A ORLOV Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 3 hours ago, Falcon1983 said: There is a serious lack of riders to do what needs to be done with the sport. So if you're talking a 10/12 team top league there might be a bit of a struggle however I feel a 7 rider team structure must take shape at the top league maybe reverting to a 13 heat formula so the reserves get 3 riders and the reserves are those who double down And I'd do away with the championship altogether and have a regionalised conference league and if necessary have them as 5 or 6 rider teams as that division should be about bringing on talent more than success of individual clubs Ipswich, Poole, Swindon, belle vue, wolves, Somerset, kings lynn, Peterborough, sheffield, Glasgow, leicester and kent should make up the Super 12 top division Cannot see Kent jumping up as they have an early curfew and start their meetings at 6.30 which is too early for many fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 40 minutes ago, Grachan said: A highlights magazine would be rubbish. It would just be like the 15 minutes before the racing now starts, which nobody bothers to watch anyway and just fast forwards if they've recorded it. Live speedway on Sky, by the way, got me back into going, so it improved attendances by at least one. I used to think that live speedway was great. But now I look back at some of the wasteful chatter between all the races, occasions it took four hours for 20-odd heats. If I were to watch speedway now, I'd like just the heats, without the studio experts. Screenpsort from the 80s was my thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poole keith Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 why would kent take the financial risk and who would loan them heat leaders to make a competitive team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 34 minutes ago, moxey63 said: I used to think that live speedway was great. But now I look back at some of the wasteful chatter between all the races, occasions it took four hours for 20-odd heats. If I were to watch speedway now, I'd like just the heats, without the studio experts. Screenpsort from the 80s was my thing. I just don't see how it is more interesting watching a sporting event where I already know the score. I know what you mean about all the fill ins though. I normally start watching about an hour after the start and skip bits until I catch up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beowulf Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 6 hours ago, A ORLOV said: Cannot see Kent jumping up as they have an early curfew and start their meetings at 6.30 which is too early for many fans. Well you could look at it this way, the home fans are already used to that time and attend on that basis. As for my own case, for example, I would still have to have an afternoon off to go, so the hour earlier start doesn't really make any difference. In fact it would earlier on the road back home ! I suppose the issue might be getting new home fans to come at that time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 13 hours ago, Bagpuss said: Is it what has driven the majority of people away though? If it was purely down to racing then Belle Vue, Scunny etc would be packed to the rafters. I’d suggest there are several factors ie admission cost, rule bending, poor atmosphere, poor facilities, poor marketing etc. Imo IF the racing was better and the crowds larger because of it, nearly all the points in your second paragraph would be sorted apart from Poole bending, oops sorry I meant to type rule bending ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon1983 Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Replace kent with Birmingham or Eastbourne then the rest make up a new regionalised conference league. Cant see the points limit increasing or being abolished, even if increased there would not be enough riders of the desired quality available for most teams would be well within the limits, and if Glasgow went top flight racing with a higher limit or no limit free for all team building they'd probably end up with a 1-7 of big hitters lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenga Posted September 14, 2019 Report Share Posted September 14, 2019 Glasgow in the top league . yes please ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 (edited) 23 hours ago, theblueboy said: Well, I can only speak as a Swindon fan. This season has been the best racing for several years at Blunsdon. I’ve seen more passing in one meeting than in several years, which suggests that it is the type of track, which needs to be considered. I would say the best tracks for speedway, I’ve seen anyway, are all similar Peterborough, NSS, Somerset and this year Swindon. I’ve not been to Norfolk or PL tracks so can’t include them but those tracks mentioned certainly show good close racing with multiple lines to ride. I wasn’t aware there was a 5 year tv deal in the offing until I read flagrag’s comments. That is welcome news given the general pessimism surrounding the sport and shows to me that the sport itself is still well regarded, certainly within tv, otherwise, why commit on a long term basis. Go back to the 2 youngsters at reserve. 23 and under with GB only or certain qualifying criteria for non UK, team that wins league teams use their average, have a week of speedway some time in Summer holiday where its £5 entry across the board with supporters to be registered to local club to be eligible at the start of the season (or agreed cut off) but pay normal price to own club’s fixtures. Reciprocal agreements for matches between clubs e.g £30 entry, programme and travel. The deal I just had with the match at BV for the cup final was superb value. There is no way I would have gone without the deal and BV received an additional coach load of fans they wouldn’t have ordinarily seen. There really needs to be more collaboration between clubs and leagues for speedway to grow. The sport is struggling because there is too much self interest, at all levels, with promoters only concerned for their own club and not the sport as a whole. Promoters have to go out and sell the sport and your target audience are the children, pure and simple. It’s them that have to be engaged, not me. There is a whole generation that either don’t know about speedway, or have never been introduced. That needs to change. If it’s BT that is looking at the 5 year deal then there should be a caveat about going to schools or marketing the sport locally. Lee Kilby has undertaken lots of initiatives at Swindon and responds to fans quickly via social media, gets things sorted and clarified but he is a lone wolf (there may be others but they are the exception rather than the rule) and that enthusiasm needs to be seen across the sport. I’ve enjoyed the racing again at Swindon, it’s the reason we all go and should be the primary consideration of all clubs. The rest, including marketing, sponsorship and new supporters will be easier with decent racing and we can hopefully look forward to a future for the sport. The thirty pound iniative deal for the Belle Vue trip was a great success and like you i certainly would not of gone without it.If every club could do that it could help club's get an extra 30/50 punters in that normally would not of gone.The speedway this year at the Abbey i have enjoyed very much and if they can get the league up to 12 teams next year could be even better.Every week i go and see that Lee Kilby is pushing for the youngsters to have a great time and hopefully some of these young uns will be the future supporters of the Robins. Edited September 15, 2019 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said: The thirty pound iniative deal for the Belle Vue trip was a great success and like you i certainly would not of gone without it.If every club could do that it could help club's get an extra 30/50 punters in that normally would not of gone.The speedway this year at the Abbey i have enjoyed very much and if they can get the league up to 12 teams next year could be even better.Every week i go and see that Lee Kilby is pushing for the youngsters to have a great time and hopefully some of these young uns will be the future supporters of the Robins. Eastbourne laid on subsidised admission for the travelling Leicester fans last night. The Lions are doing likewise today. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 16 minutes ago, cityrebel said: Eastbourne laid on subsidised admission for the travelling Leicester fans last night. The Lions are doing likewise today. Great news City quite along old Jaunt out that, when the weather is good Eastie is a nice day out do they still use there Claxon City.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted September 15, 2019 Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 52 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: Great news City quite along old Jaunt out that, when the weather is good Eastie is a nice day out do they still use there Claxon City.?? No claxon Sid, those days are gone. I'm a regular at Eastie, only 75mins drive door to door for me. The crowds have been good this season, hovering around the thousand mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted September 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2019 3 minutes ago, cityrebel said: No claxon Sid, those days are gone. I'm a regular at Eastie, only 75mins drive door to door for me. The crowds have been good this season, hovering around the thousand mark. Good crowds then great to see City!!! Eastbourne along with the Isle of Wight are really moving with the times excellent on the media side of thing's. Both are modern run tracks unlike me stuck in a time warp !!!!! i would love both clubs to move up in due course highly unlikely though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Next season is 8 team top flight. Eurosport. And they are paying for it. Not Sky type money but more than BT pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldyman Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) That's a shame,,, a 10 to 12 team league sounded much better, If eurosport are running other stuff late,, then they will miss the speedway Edited September 16, 2019 by Baldyman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobydoo Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Wonder which club is supposed to be moving up, will it be another Buster club ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudtobeaBrummie Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 1 minute ago, scoobydoo said: Wonder which club is supposed to be moving up, will it be another Buster club ? Birmingham Brummies 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobydoo Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) Busters Brummies does have a ring to it Edited September 16, 2019 by scoobydoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Eight teams still not enough really. Hopefully Eurosport will insist on team kevlars and bike covers across the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acef Posted September 16, 2019 Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 4 hours ago, Bagpuss said: Eight teams still not enough really. Hopefully Eurosport will insist on team kevlars and bike covers across the board. Why not? It's enough in Poland and Sweden. Personally I'm happy with 14 home fixtures. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.