jenga Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 5 minutes ago, Daytripper said: Such is the state of the sport. Too many early season meetings and it all finishes by mid August. The biggest and most unforgivable problem was Rob Godfrey pulling out fixtures that hag already been agreed, all because he wanted guests for his own club. I can’t conceal my absolute contempt for that man. Personally, I have already reached the stage of having no interest in the sport outside the league Lakeside race in, I will give Rye House a go, but the sheer incompetence of those currently in charge, especially Godfrey and Chapman, coupled with the amount of cheating certain clubs, especially Poole have been allowed to get away with, has just about ruined the sport for me. I enjoy it once I actually get to the track, but motivation gets harder and harder. ALL those words are true .a good post . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 I cannot remember exactly when I last attended a meeting at Rye but will probably give it a go - Saturday fixtures make it easier than would otherwise be the case. For me, it is double the distance from my home and I have the choice of using M25 and M11 or going cross country. One of the advantages of Arena was the huge car park and that element will certainly be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Daytripper said: Such is the state of the sport. Too many early season meetings and it all finishes by mid August. The biggest and most unforgivable problem was Rob Godfrey pulling out fixtures that hag already been agreed, all because he wanted guests for his own club. I can’t conceal my absolute contempt for that man. Personally, I have already reached the stage of having no interest in the sport outside the league Lakeside race in, I will give Rye House a go, but the sheer incompetence of those currently in charge, especially Godfrey and Chapman, coupled with the amount of cheating certain clubs, especially Poole have been allowed to get away with, has just about ruined the sport for me. I enjoy it once I actually get to the track, but motivation gets harder and harder. Geographicly the vast majority of my meetings now are at NL level. Mainly at Eastbourne, Kent and the IOW. The closure of Rye House and the limited amount of meetings being staged at Arena, has reduced my attendance in the top two leagues. I still make the odd trip here and there, and I will be making the pilgrimage to Rye on Saturday week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 2 minutes ago, TonyE said: I cannot remember exactly when I last attended a meeting at Rye but will probably give it a go - Saturday fixtures make it easier than would otherwise be the case. For me, it is double the distance from my home and I have the choice of using M25 and M11 or going cross country. One of the advantages of Arena was the huge car park and that element will certainly be missed. It will be very interesting to see how many fans back this new venture. The crowds were never brilliant at Custom House, when Romford moved in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 They would be better off coming forward now and making a statement of intent for what they see ahead in 2019, Is the aim to have a Rockets and Hammers side sharing the venue, will it be a consortium of the two promotions? You will have more fans in general turning up for these final few meetings if they know there will be something to look forward too next season. especially the potential Rye House support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 9 minutes ago, marko said: They would be better off coming forward now and making a statement of intent for what they see ahead in 2019, Is the aim to have a Rockets and Hammers side sharing the venue, will it be a consortium of the two promotions? You will have more fans in general turning up for these final few meetings if they know there will be something to look forward too next season. especially the potential Rye House support. I suppose until the structure of speedway in 2019 is decided, no one will commiting to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 I know City Rebel that’s why I used the word intent, for example I intend to go to the meeting on the 14th but that doesn’t mean I will be able to, the weather or something else might intervene but the intent is there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HertsRacer Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 5 hours ago, cityrebel said: It will be very interesting to see how many fans back this new venture. The crowds were never brilliant at Custom House, when Romford moved in. To be fair the crowds in the last few seasons of the Hammers were pretty poor. As for Romford, they promoted the team as West Ham Bombers which put a lot of people off. Also we knew that we were never going to last the season there, so a lot of the supporters stopped going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevtheRev Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 Can't really believe that 2019 will see 2 different teams. With both team struggling with attendance figures, putting the 2 teams together at the same venue is not going to magic up new supporters enough to support both. Unless,of course it can be arranged that they take alternate weeks and then the supporters might actually get a 30 week season. That would be exciting, but beyond expectations surely? The opportunities for sponsorship, season tickets, special offers really could make it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 hour ago, HertsRacer said: To be fair the crowds in the last few seasons of the Hammers were pretty poor. As for Romford, they promoted the team as West Ham Bombers which put a lot of people off. Also we knew that we were never going to last the season there, so a lot of the supporters stopped going. Understandably, there was a lot of doom and gloom post Lokeren at Custom House. But I was a wee lad at the time, and it was all exciting stuff to me. The sight of Christer Lofqvist in full flight, ensured I became a speedway fan for life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 12 minutes ago, cityrebel said: Understandably, there was a lot of doom and gloom post Lokeren at Custom House. But I was a wee lad at the time, and it was all exciting stuff to me. The sight of Christer Lofqvist in full flight, ensured I became a speedway fan for life. I sure some people who started watching at Ploughing Lane in 1985 or later thought things were exciting,but that doesn’t mean the writing wasn’t on the wall....as a kid you don’t really notice the negative sides and have nothing to compare it to,but dropping down for the first time in their history was a major blow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barraider Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 Rye house had really good crowds in 2017 but on sat night if them levels come back in the championship to watch lakeside that would be more than enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 2 minutes ago, iris123 said: I sure some people who started watching at Ploughing Lane in 1985 or later thought things were exciting,but that doesn’t mean the writing wasn’t on the wall....as a kid you don’t really notice the negative sides and have nothing to compare it to,but dropping down for the first time in their history was a major blow As a lifelong Wimbledon fan it was a blow, but far more important that the track survived. The CL era saw speedway return to plough lane, but not as most of us remembered it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daytripper Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 hour ago, cityrebel said: Understandably, there was a lot of doom and gloom post Lokeren at Custom House. But I was a wee lad at the time, and it was all exciting stuff to me. The sight of Christer Lofqvist in full flight, ensured I became a speedway fan for life. Ah, yes, Christer Loftqvist. Once seen, never forgotten. Not sure how he’d cope with Lakeside, he could hardly get round the bends at West Ham without scraping the safety fence. Two of the most memorable races I ever saw were heats 11 and 13 West Ham v Wembley, in the last full year there. Heat 11 was Loftqvist inside and Reidar Eide outside, Heat 13 Eide inside and Loftqvist outside. Christer won then both but they were both passing and re-passing heart stopping races. Anyone who ever saw Christer at West Ham will know what I mean by heart stopping Happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 31 minutes ago, Daytripper said: Ah, yes, Christer Loftqvist. Once seen, never forgotten. Not sure how he’d cope with Lakeside, he could hardly get round the bends at West Ham without scraping the safety fence. Two of the most memorable races I ever saw were heats 11 and 13 West Ham v Wembley, in the last full year there. Heat 11 was Loftqvist inside and Reidar Eide outside, Heat 13 Eide inside and Loftqvist outside. Christer won then both but they were both passing and re-passing heart stopping races. Anyone who ever saw Christer at West Ham will know what I mean by heart stopping Happy days My first ever meeting at West Ham was Christer's debut v Wimbledon in May 1970. 39 -39 draw, the best birthday treat I've ever had! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 Enough reminiscing. My mate Jon Stevens is doing a display of Arena Essex & Lakeside race jackets and memorabilia at the last ever meeting. He is trying to convince me to loan him some stuff from my own collection, to go with his own items. Wether I can let it out of my sight is another matter. It should be an emotional night, if the weather behaves itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 Your right there Cityrebel, and I don’t think it will really hit home until after the last race and the meeting is over, I foresee a period of reflection myself is likely, this place has been such a huge part of my life, gone through my teens, 20s, 30s and now 40s, a lot of ups a lot of downs and all through it Arena Essex Hammers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 7 minutes ago, marko said: Your right there Cityrebel, and I don’t think it will really hit home until after the last race and the meeting is over, I foresee a period of reflection myself is likely, this place has been such a huge part of my life, gone through my teens, 20s, 30s and now 40s, a lot of ups a lot of downs and all through it Arena Essex Hammers A few of my memories are, the awful fenceless track of the 1980's, the all conquering team of 1991, the year in the CL, after the promoters had cleared off to Hackney. The return to the top flight in 2003, and the massive crowd for Lee' Richardson's memorial meeting. This season started with such optimism, and will end with sadness and disappointment. RIP Arena Essex, you will be missed by those of us that really knew you, not by those that criticised you at every opportunity. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proud panther Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 6 hours ago, cityrebel said: I suppose until the structure of speedway in 2019 is decided, no one will commiting to anything. Think there is a very good chance of 2 leagues of about 14 teams, 1 Championship standard, & 1 National league standard. Teams to consist of 6 riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 4, 2018 Report Share Posted September 4, 2018 1 minute ago, proud panther said: Think there is a very good chance of 2 leagues of about 14 teams, 1 Championship standard, & 1 National league standard. Teams to consist of 6 riders. I've heard very similar myself. Let's hope we don't get any more track closures during the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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