Aces51 Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 Wolverhampton provides good racing, different to the big tracks and has a significant home advantage but still good to watch. The old Belle Vue was similar and could be good but never provided the quality of racing consistently provided at Wolverhampton. However, neither can compete with the racing at the NSS. It's like being back at Hyde Road, I can't wait for the next meeting and I've not felt like that for many years. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Beevers Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 I wonder if Peterborough will move up to make it 9. Seem happy enough throwing money around with a higher turnover of staff than Asda. Cook being E.L and Bjerre who is probably now GP aren't the cheapest riders to sign and would grace any Elite League side. I would also like to see a big area such as Newcastle or Glasgow give it a go as there is no reason why they shouldn't have big enough fan bases with populations that make Poole look very tiny. Perhaps more advertising if they were joining the top league? Not a lot to go on though after watching Leicester's swift but sad fall from grace. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 I would love to see. EL North Belle Vue Sheffield Wolverhampton Coventry Leicester Birmingham EL South Poole Kings Lynn Swindon Lakesdie Ipswich Somerset 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 Wolverhampton provides good racing, different to the big tracks and has a significant home advantage but still good to watch. The old Belle Vue was similar and could be good but never provided the quality of racing consistently provided at Wolverhampton. However, neither can compete with the racing at the NSS. It's like being back at Hyde Road, I can't wait for the next meeting and I've not felt like that for many years. It isn't like being back at Hyde Road, it's a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 (edited) I wonder if Peterborough will move up to make it 9. Seem happy enough throwing money around with a higher turnover of staff than Asda. Cook being E.L and Bjerre who is probably now GP aren't the cheapest riders to sign and would grace any Elite League side. I would also like to see a big area such as Newcastle or Glasgow give it a go as there is no reason why they shouldn't have big enough fan bases with populations that make Poole look very tiny. Perhaps more advertising if they were joining the top league? Not a lot to go on though after watching Leicester's swift but sad fall from grace. I would like to see someone step in at Leicester, do a deal with DH re renting the stadium and apply a professional job at promoting the sport on a mid week race night in the EL. The City and county has a large enough population to support an EL team as proven in the past - just needs promoting well to make it a success. Edited October 10, 2016 by 1 valve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perton Wolf Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 (edited) Wanna have 18 clubs in the league, KOC, Premiership Trophy, Spring Gold Cup, 4 Team Tournament, Best Pairs, ELRC at Belle Vue again, just like it all was in the 70s and 80s. Let the GP riders do what they want and we'll carry on with what's left. They'll be back when the greedy Polish clubs go bankrupt. Good point - Poland is one big bubble which will eventually burst. They definitely need to bring back a cup competition. Edited October 10, 2016 by Perton Wolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 (edited) Good point - Poland is one big bubble which will eventually burst. They definitely need to bring back a cup competition. Not sure the Polish bubble is ready to burst any time soon and most probably not a good idea to hang around waiting for it to happen. The efforts they are putting in to limit their contracted riders to only one other club is a signal of their current strength & intent to protect what they have which will increase should they get wide acceptance from the riders concerned. British speedway needs to start thinking ahead on how the sport will first survive, then improve and finally profit from good sound long term planning. It is no weakness to admit who is stronger but not doing something about it is. Only a lunatic would think things will change by doing the same thing time and time again and I cant help but think that is where we are it with UK speedway bar a bit of tinkering around the edges. Planning an evolutionary journey of UK speedway would be better and more sustainable than a revolution which frankly the sport does not have the finances to enact and could deliver a rejuvenated sport capable of attracting the best talent and providing value for money entertainment. Edited October 10, 2016 by 1 valve 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Science Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 Sorry Steve but you're living in the past. Would agree with you wholeheartedly pre 2011 but not now. Monmore is a shadow of what it was. Not the fault of the promotion or the track curator I may add Sad reflection on the sport I'm afraid. Its the main reason why the sport is struggling in Britain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Thumper Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 It isn't like being back at Hyde Road, it's a lot better. I think not. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fundin5 Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 What intrigues me, is where does all this money swilling around in Poland actually come from!! Each year we keep thinking when is it going to end, but its still pumped into Polish speedway at an alarming rate. When the balloon eventually bursts, the bang will be heard over here. At that point, do we welcome the riders who turned their backs on the UK back with open arms, or tell them to sling their hook; no thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 What intrigues me, is where does all this money swilling around in Poland actually come from!! Each year we keep thinking when is it going to end, but its still pumped into Polish speedway at an alarming rate. When the balloon eventually bursts, the bang will be heard over here. At that point, do we welcome the riders who turned their backs on the UK back with open arms, or tell them to sling their hook; no thank you!! Well they'll hardly be in a position to demand huge wages, it'll be 'take this' or join the dole queue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INCOGNITO Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 Tracks need more regular fixtures but that's not the case with the Eoite League. The Elite League needs to be much stronger but to do that you need the big names to return and the only way that will happen is if it's less fixtures and one race night. This could still happen for any track that wishes to compete but they need more fixtures at the track and one big league would give those tracks that also want to run an Elite League enough fixtures to keep the terraces entertained with 19 lower level meetings and seven top level meetings. This offers a variety of visitors and the difference between the teams in the two leagues are just two riders from the lower level replaced by two top riders for the Eoite League. More fixtures yes but more Elite fixtures running with doubling up riders would be suicidal and push the few tracks that are managing start to count their pennies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fundin5 Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 Well they'll hardly be in a position to demand huge wages, it'll be 'take this' or join the dole queue. Totally agree with your comment Foamfence. Simple economics have to be taken seriously in UK speedway. For too long, we have been paying far too much to some riders. I'm not saying they don't deserve good money, they most certainly do, for the risks they take to entertain us. However, the size of crowds around the country cannot sustain silly money. Too often we here about Swedish and Polish tracks running up big debts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poolebolton Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 IMO British speedway has until 2019 to sort it's self out why you may ask?? Well much like cricket which is rapidly declining a large factor is TV money and well if we create a good product by the end of 2019 we can sell to the highest bidder either SKY and BT. Sell to the highest bidder and well hey we get more money and create a deal which promotes the sport. On BT you see a lot of advertisement for the GP's. I'm not saying I want Gareth Bale on a speedway bike.(That would be awesome) But we need something which gets advert's on TV to attract people to the sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INCOGNITO Posted October 10, 2016 Report Share Posted October 10, 2016 The bubble won't burst in Poland for some time as they have lucrative sponsorship deals in place as there isn't the market over there for other sports as there is here. Football has got much bigger in Poland over the last few decades and is much bigger than speedway but while in Poland there is one speedway fan for every four or five football fans, over here it's one in 1,000 at least here. Britain has four professional leagues and numerous semi pro leagues that compete for sponsorship with Rugby, Darts, Boxing, Moto GP, Snooker, Horse Racing, Hockey, Greyhounds, Stock Cars and so many more sports but Poland have Speedway high up on the list and due to the interest from media, sponsors, fans etc they can pay big money but charge little to the fans. A crowd of 5,000 at a Polish match would only get gate recipes for about £25,000 which doesn't cover the wages when a top rider can walk away with a five figure some after a decent night. Here we can get 1,000 in gaining about £12,000 income which also struggles to meet wages and costs and any sponsors and especially the Sky deal has been keeping many clubs going for years. Sweden is roughly in the middle of Poland and Britain with wages and costs but again doesn't have as many other attractions we have in Britain. Yes Britain was the place to be years ago but so many riders now have easy access to other countries and times have moved forward. Look at the NSS at Belle Vue how people are raving about it and being such a great venue. Yes it is for Britain but it's coming at a huge cost to Belle Vue while in Poland you only have to see the investment in Torun, Leszno, Wroclaw, Gorzow etc in much better stadiums and much better tracks with numerous race lines. Britain has to say enough is enough and stop trying to match others or live in the dream that they are still the best. The sport has moved on and Britain hasn't and now comes the time to rebuild and put on a product that is affordable for all. It's still four riders over four laps but not paying the big money it has been for years to riders that fly in and fly out again compared to the riders twenty or thirty years ago that put the bike on the back of a car and went to the bar for last orders. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 We've just had a superb demonstration in the play off 2nd leg of what speedway in this country can be. Great racing, good presentation, good mix of world class and local riders , super atmosphere, modern facilities, packed crowd making it a great advert for the sport. What we should be doing is seeing what we can do to replicate that on a weekly basis. But instead we seem to be focusing on the negatives, how we can cut costs etc What that meeting was was a much better example of a sustainable product than an expanded PL product. I know it was the play offs, but if u can get crowds turning out for a meeting like that, you have the potential to do so on a regular basis if u can get priduct,price,marketing etc right. BV I'm sure would not be having their reported financial issues if they could get a crowd close to that each week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foamfence Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 We've just had a superb demonstration in the play off 2nd leg of what speedway in this country can be. Great racing, good presentation, good mix of world class and local riders , super atmosphere, modern facilities, packed crowd making it a great advert for the sport. What we should be doing is seeing what we can do to replicate that on a weekly basis. But instead we seem to be focusing on the negatives, how we can cut costs etc What that meeting was was a much better example of a sustainable product than an expanded PL product. I know it was the play offs, but if u can get crowds turning out for a meeting like that, you have the potential to do so on a regular basis if u can get priduct,price,marketing etc right. BV I'm sure would not be having their reported financial issues if they could get a crowd close to that each week. Yes but that is the best track in the country, some of the others wouldn't be worth visiting if they were free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g13webb Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 I was always of the impression that most speedway tracks in Poland were corporately owned. The local council arrange the sponsors for the area and Speedway is just one of the benefits from this. For speedway here to pay the riders the same as Poland we would needs gates similar to premier league football. If my information is correct, we can never compete with the Poles on level terms, so best forget it...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 Most El tracks are capable of prodicing good racing though. Most had good sky meetings this season. The issue was they were generally raced in front of poor crowds. Put those meetings in front of a packed crowd and they would be excellent adverts for the sport. Racing imho is as good as it has ever been. It's the rest of the package letting it down. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted October 11, 2016 Report Share Posted October 11, 2016 Most El tracks are capable of prodicing good racing though. Most had good sky meetings this season. The issue was they were generally raced in front of poor crowds. Put those meetings in front of a packed crowd and they would be excellent adverts for the sport. Racing imho is as good as it has ever been. It's the rest of the package letting it down.The SKY deal needs to be big enough to let the punters in for a donation or something, that money just isn't there ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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