Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

Fixed night farce-how much longer


Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, cityrebel said:

I'm under 65, so I should be entitled to a concession admission price. I felt like a youngster at rye last night!

That’s the way it’s heading if action isn’t taken 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Very interesting article by Terry Russell in this week's Speedway Star - amongst other things admitting that the BSPA got it wrong by changing the Premiership from the previously agreed Mon/Thurs (to avoid clashes with the International calendar) to Monday/Weds purely down to pressure from the Championship Clubs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Skidder1 said:

Very interesting article by Terry Russell in this week's Speedway Star - amongst other things admitting that the BSPA got it wrong by changing the Premiership from the previously agreed Mon/Thurs (to avoid clashes with the International calendar) to Monday/Weds purely down to pressure from the Championship Clubs.

Although only 1 club rode on a Thursday night, so why negotiate that night for PL. Perhaps they should have gone for Monday and Friday or Saturday.  :rolleyes:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Skidder1 said:

Very interesting article by Terry Russell in this week's Speedway Star - amongst other things admitting that the BSPA got it wrong by changing the Premiership from the previously agreed Mon/Thurs (to avoid clashes with the International calendar) to Monday/Weds purely down to pressure from the Championship Clubs.

Shouldve had the conviction to see it through and called the bluff of the Championship then....

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 29 May 2018 at 10:45 AM, PHILIPRISING said:

WOULD the SGPs on TV on Saturdays affect this? Fans tempted to stay at home perhaps.

Yes the damn GP series has had a huge detrimental affect on Saturday meetings, jeez we can’t have one of our big meetings on a Saturday because it’s either them, the SEC or some qualifier for some championship or bloody Polish practice!!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

Very interesting article by Terry Russell in this week's Speedway Star - amongst other things admitting that the BSPA got it wrong by changing the Premiership from the previously agreed Mon/Thurs (to avoid clashes with the International calendar) to Monday/Weds purely down to pressure from the Championship Clubs.

Terry Russell has a nerve criticising lower league ,for years the lower leagues were fine but the "big" league was falling apart,then they starting messing about with doubling/down ,guests etc. and have put the sport in the sh#t that it is in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Terry Russell has a nerve criticising lower league ,for years the lower leagues were fine but the "big" league was falling apart,then they starting messing about with doubling/down ,guests etc. and have put the sport in the sh#t that it is in.

Not really sure that’s true. The lower leagues rely on riders doubling down just as much as the top flight do. There simply isn’t enough riders to go around. Wether we like it or not it’s a necessary evil. It’s also one of the reasons why one big league wouldn’t work under its current format.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

Not really sure that’s true. The lower leagues rely on riders doubling down just as much as the top flight do. There simply isn’t enough riders to go around. Wether we like it or not it’s a necessary evil. It’s also one of the reasons why one big league wouldn’t work under its current format.

It's a few years back that the trouble started though,then the progression of young riders stopped through teams starting to double up with expierianced riders instead of promoting young riders.The " big " league has been in trouble for years now IMO .FRN has been a disaster and to have only 1 rider over 8 was clearly not though out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

Shouldve had the conviction to see it through and called the bluff of the Championship then....

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.

The previously agreed (with the FIM) Mon/Thurs for the Premiership was primarily to give priority to the senior UK racing on those nights, by avoiding the majority of other European league fixtures ie Sweden Tuesday; Denmark Weds/Fri; Poland Fri/Sat/Sun.

An added benefit would be a reduced reliance on guests for missing doubling up/down riders.

Another side benefit might have been to attract more of the 'top' riders - but because some clubs couldn't afford them the BSPA chose to introduce the only 'one over the 8' rule'!

 

As for 2019, who knows?! With the likes of Belle Vue and Rye House in particular suffering huge downturns in attendance and undoubtedly losing money hand over fist but with TV currently requiring a 'top' league goodness knows what the league set up will be? Maybe one league of 4-5 rider teams?!

Edited by Skidder1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fromafar said:

It's a few years back that the trouble started though,then the progression of young riders stopped through teams starting to double up with expierianced riders instead of promoting young riders.The " big " league has been in trouble for years now IMO .FRN has been a disaster and to have only 1 rider over 8 was clearly not though out.

It’s not one leagues fault tho. We should have always had something in place that helps the next generation at BOTH levels. Primarily it’s the 2nd tier that’s at fault tho instead of filling the bottom end with rubbish low averaged non British riders. IMHO ALL non British riders should retain a minimum 5 point average throughout their  British league career. The top flight is equally the blame for not retaining the compulsory Brit rider at number 7.

The main issue with British speedway is it lurches from one season to the next with no long term plan or no goal setting and tries to rectify an issue from the previous season. It’s no wonder things get voted in and out with such regularity when you have the self interest of promoters voting every season.

We have some great talent coming thru in part with thanks to Neil Vatcher and no doubt both leagues will want to exploit that next season as they should. My issue is it should be part of both leagues every seasonal not just when it suits.

As we all saw at the British Final the younger generation are taking over. Plus with the likes of Drew Kemp, Leon Flint and the Thompson Twins ready to explode next season the future looks bright. It’s the league structure that could mess up their careers.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

It’s not one leagues fault tho. We should have always had something in place that helps the next generation at BOTH levels. Primarily it’s the 2nd tier that’s at fault tho instead of filling the bottom end with rubbish low averaged non British riders. IMHO ALL non British riders should retain a minimum 5 point average throughout their  British league career. The top flight is equally the blame for not retaining the compulsory Brit rider at number 7.

The main issue with British speedway is it lurches from one season to the next with no long term plan or no goal setting and tries to rectify an issue from the previous season. It’s no wonder things get voted in and out with such regularity when you have the self interest of promoters voting every season.

We have some great talent coming thru in part with thanks to Neil Vatcher and no doubt both leagues will want to exploit that next season as they should. My issue is it should be part of both leagues every seasonal not just when it suits.

As we all saw at the British Final the younger generation are taking over. Plus with the likes of Drew Kemp, Leon Flint and the Thompson Twins ready to explode next season the future looks bright. It’s the league structure that could mess up their careers.

It's just pity the people in charge cannot see what is wrong in the sport.Its all about self interest ,nothing will change,

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

As we all saw at the British Final the younger generation are taking over. Plus with the likes of Drew Kemp, Leon Flint and the Thompson Twins ready to explode next season the future looks bright. It’s the league structure that could mess up their careers.

As sure as eggs are eggs, the current structure of speedway in the UK will mess up their careers. If they are good enough to get out then they should do so as soon as they are able.  The problem of how you develop your career here as a young gun is a tricky one.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

As for 2019, who knows?! With the likes of Belle Vue and Rye House in particular suffering huge downturns in attendance and undoubtedly losing money hand over fist but with TV currently requiring a 'top' league goodness knows what the league set up will be? Maybe one league of 4-5 rider teams?!

1

It's not just BV & RH who are suffering a downturn in attendances.  It's swept under the carpet yet again. That ridiculous sounding scenario above might well become true, especially if the BSPA are locked into TV deal which demands a "top" league in the UK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Terry Russell has a nerve criticising lower league ,for years the lower leagues were fine but the "big" league was falling apart,then they starting messing about with doubling/down ,guests etc. and have put the sport in the sh#t that it is in.

The lower leagues were never really 'fine', they just ran less 'Mickey Mouse' meetings than the top tier did..

Then their heat leaders started doubling up every week, and with some being assets of top tier clubs, they started to miss meetings..

And with several also being foreign they started to ride in SEC, Best Pairs and GP and SWC/SON qualifiers at weekends which meant even more 'guestfests'...

I watch the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park....

I have absolutely zero affinity to any of the riders, in fact I am familiar with no more than half a dozen of them, in short, I just go for 'the entertainment'...

If floodlit tracks were available and it was ran on weekday evenings I, and tens of thousands of others, wouldn't be there...

BSB, F1, Moto GP, Test Matches in Cricket, Football, Rugby, Tennis/Golf/Snooker finals etc etc etc. All focus on weekends..

Why? Its obvious, most people are available to attend...

The reason why people don't attend weekend Speedway in numbers now is not because of the race night, it's because many have 'given up' paying hard earned for a product with very little credibility...

Most people living within earshot of the Speedway track adjacent to them have even less knowledge of those who participate than I do about the BSB riders, so its a huge market to engage..

Swapping riders every week if you get these people to attend though will quickly lose their enthusiasm..

Maybe promoters should actually try (even just once) to run the sport with credibilty and integrity, on nights when most people can attend it?

If that doesn't work then so be it..

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

As sure as eggs are eggs, the current structure of speedway in the UK will mess up their careers. If they are good enough to get out then they should do so as soon as they are able.  The problem of how you develop your career here as a young gun is a tricky one.

I think you only have to look at Tai and Lambert to see how to play your improving career, don’t put the UK first. And who can blame them?

the BSPA should be doing everything possible to look after all their star Brits and ensure they make it easier NOT harder to ride here.

for instance, why wouldn’t they seed Tai or Cook (as GP riders) direct to the British final. Haven’t they earned that right???

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/15/2018 at 6:56 PM, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

Shouldve had the conviction to see it through and called the bluff of the Championship then....

I can only agree, this was clearly the way to go forward and as per usual it was fudged.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There lies the problem.

IF it was REALLY seen as Mon and Thurs making a positive difference to the health of British Speedway then the fact 1 or 2 Championship clubs may have been put out shouldve been overidden by that

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 10:47 AM, Skidder1 said:

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.

The previously agreed (with the FIM) Mon/Thurs for the Premiership was primarily to give priority to the senior UK racing on those nights, by avoiding the majority of other European league fixtures ie Sweden Tuesday; Denmark Weds/Fri; Poland Fri/Sat/Sun.

An added benefit would be a reduced reliance on guests for missing doubling up/down riders.

Another side benefit might have been to attract more of the 'top' riders - but because some clubs couldn't afford them the BSPA chose to introduce the only 'one over the 8' rule'!

 

As for 2019, who knows?! With the likes of Belle Vue and Rye House in particular suffering huge downturns in attendance and undoubtedly losing money hand over fist but with TV currently requiring a 'top' league goodness knows what the league set up will be? Maybe one league of 4-5 rider teams?!

Most fans have been calling for fixed race nights for years ! Would Belle Vue or Rye House be any better off if the fixed race nights were Monday and Thursday, probably not. Unfortunately you can't have fixed race nights and weekend speedway unless we want to go back to the previous situation of three guests in every meeting to cover for riders riding in the lower league which fans don't want. The only answer is one big league which it seems some fans and the broadcasters don't want

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We'll just have to dream on until the next Big Decision Making Conference takes place and try to hope that the Promoters all take and wear their Thinking Caps. They certainly didn't pack them last time. They won't be having a drink in the Last Chance Saloon, because it has closed down due to lack of patrons. Hmmm. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy