Scunthorpe Scorpions V Peterborough Panthers ( S G B Championship) - Sunday, August 20th (5.30pm)

[jenga]

Some hungry fish out here tonight.

who is fishing who ?

[Albert]

Peterborough more than contributed to an entertaining meeting...score swung one way then the other, at the mid point it looked like the result could go either way, thankfully for us Scorpions, we came good in the end.

 

Jorgensen's pass on Aarnio and Auty in heat 11 was simply sublime, who's to say Harris or Holder could've pulled that move off? it was simply brilliant.. BWD also executed a great pass. Starke, Ulrika and Lambert all had some good moments for Boro.

 

Auty and Douglas were particularly impressive for Scunny though. Kerr impressed too after another slow start. Scunny reserves both suffered mechanical gremlins but to their credit came up with some vital points.

 

Obviously the lack of Jack Holder was the big issue for Peterborough, maybe his appearance would've made a big difference to the scoreline....and perhaps to the match points.

[Hot Shoe]

 

Obviously the lack of Jack Holder was the big issue for Peterborough, maybe his appearance would've made a big difference to the scoreline....and perhaps to the match points.

Not just this rider but this an ever increasing problem for British speedway. Fans will only take so much and the problem is that they are walking away from the sport already.

[bigcatdiary]

Not just this rider but this an ever increasing problem for British speedway. Fans will only take so much and the problem is that they are walking away from the sport already.

I have been to all the Peterborough matches at Scunthorpe over the last two years and the attendances have always been dire ( a few hundred at most) with Panthers fans probably making up 50% of the attendance.

[montie]

) with Panthers fans probably making up 50% of the attendance.

what utter s h y te

[Gunner85]

An entertaining meeting but fell well short of the quality of racing that I normally see at Scunthorpe.

 

I would think Rob will be glad to see that his season over and plan for 2018.....injury riddled season has ruined the season for Scunthorpe.

[Hot Shoe]

I have been to all the Peterborough matches at Scunthorpe over the last two years and the attendances have always been dire ( a few hundred at most) with Panthers fans probably making up 50% of the attendance.

Fair play to those Panthers fans who made the trip up to Scunny on Sunday but they didn't make up anywhere near 50% of the attendance.

[bigcatdiary]

Fair play to those Panthers fans who made the trip up to Scunny on Sunday but they didn't make up anywhere near 50% of the attendance.

You must have had a couple of hundred hiding in the club house then either that or a fair amount of them were wearing red or black clothing. But the bottom line is it was still only a few hundred in total.

[bigcatdiary]

And Godfrey confirms it in the star today, he wants or needs 500 to break even next Sunday.

[Baldyman]

So what's he doing to get that annount or more? Words on a press release are not enough all the time.

[IronScorpion]

That is the problem with our PR & advertising. A little bit on twitter, advertising board on a trailer deck on the circle at the stadium & reports in telegraph.

 

We have Lincolnshire bike nights, scooter run outs, motorcycle shops with NO advertising. There is nothing in the town centre, Ashby, public houses, clubs advertising our sport.

Speculate to Accumulate is a saying but getting out and about, hardly anybody knows of Speedway existing in our town bar the hard core supporters & whether the low attendance last weekend was down to 2 riders not attending, which if you follow speedway, you would know the reasons, or down to a side having another poor season(this is the third on the trot), it shows entertainment is not the main factor for attendance, winning is. As proven last night at Sheffield's "ftg" track these last few years, the success this year has brought more support.

[Baldyman]

You have to give people incentives to go, having a good racetrack isn't always the incentive. Speedway tracks are years behind in trying to get people into stadiums.

[Icicle]

As I have said before promoters should look at their name..PROMOTE. i.e. Advertising, posters, flyers, local & national news (never hear anything, even results on 5 Live sport). Even silly things, like painting tractors in team colours instead of looking scruffy, makes the sport look a bit more professional.

This is 21st century Not 1970's.

[Crump99]

As I have said before promoters should look at their name..PROMOTE. i.e. Advertising, posters, flyers, local & national news (never hear anything, even results on 5 Live sport). Even silly things, like painting tractors in team colours instead of looking scruffy, makes the sport look a bit more professional.

This is 21st century Not 1970's.

 

Bratters always worth a read on such occasions:

 

During my time at Peterborough, I have done everything humanly possible to attract newcomers to our sport and all I might add on little or no budget. I have presented to over 2500 kids in various schools road show initiatives, I have invited and hosted whole organisations along for free and whole streets along for free. I have put up banners and posters, I have given away 1000’s of (sponsored) car stickers and more kids goodie bags than you can shake a stick at. I have offered free admission to members of the thriving local Polish club (one person came – once), 2 for 1 offers, Kids for a quid and Kids for free. We have on occasions been overrun by hundreds of Scout groups and I have undertaken umpteen radio interviews and quite a few local TV vox pops. I have put leaflets in newspapers, I have put leaflets through letterboxes, I have handed leaflets out in shopping malls and I have put 1000’s of leaflets on cars (with apologies to the owner of the Blue Vauxhall Astra in the Peterborough Railway Station Car Park in September 2007, honestly, it really did come off in my hand, so it must have already been broken). You name it and I’ve pretty much done it and all the time, our attendances have remained constant. Constantly poor. A successful team will bring you big crowds, but this is only a short term fix and as all Speedway aficionados’ know, and only to well, success in Speedway will never happen, year on year, it can’t, for the sport would simply die.

 

from 2010 Bratters' final Panthers blog on "Lovespeedway24"

 

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by Crump99

[Baldyman]

It is strange that even when it's free not many people take up the offer. Once the die hard lemmings are gone, so is league speedway, and looking at most crowds, most die hards are very much on their way to being gone .

Edited August 25, 2017 by baldyman

[Crump99]

It is strange that even when it's free not many people take up the offer. Once the die hard lemmings are gone, so is league speedway, and looking at most crowds, most die hards are very much on their way to being gone .

 

Even the glory hunters only tend to take one look:

 

Bratters adds - "I will never forget that the 2006 Grand Final, arguably the greatest modern day meeting ever, watched live by over 6000 people and by thousands more at home, was followed by a Craven Shield fixture attended by less than 700 people. If that Grand Final won’t pull people in, then what will?!?!"

 

I seem to recall that it was Belle Vue though and at that time you'd struggle to cross the road when Belle Vue, Eastbourne or Lakeside were in town!

 

 

 

 

[Baldyman]

Strange sport speedway. My team are doing well and I've more or less stopped going. I think I've been to one of the last eight.

[jenga]

good job torin gave ged a sweetner , now how about one for the fans ?

[Halifaxtiger]

It is strange that even when it's free not many people take up the offer. Once the die hard lemmings are gone, so is league speedway, and looking at most crowds, most die hards are very much on their way to being gone .

 

That's not necessarily true. For the Belle Vue v Wolverhampton meeting, there was a lot of promotion and a £10 entry.

 

The crowd was over 2,500, by far the biggest of the season and probably double the normal attendance.

 

 

Bratters always worth a read on such occasions:

 

During my time at Peterborough, I have done everything humanly possible to attract newcomers to our sport and all I might add on little or no budget. I have presented to over 2500 kids in various schools road show initiatives, I have invited and hosted whole organisations along for free and whole streets along for free. I have put up banners and posters, I have given away 1000’s of (sponsored) car stickers and more kids goodie bags than you can shake a stick at. I have offered free admission to members of the thriving local Polish club (one person came – once), 2 for 1 offers, Kids for a quid and Kids for free. We have on occasions been overrun by hundreds of Scout groups and I have undertaken umpteen radio interviews and quite a few local TV vox pops. I have put leaflets in newspapers, I have put leaflets through letterboxes, I have handed leaflets out in shopping malls and I have put 1000’s of leaflets on cars (with apologies to the owner of the Blue Vauxhall Astra in the Peterborough Railway Station Car Park in September 2007, honestly, it really did come off in my hand, so it must have already been broken). You name it and I’ve pretty much done it and all the time, our attendances have remained constant. Constantly poor. A successful team will bring you big crowds, but this is only a short term fix and as all Speedway aficionados’ know, and only to well, success in Speedway will never happen, year on year, it can’t, for the sport would simply die.

 

from 2010 Bratters' final Panthers blog on "Lovespeedway24"

 

 

 

Again, its not necessarily true. Isle of Wight's aggressive marketing strategy has produced impressive attendances over the summer and will probably mean that the track is safe for the future - and that's despite having poor on track results.

 

You can argue that their crowds are seasonal (and you'd be right) but I can say with some certainty that their gates are four fold bigger than those of the previous promotion at the same time.

 

The other thing is that you can do all the promotion you like but if the experience is poor, people won't come back. Isle of Wight have attracted a massive (and totally deserved) reputation for customer care that stands out against some of the surly, hostile, couldn't give a toss speedway management that exists out there and that's simply by treating a paying punter as someone who they desperately want to return. They have set a standard that others equally desperately need to copy.

 

It says everything that the Island is probably 350 miles from my home but aside from local tracks I'll go there more than anywhere else.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Halifaxtiger

[Baldyman]

Maybe some clubs are scared of offering a lower entrance fee, just in case they lose money?? And if it worked for belle vue, which it obviously did, do they now do it every week, or was it a one off?? I'm gonna guess at one off and the crowd is back to be its usual. So that begs the question, why didn't they carry it on, ya never know, some may have stayed in the habit? Who knows. could speedway work as a tenner sport??

 

I can't ever remember the club I follow ever giving a penny off.

Edited August 26, 2017 by baldyman