mickthemuppet Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 You can't just make things up like that.I'd love to see evidence to back that claim up.For a start if we take a 100 meetings,how many world finals would there be in that 100?And for a few years Wembley Lions had massive crowds that were bigger than Cardiff plus back in the early days some of the biggest meetings were the Tests against Australia...... As it is i used to be more of a team meeting person,but since my team folded i now tend to watch more individual meetings.Pure speedway without any of the strange rules.......well not many Of course you are right as Wembley in the late 40,s used to average 55,000 per meeting and in the 1970,s up to 20,000..But since then the team meetings have dropped considerably although the individual events like the Daily Express Classic and Internationale still drew 20,000 crowds. Then there were the World Championship rounds like Intercontental, Overseas and UK Finals. It would not surprise me if Ipswich get one of their biggest crowds this Thursday which is a individual meeting.. Excepting the play offs, which many people hate, when was the last time there was a big crowd for a league meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobnob Smith Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 team speedway all the way nothing better than seeing a top rider team ride his lesser partner home in front of other class riders Hans Neilsen, Sam Ermerlenko style 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
van wolfswinkel Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 I prefer to watch team racing at Swindon, but enjoy the Cardiff GP as well(for the comfort, atmosphere and facilities rather than the racing). Obviously more people prefer Cardiff to the league format as the crowds at the 30 tracks(probably less than 25000 per week in total) don't match the 40,000 at the GP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Have a league match once a year at each track and I'm sure the total attendances would more than match the 40,000 at Cardiff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 It was good to see in the final at Poole tonight, that speedway is alive a kicking, it was a pleasure to watch the 2 young Polish rider show just how 2 riders team riding can win a race. This is something that needs to be learnt by lots of other young riders. It makes the meetings so much more enjoyable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Well said Gemini :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 (edited) Team racing in its current guise isn't worth carrying on with as it is simply now a farce.. When 50% of the competitors in a play off semi final are guests it really is time to give it up.. Maybe tracks running individual events once a month with big prize money is the answer? Maybe run once a month, charge £15 and see if you can get 2000 there with a months worth of advertising/promotion... Prize money of 25k (or maybe more) would be achievable I am sure with a 2k crowd and meeting sponsorship, and maybe the sport should do what many other motorsports do and charge the competitors to compete? (16 riders at £200 quid would generate the rent money surely?) Stock cars pack crowds in due to not racing weekly and has even less of a public recognition than speedway.. The sport needs to go very much back to basics and given the embarrassment of team speedway nowadays in relation to credibility and integrity then maybe some high profile individual meetings will once again put the sport back in the public eye and if successful after a couple of years maybe restart team speedway again? And this time try and get it right..! Edited October 21, 2014 by mikebv 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1944 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Team speedway is fine if it is actually a team. After this year's debacle watching teams race with riders from all over the place just making up the numbers it is becoming a bad joke. There appears no actual team just pick any number of riders on a random basis to make up the numbers and call them a name. The laughing stock of the sporting world. What next, make it official— have pool of riders willing to ride put their names in a hat and select your team on a weekly basis. Some people somewhere who have speedway at heart needs to sit round a table and decide what direction Elite League speedway is going. At the moment it looks like a blind 3-legged donkey pulling a cart being driven down a track by an inebriated handler heading towards a 100 ft cliff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson fire Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 They have destroyed team speedway in this country imo, the gp is 100% than anything we have to offer currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Team racing in its current guise isn't worth carrying on with as it is simply now a farce.. Maybe tracks running individual events once a month with big prize money is the answer? Think it could be the answer for not all,but some tracks.The trouble is i doubt it would be allowed by those tracks who are running a team in the league.It is also(i think) linked in with promoters renting stadiums and having to use them as often as possible rather than just 6 or 7 times a year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Rubbish, team racing is good still, what the need to do away with is that daft transfer window which certainly backfired! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 (edited) If Team racing is to stay AND be seen as a vehicle to drive the sport forwards in this country then for me the following could be the answer.. One Elite League of 8 x six men teams, meet once home and away, same night racing, all riders graded A - E for team strength planning, team strengths to be high enough to include two 'A grade' riders per team'. just 48 riders needed leaving plenty of riders to be drafted in to cover injuries - (A league basically built to showcase the sport on TV) - NO GUESTS One Premier League based on the SWC with 4 teams per meeting, 5 riders per team (4+1 reserve), 16 teams all regionalised with the top teams in each region going to a 4 leg semi/ final, all riders graded A - E for team strength planning, No 'A grade' riders to keep costs down/lower team strengths, 80 riders needed so again plenty of riders to be drafted in to cover injuries and NO GUESTS!! The Elite League teams can enter the second comp (if they want to) as long as they comply with the competitions team strengths, oh and NO GUESTS... All other clubs who don't go in the EL or PL can run National League, configured any which way as basically it will include a mixture of riders who at any given moment can replace unavailability in the PL or be complete rookies learning their trade, the planning of the heats should reflect this difference in standards to ensure competitive racing.. Probably bollox, but at least its a plan to improve what we have, something I sadly don't have any faith in the current sports' rulers having..... Edited October 21, 2014 by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson fire Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Rubbish, team racing is good still, what the need to do away with is that daft transfer window which certainly backfired!its rubbish correct.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted October 22, 2014 Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 I prefer Team Racing myself. The problem is that those that hold power within the Sport have done their best to ruin it. They seem intent on fiddling and destroying the credibility of our once wonderful Sport. Folk, by and large, are not daft - they know when they are being conned. Contriving to keep Meetings tight is wrong. Sport, if that is what we are talking about, is about Competition, what it is not about is doing this , that and the other in order to conjure up a truly false and dishonest Result. One question - IF these Rules regarding Double Points and Play Offs are so great - then why are Crowds, in general - decreasing and not increasing? I would suggest lack of Credibility in the Sport of Speedway is the answer, or at least part of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillipsr Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 I actually disagree a little with the rules thing whilst i think it is partly responsible for people walking away i dont think it has much to do with the lack of people coming to the sport. When you take someone new generally they dont care about rules etc. As i said on another thread the biggest problem i had encouraging people to come back is that its an absoloute s**t hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted October 22, 2014 Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 I actually disagree a little with the rules thing whilst i think it is partly responsible for people walking away i dont think it has much to do with the lack of people coming to the sport. When you take someone new generally they dont care about rules etc. As i said on another thread the biggest problem i had encouraging people to come back is that its an absoloute s**t hole You could be right. When you add all of these things together though it certainly doesn't help the Sport when it comes to attracting new people. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted October 22, 2014 Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Lack of atmosphere may actually put young people off, that is easily sorted with a little effort? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 22, 2014 Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 I prefer to watch team racing at Swindon, but enjoy the Cardiff GP as well(for the comfort, atmosphere and facilities rather than the racing). Obviously more people prefer Cardiff to the league format as the crowds at the 30 tracks(probably less than 25000 per week in total) don't match the 40,000 at the GP. And neither of the totals you give Big Ron match what Arsenal, the Manchesters City and United, Liverpool etc each get for JUST one home game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillipsr Posted October 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Atmosphere is a big issue IMO. Bothing worse than being stood around with nothing going on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Atmosphere is a big issue IMO. Bothing worse than being stood around with nothing going on phillipsr - you need a Lemsip my friend. :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.