Future Of Scunthorpe Scorpions

[EC Rides Again]

Oh dear, this press release has been coming for a few weeks.

 

After the plea at the end of last season from Rob for more fans through the gate I had a bad feeling that 2015 could be the last year for speedway in Scunthorpe. Whenever I've been this season the crowd has looked sparse, and I'm at a loss to offer any hope that numbers will increase. Scunthorpe is not a big population centre and there is no fanbase just waiting to be tempted back.

 

The sport is withering on the vine. Costs for riders are too high and £15 to attend a PL meeting is beyond what most floating punters will spend. This just leaves the hard core fans and bluntly they are a dying breed (literally, as the all-too-frequent announcements of the passing away of loyal fans will testify).

 

The only hope I can see is for the Scorpions to follow Eastbourne's example and go National League and run on Sundays.

 

Needless to say I wish Rob and the gang at Scunthorpe every success.

[Paul Johnson]

every time we have double headers, this year and before, 3/4s of the crowd leave after the main event, they have paid £2 to watch another 15 heats of speedway at nl level but wont watch it, 2 bleeding quid and they moan about the standard of racing.."im not paying to watch that rubbish," so i cant see the crowds flocking back in to pay whatever it costs to watch us in the nl, again the die hard core would pay to watch me granny race a monkey if it meant we were watching racing, , i also agree about the polish population, its too dear compared with home and i think they are used to going in "proper stadiums" , a couple came once last year and sat in front of us, we got chatting and they said the facilities are very very basic compared to torun etc.

[Taylorj]

Oh dear, this press release has been coming for a few weeks.

 

After the plea at the end of last season from Rob for more fans through the gate I had a bad feeling that 2015 could be the last year for speedway in Scunthorpe. Whenever I've been this season the crowd has looked sparse, and I'm at a loss to offer any hope that numbers will increase. Scunthorpe is not a big population centre and there is no fanbase just waiting to be tempted back.

 

The sport is withering on the vine. Costs for riders are too high and £15 to attend a PL meeting is beyond what most floating punters will spend. This just leaves the hard core fans and bluntly they are a dying breed (literally, as the all-too-frequent announcements of the passing away of loyal fans will testify).

 

The only hope I can see is for the Scorpions to follow Eastbourne's example and go National League and run on Sundays.

 

Needless to say I wish Rob and the gang at Scunthorpe every success.

When we came over for the Worky meeting , we could t believe how many people were there , the crowd was really poor . Worrying times , best of luck !!

[Albert]

I think Scunthorpe should've rebranded years ago and advertised to a larger audience. Renamed to something like, 'Northern Lincolnshire Lions' or 'The Humber Sea Dogs' followed by a big advertising drive in places like Grimsby, Lincoln, it may have pulled in more punters, giving them a sense of 'it's our local speedway team' not one belonging solely to Scunthorpe.

The product at Scunny is fantastic, it's difficult to put a finger on why it's not better supported. I think stadia has a lot to do with it thesedays, speedway is pretty much stuck in the 70s in that regard.

From what I've seen of the stock cars, their crowds aren't that good either, poor in my opinion. But, unlike speedway, the stocks carry less expenditure, I believe drivers pay to race unlike speedway where riders are paid to race....big difference.

If Scunny speedway can't make it viable then there's not much hope for others up and down the country. Look at the wider picture, Scunny is perhaps the most used track in the world let alone this country...The amateur scene alone must bring in £000's...always well attended providing a good income stream... Practice sessions likewise... Not to mention the training schools/track. Add in things like rent, Scunnys stadium isn't owned by a greyhound stadium or similar, Rob doesn't have the expense of rent like a lot of tracks. Similarly, bar and cafe takings are all Robs, they aren't franchised. So if Scunny can't make it, little chance others will either.

It would be a major blow to British Speedway, particularly in regards to rider development... think most teams out there must have a rider or two that's benefitted from the Scunthorpe factor... a facility like we have here would be sorely missed.

 

I wish Rob well and hope he continues, it's far too good a product to lose.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Albert

[ch958]

Best thing speedway can do is distance itself from the arms race riders are dragged into. Too many NL and PL standard riders see what the GP riders have, with their 'teams' of mechanics and stable of bikes and think they need the same. They spend far too much money tuning bikes to get that last drop of energy out and as a result costs are rocketing. I have to admit I have little or no mechanical knowledge, but there has to be some mileage in looking at engine limiters or the like.

If GP riders want to spend a fortune on their bikes for the GPs then let them. But it's up to them to cover their own costs. Hopefully this would go a long way to reducing costs.

top post

outside of GP costs need slashing drastically - 90pc of fans dont care about machinery unlike F1 or superbikes or whatever - get the bikes back to basics

sorry but the leagues have to do without world stars - there just isnt the interest to generate crowds any more

and who says its a full time job?

people will say even fewer people will then attend but i'll tell you what - Eastbourne, Cradley and Birmingham aren't threatening to close any more

[topsoil]

Good point made above about Scunthorpe being vital regarding the amateur scene and practice sessions. It is one of the few facilities in the country to offer this. Another reason why it is vital the track is kept open.

[Paul Johnson]

scunny speedway fans are very fickle, half of us like to see racing and watching talent come through, we like to see them come to us and get better each week, birksy, tofty, tj,blackbird, ryan,nike, as rob likes to bring through untried riders, many recommended by other riders because they know rob and the track will benefit their careers. now the other half are not prepared to watch them start off, or even understand what rob is doing, our plight is on facebook in various posts,giving reasons why they arent attending, and rob seems to me he cant win either way, ie."so much for weening the new blood, why bring him into the team when he could use his many riders from the amatuer scene"?. so rob brings im matt williamson last year, josh bates before, ellis perks this year, at the time all good points scorers in the nl, then they say, "well waht do you expect when you have rubbish reseveses going round half a lap behind or fall off all the time or havent won for 50 odd starts" "im not paying to watch them do that"

[Cupidstunt]

i really believe Rob Godfery should be applauded for his efforts at Scunthorpe, he tries to brig British youth on and lets any rider go to his track to practice any time they want, speedway will be a far worse off place without Rob and Scunthorpe Speedway.

[Mimmo]

I've always said, and will always say, that the Scunthorpe circuit produces some of the best, if not the best racing in the country.

In the earlier years, I was a regular visitor to almost every meeting from my Norfolk base, and would love to be in that position to still be able to be so. However, when race-day was switched from Sunday afternoon to Friday evening, due to family health reasons, I had to reluctantly say goodbye to a club that had become a big part of my life.

I still manage to attend the odd Bank Holiday Monday meeting, and all things being equal, will do so on the 31st August.

I obviously don't know the reasons for crowd levels dropping, although some of it is bound to be down to poor results, a reason I can never understand, because that's when your club really needs your loyalty.

As I said, in my families case, it's purely down to the change in race-day and race time, so is that the reason for the now missing fans? Have the promotion asked questions in the local papers as to the reasons for previous customers now stopping away? Those people obviously used to enjoy their visits, otherwise they would have stopped attending much earlier than they now appear to be doing according to Rob. There must be something that they don't like, or things that don't suit their lifestyle, so these questions need to be asked.

I sympathise with Rob and everybody involved on the management team, but if making statements through the speedway media about possible closure if an extra 200 people don't come through the turnstiles, is the only source of plea that is being made, then that is a waste of time, because the chances are that the deserters no longer read the sports press anyway. I'm not aiming any criticism at anybody, but just asking the question whether these statements have been made public knowledge in the local press and possibly radio.

I do wish the club the very best of luck, and hope upon hope, that the missing fans can find a way to return, because speedway needs Scunthorpe as much as Scunthorpe needs speedway.

[eric i]

 

I've always said, and will always say, that the Scunthorpe circuit produces some of the best, if not the best racing in the country.

In the earlier years, I was a regular visitor to almost every meeting from my Norfolk base, and would love to be in that position to still be able to be so. However, when race-day was switched from Sunday afternoon to Friday evening, due to family health reasons, I had to reluctantly say goodbye to a club that had become a big part of my life.

I still manage to attend the odd Bank Holiday Monday meeting, and all things being equal, will do so on the 31st August.

I obviously don't know the reasons for crowd levels dropping, although some of it is bound to be down to poor results, a reason I can never understand, because that's when your club really needs your loyalty.

As I said, in my families case, it's purely down to the change in race-day and race time, so is that the reason for the now missing fans? Have the promotion asked questions in the local papers as to the reasons for previous customers now stopping away? Those people obviously used to enjoy their visits, otherwise they would have stopped attending much earlier than they now appear to be doing according to Rob. There must be something that they don't like, or things that don't suit their lifestyle, so these questions need to be asked.

I sympathise with Rob and everybody involved on the management team, but if making statements through the speedway media about possible closure if an extra 200 people don't come through the turnstiles, is the only source of plea that is being made, then that is a waste of time, because the chances are that the deserters no longer read the sports press anyway. I'm not aiming any criticism at anybody, but just asking the question whether these statements have been made public knowledge in the local press and possibly radio.

I do wish the club the very best of luck, and hope upon hope, that the missing fans can find a way to return, because speedway needs Scunthorpe as much as Scunthorpe needs speedway.

 

Rob always says it how it is and keeps the fans informed about what's going on. Would you rather him say nothing and then shut up shop on the 31st of August.

[topaz325]

I expect there are quite a few other clubs in a similar situation as Scunthorpe and are losing money year on year, unfortunatley well attended meetings such as Play offs , Cardiff GP,s SWC and the British final do not make up for the losses in the bread and butter meetings in the league.

Radical changes should have been made years ago to reduce costs, if that means losing big name riders then so be it, fans just want good racing on a well prepared track with the minimum of delays.

[The White Knight]

Rob always says it how it is and keeps the fans informed about what's going on. Would you rather him say nothing and then shut up shop on the 31st of August.

Well said.

[Lord Skid]

From Aug 1st you score double points if you use a GTR engine, and you can use a Joker if you use a legal carb and fuel as well.

[The White Knight]

From Aug 1st you score double points if you use a GTR engine, and you can use a Joker if you use a legal carb and fuel as well.

What? :blink:

 

I thought we were discussing Scunthorpe.

[Lord Skid]

OK, we'll lose the sense of humour, Admission is miles too high, It's a £10 sport, but the BSPA used to set a minimum, not sure what it is now, but it's too late, the Sport is finished, go to any Superstore or Garden Centre, and see the full car parks, people want more for their pound, they don't want to get covered in dust watching 6 decent races spread over two hours, and pay £15-50 for the privilege

[ruffdiamond]

OK, we'll lose the sense of humour, Admission is miles too high, It's a £10 sport, but the BSPA used to set a minimum, not sure what it is now, but it's too late, the Sport is finished, go to any Superstore or Garden Centre, and see the full car parks, people want more for their pound, they don't want to get covered in dust watching 6 decent races spread over two hours, and pay £15-50 for the privilege

Very good point, the top supermarkets are killing of loads of stuff,,, they probably have more power than any governments,,, but it's the shoppers that are behind it, wanting things for nowt and the fat cats just keep on getting fatter,,,

[Mimmo]

Rob always says it how it is and keeps the fans informed about what's going on. Would you rather him say nothing and then shut up shop on the 31st of August.

Don't understand what you mean. I'm in full support of Rob, and of course its right that he keeps his fans informed. But that's just what they are, current fans that are keeping the club alive at the moment. All I'm asking is, that's it's those that no longer attend that need addressing in whatever way possible.

 

So your comments make no sense, as I have at no point said that Rob shouldn't keep the fans informed, it's common sense that he should, and does.

[Albert]

 

I've always said, and will always say, that the Scunthorpe circuit produces some of the best, if not the best racing in the country.

In the earlier years, I was a regular visitor to almost every meeting from my Norfolk base, and would love to be in that position to still be able to be so. However, when race-day was switched from Sunday afternoon to Friday evening, due to family health reasons, I had to reluctantly say goodbye to a club that had become a big part of my life.

I still manage to attend the odd Bank Holiday Monday meeting, and all things being equal, will do so on the 31st August.

I obviously don't know the reasons for crowd levels dropping, although some of it is bound to be down to poor results, a reason I can never understand, because that's when your club really needs your loyalty.

As I said, in my families case, it's purely down to the change in race-day and race time, so is that the reason for the now missing fans? Have the promotion asked questions in the local papers as to the reasons for previous customers now stopping away? Those people obviously used to enjoy their visits, otherwise they would have stopped attending much earlier than they now appear to be doing according to Rob. There must be something that they don't like, or things that don't suit their lifestyle, so these questions need to be asked.

I sympathise with Rob and everybody involved on the management team, but if making statements through the speedway media about possible closure if an extra 200 people don't come through the turnstiles, is the only source of plea that is being made, then that is a waste of time, because the chances are that the deserters no longer read the sports press anyway. I'm not aiming any criticism at anybody, but just asking the question whether these statements have been made public knowledge in the local press and possibly radio.

I do wish the club the very best of luck, and hope upon hope, that the missing fans can find a way to return, because speedway needs Scunthorpe as much as Scunthorpe needs speedway.

 

 

The local paper isn't well read these days... It used to be a blooming good daily but for the past few years has been a weekly publication full of old news, ads, car sales and estate agents...100 of pages of shyte, I don't think its got many readers nowadays. The online version isn't much better, big headlines for trivial un-newsworthy items, most people just visit to laugh at the comments.

[dirtdodger]

i first saw speedway in1952 at Bristol,give you some idea of my age,i agree 100% with everything that's been said about rising costs of machinery, faster bikes have not IMHO made the spectical of speedway racing better,just made the bikes less re liable and more expensive to repair.There are several reasons for the drop in crowd attendance,change of race day to Friday from Sunday,lots of people in Scunthorpe work a two shift system which means they can only get to speedway on alternate weeks they get out of the habit and don't bother to come at all,my wife was happy to come with me on a sunny Sunday afternoon but has no interest in coming out on Friday night she'd rather be watching Corrie with a bottle of wine! Several people I used to work with don't come any more because they just don't have the money,price of two tickets plus a couple of drinks =£40.In an earlier post someone said that there hasn't been a lot of job losses in Scunthorpe,but there a lot of people on the minimum wage.Two chaps in my village stopped going when Sunthorpe left the conference league 'cos they cound'nt identify with the 'new' team as youngsters they liked to watch the young lads race.Not saying I want to see National league racing back at Scunny but maybe Sunday afternoon was more Family friendly.I do hope to see speedway at EWR next year and I wish Rob and 'the team' at Scunthorpe Speedway all the best.

[iris123]

i work with a lot of them on my shift and all they talk about is speedway but they dont go.going to have to ask the question now next shift.

I had a lot of mates from Scotland/Ireland who lived in London and were football fans,but wouldn't go to football in England.They were supporters of a club,not general football fans who would wander down to Chelsea or Arsenal etc and pay to watch teams they didn't support.Maybe it is the same with speedway fans from Poland

 

To be frank,from what I have read which admittedly isn't that much it sounds like Scunthorpe is dead.They need 200 "new" fans which if they get 2,000 is 10% increase,but I imagine they get a fair few less than 2,000,so the increase is more like 20-30%???? No chance is there? You might make an increase for a few weeks with such a press release,but it isn't sustainable and that is what they need.I said years ago the Uk needs to have less clubs and less meetings and others said they need more clubs and more meetings.It just isn't sustainable.It also makes me wonder why a club starts in march/arpil is poxy weather and then closes for the season at the end of August when the weather is pretty perfect.Still this is a real big shame as it is a god track that offers riders plenty of practice time,which is what the country needs.Just seems to be in the wrong place i'd guess.Only chance is if Mr Godfrey changes his mind or someone else comes in with money to lose.