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WalterPlinge

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Can someone explain to me how Belle Vue have managed to stage 38 home meetings this season, yet Stoke, just 40 miles down the road, with a similar climate and total access to the stadium, have managed to stage just 11 meetings and still have 2 NL matches outstanding which, under the rules, should have been completed before 24 September?

 

 

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Belle Vue ,don't have to fit in with other users of the stadium for one thing

They do. That's my point.

The stadium I undertand is used for American football on Saturdays and Sundays and for schools football and rugby though the week. They also aren't allowed to run speedway at the same time that Stock car racing is on at the Greyhound stadium next door...yet they still managed to organise things to fit in 38 meetings.

 

Stoke who own the lease to their own stadium, and can run on Saturday and Sunday (and probably other days) can't even organise to fit in 12 meetings in a 30 week season... why?

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We could write a book on this one......

It seems this happens every year with Stoke trying to cram October fixtures and not completing the fixtures.

Why anyone would think of a season ticket at Stoke (as an ex season ticket holder at Stoke) is beyond me.

 

Seems to me that one of the essential criteria for a promoter to have is the trust of the local supporters.

This is hard won and easily lost.

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I am wondering why WP is so surprised (if he is surprised). Stoke couldn't fulfil their fixtures in 2013, 2014 or 2016 either.

I ve banged this drum for a couple of seasons, some sort of sanction getting the meetings scheduled all before July or something must be posible.
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What always concerns me , especially with clubs that are teetering on the brink , sanctions could tip the balance . I know if i was a promoter who was struggling to keep going and the BSPA sanctioned me in any way . that would be it for me , people baying for promoters to quit etc ,need to wake up and smell the coffee . you may not like your promotion but most of the time they are the only ones who are going to keep the club running . I have seen many posters on here claiming to be Stoke supporters who wont go until the current promotion are gone , well don't be surprised if you don't go after Tattum has gone ,because there more and likely will be no Stoke to go to . the current state of speedway the BSPA should never sanction anyone .offer them help by all means but speedway is no goldmine and handing out silly fines is no help to anybody , and you stoke fans do the same ,get to your end of season do and offer your help to tidy the place up instead of sitting at home running the place down ,one things for sure the BSPA have closed down more tracks with their silly sanctions than they have ever assisted to keep going ..

 

The reason people don't go to Stoke Speedway is crap racing, dreadful tracks, an awful, rundown stadium, poor 'Dad's Army' teams and, in particular, a surly, hostile - even abusive - promotion. People have walked away in their dozens for that last reason alone.

 

Why on earth should people pay for or support something like that ?

 

If Stoke does close, then the blame for that will lie entirely with those that run it - not with the BSPA and not with those that stay away.

 

In the last years of the previous promotion at Isle of Wight, gates were between 75 & 100 per week. This season, they were between 300 & 600. According to promoter Barry Bishop, they broke even in 2017.

 

One of the main reasons for that was the way they treat the people at the turnstiles every week - quite simply, as someone they want to return and they have attracted almost universal credit and praise for it. This week, they were rightly nominated for the WSRA community club of the year award.

 

Quite a contrast with Stoke, isn't it ?

Edited by Halifaxtiger
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On the SGB website - re Stoke:

::::::

TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE

Stoke v Buxton - OFF
Re-staging: Friday October 27, 7pm
Stoke v Isle of Wight - OFF
Re-staging: Tuesday October 24, 7pm
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Congratulations to Stoke for finding some re-staging dates even though they will probably cost the club money with very few turning out on a Tuesday night? (which is a shame as nobody does anything on a Tuesday so its a perfect speedway night).

Either way it would be good if they can complete their fixtures after so many failed attempts over the past few years.

Im not going to go into the failings of Stoke as i have other things to do today but there is a scruffy charm about the club and i would hate to see it fold.

As for fixtures as mentioned by someone else league fixtures need to be run first then KO Cups etc can follow. If a team hasn't completed their home league fixtures by X date they don't go in the hat for the knockouts?

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It's a hard conundrum tbh, it's unfair on the teams who miss fixtures because of stokes eneptitude but you can't award points to the away team as that's unfair to other teams in the league. Stoke are not a rich club so a fine is pointless. But something has to happen to push stoke into getting thier fixtures completed.

For the record I love the place as it has a certain charm to it, and always look forward to my visits there.

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Place is a dump, run into the ground and no future!

Lots of people went on a Saturday night when we were in the Premier but the so called 3 year plan to bounce back is another load of crap spouted by the promotion.

 

Would rather go to other stadiums than the one 2 mins away from my house!

 

Can't fulfill the fixtures due to being more interested in making money from the stock cars and the speedway taking a back seat,run the stocks but shut the speedway as it is a joke!

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Loomer Road is one of only a few purpose built speedway stadia in the UK. The architects plans were the blueprint for Vojens, which opened in Sept 1975. (After Ole Olsen borrowed the plans).

The original design incorporated long track bends outside the speedway ones to allow long track speedway in the UK.

The current track was remodelled in 1979 by Pete Jarman with multiple changes since.

When run well can generate a great business.

 

The only way forward for a successful meaningful team is by new owners.

Sadly it's a microcosm of how UK speedway is run.

Lots of vested interests, infighting and too little business acumen.

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Loomer Road is one of only a few purpose built speedway stadia in the UK. The architects plans were the blueprint for Vojens, which opened in Sept 1975. (After Ole Olsen borrowed the plans).

The original design incorporated long track bends outside the speedway ones to allow long track speedway in the UK.

The current track was remodelled in 1979 by Pete Jarman with multiple changes since.

When run well can generate a great business.

 

The only way forward for a successful meaningful team is by new owners.

Sadly it's a microcosm of how UK speedway is run.

Lots of vested interests, infighting and too little business acumen.

 

I was about to say that there is no doubt that the track itself is one of the best shaped in British Speedway and I have, on occasion (and unfortunately years ago), seen some top quality racing there.

 

I actually think its a lot simpler than that and would (yet again) point to Isle Of Wight as an example. Its just a matter of doing your best to attract and retain paying customers, and the first step is to treat them as someone who is doing you a favour (by giving you money) rather than the other way around.

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