What Changes Have To Be Made In 2017?

[E I Addio]

So sorting the EDR system is gonna be the saviour of EL?

 

 

The thread is not about a saviour for the EL its about changes for 2017. Sorting out the EDR will not necessarily save the EL but it will be one less nail in the coffin, and will certainly be more beneficial to keeping the existing fans than pandering to those of yesteryear who are unlikely to return unless we revert to a 20 race programme including a second half all for £10 . It is something that needs immediate attention if the league is to be a semblance of fair competition.

 

In all honesty, look at my suggestion and compare it with TWK's above post suggesting we simply change the names. Which one is most likely to result in something like a level playing field (or speedway track ) ?

[steve roberts]

 

 

The thread is not about a saviour for the EL its about changes for 2017. Sorting out the EDR will not necessarily save the EL but it will be one less nail in the coffin, and will certainly be more beneficial to keeping the existing fans than pandering to those of yesteryear who are unlikely to return unless we revert to a 20 race programme including a second half all for £10 . It is something that needs immediate attention if the league is to be a semblance of fair competition.

 

In all honesty, look at my suggestion and compare it with TWK's above post suggesting we simply change the names. Which one is most likely to result in something like a level playing field (or speedway track ) ?

It's not a question of pandering but what's deemed as value for money. If people feel that fifteen (?) heats of racing is good value at £15/£16/£17 (or whatever the price is now) then that's fair enough but it doesn't represent good value for money as far as I'm concerned for reasons given elsewhere.

Edited August 7, 2016 by steve roberts

[Trees]

The thread is not about a saviour for the EL its about changes for 2017. Sorting out the EDR will not necessarily save the EL but it will be one less nail in the coffin, and will certainly be more beneficial to keeping the existing fans than pandering to those of yesteryear who are unlikely to return unless we revert to a 20 race programme including a second half all for £10 . It is something that needs immediate attention if the league is to be a semblance of fair competition.

 

In all honesty, look at my suggestion and compare it with TWK's above post suggesting we simply change the names. Which one is most likely to result in something like a level playing field (or speedway track ) ?

Surely all promoters realise the EDR rules haven't worked this season, 100% they'll do something different regards that. I think they need to "go back to the start" with this league, tracks being number one ....

[22A]

Would the Elite league be more attractive in 2017 if it consisted of ten clubs again?

If the answer to that is yes, then to keep them up, the most financially solvent clubs from the Premiership would have to be promoted.

My reasoning is that the clubs who've dropped out in recent seasons all did so due to cash problems.

[Fromafar]

Would the Elite league be more attractive in 2017 if it consisted of ten clubs again?

If the answer to that is yes, then to keep them up, the most financially solvent clubs from the Premiership would have to be promoted.

My reasoning is that the clubs who've dropped out in recent seasons all did so due to cash problems.

Dont think many PL teams would take the chance to move up for financial reasonsIMO.

[orion]

It's not a question of pandering but what's deemed as value for money. If people feel that fifteen (?) heats of racing is good value at £15/£16/£17 (or whatever the price is now) then that's fair enough but it doesn't represent good value for money as far as I'm concerned for reasons given elsewhere.

People are more than happy with 15 heats as long they are a good ...to most it would be the near of bottom of the problems speedway has ...as I said the only people who want second half's back are the over 55's the same people who want no double points no play offs no sky and one off world finals and the Golden helmet back .

[steve roberts]

People are more than happy with 15 heats as long they are a good ...to most it would be the near of bottom of the problems speedway has ...as I said the only people who want second half's back are the over 55's the same people who want no double points no play offs no sky and one off world finals and the Golden helmet back .

Bit of a generalisation but that's fine if the assumption is correct....and if people regard fifteen heats of racing as good value then, again, that's fine but it doesn't represent good value to me and wouldn't entice me back to the sport especially the fact that I would have to put petrol in my car and drive fifty miles to my nearest speedway.

 

Strikes me that it's the over 55's who are keeping the sport going judging, apparently, by the lack of youngsters now attending?

 

I'm not advocating that the re-introduction of any of the above would dramatically increase attendances but clearly speedway is in trouble and something drastic needs to be done to buck the trend and thereby attract new fans (and riders) to the sport. There lies the crux.

 

Anybody have a magic wand?

Edited August 8, 2016 by steve roberts

[FAST GATER]

So sorting the EDR system is gonna be the saviour of EL?

Needs to go ASAP!!!!!!!!!

10 pages into a thread about next year and all we have seen are suggestions to turn the clock back 30 or 40 years.

 

The issue above all else that needs addressing is the one that even the BSPA realise they got wrong, namely the ridiculous EDR scheme.

 

We have to keep the EDR scheme on the grounds of cost but the following adjustments have to be made IMO:-

 

1. The team that finishes bottom get first pick and the team that finishes top get last pick, no ifs, no buts, no protected assets nonsense.

 

2. Any EDR'swhose average takes them into the 1-5 may only ride at No's 2or4. No more EDR's getting blown away in heatleader roles.

 

3. Get rid of the huge gap between the best and worst EDR's. It needs to be looked at carefully but should be something like EDR's to be selected from PL second strings or NL No1's. No more Newmans, Worralls, Auty's, etc dominating the EDR . riders of that standard need to earn their EL team place on merit.

 

4. I am tempted to say that reserves be limited to six rides. I invite opinions on that. I can see flaws in the suggestion which others might be able to improve upon but we need to stop bona fide second strings and heatleaders dropping to reserve and being able to score 18 or 20 points. Riders like Lewis Bridger, Bjarne Pedersen, and Nikolai Klindnt should never be in protected heats against genuine EDRs

EDR was not for cost saving it was to bring riders on or was it just to save money which is what I have always said poor show if the EL can't function without it !!!

[Trees]

A bit of both I suspect but why they didn't sort the averages out this season, taking away any scores from the protected heats and then not using the protected heats in this year's averages I know not ....

[speedibee]

Dont think many PL teams would take the chance to move up for financial reasonsIMO.

Add to that ,, sporadic fixtures pandering to Poland , and the boredom of seeing same teams every few weeks , Only an Egomaniac Like Hemsley could possibly view Elite League as an improvement , as for music . for me it only enhances memories ,certain songs from back when music was music .immediately transport me to a certain track at a certain time .Oddly enough theres not one for my home track of over 50 years . modern muzak does absolutley nothing for me . squawking teenage bints and black rappers certainly are no enhancement to my entertainment , much rahter a bit of banter between opposing fans or just a sensible conversation with a friend suits me . and certainly "smack my bitch up and shoot ma bro " is not going to create and pleasant memories

[keepturningleft]

Since the biggest attendances by far are for the individual events, the GP's obviously, the hostility towards a 13 heat match and then a 'rider of the night' individual event afterwards seems strange.

 

Seems to me you've got the best of both worlds, team and individual in one night.

Personally, I lament the decline of domestic individual events

Although true that many fans used to leave after the main match, well, that was their choice.

 

The 'rider of the night' could be made into a much more meaningful event than it used to be with maybe the winners throughout the country qualifying for some kind of a grand final - at Belle Vue?

Speaking of which, I have been in the speedway wilderness since Odsal closed but I could be a regular returnee to Bell Vue, if only I knew what their regular race night is.

This hotchpot of race nights is a disaster as alluded to by earlier posters which is surely hindering the success of Belle Vue.

[speedibee]

 

 

Since the biggest attendances by far are for the individual events, the GP's obviously, the hostility towards a 13 heat match and then a 'rider of the night' individual event afterwards seems strange.

 

Seems to me you've got the best of both worlds, team and individual in one night.

Personally, I lament the decline of domestic individual events

Although true that many fans used to leave after the main match, well, that was their choice.

 

The 'rider of the night' could be made into a much more meaningful event than it used to be with maybe the winners throughout the country qualifying for some kind of a grand final - at Belle Vue?

Speaking of which, I have been in the speedway wilderness since Odsal closed but I could be a regular returnee to Bell Vue, if only I knew what their regular race night is.

This hotchpot of race nights is a disaster as alluded to by earlier posters which is surely hindering the success of Belle Vue.

who is going to ride in these rider of the night events ? and furthermore who is going to pay them ?

Edited August 8, 2016 by speedibee

[Trees]

 

who is going to ride in these rider of the night events ? and furthermore who is going to pay them ?

The supporters could pay an extra £1 a head for it 😯

[sparkafag]

I appreciate Speedway cannot always be compared to other sports for a number of reasons, but….there aren’t many sports offering the actual event, and then another event on top of the event, if that makes sense, even in events like Stock Cars, it is all leading to a “final” as such, or a “demolition derby” a conclusion that night, an event the meeting builds to.

 

Speedway’s USP should revolve around 15 heats IMO, that’s what the sport is, that is where it should be asked the majority of people attending invest their time, energy, passion and money.

 

The majority of advocated second half events already take place and are far more advanced than the majority of suggestions. A case being, there is already events at the end of the season for the best performing riders, already development leagues for riders to learn their trade, already 250cc Speedway events taking place that are more advanced than a few second half heats. If anything I think you could argue Speedway has too many additional novelty events, introduction more only further serves to dilute the nature of the events already in place, and this would be done while hand in hand diluting “league” racing.

 

The “big race” where the “top riders race” is Heat 1, 13 and 15, that’s fine, that should be enough, it shouldn’t be those heats and then another one at the end that means more.

 

I personally find suggestions like this indicative of the muddled nature of speedway that has seen the horse turned into a camel.

 

I actually think additions to a meeting in terms of added races, cheapen both the match and the proceeding events slightly.

 

A second half, should, at best be novices or team riders practicing I don’t think there is a second half needle shifter personally, as all it would be at this moment in time is a slightly different version of the main product.

[Fromafar]

A lot of second half finals were decided in the pits beforehand and the cash split.They did put on a show for the fans though.

[The White Knight]

 

 

The thread is not about a saviour for the EL its about changes for 2017. Sorting out the EDR will not necessarily save the EL but it will be one less nail in the coffin, and will certainly be more beneficial to keeping the existing fans than pandering to those of yesteryear who are unlikely to return unless we revert to a 20 race programme including a second half all for £10 . It is something that needs immediate attention if the league is to be a semblance of fair competition.

 

In all honesty, look at my suggestion and compare it with TWK's above post suggesting we simply change the names. Which one is most likely to result in something like a level playing field (or speedway track ) ?

I wasn't really being serious. I was merely trying to point how useless League Matches are these days. They are just qualifying rounds for a different Competition - the 'Play Offs'.

[speedibee]

 

The supporters could pay an extra £1 a head for it

Still wont stop the riders wanting to get to the airport , and it would kill the MDL , which is the only real way of getting kids involved these days . you only have to look at the bottom end of this years NL . to see the good that MDL is doing . I know most people leave and dont watch it .but that doesnt matter , becuase the kids are part of a team and learning all the other aspects of speedway . they dont get paid and it costs nothing to stage . winner all round IMHO

[The White Knight]

Would the Elite league be more attractive in 2017 if it consisted of ten clubs again?

If the answer to that is yes, then to keep them up, the most financially solvent clubs from the Premiership would have to be promoted.

My reasoning is that the clubs who've dropped out in recent seasons all did so due to cash problems.

'Have' to be promoted is not possible without a root and branch change to Speedway as we know it. Currently all Tracks are individual Businesses that come together under the BSPA. Most Premier League Tracks could not afford to go Elite League - you would be forcing certain Tracks to commit financial suicide.

 

A more sensible way to go, would be to merge the Leagues (Premier and Elite) in to one big League and reorganise the Riders around all of the Tracks. Will it happen? I doubt it.

 

Bit of a generalisation but that's fine if the assumption is correct....and if people regard fifteen heats of racing as good value then, again, that's fine but it doesn't represent good value to me and wouldn't entice me back to the sport especially the fact that I would have to put petrol in my car and drive fifty miles to my nearest speedway.

 

Strikes me that it's the over 55's who are keeping the sport going judging, apparently, by the lack of youngsters now attending?

 

 

People are more than happy with 15 heats as long they are a good ...to most it would be the near of bottom of the problems speedway has ...as I said the only people who want second half's back are the over 55's the same people who want no double points no play offs no sky and one off world finals and the Golden helmet back .

 

but clearly speedway is in trouble and something drastic needs to be done to buck the trend and thereby attract new fans (and riders) to the sport. There lies the crux.

 

Anybody have a magic wand?

Speedway was not in such a perilous state then when all of those things were applicable, plus Individual Meetings.

 

One could say that since the so called progress has taken place in Speedway that the Attendances have gone down commensurately.

 

I don't think that anyone could argue that Speedway's situation has improved overall with this so called modernization. It patently obviously hasn't - to me, it has been spoiled by said modernization.

 

You may scoff at us 'oldies' orion - but - has anyone considered that we might just have a point?

 

Remember, we oldies have to watch our beloved Sport going down the pan mainly due to poor Promotion, the GPs and the abandonment of our Sport's great traditions and systems.

Edited August 8, 2016 by The White Knight

[sparkafag]

It’s absolutely ridiculous to compare attendances at Speedway now to the 70s and mention things like Second Halfs as the reason for it…wait scrap ridiculous, it is hilarious.

[SCB]

The edr is the best thing to happen to British speedway in a generation, in only 3 seasons we have dispensed with the need for rubbish foreigners at reserve.

 

The problem is vested interests have cocked it up.

 

Originally intended for local riders to ride at local tracks, that went before a wheel was turned.

 

Then because coventry would have been crap without Garrity it was decided teams could protect a rider without making them an asset, what a load of bollox that was. Leicester should have been able to sign Garrity or any rider who wasn't an asset.

 

After two seasons there were enough good quality riders to allow the top six in each team to move around based on their average but some idiot decided not to change the race format and the reserves were still in protected heats!

 

And finally some idiot decided to use converted pl averages for team building meaning some teams had over 6 points extra to play with when team building.

 

Great idea administered by prats.

 

I should point out that I didn't type 'prats' so to be clear I am not referring to starman and his track covering team.

This is getting scary now! Im agreeing with Fred again!