Bruiser McHuge Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 I must admit that starting watching speedway at Hyde Road in the 70's was a huge advantage...the sport was still attracting decent crowds, good atmosphere and great racing...it was pretty addictive for a kid ....my interest certainly tailed off once Hyde Road shut ..it was kept alive by my sister marrying a speedway rider but for a few years it was only that fact that kept me going to speedway.....I knew then that if it wasn't for that then I would never be attending live speedway....and once he stopped riding then I stopped going and I must admit I haven't missed it... I've been to 2 meetings in 20 years and that was to take my son when he was young...he never enjoyed the meetings and never wanted to go back so I've never been again....I'm sure I'm not alone in that respect. I do actually watch the sport on TV and I do like the GP's which I think are a real plus for the sport but as for day in day out speedway I cannot see anything that justifies or merits mainstream press coverage ahead of other sports that also don't get coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) It is worrying, the current speedway scene. We are a growing-old bunch of fans that are dangerously close to dragging speedway to the grave with us. A poll on this website signifies the typical age of a speedway fan, and there doesn't appear any rush by youngsters to break down the turnstiles. We have for so long been deluded that speedway is an hidden gem, that no one but us knows about. The belief that "I like it, so other people will," is what I held once upon a time. But, stand back for one moment... it is a small sport, lucky that the likes of SKY retain an interest, which glues once regular attendees to their armchairs instead of advancing to their local track. Apart from that, nothing I have seen over the past 10 or 15 years has made me believe the press remain intent on hiding speedway, for the purpose of denying it from taking fans away from other sports. Edited March 10, 2015 by moxey63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Think we have to realise that.And should be grateful for some great local coverage in the press and like I say,the internet is also a fantastic resource if used to your advantage Like hounding the comments of other Posters for no other reason than you don't like the writer? Please don't keep on.We are trying to have a decent debate here!!! What's the matter Doug? Have I hit a raw nerve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryn Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 What's the matter Doug? Have I hit a raw nerve? The impression you are frequently giving to myself and maybe others JH, be it right or wrong, is that you appear to attempt to take any suitable opportunity that you can to denigrate the BSF and those who post thereon. As I said that may not be your intention but it's the way it appears to myself and, maybe, others. Let's face it nobody's perfect and never has been! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 The impression you are frequently giving to myself and maybe others JH, be it right or wrong, is that you appear to attempt to take any suitable opportunity that you can to denigrate the BSF and those who post thereon. As I said that may not be your intention but it's the way it appears to myself and, maybe, others. Let's face it nobody's perfect and never has been! An interesting view Bryn and I take on board all that you say. However re your comment "you appear to attempt to take any suitable opportunity that you can to denigrate the BSF and those who post thereon" I do seem to get a lot of 'LIKES' for my Posts. So presumably there must be some BSF members 'out there' who share some of my opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 i think you are right, and that it was: The National Press Trophy at Wimbledon 23 July 1967 Just looked this one up! It was a Charity meeting in aid of The Widows and Orphans of the Printers' Pension Corporation. If you know what that is then you're a better man than I! There were seven trophies, all of which were won on a knockout basis, and the meeting was repeated in the second half using handicaps. Winners were: Daily Mirror: Gote Nordin Daily Telegraph: Terry Betts ATV Sportsweek: Gote Nordin Thomson House: Anders Michanek News of the World: Gote Nordin Daily Express: Sverre Harrfeldt Daily Mail: Gote Nordin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryn Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 An interesting view Bryn and I take on board all that you say. However re your comment "you appear to attempt to take any suitable opportunity that you can to denigrate the BSF and those who post thereon" I do seem to get a lot of 'LIKES' for my Posts. So presumably there must be some BSF members 'out there' who share some of my opinions? I'm not going to get into any 'backwards and forwards' postings with yourself over this JH, my feeling is that it would have helped if you'd quoted the full sentence referred to in your posting above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Come on fallas... if you weren't a speedway fan already, would you in your right mind be interested in a sport that is less than half a stop from the grave yard? Even in the glory days of the seventies, speedway was often left on the back burner by the media, when the sport really deserved the publicity. Forty years since, would you consider, as a person trying to sell a newspaper, a TV programme, would you consider putting a speedway-related story forward. I mean, we are getting beyond our selling place, especially when a recent petition to get Len Silver honoured fetched little more than one hundred sigs. That is where speedway rests right now... and that was the response from speedway fans (ones that are still alive). We are, I'm afraid, where we are... I totally agree with you. I think it's a miracle that more tracks haven't shut down in recent times. The promoters must have blind faith or very deep pockets! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Nice to see an Australian-orientated rider who is going to miss the 2015 UK season featured in this way. Seem to remember Lucifer Sam posting sometime ago that the media in and around Scunthorpe were always up for posting news about one of the towns celebrities. Like I said in your thread about ice speedway on Saturday,John,which you deleted after I replied that the 2015 season was being discussed in a topic handily titled 2015 ice speedway gladiators If you keep putting the bullets in other posters guns they will fire them back 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Just looked this one up! It was a Charity meeting in aid of The Widows and Orphans of the Printers' Pension Corporation. If you know what that is then you're a better man than I! There were seven trophies, all of which were won on a knockout basis, and the meeting was repeated in the second half using handicaps. Winners were: Daily Mirror: Gote Nordin Daily Telegraph: Terry Betts ATV Sportsweek: Gote Nordin Thomson House: Anders Michanek News of the World: Gote Nordin Daily Express: Sverre Harrfeldt Daily Mail: Gote Nordin. Very many thanks for that. I knew I was there but the memory had faded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Just looked this one up! It was a Charity meeting in aid of The Widows and Orphans of the Printers' Pension Corporation. If you know what that is then you're a better man than I! There were seven trophies, all of which were won on a knockout basis, and the meeting was repeated in the second half using handicaps. Winners were: Daily Mirror: Gote Nordin Daily Telegraph: Terry Betts ATV Sportsweek: Gote Nordin Thomson House: Anders Michanek News of the World: Gote Nordin Daily Express: Sverre Harrfeldt Daily Mail: Gote Nordin. Shocking indictment of British speedway - all those foreign winners! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Shocking indictment of British speedway - all those foreign winners! But at least Telegraph readers were happy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicspeedway Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Speedway Fiction have a number of pages devoted to the Evening News special editions that were produced for the Wembley Finals. They appear on their website under the heading: Headlining Speedway. speedwayfiction.co.uk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 That's a great site, 70sPM. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 And thanks from me too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMac Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) Said it after the recent fiasco in Warsaw . . . sometimes we all have to be thankful that the national media in Britain DON'T show much or any interest in speedway these days. Imagine how they would have covered events at the first GP of 2015? They would have absolutely slaughtered speedway as a whole and the sport's image would have again taken a massive hit in the eyes of the general public. The tabloids, had they been interested in speedway, would have also torn the FIM to shreds, killed any credibility they might have left, over their farcically protracted (mis)handling of the Darcy Ward case. So instead of, as they see it, wasting valuable column inches on a sport that is hell bent on shooting itself in both feet time and again, they choose to ignore it altogether (apart from whatever Peter Oakes manages to get published due to his well established connections). If you want to know the many reasons why the nationals no longer have any time for speedway, most were contained in our two-part interview with Dave Lanning in Backtrack. As you know, Dave was The Sun's speedway man for years, his sensationalised stories read by up to four million (yes, FOUR MILLION) people each day. Speedway couldn't buy that level of exposure, yet the promoters of the day were generally very clueless in maximising this coverage to the sport's advantage. Dave would get calls saying: 'I've got a story for you.... we're changing our start time from 7.30 to 8.00' - and they would actually expect The Sun to print it. What Dave's son, Russell, did last year, by persuading The Sun to publish a two-page interview with Tai Woffinden, to tie in with the British GP at Cardiff, was little short of miraculous. A key factor is that speedway has no apparent friends or fans among Fleet Street's (Canary Wharf's) 'finest' who are prepared to fight its corner. Oakesy (Daily Star), Phil Rising (Daily Express), Keir Radnedge (Daily Mail), Dick Bott (Sunday Express) have, or had, a genuine affection for and deep knowledge of the sport and they filed good stories on a daily basis. Now the sport has to be grateful for that same enthusiasm from most of the hacks covering the sport for the local press. Having a weak GB team at world level doesn't help either. Edited May 13, 2015 by tmc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozrik Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 It seems speedway is losing its place in sports media reporting. There are internet sites, but that can be confusing, because other countries call different forms of motor sport speedway. Try typing in "speedway" online and see what comes up. You will be surprised. So how do we get newspapers back to speedway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsloes 1928 nearly Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 When Wimbledon reopened in 2002 we tried everything we could to get coverage in the London press; the Evening Standard (then still a paper people used to buy) and the freebie, Metro (run then by the same people who ran the Standard) The Metro Sports Editor flatly refused to cover Speedway even having the cheek to say "it wasn't something that would appeal to his readers" Quite how he knew what his 'readers' thought considering they're just punters picking it up on train seats or at station entrances I really couldn't say! The Standard equally blanked us. There were some days when there was no football on and the crowd at Plough Lane would certainly be the biggest paying crowd attending a sporting event in London that day/night and yet still the London local paper wasn't even giving the meetimg a one line mention as a fixture.. Around this same time the Standard stopped covering Dog Racing too so I suspect some 'politics' were at play.. Am happy to report we get excellent local newspaper coverage at Kent Speedway from the Kent Messenger's Sittingbourne News Extra weekly paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sotonian Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 In the event, it was a blessing in disguise that the Standard didn't cover that reopening meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted May 14, 2015 Report Share Posted May 14, 2015 In the event, it was a blessing in disguise that the Standard didn't cover that reopening meeting. Probably a blessing that they did not cover the Warsaw GP either.................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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