StevePark Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 1 hour ago, RobMcCaffery said: I'm sure there are reasons for the fixture distribution. What concerns me is that we still offer a fractured fixture list. Weekly continuity from March to October has been shattered. All due to every year the clubs, because of bad weather, rushing their fixtures through at the end of the season to meet the cut-off for the play-offs, especially in the SGB Championship, so they cut the number of League fixtures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 20 minutes ago, StevePark said: All due to every year the clubs, because of bad weather, rushing their fixtures through at the end of the season to meet the cut-off for the play-offs, especially in the SGB Championship, so they cut the number of League fixtures. Seems pointless having reserved dates set when it cant be insisted on that clubs take those dates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 2 hours ago, StevePark said: All due to every year the clubs, because of bad weather, rushing their fixtures through at the end of the season to meet the cut-off for the play-offs, especially in the SGB Championship, so they cut the number of League fixtures. No the fractured list is due to huge scheduled gaps mid-season, not catching up in the autumn due to rain-offs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry The Goat Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 19 hours ago, mikebv said: Imagine trying to launch an enterprise that at the core of its business plan is the belief that it will be successful by only opening sporadically and inconsistently.... And that its opening times will be heavily dictated to by the employees telling the owners when they are available, rather than the owners opening their business when they can generate the highest customer numbers (and income) through their doors..? Any business person coming up with that idea would be considered certifiable!!.. This, and talk of gaps, reminds me how times have changed. Just been digging through some old programmes from the 70s. Here's one: 'Meeting No.34' - the 34th home meeting of the season, running every single week from mid-March to the end of October. Count them. More than twice what you get now. And of course you had second halfs then, too. I recall it raining on occasion, but not that many rain-offs. Back to 2018, and I was really hoping to travel to several meetings over the past week. All postponed! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevePark Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 2 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said: No the fractured list is due to huge scheduled gaps mid-season, not catching up in the autumn due to rain-offs. Sorry, I should also said that there was more fixtures last season in the SGB Championship as it was home and away twice. With the introduction of Lakeside to the league, it was felt (quite rightly in my opinion) after a lot of clubs having to rush their fixtures through at the end of the season, mainly due to the weather in a lot of cases, that we would only race against each other once home and away, so instead of 18 home and 18 away League matches, it is 10 home and 10 away League matches + the Championship Shield (the 'old' League Cup) was re-introduced, with some having 3 home and three away and the 'Southern' Group 2 home and two away. That's why it's 'fractured,' less official fixtures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Harry The Goat said: This, and talk of gaps, reminds me how times have changed. Just been digging through some old programmes from the 70s. Here's one: 'Meeting No.34' - the 34th home meeting of the season, running every single week from mid-March to the end of October. Count them. More than twice what you get now. And of course you had second halfs then, too. I recall it raining on occasion, but not that many rain-offs. Back to 2018, and I was really hoping to travel to several meetings over the past week. All postponed! Difference was HTG that in those days mainly semi pro riders rode a full seasons calender every week, riding 80+ times a year, earning good money to back up their 'day job' earnings... Riders also didn't have several bikes and mechanics in several countries that required them to ask for (and receive) thousands per night in salaries.... Salaries that mean admission fees have risen hugely in advance of inflation since the 70's... An unustainable business model that no one seems to want to admit to, nor change... Edited April 4, 2018 by mikebv 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangerBoy Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 30 minutes ago, Harry The Goat said: This, and talk of gaps, reminds me how times have changed. Just been digging through some old programmes from the 70s. Here's one: 'Meeting No.34' - the 34th home meeting of the season, running every single week from mid-March to the end of October. Count them. More than twice what you get now. And of course you had second halfs then, too. I recall it raining on occasion, but not that many rain-offs. Back to 2018, and I was really hoping to travel to several meetings over the past week. All postponed! Ah The Good Old Days 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevePark Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 1 minute ago, mikebv said: Difference was HTG that in those days mainly semi pro riders rode a full seasons calender every week, riding 80+ times a year, earning good money to back up their 'day job' earnings... Riders also didn't have several bikes and mechanics in several countries that required them to ask for (and receive) thousands per night in salaries.... Salaries that mean admission fees have risen hugely in advance of inflation since the 70's... An unustainable business model that no one seems to want to admit nor change... Also, don't forget the engine tuners, who are raking it in from riders income. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry The Goat Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 On 4/4/2018 at 6:00 PM, mikebv said: Difference was HTG that in those days mainly semi pro riders rode a full seasons calender every week, riding 80+ times a year, earning good money to back up their 'day job' earnings... Riders also didn't have several bikes and mechanics in several countries that required them to ask for (and receive) thousands per night in salaries.... Salaries that mean admission fees have risen hugely in advance of inflation since the 70's... An unustainable business model that no one seems to want to admit to, nor change... Very true mike, you're right. Things change and evolve, and times are obviously different now to what they used to be. But I do miss the days of once-a-week home meetings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 6 hours ago, Harry The Goat said: Very true mike, you're right. Things change and evolve, and times are obviously different now to what they used to be. But I do miss the days of once-a-week home meetings. ...continuity was the key which unfortunately appears not to be the case nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 Apart from crowd levels I think one of the things that actually was better in the 'good old days' was Speedway starting on Good Friday and finishing in mid September. March and October are too prone to bad weather for Speedway in my opinion and perhaps a shorter season would encourage clubs to have a more regular schedule. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevePark Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 49 minutes ago, Vince said: Apart from crowd levels I think one of the things that actually was better in the 'good old days' was Speedway starting on Good Friday and finishing in mid September. March and October are too prone to bad weather for Speedway in my opinion and perhaps a shorter season would encourage clubs to have a more regular schedule. Good Friday was 30th March this year! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 And look at the weather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 ...I seem to recall that Len Silver at Hackney used to open and close the season...15th March and 31st October give or take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 6 hours ago, steve roberts said: ...I seem to recall that Len Silver at Hackney used to open and close the season...15th March and 31st October give or take. Often later than 31st October. It was as late as November 10th one season in the 70s, and a challenge at that if I remember right. In those days any track running fewer than 26 meetings a year was seen as being in trouble with 30+ being commonplace and expected. But then meetings made profits, even those open events that the modern day 'fan' sneers at. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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