win). But for say a 4-2 we could throw in another tune to salute the advantage to the Scorps. I like 63' Burnout by 63 Burnout - Trouble At The Speedway - very catchy very catchy. Or we can throw that in at the end of the meeting when we have won and let the firework(s) off!!!

 

If your struggling to find them I could PM you the links on YouTube. At this rate I will have let Barry speak to my agent about the fee for all this.

 

Of course as with the others if anyone can come up with their choice stick it up and lets have a listen.

 

All the best.

Edited January 18, 2015 by the outsider

[Paul Johnson]

thank you for the reply outsider, it seemed strange that only 2 riders had theme tunes, maybe rob couldnt think of any for the others? i know when the music was played or for 5.1 a few of us in the seats and in front near the tapes would join in, so it sems to be what some want.

I would love to see Guy threre, i even posted on his facebbok page if he fancied it.He only lives in the Grimsby area(?), maybe he could do some laps in the interval? Hes just built 2 projects i believe, a Heskith bike and a Merlin Engine, maybe he could demonstrate those? Maybe do a collection for his chosen charity?

[montie]

thank you for the reply outsider, it seemed strange that only 2 riders had theme tunes, maybe rob couldnt think of any for the others? i know when the music was played or for 5.1 a few of us in the seats and in front near the tapes would join in, so it sems to be what some want.

I would love to see Guy threre, i even posted on his facebbok page if he fancied it.He only lives in the Grimsby area(?), maybe he could do some laps in the interval? Hes just built 2 projects i believe, a Heskith bike and a Merlin Engine, maybe he could demonstrate those? Maybe do a collection for his chosen charity?

 

Guys hardly turns up to a IOMTT promotion these day,not his thing,plus as he signed to one of the top teams for the road season i dont think his bosses would think much to him doing a few laps on a speedway bike![ plus with an DB9 in the shed i guess he would need a few quid in his pocket to come!]

 

Gaz Johnson,won TT last year,lives on door step,he may be an option,really nice lad to

Edited January 19, 2015 by montie

[duffyscouse]

Why not 'Host' a Bike Night - that pulls some people in ?

[thebaron]

_{Any one want to make any comment about the rumour on the General Discussion thread that UKBA have cancelled VISA's for 22 Non EU riders.}

 

_{Right now I am a bit worried.}

[mossy666]

outsider,have u seen the Scunny site today??

[screm]

_{Any one want to make any comment about the rumour on the General Discussion thread that UKBA have cancelled VISA's for 22 Non EU riders.}

 

_{Right now I am a bit worried.}

 

It looks like yet another hurdle in my quest to start my 2015 Speedway campaign with the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the UK.

My flights, as you may know, were booked for Tuesday 3rd February and with 4 brand new bikes waiting for me I was keen to get there sooner rather than later. My Visa was applied for on 21st December and with the 12 month exclusion from the country prior to applying for a new visa complete (which is the criteria with a Tier 2 Sportsmans Visa) I was excited to get the Visa application away as soon as I received my Sponsorship Certificate from the Scunthorpe Scorpions.

Too easy right?…….As you will read in the upcoming days the UKVI (United Kingdom Visa and Immigration) have shone the spotlight on a number of sporting organisations in the UK, not just speedway, and have insisted that all Speedway Clubs/Promoters attend a series of workshops hosted by the UKVI to ensure that they are up to speed with the criteria required to retain their sponsorship licences.

The result of this is that essentially no Australian or American speedway riders will be granted entry visas into the UK until such time as the workshops are complete and the Sponsorship Licences are reinstated to each of the 10 Speedway Clubs in the Premier League. This affects 17 Australian speedway riders.

The current status of my Visa is that it is presently held in the UKVI processing centre located in Manilla, Philippines and hopefully they will place it “on hold” until such time as the UKVI give the tick of approval to the speedway clubs (remembering that this is not just my club of Scunthorpe but every speedway club in the UK). This will save additional time and money including a second trip to Sydney for mandatory biometric testing so fingers crossed.

The worst case scenario is that they will refuse the application and return it to me along with my birth certificate and passport and I will be required to reapply once the new Sponsorship Licences have been issued to the clubs. The UKVI is hopeful that they can have all clubs resolved by 15th March and I will be on the first plane possible after I receive my Visa.

I will keep you posted as news comes to hand but I really wanted to keep you in the loop rather than you hear it on the grapevine or read about it on social media.

Yours in Sport

Alex Davies

 

Taken from Scunthorpe Speedway site.

[EC Rides Again]

Nice letter from Alex to let the fans know the current situation and stopping speculation adding to the problem.

 

Fingers crossed it gets sorted before the end of March.