AGM November 2018

[Gemini]

7 hours ago, steve roberts said:

Same here...gave a chance to talk tactics etc with one's mates on the terraces.

The important word in that sentence is 'gave'.........meaning in the past. I used to really enjoy matches at Coventry when there was a group of us  and Speedway was just an interruption to the fun we had  so I didn't really notice how many track grades there were, but it's not the same at Leicester with just the dog for company who spends the evening asleep. 

[steve roberts]

5 hours ago, Gemini said:

The important word in that sentence is 'gave'.........meaning in the past. I used to really enjoy matches at Coventry when there was a group of us  and Speedway was just an interruption to the fun we had  so I didn't really notice how many track grades there were, but it's not the same at Leicester with just the dog for company who spends the evening asleep. 

Yes it was noticeable that during my last ten years or so attending speedway that the people I knew around me on the third bend at Cowley began to diminish during that time to the extent that very few of us remained...and apparently the situation has only got worse around the tracks judging by the many comments on the forum. I'm just glad that I went during the seventies and eighties when crowds were still appreciable although Oxford did attract relatively good crowds right up until I ceased to go (early 2000's) due to relocation. Just glad that my Dad was not around to see the collapse of speedway, and at Cowley in particular, having first gone back in 1949.

[TesarRacing]

12 hours ago, Tsunami said:

 

Must admit I can't understand the mentality of folks on here who go to speedway, who are looking to get away from the meeting as soon as possible. At the end of the day it's a night out, and as long as the meeting is progressing at a decent pace, what's there to complain about. What's wrong with grading, unless it is long winded, after the grading the track should be better to then maintain a similar  standard to keep to decent racing. At Newcastle we always aim to have 6 races( 125 and 500 3 races each) after every meeting with invited riders, that is when we do not have an NJL meeting which takes up about 6 or 7 second halfs in the season.

For me it's not about wanting to get away early or the length of the meeting, it's whether you have have been entertained over the period of the evening. You are quite right it is a night out but the customer has a right to be entertained for his hard earned money. I have been to 2.5 hours meetings where I have been bored but equally been to 3.5 hour meetings where there has been plenty going on like rider interviews, decent PA announcements and music etc and I have thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We have to accept that speedway is not like most sports involving a ball where it is wall to wall action, this is motorsport and will be periods of inactivity. I regularly go to MotoGP and BSB meetings for a whole day and its not boring because there is plenty going on so speedway should really have no problem keeping customers happy for 2 to 3 hours!

[IainB]

7 hours ago, Gemini said:

 it's not the same at Leicester with just the dog for company who spends the evening asleep. 

The dog is probably having a better time than you! Especially at BP 

[steve roberts]

41 minutes ago, TesarRacing said:

For me it's not about wanting to get away early or the length of the meeting, it's whether you have have been entertained over the period of the evening. You are quite right it is a night out but the customer has a right to be entertained for his hard earned money. I have been to 2.5 hours meetings where I have been bored but equally been to 3.5 hour meetings where there has been plenty going on like rider interviews, decent PA announcements and music etc and I have thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We have to accept that speedway is not like most sports involving a ball where it is wall to wall action, this is motorsport and will be periods of inactivity. I regularly go to MotoGP and BSB meetings for a whole day and its not boring because there is plenty going on so speedway should really have no problem keeping customers happy for 2 to 3 hours!

I went to a couple of American Football games at Wembley back in the eighties and I have to confess that all the activity off the field bored me and the whole thing went on for what seemed like hours...considering a game is in four quarters each of 15 minutes duration! Personally I don't want to be 'entertained' by fire eaters, jugglers you name it whilst there is a gap in play so that adverts can be accomodated on the TV.

Meetings at Cowley during the days of second halves would commnence at 7-45 and end at ten on most occasions...however day time meetings were sometimes another matter but like the sadly missed 'Wiggy' I always prefered watching racing at night under lights.

Edited November 8, 2018 by steve roberts

[orion]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 2:05 PM, Ghosty said:

One thing I think we all agree on is that: British Speedway supporters do not want the product that has been on offer the last few seasons i.e. team A + guest verses team B + guest this is the biggest reason for the drop in crowd numbers.

For 2019 riders must be loyal to their U.K. team & promoters loyal to their signed riders - no team changes @ the drop of a hat, fans may then see their team as "US" not just tonight's "7 select".

Also I would bring back for 2019 13 heats & a second half, not because it's better or worse than the current 15 heats, it would just be a change!   

We gone over this before .last year they brought in a rule of fixed race nights to help stop guests etc ..what did the fans say to that ? well they moaned that they wanted there race nights back ...

Swindon etc had the best year in many years for keeping there 1 to 7 intact last year ,but did it help the crowds ? not at all ...Speedway biggest problem is that the standard of rider has dropped, sadly even thou that is quite clear most on here what to  lower that Standard even more thinking that 7 crap riders who turn up  every week will bring the crowds in 

[Sings4Speedway]

13 minutes ago, orion said:

We gone over this before .last year they brought in a rule of fixed race nights to help stop guests etc ..what did the fans say to that ? well they moaned that they wanted there race nights back ...

Swindon etc had the best year in many years for keeping there 1 to 7 intact last year ,but did it help the crowds ? not at all ...Speedway biggest problem is that the standard of rider has dropped, sadly even thou that is quite clear most on here what to  lower that Standard even more thinking that 7 crap riders who turn up  every week will bring the crowds in 

I think the definition of "crap" is largely important here as middle tier second strings are entirely different to riders just starting out. The problem with standard at present is that the gulf between riders is too vast. The GP's provide good racing and entertainment because the riders are of a similar level. Put on a match where all the riders average in min 4 and max 6 you will see a close entertaining meeting. Put on the current show where a 9+ point man goes to the tapes with a 2-3 point rider and wonder why we are served dull from the gate racing. 

[topaz325]

17 hours ago, Trees said:

Those nights rarely exist these days! Freezing cold October nights, nah haven't experienced one of those lately! And if you have, what a successful year your club has had yayyyy! 

Yes, but could have been avoided.

[screm]

7 minutes ago, topaz325 said:

Yes, but could have been avoided.

Cut it was worth it though surely.

I dont expect the up coming AGM to cure all of speedway`s ills but what I hope for is at least a start or more probably at least to stop the slide that we see currently. 

[Chadster]

8 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

I think the definition of "crap" is largely important here as middle tier second strings are entirely different to riders just starting out. The problem with standard at present is that the gulf between riders is too vast. The GP's provide good racing and entertainment because the riders are of a similar level. Put on a match where all the riders average in min 4 and max 6 you will see a close entertaining meeting. Put on the current show where a 9+ point man goes to the tapes with a 2-3 point rider and wonder why we are served dull from the gate racing. 

I think you have a point but there have been times in the past when the gap between riders was bigger. In the 60s and 70s there were quite regularly riders averaging above 10 and sometimes over 11 and yet that period is seen as a golden age for the sport. Maybe we need to look at the formula to protect the weaker riders, as was the case back in the day when the reserve rode in heats 4 and 8 programmed with second strings.

[topaz325]

58 minutes ago, screm said:

Cut it was worth it though surely.

I dont expect the up coming AGM to cure all of speedway`s ills but what I hope for is at least a start or more probably at least to stop the slide that we see currently. 

Yes was worth it I The end but cramming in five meetings in five days total madness.

[A ORLOV]

18 hours ago, Trees said:

Those nights rarely exist these days! Freezing cold October nights, nah haven't experienced one of those lately! And if you have, what a successful year your club has had yayyyy! 

You must not have been at Swindon to often where the track is on top of a hill and gets very cold when the sun goes down and if there is a strong wind.  When I lived in KL and went to speedway it was rarely as cold as it gets here.

[ch958]

28 minutes ago, Chadster said:

I think you have a point but there have been times in the past when the gap between riders was bigger. In the 60s and 70s there were quite regularly riders averaging above 10 and sometimes over 11 and yet that period is seen as a golden age for the sport. Maybe we need to look at the formula to protect the weaker riders, as was the case back in the day when the reserve rode in heats 4 and 8 programmed with second strings.

some of the 'lesser' riders from the 60s and 70s speak of the highlights of their careers when they beat Mauger or Briggs, etc. So there was a massive gap and some riders trundled along with 3, 4 point averages for years.

And yet these were the glory years. So don't worry about the gap between top and bottom riders - it'll just make the top ones seem more appealing to audiences

[Skidder1]

In this week's SS there seems to be a trend towards making the Premiership stronger - both in terms of number of teams and a bigger points limit -  and the Championship 'weaker' to make more of a difference between SGBP and SGBC.

[g13webb]

I would like to congratulate the SS this week for their current issue,  sure offers a good read.  Have spent much of today reading the various columns, and it so easy to see those different views from assorted positions.  It appears that all of them realise the dire situation the sport finds itself in,  but they all share different ideas of what is wrong...     I personally appreciated the views of DAVID HOWE who tried to explain the costs involved for the rider,   He spoke openly about the rising costs that need to be addressed.    It is obvious that the sport cant go in this same way.... 

Would love to be a fly on the wall at the forth coming AGM  just to see  who  speaks out for the sport  and what ideas they come up with.    

[Tsunami]

12 minutes ago, g13webb said:

I would like to congratulate the SS this week for their current issue,  sure offers a good read.  Have spent much of today reading the various columns, and it so easy to see those different views from assorted positions.  It appears that all of them realise the dire situation the sport finds itself in,  but they all share different ideas of what is wrong...     I personally appreciated the views of DAVID HOWE who tried to explain the costs involved for the rider,   He spoke openly about the rising costs that need to be addressed.    It is obvious that the sport cant go in this same way.... 

Would love to be a fly on the wall at the forth coming AGM  just to see  who  speaks out for the sport  and what ideas they come up with.    

I think you will find that the promoters have already had several discussions pre AGM as usual, and that Tuesday and Wednesday will be about making the arrangements for the new initiatives and  implementation, and getting the news out asap.  

[ch958]

1 hour ago, g13webb said:

I would like to congratulate the SS this week for their current issue,  sure offers a good read.  Have spent much of today reading the various columns, and it so easy to see those different views from assorted positions.  It appears that all of them realise the dire situation the sport finds itself in,  but they all share different ideas of what is wrong...     I personally appreciated the views of DAVID HOWE who tried to explain the costs involved for the rider,   He spoke openly about the rising costs that need to be addressed.    It is obvious that the sport cant go in this same way.... 

Would love to be a fly on the wall at the forth coming AGM  just to see  who  speaks out for the sport  and what ideas they come up with.    

i'd sh*t on the sandwiches

[DBP]

Dont think the riders want any changes most double up and get plenty of guest rides.

The majority make good money and wouldn't want less meetings.

[stevehone]

4 minutes ago, DBP said:

Dont think the riders want any changes most double up and get plenty of guest rides.

The majority make good money and wouldn't want less meetings.

that's why i think if it's anything to do with the riders it will stay as it is.

i have thought for a long time that the AGM should be held during the July SWC break, with discussions every month with every promoter

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

10 minutes ago, stevehone said:

that's why i think if it's anything to do with the riders it will stay as it is.

i have thought for a long time that the AGM should be held during the July SWC break, with discussions every month with every promoter

Effectively already the case - see below (or a few above - take your pick )

1 hour ago, Tsunami said:

I think you will find that the promoters have already had several discussions pre AGM as usual, and that Tuesday and Wednesday will be about making the arrangements for the new initiatives and  implementation, and getting the news out asap.