Somerset 2020

[poolebolton]

21 minutes ago, East End Fan said:

I really do not understand the logic here.  You stopped going because your club  ( is that Somerset ?) dropped down a league which you

considered less value.  All the leagues, from NL upwards can provide exciting racing.  You do not have to have World class riders to provide

good entertainment. When Lakeside closed, I switched my viewing to Kent in the NL and they have entertained me every week just as much

as Lakeside ever did.  My suggestion to you is to stop being a Premiership snob and just enjoy what is on offer.

This argument about top tier is irrelevant. We don't have top tier racing in this country. Even Sweden doesn't have it now. One country has top tier and thats poland.  

[Najjer]

23 minutes ago, ragdoll64 said:

If you REALLY loved speedway, you’d still be going. Don’t think you can be a true fan of the sport in my opinion. 

That is exactly right, I don’t anymore and that is why I didn’t attend all of last season - as I felt I no longer got value for money. Years ago I used to follow Somerset home and away, travelled to places ranging from the IOW to Edinburgh.

I actually think the Somerset promotion is one of the best in the country, but that also underlined how bad some of the others are. This is not just Somerset related but a generic comment, what are promotions doing to encourage people to attend other than relying on force of habit?

[Bagpuss]

9 minutes ago, Najjer said:

That is exactly right, I don’t anymore and that is why I didn’t attend all of last season - as I felt I no longer got value for money. Years ago I used to follow Somerset home and away, travelled to places ranging from the IOW to Edinburgh.

I actually think the Somerset promotion is one of the best in the country, but that also underlined how bad some of the others are. This is not just Somerset related but a generic comment, what are promotions doing to encourage people to attend other than relying on force of habit?

This is spot on. Speedway in general in this country takes its punters for granted and doesn’t do enough to keep them coming back or get new ones through the door. If you keep decreasing the standard and increasing the price it’s only going to end one way unfortunately. 

[iris123]

You can’t rely on the slogan ‘use it or lose it’ to help your club. Just look at how many fans have walked away or hardly go and how many clubs have closed because they couldn’t attract enough through the gate. You need more than a campaign of trying to make people feel guilty in order to survive. Quite frankly a lot of clubs don’t have anything other than that though

[Sidney the robin]

13 hours ago, teaboy279 said:

Hume has just finished his first serious injury free season of his career, so no where near his potential.

At times in certain meeting's this year Hume has looked quicker than Perks and I have seen alot  of Perks at Swindon.This year Danyon has  come  through unscathed injury wise and is now a true no 1 at national league level.There are a few riders i could name who have Championship places who are not as good as Hume and Stoneman is one of them..I like Nathan but Hume is a better rider and it will be interesting to see how thing's pan out.

[jenga]

use it or lose it !  i worked for a large car/van and truck rental company  . we had a recovery flatbed truck for the garage workshop . we were told to use it or lose it . we used it as often as we could . then it came to light that we were costing the company money because we were using it too much . so lose it or lose it costs money either way ! i do believe it was sold off .   

[CountyGround]

17 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

At times in certain meeting's this year Hume has looked quicker than Perks and I have seen alot  of Perks at Swindon.This year Danyon has  come  through unscathed injury wise and is now a true no 1 at national league level.There are a few riders i could name who have Championship places who are not as good as Hume and Stoneman is one of them..I like Nathan but Hume is a better rider and it will be interesting to see how thing's pan out.

Nathan Stoneman comes into the Rebels team on a 2 point average, he also ticks many other boxes to be selected for the 2020 line-up. 

What is Danyon Humes championship average? Where does he live, if he is the talent you say then I wish him well in getting a CL team spot.

The Rebels management have chosen their 2020 line-up (I'm 100% sure the 1 to 7 was not Gazzas first choice) but it's with-in the budget & should provide plenty of on track excitement.

Somerset can not be held reasonable for every rider without a 2020 team place as a race track I would think it would be every CL riders first choice anyway! 

[Ben91]

6 hours ago, CountyGround said:

USE IT OR LOSE IT.

I'm not management, but have been involved in speedway for 55 years & yes I do think we all need to be more positive toward our chosen sport. But without crowds that balance the books the facts is our sport can not survive, as we know it. 

The sport needs an independent group that can think outside the box & be able to implement their ideals. 

Perhaps the books don’t balance because the riders demand too much in the way of wages.

Speedway is dirt track racing, it shouldn’t be considered a professional sport if the crowds coming through the door can’t support just that.

Most sportsmen practice their chosen discipline as a hobby until such a time as they reach a standard where their skill merits that they are paid to do it as a full time job. It strikes me that Speedway riders expect a living from the sport and the promoters are happy to go along with it to the detriment of the fans (doubling up being a salient point here). 

There will always be enough riders about, there won’t always be fans of the current trend of putting prices up and lowering standards continues. 

I’m sure Najjer would go to watch NL standard racing if the entrance fee represented the standard of racing on offer. 

[Fromafar]

20 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

Perhaps the books don’t balance because the riders demand too much in the way of wages.

Speedway is dirt track racing, it shouldn’t be considered a professional sport if the crowds coming through the door can’t support just that.

Most sportsmen practice their chosen discipline as a hobby until such a time as they reach a standard where their skill merits that they are paid to do it as a full time job. It strikes me that Speedway riders expect a living from the sport and the promoters are happy to go along with it to the detriment of the fans (doubling up being a salient point here). 

There will always be enough riders about, there won’t always be fans of the current trend of putting prices up and lowering standards continues. 

I’m sure Najjer would go to watch NL standard racing if the entrance fee represented the standard of racing on offer. 

Agree with your thoughts.

[Najjer]

20 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

Perhaps the books don’t balance because the riders demand too much in the way of wages.

Speedway is dirt track racing, it shouldn’t be considered a professional sport if the crowds coming through the door can’t support just that.

Most sportsmen practice their chosen discipline as a hobby until such a time as they reach a standard where their skill merits that they are paid to do it as a full time job. It strikes me that Speedway riders expect a living from the sport and the promoters are happy to go along with it to the detriment of the fans (doubling up being a salient point here). 

There will always be enough riders about, there won’t always be fans of the current trend of putting prices up and lowering standards continues. 

I’m sure Najjer would go to watch NL standard racing if the entrance fee represented the standard of racing on offer. 

100% spot on.

As a matter of fact, I started attending speedway when Somerset were in that bottom tier all those years ago.

[ruckerroo]

Just out of interest what were the top and bottom prices for all 3 leagues last yr?

I am a nomadic fan since the demise of reading , go to watch Eastbourne a bit as Saturdays suit, I thought they priced CL  very competitively at 16 quid 

[drew2]

2 hours ago, ruckerroo said:

Just out of interest what were the top and bottom prices for all 3 leagues last yr?

I am a nomadic fan since the demise of reading , go to watch Eastbourne a bit as Saturdays suit, I thought they priced CL  very competitively at 16 quid 

So we have, Najjer saying £16 isn't good value at Somerset whilst the same product and price at Eastbourne is stated as being competitive.

I have watched the Rebels every year since they started and have enjoying every one of them whatever level we raced at. The racing in 2019 was no less entertaining than in the Premiership years of 2018 or 17 or any year before that in fact, in my opinion. I am looking forward to those tapes going up at the OTA in 2020 as well.

But that is it in a nutshell, everyone has and is entitled to an opinion on how they see things.

[spin king junior]

6 hours ago, ragdoll64 said:

If you REALLY loved speedway, you’d still be going. Don’t think you can be a true fan of the sport in my opinion. 

Absolute rubbish. It's fans that take it as it is that are killing the sport. If it keeps going the way it is, then it'll never bring in new fans, just p*** off the existing fans and the so called "die hards" that'll accept any lazy promoting and the general dross that's shoved our way.

 

Maybe rather than trying to scaremonger the loyal supporters to show, they should work on the sport itself and promote it? Because 'use it or lose it' doesn't work, will never work and is just slapping a plaster on a gaping wound. 

Edited December 8, 2019 by spin king junior

[ragdoll64]

1 hour ago, spin king junior said:

Absolute rubbish. It's fans that take it as it is that are killing the sport. If it keeps going the way it is, then it'll never bring in new fans, just p*** off the existing fans and the so called "die hards" that'll accept any lazy promoting and the general dross that's shoved our way.

 

Maybe rather than trying to scaremonger the loyal supporters to show, they should work on the sport itself and promote it? Because 'use it or lose it' doesn't work, will never work and is just slapping a plaster on a gaping wound. 

So, we should ALL walk away then?............good tactic..........never thought of that.  
Seriously.....what is you’re solution to make the people who provide speedway give YOU what YOU desire?

[spin king junior]

8 hours ago, ragdoll64 said:

So, we should ALL walk away then?............good tactic..........never thought of that.  
Seriously.....what is you’re solution to make the people who provide speedway give YOU what YOU desire?

No. If you enjoy the product in its current state then that's all good. Have at it and you keep going. But if someone like Najjer or anyone else doesn't, then they should vote with their wallet. Speedway isn't a charity, it's a sport and a form of entertainment and if you feel like you're not getting your money's worth then don't go!

 

My main point is that speedway is on its arse. If speedway was a person, it'd be on life support. There isn't any any quick fix for the sport and there are an absolute load of problems that can't get addressed in one go. But one thing that absolutely will not save the sport is use it or lose attitude for more than one reason-

1. It doesn't entice new fans because they don't give a toss about speedway, so they couldn't give a rats arse if the sports ends or not and just makes everything look a little bit unprofessional.

2. The current fan base isn't enough to hold up speedway to begin with, so whether the diehards show up or not, it's not going to save speedway long term. It's a short-term solution and is only effective a minority of the time as a quick fix.

3. It let promoters get lazy. Rather than addressing the (many) problems speedway has, let's just blame the supporters! It's their fault for not showing up to the meetings. Not the promoters who run the sport.

Edited December 9, 2019 by spin king junior

[Ben91]

8 hours ago, ragdoll64 said:

So, we should ALL walk away then?............good tactic..........never thought of that.  
Seriously.....what is you’re solution to make the people who provide speedway give YOU what YOU desire?

I found a nice restaurant a number of years ago, I’d go there regularly to eat. Over the years the prices started to rise and the standard of food started to slip. The last time I went I was served a steaming pile of turd in a bun. I told the proprietor I wasn’t going to eat it or pay for it, he told me to take it or leave it so I left.

 

[ruffdiamond]

5 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

I found a nice restaurant a number of years ago, I’d go there regularly to eat. Over the years the prices started to rise and the standard of food started to slip. The last time I went I was served a steaming pile of turd in a bun. I told the proprietor I wasn’t going to eat it or pay for it, he told me to take it or leave it so I left.

 

and have you been back since, or do you think you will go back???

I had the same sort of problem with my mixed kebab and, the quality and quantity of shish, he never addressed it so I go to his competitor round the corner and pay a pound more.

[iris123]

17 minutes ago, ruffdiamond said:

and have you been back since, or do you think you will go back???

I had the same sort of problem with my mixed kebab and, the quality and quantity of shish, he never addressed it so I go to his competitor round the corner and pay a pound more.

You are lucky. Some of us don’t have a competitor round the corner. So we gave up with kebabs and started visiting the Kentucky on kebab nights instead 

[ragdoll64]

49 minutes ago, spin king junior said:

No. If you enjoy the product in its current state then that's all good. Have at it and you keep going. But if someone like Najjer or anyone else doesn't, then they should vote with their wallet. Speedway isn't a charity, it's a sport and a form of entertainment and if you feel like you're not getting your money's worth then don't go!

 

My main point is that speedway is on its arse. If speedway was a person, it'd be on life support. There isn't any any quick fix for the sport and there are an absolute load of problems that can't get addressed in one go. But one thing that absolutely will not save the sport is use it or lose attitude for more than one reason-

1. It doesn't entice new fans because they don't give a toss about speedway, so they couldn't give a rats arse if the sports ends or not and just makes everything look a little bit unprofessional.

2. The current fan base isn't enough to hold up speedway to begin with, so whether the diehards show up or not, it's not going to save speedway long term. It's a short-term solution and is only effective a minority of the time as a quick fix.

3. It let promoters get lazy. Rather than addressing the (many) problems speedway has, let's just blame the supporters! It's their fault for not showing up to the meetings. Not the promoters who run the sport.

All I asked for was your solution to the problems?...... and stated that walking away, like some people who claim to love the sport are doing, isn’t going to fix it. 

[ragdoll64]

50 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

I found a nice restaurant a number of years ago, I’d go there regularly to eat. Over the years the prices started to rise and the standard of food started to slip. The last time I went I was served a steaming pile of turd in a bun. I told the proprietor I wasn’t going to eat it or pay for it, he told me to take it or leave it so I left.

 

But you had umpteen other restaurants to move to. We’re talking about Speedway as a whole here.....and there’s only ONE Speedway.