Rob Godfrey interview in Speedway Star

[iwright71]

A good 5 page in depth interview with  Rob Godfrey in this weeks Speedway Star. Did any posters read it and have any comments / opinions on the thoughts of the BSPA Vice Chairman

[phillwhitewasmad]

Personally don’t think he’s a million miles off with his views .

[HGould]

I found it completely depressing. The boss of the CL and yet he can't in 5 pages mention my team Birmingham - Britain's 2nd city Club moving up and does not warrant a mention. He can't be bothered to talk positively or even mention 2 x KOC winners in 2018 from other Leagues moving in to the CL - Somerset down but adding to the quality and Eastbourne up, a Club with a very recent Elite league tradition.

Does he actually see the CL as a "Northern League"??. 

I'm sad Workington and Lakeside won't be lining up, but he can't be bothered to talk much about those Clubs who will enhance the Championship! his comments about protecting Friday nights for his own Club by stopping Lakeside race on a Friday are as much to blame for their and Workingtons Fixture backlog as any amount of rain and bad Fixture planning. Time he took some responsibility for that.

I get that all Clubs have to tighten their pockets and that does not make great news but overall it was typical Godfrey - ego ego ego.

I just wish the guys at Glasgow and Edinburgh and other successful Promotions could join this "top table" or is it just a closed Club. 

Snide comments too about some Clubs seeking a lower limit to survive.

 

 

 

[cityrebel]

If i run out of bog paper, i might find a need for his article.

[topaz325]

1 hour ago, HGould said:

I found it completely depressing. The boss of the CL and yet he can't in 5 pages mention my team Birmingham - Britain's 2nd city Club moving up and does not warrant a mention. He can't be bothered to talk positively or even mention 2 x KOC winners in 2018 from other Leagues moving in to the CL - Somerset down but adding to the quality and Eastbourne up, a Club with a very recent Elite league tradition.

Does he actually see the CL as a "Northern League"??. 

I'm sad Workington and Lakeside won't be lining up, but he can't be bothered to talk much about those Clubs who will enhance the Championship! his comments about protecting Friday nights for his own Club by stopping Lakeside race on a Friday are as much to blame for their and Workingtons Fixture backlog as any amount of rain and bad Fixture planning. Time he took some responsibility for that.

I get that all Clubs have to tighten their pockets and that does not make great news but overall it was typical Godfrey - ego ego ego.

I just wish the guys at Glasgow and Edinburgh and other successful Promotions could join this "top table" or is it just a closed Club. 

Snide comments too about some Clubs seeking a lower limit to survive.

 

 

 

Agree with this post, with the greatest of respect to Mr Godfrey but he seems to be out of touch with what has happened to British Speedway, the problems have been highlighted by fans fo years.

Regarding the fixture pile ups at the end of the season , the same thing happens almost annually.

[Chadster]

I thought he made some reasonable points and would agree the AGM was a cautious tep in the right direction. I was surprised about his enthusiasm for one big league as the decisions at the AGM actually moved the top two leagues further apart after years of them moving closer together.

[frigbo]

It encapsulated so much that is wrong with British Speedway promotion. He is so far out of kilter with the the majority of issues and many of his comments were simply insular and far removed from the perspective of the sport as a whole.

Based on that article, the tunnel is well and truly bricked up with not a glimmer of light to be seen!

 

[Seathestars]

In this article he mentioned if an away team won it was not good news for the promoter of that winning club because of having to pay his riders too much money the same as a big home win. Not sure how but maybe it is time for a different pay structure for riders is introduced,and not paid per point maybe clubs would not loose as much money each year hence not go out of business.

Speedway must be one of the only sports that pays solely on performance only, perhaps this is one reason why this great sport is not going forward.    

[Speedtiger]

6 hours ago, HGould said:

I found it completely depressing. The boss of the CL and yet he can't in 5 pages mention my team Birmingham - Britain's 2nd city Club moving up and does not warrant a mention. He can't be bothered to talk positively or even mention 2 x KOC winners in 2018 from other Leagues moving in to the CL - Somerset down but adding to the quality and Eastbourne up, a Club with a very recent Elite league tradition.

Does he actually see the CL as a "Northern League"??. 

I'm sad Workington and Lakeside won't be lining up, but he can't be bothered to talk much about those Clubs who will enhance the Championship! his comments about protecting Friday nights for his own Club by stopping Lakeside race on a Friday are as much to blame for their and Workingtons Fixture backlog as any amount of rain and bad Fixture planning. Time he took some responsibility for that.

I get that all Clubs have to tighten their pockets and that does not make great news but overall it was typical Godfrey - ego ego ego.

I just wish the guys at Glasgow and Edinburgh and other successful Promotions could join this "top table" or is it just a closed Club. 

Snide comments too about some Clubs seeking a lower limit to survive.

 

 

 

I agree. But the SS should be more objective and seriously question Godfrey on what he was saying. For what it’s worth my opinion is the sooner Godfrey and his mate Chapman get out of speedway the better.

The sport will not improve under their pathetic ‘leadership’, they have presided over the worse period for sport in decades and are running the sport into the ground. I’ve been to Scunthorpe to watch the Tigers on many occasions and can not get over what dump the ‘stadium’ and ‘track’ are a disgrace to speedway. Most fans I speak and listen to say Godfrey is self serving and full of his own importance. I can not understand why the other promoters put up with them. For the good and future of speedway they should be booted out and quick. We’ve had enough. 

[Daniel Smith]

6 hours ago, Speedtiger said:

I agree. But the SS should be more objective and seriously question Godfrey on what he was saying. For what it’s worth my opinion is the sooner Godfrey and his mate Chapman get out of speedway the better.

The sport will not improve under their pathetic ‘leadership’, they have presided over the worse period for sport in decades and are running the sport into the ground. I’ve been to Scunthorpe to watch the Tigers on many occasions and can not get over what dump the ‘stadium’ and ‘track’ are a disgrace to speedway. Most fans I speak and listen to say Godfrey is self serving and full of his own importance. I can not understand why the other promoters put up with them. For the good and future of speedway they should be booted out and quick. We’ve had enough. 

Don't think that's a very fair assessment at all. Scunthorpe is regularly suggested as delivering on the quality of racing. 

Think you're right with regards Godfrey himself, alongside Chapman this sport has no hope. In terms of racing the Scunthorpe punters at least get something worth watching in terms of value for money compared to King's Lynn. 

[Sidney the robin]

2 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

Don't think that's a very fair assessment at all. Scunthorpe is regularly suggested as delivering on the quality of racing. 

Think you're right with regards Godfrey himself, alongside Chapman this sport has no hope. In terms of racing the Scunthorpe punters at least get something worth watching in terms of value for money compared to King's Lynn. 

I have been to Scunthorpe once under the Godfrey ownership and it was a terrific meeting. That  along with the Torun GP 2018 are the best two meeting's i have seen live in the last five years and believe me i have seen some crap racing at Swindon.

[waytogo28]

1 hour ago, Daniel Smith said:

Godfrey is self serving and full of his own importance. I can not understand why the other promoters put up with them. For the good and future of speedway they should be booted out and quick. We’ve had enough. 

 

14 hours ago, topaz325 said:

Agree with this post, with the greatest of respect to Mr Godfrey but he seems to be out of touch with what has happened to British Speedway, the problems have been highlighted by fans fo years.

Neither Godfrey nor Chapman have the necessary "people" skills ( other than to collect "yes" men and women ). Neither of them is prepared to listen to views other than each other's and both see feedback from fans as an irritant. Cleary they are NOT "right" as both believe themselves to be. If they were, speedway would be capable of attracting - however slowly - a new generation of fans, There was little mention of marketing  or promoting the sport and it does not seem important enough to either of them. They are woefully bereft of positive ideas of where to go next or how to achieve growth. Masses of words but little of value and very little decisive analysis of the real problems of UK speedway at present.

The only part of this overlong outpouring I could agree with is that the future of sport here, is as a semi-pro - one big league and that is something that many fans have seen as inevitable for quite a while ( as long as Chapman and Godfrey have been at the helm! ),  

The silence of the Chairman is deafening. he failed to respond to the SS "crisis" issue, pre the last AGM and has said almost nothing else since.

[moxey63]

I read pieces of this article. The worry is that for decades we have run a sport where men in charge boast of losing thousands upon thousands of pounds just to keep the club running. And they seem proud of it. I call this stupid. Have we had the wrong people running the sport?

Another piece I read is how the idea of allowing people in for free has been tried - and they didn't come back the next week. I assume the problem here, was that the new people were just plonked on the terraces, without any idea of what the sport was about - just four riders racing, which is exciting at first but can become tedious. 

Keeping score is the most - or one of - important things a perspective speedway fan should learn. I introduced my younger brother to the sport - but only after I showed him at home the basics of filling in a programme. He knew what to do when he got there and had been a fan ever since.

The racing and keeping score are like egg and chips. Yum! 

Edited February 10, 2019 by moxey63

[TonyMac]

I'll have to read the piece in full later today before commenting but his throwaway line (used as a pull quote) along the lines of today's racing being much better than it was in the 60s, 70s & 80s certainly raised an eyebrow here. He obviously never saw PC - to name just one - in his prime.

[Vince]

15 hours ago, Suffolkpunch said:

Speedway must be one of the only sports that pays solely on performance only, perhaps this is one reason why this great sport is not going forward.    

I think it should be one of the major promotional points along with the danger.

42 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

I read pieces of this article. The worry is that for decades we have run a sport where men in charge boast of losing thousands upon thousands of pounds just to keep the club running. And they seem proud of it. I call this stupid. Have we had the wrong people running the sport?

Another piece I read is how the idea of allowing people in for free has been tried - and they didn't come back the next week. I assume the problem here, was that the new people were just plonked on the terraces, without any idea of what the sport was about - just four riders racing, which is exciting at first but can become tedious. 

Keeping score is the most - or one of - important things a perspective speedway fan should learn. I introduced my younger brother to the sport - but only after I showed him at home the basics of filling in a programme. He knew what to do when he got there and had been a fan ever since.

The racing and keeping score are like egg and chips. Yum! 

Each to their own but in 50 ish years of going to Speedway I've never bothered with filling in a programme, then again I like individual meeting more than most team racing so I'm aware that I'm very much in the minority. If you want to keep the fans coming back following free entry I would suggest some good racing, a couple of spectacular crashes and a punch up between a couple of riders would be most effective.

23 minutes ago, tmc said:

I'll have to read the piece in full later today before commenting but his throwaway line (used as a pull quote) along the lines of today's racing being much better than it was in the 60s, 70s & 80s certainly raised an eyebrow here. He obviously never saw PC - to name just one - in his prime.

I'm with Rob Godfrey (for the first and very likely only time) on this one. I believe that although there were some great riders and racing in the past overall the quality of racing is higher now.

[PHILIPRISING]

NOT saying whether I agree or disagree with Rob's comments and am certainly not generally a fan of decisions made by the BSPA, but ... without people like Rob, funding speedway tracks that for the most part are not even profitable, there would be no speedway. And with regards to Scunthorpe... he created one of the best tracks in the country and if racing was good elsewhere the sport might not have some of the problems it does today. Just saying ...

[lucifer sam]

1 hour ago, tmc said:

I'll have to read the piece in full later today before commenting but his throwaway line (used as a pull quote) along the lines of today's racing being much better than it was in the 60s, 70s & 80s certainly raised an eyebrow here. He obviously never saw PC - to name just one - in his prime.

The best racing I've seen on a week-to-week basis is at modern day Scunthorpe, so I understand Rob Godfrey's statement.

If I'd have been privileged to watch racing on a weekly basis at Hyde Road in the 70s, maybe I'd disagree.

To be honest, I don't think the racing is any better or any worse.  The big difference is the atmosphere during meetings - that's not the same.  And that's down to crowds being a fraction of what they were. 

[Speedtiger]

39 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

NOT saying whether I agree or disagree with Rob's comments and am certainly not generally a fan of decisions made by the BSPA, but ... without people like Rob, funding speedway tracks that for the most part are not even profitable, there would be no speedway. And with regards to Scunthorpe... he created one of the best tracks in the country and if racing was good elsewhere the sport might not have some of the problems it does today. Just saying ...

Individuals funding loss making clubs is why the sport is now in terminal decline. Speedway (currently) is a professional sport but mainly run by rank amateurs or enthusiasts with very little intelligence or business acumen. Godfrey and Chapman are living proof....and they and others are to blame and why the sport is bust.

 The stadium is a dump, the track is sort of okay but it’s hardly an oval, it’s a circle, throttle on blast round no technical ability required.  Boring. Just saying. 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Speedtiger

[PHILIPRISING]

THERE isn't exactly a queue of people lining up take the places of the "rank amateurs and enthusiasts" and even if there was who would pay them? I seriously doubt that any promoter in the country would not seriously consider selling if a suitable offer came along. Bit it ain't going to happen. Not even the most successful track in the country (Poole) can attract a buyer.

[IronScorpion]

21 hours ago, HGould said:

I found it completely depressing. The boss of the CL and yet he can't in 5 pages mention my team Birmingham - Britain's 2nd city Club moving up and does not warrant a mention. He can't be bothered to talk positively or even mention 2 x KOC winners in 2018 from other Leagues moving in to the CL - Somerset down but adding to the quality and Eastbourne up, a Club with a very recent Elite league tradition.

Does he actually see the CL as a "Northern League"??. 

I'm sad Workington and Lakeside won't be lining up, but he can't be bothered to talk much about those Clubs who will enhance the Championship! his comments about protecting Friday nights for his own Club by stopping Lakeside race on a Friday are as much to blame for their and Workingtons Fixture backlog as any amount of rain and bad Fixture planning. Time he took some responsibility for that.

I get that all Clubs have to tighten their pockets and that does not make great news but overall it was typical Godfrey - ego ego ego.

I just wish the guys at Glasgow and Edinburgh and other successful Promotions could join this "top table" or is it just a closed Club. 

Snide comments too about some Clubs seeking a lower limit to survive.

 

 

 

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