E I Addio Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 What advantages does he have at Poole? Poole have dropped to PL under previous promotions. They never had more success or larger crowds than, say, Swindon under previous promotions. I think you have to give credit where it is due. As for the money back thing, it's always a frustation but it's standard practice in speedway. Which shows he is great compared to previous Poole promoters. Among the advantages he has are an accessible town centre stadium with decent facilities ( at least as Speedwáy stadiums go) and a relatively modest rent, thus he has something to offer sponsors. That doesn't mean it's handed to him on a plate. Of course he has to work at it, but the stadium and the facilities give him a head start over a lot of clubs.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 A 'relatively modest rent'?? But no income from any of the stadium facilities! The only income is from sponsorship, advertising, gate receipts and programme sales. The 'captive audience' is an interesting one - fans and sponsors come from far and wide, not just Dorset, but Somerset,Hampshire, Berkshire (Rick Frost!!) and beyond. Fans and sponsors want a successful team with high-profile riders - be they local or from further afield. Its a real shame that many positive ideas for the long-term benefit of the sport at the top level in the UK, are discarded at the AGM because 'the weaker clubs are frightened'. Rules and regs are always made to suit the weaker teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 A 'relatively modest rent'?? But no income from any of the stadium facilities! The only income is from sponsorship, advertising, gate receipts and programme sales. The 'captive audience' is an interesting one - fans and sponsors come from far and wide, not just Dorset, but Somerset,Hampshire, Berkshire (Rick Frost!!) and beyond. Fans and sponsors want a successful team with high-profile riders - be they local or from further afield. Its a real shame that many positive ideas for the long-term benefit of the sport at the top level in the UK, are discarded at the AGM because 'the weaker clubs are frightened'. Rules and regs are always made to suit the weaker teams. If there was a ton of money in the sport the "weaker" teams could be shored up to keep them going throughout the year, perhaps that's what Poole etc need to do if they want to employ stronger teams maybe, would they agree to that, with no ties or conditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heathen chemistry Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Poole and by association Matt Ford are indeed the benchmark by dint of being league champions for the past three years. competition is healthy and the other clubs should have ambitions to not only emulate but topple the Pirates from their lofty perch. However as I see it, many of the other promoters are occupied with surviving rather than growing and consistently fail to grasp the competitive concept that, the better/appealing you make your product the more of it you will sell. There is no doubt that Matt Ford has made his product appealing hence the success achieved, but he would benefit even more if other clubs adopted likewise approaches and all promoters worked together to make speedway more appealing across the UK starting with a "we" attitude rather than an "I" attitude. To draw a comparison, A car dealer is more than happy if he has no competition, the market is his, but any sporting club needs good competition to make their product appealing - the better the competition the better the product i.e. Poole v no body = no meeting. Poole v great competition = great meeting. Ford is the best promoter of the modern generation, I suspect David Helmsley at Leicester is equally ambitious and given time will be playing his part in positively developing UK speedway. I hope Ford & Helmsley can attract/influence others to work together in a like minded fashion. ford doesnt want strong competition he needs poole to win every home match to keep the fans happy cuz he knows the fans are fickle - start loseing and the fans start to dwindle away ...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickthemuppet Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Charles Ochiltree must rank as the number one of all time brilliant promoter Is this the same Charles Ochiltree who sold the old Leicester speedway stadium for housing without telling the promoter Martin Rogers, who only knew when he saw it in the papers Surely Arthur Elvin who was the promoter at Wembley was the most successful ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy robin Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Yep agreed. Average crowd at Poole was 800 before he came and now it's 2000. Maybe a bit higher in the Summer. They weren't very high the season Poole struggled & showed how a winning team brings fans along with it. Swindon's crowd picked up when Darcy joined & if the big names come back would that pay their extra wages is the question. Are the other promotions to scared too risk it in the hope that crowds improve or is the money simply not their. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woz01 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Poole obviously have the advantage of being in an area where people have more disposable income and don't have as many sporting clubs around. Coventry for example has so many sports teams and that cant help crowd numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Try being from Manchester! The sporting capital of Europe if not the World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woz01 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Try being from Manchester! The sporting capital of Europe if not the World. Feels similar in Coventry but on a smaller scale with some of our sporting clubs. Manchester does have a much larger population than Coventry also. You cant deny what Matt Ford does for Poole is excellent work no matter what factors are involved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribbler Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Charlie Knott - Southampton Speedway. He wasn't a 'one trick pony' - he did so much more. He brought Speedway, Ice Hockey and other entetainment facilities to Southampton. Are there roads named after Matt Ford in Poole? There is a Charles Knott Gardens in Southampton ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Jones Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) Charlie Knott - Southampton Speedway. He wasn't a 'one trick pony' - he did so much more. He brought Speedway, Ice Hockey and other entetainment facilities to Southampton. Are there roads named after Matt Ford in Poole? There is a Charles Knott Gardens in Southampton ;-) I don't that there are, I just had a search for Fiddlers Rd, & Bandits Place but couldn't find them in the Poole area. Edited October 2, 2015 by Dave Jones 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingbee Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Is this the same Charles Ochiltree who sold the old Leicester speedway stadium for housing without telling the promoter Martin Rogers, who only knew when he saw it in the papersSurely Arthur Elvin who was the promoter at Wembley was the most successful ever No that was Midland sports stadiums it was not his decision .I think someone called Sanderson was majority share holder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damosuzuki Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Speedway has IMO necessary rules to stop teams running away with it (look at the example of Scottish Football and Rangers / Celtic). As long as Poole are within these parameters Matt Ford HAS to be an excellent asset to Poole. I'd also say British Speedway. Given the amount of clubs struggling, having these teams generating interest can only be of benefit to speedway as a whole. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 ford doesnt want strong competition he needs poole to win every home match to keep the fans happy cuz he knows the fans are fickle - start loseing and the fans start to dwindle away ...... So just like all fans in all sports then. Nothing particular to Poole or Ford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starman2006 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) I could really write a book, and im sure that Matt could. Matt Ford deserves all the credit and praise he gets for all the success he has brought to Poole Speedway. He works extreamly hard for that success. Matt is also a thourghly nice bloke who also supports several charities in the Poole area.And we also have a superb Team Manager in Neil Middleditch. Both Matt and Neil bleed Blue and White. But the success story doesn't end there, we have a superb bunch of backroom staff, a wonderful bunch of Volunteers, and a wonderful bunch of sponsors who also play a huge part in the clubs success.The club is geared to success and driven to win, and that will not be relenting, anytime soon... Edited October 2, 2015 by Starman2006 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aces51 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 (edited) I could really write a book, and im sure that Matt could. Matt Ford deserves all the credit and praise he gets for all the success he has brought to Poole Speedway. He works extreamly hard for that success. Matt is also a thourghly nice bloke who also supports several charities in the Poole area. And we also have a superb Team Manager in Neil Middleditch. Both Matt and Neil bleed Blue and White. But the success story doesn't end there, we have a superb bunch of backroom staff, a wonderful bunch of Volunteers, and a wonderful bunch of sponsors who also play a huge part in the clubs success. The club is geared to success and driven to win, and that will not be relenting, anytime soon... Brought a tear to my eye. I think Matt should have that printed out and hand a copy to every supporter at the first match next season. Well done Starman,obviously a sincere and deserving tribute. It will mean so much more to the management coming from such an erudite supporter. The only thing I could add is that I am sure that Matt and Middlo are also kind to animals and elderly people. Edited October 2, 2015 by Aces51 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Game On Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 I could really write a book, and im sure that Matt could. Matt Ford deserves all the credit and praise he gets for all the success he has brought to Poole Speedway. He works extreamly hard for that success. Matt is also a thourghly nice bloke who also supports several charities in the Poole area. And we also have a superb Team Manager in Neil Middleditch. Both Matt and Neil bleed Blue and White. But the success story doesn't end there, we have a superb bunch of backroom staff, a wonderful bunch of Volunteers, and a wonderful bunch of sponsors who also play a huge part in the clubs success. The club is geared to success and driven to win, and that will not be relenting, anytime soon... Sick Bucket anyone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 I'm a firm believer that those British clubs that are financially solid enough - and it may only be 3 or 4 - should form the Sky Super League, with a small fixture list and able to attract the top riders.. Those same clubs plus all the others can then also choose to operate a weaker (cheaper?) team in what would be the equivalent of PL+ and/or NL level, which could be regionalised depending on the number of teams. The sport should not continue to operate and be strangled by the lowest common denominator every year. Brought a tear to my eye. I think Matt should have that printed out and hand a copy to every supporter at the first match next season. Well done Starman,obviously a sincere and deserving tribute. It will mean so much more to the management coming from such an erudite supporter. The only thing I could add is that I am sure that Matt and Middlo are also kind to animals and elderly people. Most Poole supporters - and many promoters if they were honest enough to admit it - don't need it printed out!! We know it to be true. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Dave Jones Posted October 2, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 I could really write a book, and im sure that Matt could. Matt Ford deserves all the credit and praise he gets for all the success he has brought to Poole Speedway. He works extreamly hard for that success. Matt is also a thourghly nice bloke who also supports several charities in the Poole area. And we also have a superb Team Manager in Neil Middleditch. Both Matt and Neil bleed Blue and White. But the success story doesn't end there, we have a superb bunch of backroom staff, a wonderful bunch of Volunteers, and a wonderful bunch of sponsors who also play a huge part in the clubs success. The club is geared to success and driven to win, and that will not be relenting, anytime soon... I bet you couldn't. You would never find a proof reader with sufficient patience. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E I Addio Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 The sport should not continue to operate and be strangled by the lowest common denominator every year. If Poole had suffered an injury to their key EDR rider, as has befallen three of the bottom four clubs, then the chances are that they would be the lowest common denominator this year. especially if coupled with injuries to one of the heatleaders. With the exception of Swindon, whose season was partially rescued by Darcy, all the play -off contenders got a decent EDR draw and had a reasonably injury free season, although even Coventry fell at the last hurdle when they lost first Kylmakorpi, then , more importantly Garrity. I wont go too far off topic on my fast track hobby horse, but unless there is a drastic change in the set up that will be the way things will go in future with the league being largely decided by the luck of the EDR draw and reserves staying fit because adequate replacements will be almost non existent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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