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AGM November 2018


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I love watching Chris Harris ride but he is so far off the mark with his opinions it is unreal.

So Chris wasn't too good at school and needs to ride for two teams at least to make ends meet. Sorry Chris, but can you explain how this is possible on 500-800 fans paying to get in?

It seems a large proportion of everyone else in the sport want the doubling up system to end so that the sport can try and regain a bit of identity and credibility thereby attracting new fans and keeping the few that we have but Chris is happy for the sport to be run into the ground as people keep drifting away. I don't think that doubling up is the only issue as to why speedway is struggling but it's certainly one of the main ones and Chris needs to realise that the sport as a whole has got to come first, not the needs of a few riders who do not have the capability or willingness to do something else.

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2 minutes ago, tigerowl said:

I love watching Chris Harris ride but he is so far off the mark with his opinions it is unreal.

So Chris wasn't too good at school and needs to ride for two teams at least to make ends meet. Sorry Chris, but can you explain how this is possible on 500-800 fans paying to get in?

It seems a large proportion of everyone else in the sport want the doubling up system to end so that the sport can try and regain a bit of identity and credibility thereby attracting new fans and keeping the few that we have but Chris is happy for the sport to be run into the ground as people keep drifting away. I don't think that doubling up is the only issue as to why speedway is struggling but it's certainly one of the main ones and Chris needs to realise that the sport as a whole has got to come first, not the needs of a few riders who do not have the capability or willingness to do something else.

Who wants doubling up to end? The fans maybe, but I can't believe that riders (who earn more money) or clubs (who save on costs) would want it to end.

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Just now, MattK said:

Who wants doubling up to end? The fans maybe, but I can't believe that riders (who earn more money) or clubs (who save on costs) would want it to end.

Maybe if there was one big league with more meetings the riders wouldn't need to double up make enough meetings to make it pay.

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The problem is that the sport is run by those operating in the "now". They have no incentive to make is sustainable in 10 years time as most will have bowed out by then (although who they will sell the ailing clubs to remains to be seen).

Chris Harris is the last person who's opinion should count, if a rider who has competed at the top level in the UK for 10+ years cannot make it pay without doubling up/down then we are in a very sorry state. Bomber has a few years left max so is obviously out for his own interests and to grab as much cash as he can before he is kicked off the gravy train. 

If the sport is to move forward it will need to allow the semi-pro's time to develop before deciding if they can commit to speedway full time or not (and by full time i mean race UK & abroad not 100+ UK meetings) as at present far too many talented riders are falling between the cracks purely down to lack of finances.

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24 minutes ago, magnificentseven said:

Maybe if there was one big league with more meetings the riders wouldn't need to double up make enough meetings to make it pay.

One big league wouldn't deliver anywhere near the number of meetings that doubling-up currently does.

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30 minutes ago, ch958 said:

no but top riders would be spread more widely therefore meeting less often so scoring more points and earning more ££

 

Didn't work in the shakeout in the mid90's and highly unlikely to work in 2019. Teams would hang on to say two top hitters to deny one of them going to the lesser teams. Look how the 2 over 8 rule was 'accepted' by some PL teams.

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3 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Didn't work in the shakeout in the mid90's and highly unlikely to work in 2019. Teams would hang on to say two top hitters to deny one of them going to the lesser teams. Look how the 2 over 8 rule was 'accepted' by some PL teams.

...and prior to that when Hackney 'moved up' Oxford were the only team to offer them a quality rider in the way of 'Wiggy' and the 'Cheethas' paid the price that season.

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8 minutes ago, orion said:

One thing for sure if history repeats itself and there is one big league the fans wont want it after about 3 weeks .Just like fixed race nights .

Remember double points, the reason that fans stayed away in their droves?

Double points scrapped, no one blinks an eye.

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I think that what Chris Harris maybe needs to keep in mind is that Speedway Rider isn't a proper job, so if his income needs aren't being properly met in that way, he needs to find ways to supplement that income. Saying that he wasn't any good at school and implying this prohibits him from doing anything else is utter piffle, which I'm sure he knows. What is he expecting to do, carry on riding speedway for a living until he turns 67? 

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So many different opinions with regards to saving our sport in the speedway star last week,  you have a riders point of view and an ex rider with different thoughts on cost, C Harris has been a great servant to British speedway but if he can’t make it pay without doubling up then it’s time to find other employment,  it seems riders wages have gone through the roof in recent years and they have two teams to race for in Britain , years a go the riders raced one league and had a job outside speedway, now you have kids leaving school wanting to be a professional speedway rider as there only employment.

The riders see the crowds on the terraces and they know the wages there on don’t match what comes through the turnstiles anymore but if they get offered silly money then who can blame them for taking it.  

If clubs are trying to find new supporters out there why do you need the top earners you can’t afford? New fans won’t know the difference between Doyle or a reserve in the top league or Cook and a reserve in the middle tier as long as the racing is exciting!

doubling up needs to be phased out over 3/5 years as we can’t run at present without it, but it has to go eventually 

The sport will never move forward as long as promoters pay wages they can’t afford but there all trying to put one over each other and get there man ,  so many good ideas from supporters but will the promoters listen or can they afford to try them?

Is the sport value for money? 

Is it a great evening out?

Two key points that need to be considered, cause if the answer to the two questions above is no, then no matter what changes are made next week it won’t make any difference .

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Speedway doubling will not be stopped immediately it will have to be phased out , is one comment made by Terry Russell or Alan Rossiter cant remeber.

Chris Harris said he rode virtually this season just to pay the bills and I,m sure Craig Cook said  a similar thing recently.

So reading most of the interviews in the SS this week, what is required :

Three Leagues

Fixed race nights (not sure which, Sweden want Thursdays)

Stronger top League. (increased points limit)

Reduced costs, Engines/Tyres/Power

Better planning (Three years five or longer)

Better presentation of meetings ( presenters/media/Kids events)

Better promotion of the sport at a national level.

Riders want more meetings, promoters cant afford to pay them!

 

:blink:

 

 

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Yea look how many fans  getting rid of double points brought back lol .Remember when people said they knew people that  had left because of that one reason .another speedway  myth gone.

Edited by orion
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4 hours ago, MattK said:

One big league wouldn't deliver anywhere near the number of meetings that doubling-up currently does.

One league of 18 team would give 34 league matches + play off +koc or any other competition + any challenges , that’s around 50 meetings 25 home 25 away , season is only 26 weeks long , that pretty much 2 aWeek , how many do they need ? , I like bomber but his interview was selfish and at odds with what the sport needs to do to move forward 

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31 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

One league of 18 team would give 34 league matches + play off +koc or any other competition + any challenges , that’s around 50 meetings 25 home 25 away , season is only 26 weeks long , that pretty much 2 aWeek , how many do they need ? , I like bomber but his interview was selfish and at odds with what the sport needs to do to move forward 

A rider doubling-up this season would have a maximum of 70 league and cup fixtures. Under one big league it would be a maximum of 46 and with a significantly lower chance of making the play-offs (assuming top 4 from 18).

I make that a 35% reduction in meetings.

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40 minutes ago, MattK said:

A rider doubling-up this season would have a maximum of 70 league and cup fixtures. Under one big league it would be a maximum of 46 and with a significantly lower chance of making the play-offs (assuming top 4 from 18).

I make that a 35% reduction in meetings.

If a single league is on offer, a lot of teams will drop out due to anticipated rising costs, and we will be left with a single league but reduced in numbers.  :(

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1 hour ago, topaz325 said:

Speedway doubling will not be stopped immediately it will have to be phased out , is one comment made by Terry Russell or Alan Rossiter cant remeber.

Chris Harris said he rode virtually this season just to pay the bills and I,m sure Craig Cook said  a similar thing recently.

So reading most of the interviews in the SS this week, what is required :

Three Leagues

Fixed race nights (not sure which, Sweden want Thursdays)

Stronger top League. (increased points limit)

Reduced costs, Engines/Tyres/Power

Better planning (Three years five or longer)

Better presentation of meetings ( presenters/media/Kids events)

Better promotion of the sport at a national level.

Riders want more meetings, promoters cant afford to pay them!

 

:blink:

 

 

That pretty much sums everything up. ,     Forgetting about the last line of the list,  but the rest could be set in stone as the direction that this sport intends to go...   Nobody expects miracles and Rome wasn't built in a day,  but we need to start somewhere and there no time like the present...……    

I have  often asked the question about tyres,    and who is the main benefactor of the contract of supplying every match with 14 tyres .    Howe touch on it in his column and spoke of the added costs to promoters,   like he said  if riders were responsible they would more often than not use them for 2 meetings.     Why not have harder compound that last longer.  It appears to me the tyre supplier is holding all the aces, making a pretty penny out of a sport that can ill afford  such elaborate ideas...       Cant believe a sport, so desperate to make ends meet , would agree to such an expensive operation ….     The mine boggles......

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1 hour ago, MattK said:

A rider doubling-up this season would have a maximum of 70 league and cup fixtures. Under one big league it would be a maximum of 46 and with a significantly lower chance of making the play-offs (assuming top 4 from 18).

I make that a 35% reduction in meetings.

Unless riders accept the realty it’s going to be a 100% reduction, when I listen to today’s riders talk its like they think they have invented the wheel and before their career riders didn’t exsist, had a long chat with a former manager/mechanic of a world champion a few weeks ago and he was saying riders of today don’t realise how easy they have it , he said they did twice as many meetings as today’s riders and they had to drive all over Europe in a transit ,not flying like today with bikes and mechanics already there and then wash and prep the bikes and run a business too., before doubling up reared it’s ugly head riders would do around 50 british meetings a year and most had a job too , when I was at Berwick our no1 was a postman 

Edited by THE DEAN MACHINE
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