AGM November 2018

[Spl77]

Looking at the amount of tracks up for sale it looks like some of the more sensible ones involved in speedway are trying to get out. Question is are there buyers queuing up to by into a worthless product? 

[arnieg]

1 minute ago, Spl77 said:

Looking at the amount of tracks up for sale it looks like some of the more sensible ones involved in speedway are trying to get out. Question is are there buyers queuing up to by into a worthless product? 

Are they doing buy one get one frees yet?

[Ghosty]

On 10/25/2018 at 12:22 PM, The Cheese said:

After a meeting full of arguments, backstabbing and threats the best AGM ever, the BSPA have come up with plans for an exciting new era..

• Doubling-up: It's clear that this is starting to become a slight problem. Teams will be limited to having 6 riders who double-up.
• Fixtures: There have been a few difficulties this year so from 2019 onwards all teams must have a 6 week period during June-August with no fixtures taking place. This is to ensure the annual scramble to fit everything in at the end of October takes place. Teams finishing their fixtures in early September will simply not be allowed to happen. 
• Fixture planning: After his successful intervention this season, Rob Godfrey will compile the fixture list and any changes/re-arranged fixtures must have his approval.
• Guests: Teams should only use their contracted riders if a suitable guest is not available.
• Admission prices: In an effort to increase attendances, admission at all venues will be capped at a maximum of £10. Clubs may also add an exit charge of up to £20 which fans will be required to pay before being allowed to leave the stadium.
• Abandoned meeting policy: If a meeting is abandoned for any reason after the meeting has started, the captains of each team will take part in an exciting new addition. Using the Barry Briggs homologated rain-off hat, 4 coloured balls will be placed inside. For every race still to be completed, the captains will take turns and whichever colour is drawn out first is deemed to have won that race, drawn 2nd is 2nd and so on. This will take place on the centregreen and fans will be invited to watch it take place for a fee of £1 per heat.
• Improved presentation: Before the rider introductions on the parade both teams will be required to take part in a club war cry. All music played should be from the 1980s and 'The Final Countdown' must be played before heat 15. Failure to do so will result in the meeting being awarded to the away side.
• Social media: Recognising this is vital all clubs will be encouraged to keep their official websites up to date with a detailed match report expected within 48 hours.

To celebrate these plans it can also be revealed that a new 'Chairman Chapman' Wulfsport coat will be available from December. Pre-order now for a guarenteed Christmas delivery - the ideal present!

Brilliant, I think you have cracked it. One thing I think you have overlooked is that each team to appoint a gardener armed with spade to prepare starting grids. They will be given 2 minutes (timed of course) prior to each heat to do so.........  At the end of season there will be the best gardener award, very importantly to keep speedways integrity gardeners will not be allowed to guest for other teams.    

[lisa-colette]

1 hour ago, arnieg said:

Are they doing buy one get one frees yet?

Yeah buy Poole and Peterborough and get Mildenhall free..!   (3 For 2!)

Edited October 26, 2018 by lisa-colette

[eric i]

When is the agm taking place?

[greyhoundp]

On 10/24/2018 at 5:25 PM, tigerowl said:

I like going to the pub and I like going to the speedway.

Both of these pastimes have been in serious decline over the past few years and people have stopped going to both in droves. Some of the reasons can be found in both of these pastimes. It's hard to tempt people out of their houses and pay money for beer when they think it's overpriced and the same can apply to speedway. The pubs that just do the same thing that clearly doesn't work time and time again, and just throw their doors open expecting the public to flood in are the one's that die. This is what speedway 'promoters', by and large, tend to do. They offer a product which does not represent value for money and do nothing to keep the fans they have got, never mind attract new ones.

Some pubs are thriving because they offer what the customer in their community wants. Some offer live entertainment, some offer food, some offer karaoke nights. My local offers a warm welcome, a nice pint and friendly people and it's busy most nights. The landlord drives around in a Mercedes and has a holiday home in Florida. It works where I live but wouldn't work elsewhere and the promoters have to work hard at getting their product right for the audience they want to keep and attract.

To do this they need a product. The product they are offering is potentially one of the most exciting sports in the world and surely, this must be a good starting point. However, what they provide is an overpriced chaotic shambles of a sport with no direction, no identity and no credibility. 

They need to get back to basics. Offer a full and attractive fixture list with a team of riders that ride for one club. Not the current situation where any seven riders who pull on a race jacket is called a team. It isn't. People will moan on about the 'not enough riders to go round' myth. There are enough riders, they are just riding at the wrong level. Grand Prix riders should not be riding in the second tier, half the third tier riders should be at Championship level and the poor kids stuck in the Development League should be in the National League. 

If they must charge £17 to get in, at least give the fans £17 worth of entertainment. Unfortunately, 15 races of 55 seconds interspersed with 50 minutes of track grading does not justify parting with £17 in cash.

The continual fixture list farce demonstrates absolutely the reasons why the promoters should not be allowed to run things for themselves. I am sure they are all successful businessmen and women in their own right but they have no idea how to work collectively for the benefit of the sport. It is all about vested interests and stabbing each other in the back. I cannot think of any other sport where the owners of the clubs run things themselves. It needs someone with authority and respect to run the sport.

There needs to be some way of cutting down on the rained off meetings. Is it any wonder there is hardly any travelling support when riders refuse to turn out if someone spills so much as a cup of tea on the track. I know that if it's tipping it down at start time then there will be little chance of racing but some way of covering tracks cannot beyond the capabilities of the human race.

It is also about time we stopped penalising success and rewarding failure. We go on about the lack of riders yet Joe Jacobs, who made massive progress with Belle Vue a couple of seasons ago can't get a team place the following year because his average is too high, whilst another rider who under achieved and threw tantrums  was rewarded with two team places the following season because his average fitted!!

Finally, the riders have got to come to their senses. If you want to be a full-time rider and are either rich or riding in Poland in front of 15,000 fans, then fair enough and good luck to you. If you are second string in the 'Championship' riding in front of 500 people, surely you cannot expect to be full-time. Look back at the Peter Oakes' Who's Who book in 1974 and the vast majority of the riders had jobs. Now, for some reason,  all the riders seem to feel that they are entitled to be full-time, thereby expecting the wages that would enable them to sustain that lifestyle. It cannot continue on current crowd levels.

However, having wasted half an hour of my life typing this, I expect that the 2019 season will result in three small leagues, riders riding for multiple clubs, more riders being frozen out of the sport, fixture chaos, declining crowds, arguing promoters and more tractor racing. I'm off to the pub.

 

Top post mate, as someone else has said this should be printed off, and given out at the agm, but far to much common sense here for the BSPA to take notice.. enjoy your Pint .

[Skidder1]

13 hours ago, eric i said:

When is the agm taking place?

Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th November at Chepstow!

[Skidder1]

15 hours ago, Spl77 said:

Looking at the amount of tracks up for sale it looks like some of the more sensible ones involved in speedway are trying to get out. Question is are there buyers queuing up to by into a worthless product? 

Peterboro stating there are already 2 firm offers on the table (Speedway Star 25/10/18)

[Gemini]

5 hours ago, greyhoundp said:

Top post mate, as someone else has said this should be printed off, and given out at the agm, but far to much common sense here for the BSPA to take notice.. enjoy your Pint .

I won't quote the post as it's quite long but what a brilliant one it is. Agree with every word and so I'm sure does every sensible speedway fan. Nothing will happen though, apart from probably the last paragraph will turn out to be true again. 

[waytogo28]

It looks as if the BSPA are about to go for the "safe" option. Change nothing and hope that not too many are disappointed and walk away. Managed decline continuing?

[ChrisB12]

On 10/26/2018 at 7:14 PM, brylcream boy said:

Like or loath Facebook, if you click on a link for something, eg holidays, you quickly get numerous ads for holidays appear. I would not have a clue of the expense or technology involved, but someone clicked on a page for motorcar/ bike racing, an advert of speedway could pop up with an action video. I would guess the average age of folk on this forum is about 110, but the 25-35 year olds who they should be trying to attract spend every moment on Facebook. That age group would also spend on food and drink.

Facebook is actually pretty good value for targeted advertising. Because it has so much info already you can pick who and where you’re after - for example people over 25? 45? 65? Within 10 miles of a certain postcode, who have interests in sport or motor racing or whatever, and you’ll reach 10k people or so for about £50. 

 

Like you say it’s surprising ( or not ) that you don’t see this for local teams. 

[fliss44]

Quote

Quote

Will set race nights be discussed I wonder.

 

 

[waytogo28]

On 10/26/2018 at 7:35 PM, Spl77 said:

Looking at the amount of tracks up for sale it looks like some of the more sensible ones involved in speedway are trying to get out. Question is are there buyers queuing up to by into a worthless product? 

The only chance some tracks have of finding a buyer is a Big Lottery Winner who is already an addicted fan locally and who wants to throw their money away. No sensible investor - outside of speedway - would contemplate burning their fingers with a speedway club.

[Trees]

3 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

The only chance some tracks have of finding a buyer is a Big Lottery Winner who is already an addicted fan locally and who wants to throw their money away. No sensible investor - outside of speedway - would contemplate burning their fingers with a speedway club.

There are more positive people than you out there m8, thank goodness!!  You don't have all the answers, nobody has, there are lots of good things about our sport, you're on such downer about it, jeeeeez! Go down to the Isle of Wight Speedway next year, might help with your lack of positivity!! 

[Aces51]

45 minutes ago, Trees said:

There are more positive people than you out there m8, thank goodness!!  You don't have all the answers, nobody has, there are lots of good things about our sport, you're on such downer about it, jeeeeez! Go down to the Isle of Wight Speedway next year, might help with your lack of positivity!! 

What I think understandably depresses a lot of fans are the many lost years when the right action could have at best turned the future of the sport around or, at the very least, stopped the continual decline.

Those most recently in charge have shown that they don't have the answers and it is alarming that the current chairman believes that there is little wrong with how the sport is currently run.

There are people who are positive but that of itself doesn't help. We need people in charge who understand what is wrong and who have the vision and ability to put it right. 

I agree with what you say about the Isle of Wight, I see good things happening at Glasgow and the promoters at my own club are working to increase the profile of the club and to get the fans and riders more involved with each other. I am sure they and other promoters could all contribute to improving the sport if others will listen and work together.

However, that is fiddling round the edges of the major problems. There's a need for a proper root and branch look at the sport. They need to identify what needs to be done to make the sport attractive to many more people than currently attend.

To be accepted as a serious, professional sport it has to be credible and run with integrity. To take the most recent example, ignoring a rule for one night only in the final of the premier competition would never stand up to the scrutiny of the mainstream media and should never happen. We need 21st century presentations, slick and entertaining, tracks prepared to provide the best possible racing and to make fans feel valued. When the overall product has been improved we need then to make sure that those currently unaware of their local track become aware. We know that the money isn't there for individual tracks to invest in huge scale advertising so thought needs to be given to a common fund for effective national advertising and ways found to supplement that by affordable local initiatives.

[Pirates Of Poole]

Think the reality is we will soon be a semi professional sport within the UK. Arguments going on behind the scenes not much agreement and these people are supposed to have the interest of the sport at heart. Sadly too many are only interested in their own club and little bubble around them. Too many ego’s in the room too, it’s no coincidence that we have ‘decent’ people leaving the sport because the old wood in the sport can’t see further than there nose. Take the Peterborough info  now finally realised this week, how can someone who is investing in our sport and buying assets then be punished and lose out? Seems to be the same people within the top table doing more and more damage year in year out. The sport has been sold up the river in the last 10 years, the TV deal is an absolute joke and to think the money involved before to now! Make the sport simple and stop punishing winning teams, fans want to see more continuity with riders who they can connect with, not having to sack them because they were too successful. 

Edited October 28, 2018 by Pirates Of Poole

[Bear_Bottom]

Déjà vu all over again...

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ATHkuOfUNcH1IW045QukPhYPj_7MgmgW/view?usp=sharing

[Trees]

29 minutes ago, Aces51 said:

What I think understandably depresses a lot of fans are the many lost years when the right action could have at best turned the future of the sport around or, at the very least, stopped the continual decline.

Those most recently in charge have shown that they don't have the answers and it is alarming that the current chairman believes that there is little wrong with how the sport is currently run.

There are people who are positive but that of itself doesn't help. We need people in charge who understand what is wrong and who have the vision and ability to put it right. 

I agree with what you say about the Isle of Wight, I see good things happening at Glasgow and the promoters at my own club are working to increase the profile of the club and to get the fans and riders more involved with each other. I am sure they and other promoters could all contribute to improving the sport if others will listen and work together.

However, that is fiddling round the edges of the major problems. There's a need for a proper root and branch look at the sport. They need to identify what needs to be done to make the sport attractive to many more people than currently attend.

To be accepted as a serious, professional sport it has to be credible and run with integrity. To take the most recent example, ignoring a rule for one night only in the final of the premier competition would never stand up to the scrutiny of the mainstream media and should never happen. We need 21st century presentations, slick and entertaining, tracks prepared to provide the best possible racing and to make fans feel valued. When the overall product has been improved we need then to make sure that those currently unaware of their local track become aware. We know that the money isn't there for individual tracks to invest in huge scale advertising so thought needs to be given to a common fund for effective national advertising and ways found to supplement that by affordable local initiatives.

Re the play off final between Poole and Lynn, I think they did the right thing for a few tenths of a point difference, would have been more consternation had the riders swopped teams on the two nights?  Maybe the promoters need to keep the averages in house so the fans cannot have a say, the more I think about it, yes they do need to do that, then nobody would’ve been any the wiser about Ellis and Morris.  

British speedway tries hard to keep teams even and fair, that’s one of the reasons our rules are so complicated, promoters continually try to outdo one another to get an advantage to help them win, which you can understand but it has to led to so many loophole closures (new rules).

What do the fans want, what will bring new fans in and keep them coming, imo, PASSES and TEAM RIDING.  But how do we get that, is it change in engines, tracks, tyres, track shape, track material, riders’ mentality, handicap racing, I don’t know but at the end of the day you can have all the extra entertainment money can buy but it’s the RACING that counts. 

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation for the promoters, they need more fans bringing in the money to improve their clubs but they need to spend more money to bring in the fans, it’s a really hard situation but yes of course they need to be all working together and they certainly could asa promoting is concerned, I’d like to think part of the conference would be 'sharing promotion initiatives’ .....

[Trees]

50 minutes ago, Pirates Of Poole said:

Think the reality is we will soon be a semi professional sport within the UK. Arguments going on behind the scenes not much agreement and these people are supposed to have the interest of the sport at heart. Sadly too many are only interested in their own club and little bubble around them. Too many ego’s in the room too, it’s no coincidence that we have ‘decent’ people leaving the sport because the old wood in the sport can’t see further than there nose. Take the Peterborough info  now finally realised this week, how can someone who is investing in our sport and buying assets then be punished and lose out? Seems to be the same people within the top table doing more and more damage year in year out. The sport has been sold up the river in the last 10 years, the TV deal is an absolute joke and to think the money involved before to now! Make the sport simple and stop punishing winning teams, fans want to see more continuity with riders who they can connect with, not having to sack them because they were too successful. 

The majority of clubs keep the the majority of their team members from year to year imo

[Pirates Of Poole]

3 minutes ago, Trees said:

The majority of clubs keep the the majority of their team members from year to year imo

I disagree over the past decade winning team have had to be ripped apart.