Thursdays - Use them or lose them!

[Grachan]

I see there is more in Speedway Star this week with regards to Sweden taking Thursdays.

Surely... SURELY!... British speedway needs to take this night as its second fixed night before Sweden (quite justifiably) take it off them.

That would leave British speedway with just one priority night instead of two because of being voted down by lower teams. This should not be allowed to happen!

The top league should take Thursday as a fixed race night immediately, or else they will lose it.

[IainB]

I think the top League should take Friday and Saturday nights, especially now with minimal impact from the GP's

[f-s-p]

But you see, you get whats left after FIM takes what they need, PZM takes what they want and Sweden takes tuesdays. 

[Wolfie456]

3 hours ago, iainb said:

I think the top League should take Friday and Saturday nights, especially now with minimal impact from the GP's

You have fixtures in Poland on a Friday and Saturday  plus numerous Sec or Gp qualifiers 

[lucifer sam]

4 hours ago, Grachan said:

I see there is more in Speedway Star this week with regards to Sweden taking Thursdays.

Surely... SURELY!... British speedway needs to take this night as its second fixed night before Sweden (quite justifiably) take it off them.

That would leave British speedway with just one priority night instead of two because of being voted down by lower teams. This should not be allowed to happen!

The top league should take Thursday as a fixed race night immediately, or else they will lose it.

What's so special about Thursdays?

Surely crowds are bigger on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  I would suggest one big league, with all fixtures taking place on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

Perhaps more of the Thursday teams will be in the top league anyway making it less likely to be opposed.....

Peterborough strongly rumoured to be moving up and availability of the showground apparently much better during midweek too

[A ORLOV]

4 hours ago, iainb said:

I think the top League should take Friday and Saturday nights, especially now with minimal impact from the GP's

That could mean that any number up to about  ten riders from this year will not always be available due to Polish and other meetings. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by A ORLOV

[Starman2006]

4 hours ago, iainb said:

I think the top League should take Friday and Saturday nights, especially now with minimal impact from the GP's

You are joking. Those that run on saturday will be the quickest way to the poor house. Stadiums would be empty GP nights. But if they want to run against the GP's then thats there perogative. Fridays you could understand. Kids off the weekend so more might go. But then again, perhaps promotions need to start buying those Carrots.

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Starman2006

[Steve0]

9 minutes ago, Starman2006 said:

You are joking. Those that run on saturday will be the quickest way to the poor house. Stadiums would be empty GP nights. But if they want to run against the GP's then thats there perogative. Fridays you could understand. Kids off the weekend so more might go. But then again, perhaps promotions need to start buying those Carrots.

 

Why would stadiums be empty on GP nights?  I watch very few things “live” at transmission time and much prefer to record and watch on delay.  This allows me to skip past Adverts , replays and endless studio chats.  I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way

[Kickitov]

5 hours ago, Grachan said:

I see there is more in Speedway Star this week with regards to Sweden taking Thursdays.

Surely... SURELY!... British speedway needs to take this night as its second fixed night before Sweden (quite justifiably) take it off them.

That would leave British speedway with just one priority night instead of two because of being voted down by lower teams. This should not be allowed to happen!

The top league should take Thursday as a fixed race night immediately, or else they will lose it.

Agree 100%

[MattK]

6 hours ago, iainb said:

I think the top League should take Friday and Saturday nights, especially now with minimal impact from the GP's

Even without the 10 GP weekends, you would still lose riders on at least ten other weekends to the GP Challenge, World U21s, World Team U21s and Speedway of Nations.

[Aces51]

If we have to go with the fixed nights then it should be Monday and Thursday. Wolves, King's Lynn and Poole on Mondays and the remaining existing PL tracks on Thursdays. Any newcomers to be allocated to keep the numbers on each night as equal as possible. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Aces51

[ray c]

12 minutes ago, Aces51 said:

If we have to go with the fixed nights then it should be Monday and Thursday. Wolves, King's Lynn and Poole on Mondays and the remaining existing PL tracks on Thursdays. Any newcomers to be allocated to keep the numbers on each night as equal as possible. 

cant see poole on a Monday difficult what ever way we look at it ?

[drb]

Is there any reason why Speedway isn't run on a Saturday afternoon ? That is the traditional sport day and would more likely attract more Football fans during the summer months. I understand there may be a clash with Grand Prix schedule but has previously mentionned how many GP riders are in UK. Also you are more likely to attract larger crowds when they are not at school or work rather than rushing to a stadium after a busy day.

Edited November 8, 2018 by drb

[INCOGNITO]

8 hours ago, Grachan said:

I see there is more in Speedway Star this week with regards to Sweden taking Thursdays.

Surely... SURELY!... British speedway needs to take this night as its second fixed night before Sweden (quite justifiably) take it off them.

That would leave British speedway with just one priority night instead of two because of being voted down by lower teams. This should not be allowed to happen!

The top league should take Thursday as a fixed race night immediately, or else they will lose it.

 

SWEDEN have already had approved by the FIM that they will run their top level on a Tuesday or Thursday and have priority on riders. 

POLAND have the same with Friday, Saturday's and Sunday's 

 

BRITAIN went with Monday and Wednesday's so Sweden jumped in already to claim Thursdays so Britain have to now keep Monday and Wednesday or accept they may have to cover for riders involved in the top leagues in Sweden and Poland  if fixtures do clash. 

 

NOTE There may only be one or two top level meetings in Sweden on a Thursday and the same in Poland on a Friday and Saturday night so in most cases fixtures can be sorted to avoid clashes but it would be a risk any track riding on these nights at home signing a rider that competes in the Swedish or Polish top leagues.

 

other countries get their next season sorted early, Poland complete their signings now and Sweden not far behind but we haven't had an AGM yet so are way behind and have to take what's left.

[INCOGNITO]

59 minutes ago, drb said:

Is there any reason why Speedway isn't run on a Saturday afternoon ? That is the traditional sport day and would more likely attract more Football fans during the summer months. I understand there may be a clash with Grand Prix schedule but has previously mentionned how many GP riders are in UK. Also you are more likely to attract larger crowds when they are not at school or work rather than rushing to a stadium after a busy day.

Bristol, Birmingham, Wolves, United, City etc may have Saturday matches, would you want to run a meeting down the road at the same time as this going on ?

Your number one could have a meeting in Poland, so you would have to do without him. Saturday's may be good at Championship level tracks but most prefer a Friday to avoid a clash with the football. 

[Aces51]

 

I haven't seen that Thursday has now been approved by the FIM for Sweden. 

In this weeks SS Damien Bates, was discussing which league Sheffield and Leicester may race in next year and it was said that a change to the Monday and Wednesday fixed nights introduced last winter could be a key factor in his decision.

Bates said,  it's said that following pressure from the three CL clubs who race on a Thursday, as well as Poole, who were keen to keep their Wednesday race night, Monday and Wednesday were picked for the PL protected evenings............ With only Swindon making use of Thursdays currently, Swedish Elitserien clubs are now pushing to occupy that night and make the move from Tuesdays. This pressure could force Premiership teams to revert to Thursdays and race on that day.

From that it would appear that If a decision has already been made by the FIM giving Thursdays to Sweden, Damien Bates doesn't know about it.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Aces51

[Jemaris]

Long time observer, never posted... until now....

Seriously - Mondays? Thursdays? Wake up. The sport is on it's arse in this country. If they don't run at weekends, it's gone pretty soon as a team sport. Stuff the GP's, just don't sign GP riders! Not saying every team should have a weekend race night, but in Belle Vue's case I think it's imperative to get Friday or Saturday, regardless of who is in the team.

Attracting new or casual people through the gates does not mean they need GP 'Stars' (I use that term loosely these days), they need the whole experience to be decent.

If the racing is good, then I wouldn't care what the 1-7 is, but I'd agree some continuity between seasons would be good, so the long-term 'fan' can relate.

Sack the fixed race nights & clubs should run on any night when it's most viable for them. The tail has been wagging the dog for far too long.

[mikebv]

As has been proved again this year, there will be loads of guests regardless of using fixed nights or not...

Which means there will still be loads of contrived nonsense meetings....

Therefore, you might as well run this nonsense on nights when the majority of the population enjoy their leisure time,  ie at weekends...

Those who still go are obviously not bothered about the lack of any credibility in what they are watching, so will turn up anyway, so run at weekends when you may get an odd ex fan or two (or heaven forbid a newbie), deciding occasionally to make Speedway their weekend night out....

We have dozens and dozens of meetings made up of contrived septets, even with FRN, on nights which the entertainment sector regard as the worst ones in the week to attract custom, therefore...

Run dozens and dozens of meetings made up of contrived septets, on nights which the entertainment sector regard as their best ones in the week to attract custom...

Nothing to lose surely? So no risk, the die hards will always be there, the rest of the population will have more of a chance to go....

Edited November 9, 2018 by mikebv

[f-s-p]

6 hours ago, INCOGNITO said:

 

SWEDEN have already had approved by the FIM that they will run their top level on a Tuesday or Thursday and have priority on riders. 

POLAND have the same with Friday, Saturday's and Sunday's 

 

BRITAIN went with Monday and Wednesday's so Sweden jumped in already to claim Thursdays so Britain have to now keep Monday and Wednesday or accept they may have to cover for riders involved in the top leagues in Sweden and Poland  if fixtures do clash. 

 

NOTE There may only be one or two top level meetings in Sweden on a Thursday and the same in Poland on a Friday and Saturday night so in most cases fixtures can be sorted to avoid clashes but it would be a risk any track riding on these nights at home signing a rider that competes in the Swedish or Polish top leagues.

 

other countries get their next season sorted early, Poland complete their signings now and Sweden not far behind but we haven't had an AGM yet so are way behind and have to take what's left.

Is this for 2018 or 2019?