Time to have an enquiry into the death of Speedway

[HackneyHawk]

Not quite dead but team speedway in the UK is on it's way out.

Who are the culprits?.....the 'promoters' of course.

They treat Speedway like a sideshow, not as a sport.

 They have allowed this to happen.  Most of them not bothering to plan for the future.  Most of them too insular, treating Speedway as a hobby and if you come and watch, that's up to you, and if you don't, so what.

I visited Coventry for a British riders final in the early 2000's.  The racing was not competitive and very boring, this seemed due to track.  I brought newcomers with me, they hated it.  We visited a food van and asked for chips.....the woman said (rudely) we don't do chips they were too popular.

I went to the opening night of the London Lions, there was nowhere to stand to watch the racing due to the stadium being redeveloped without terracing.  I stood on a grassy bank as I had done watching the Hackney Hawks.  The speedway management called the police to have us removed.  I asked Colin Pratt for a refund and he told me "if you don't like the stadium - f*ck off)

Track shops selling embarrassing tat.  Meeting presentation anachronistic and embarrassing.  Riders wearing the race suit of another club while riding for their rivals as a guest........

Would those things happen in any other area of modern sport/entertainment/leisure? no of course not.

After 40 years I'm almost done with speedway.

 

[Tsunami]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:33 PM, HackneyHawk said:

Not quite dead but team speedway in the UK is on it's way out.

Who are the culprits?.....the 'promoters' of course.

They treat Speedway like a sideshow, not as a sport.

 They have allowed this to happen.  Most of them not bothering to plan for the future.  Most of them too insular, treating Speedway as a hobby and if you come and watch, that's up to you, and if you don't, so what.

I visited Coventry for a British riders final in the early 2000's.  The racing was not competitive and very boring, this seemed due to track.  I brought newcomers with me, they hated it.  We visited a food van and asked for chips.....the woman said (rudely) we don't do chips they were too popular.

I went to the opening night of the London Lions, there was nowhere to stand to watch the racing due to the stadium being redeveloped without terracing.  I stood on a grassy bank as I had done watching the Hackney Hawks.  The speedway management called the police to have us removed.  I asked Colin Pratt for a refund and he told me "if you don't like the stadium - f*ck off)

Track shops selling embarrassing tat.  Meeting presentation anachronistic and embarrassing.  Riders wearing the race suit of another club while riding for their rivals as a guest........

Would those things happen in any other area of modern sport/entertainment/leisure? no of course not.

After 40 years I'm almost done with speedway.

 

You sound like you were already done, before the COVID interference.

[Spl77]

No need for an enquiry. 

Everybody on here knows the reasons why the sport is in terminal decline here in the UK. So many threads so many comments over the years on here. The star have even tried to address it. 

Sadly the powers that be have done very little to address it. 

I no longer worry about it speedway is very much something I have left behind unless I fancy a night at the races for social reasons. 

I can't change it or influence the powers that be so as its out of my control I just enjoy the memories and the odd night out to the speedway once a year or so. 

[Fromafar]

2 hours ago, Spl77 said:

No need for an enquiry. 

Everybody on here knows the reasons why the sport is in terminal decline here in the UK. So many threads so many comments over the years on here. The star have even tried to address it. 

Sadly the powers that be have done very little to address it. 

I no longer worry about it speedway is very much something I have left behind unless I fancy a night at the races for social reasons. 

I can't change it or influence the powers that be so as its out of my control I just enjoy the memories and the odd night out to the speedway once a year or so. 

Sadly that sums it up for a lot fans, diehards will always turn up but attracting new fans is a struggle.

[Speedtiger]

9 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Sadly that sums it up for a lot fans, diehards will always turn up but attracting new fans is a struggle.

HackneyHawk and Fromafar say some very tough and some would say harsh things, BUT they are true, NOT doom and gloom but realistic.

The owner/promoters are totally to blame for the demise of the sport, in particular over the past few years, when it’s gone from bad to worse. The management of the BSPA, Godfrey, Chapmen & Co are woefully poor and fail to see that if people stop buying your products, it’s more than likely the product that is wrong NOT the customer, it’s as simple as that!! 
 

The Covid crisis is only speeding up the inevitable closure of Clubs as many were ‘zombie’ businesses staggering along and ready to die.

Speedway is currently financially unsustainable and Clubs are running up huge debts that can not be repaid, the result will be disastrous. Only a lunatic, with more money than sense, would invest in speedway.

Sadly but truthfully the people running the sport have proved to be clueless clowns and do not possess the acumen to turn things around. 

[ray c]

51 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Sadly that sums it up for a lot fans, diehards will always turn up but attracting new fans is a struggle.

last night meeting from poland full of young people and families not a dogs chance that happening in this country .i am a die hard i find it so depressing 

[HGould]

18 minutes ago, ray c said:

last night meeting from poland full of young people and families not a dogs chance that happening in this country .i am a die hard i find it so depressing 

you need to get out of Poole...

Lots of CL/NL Teams I went to including Brummies doing a lot with kids.

Somerset, Redcar, Eastbourne; Kent ;IOW all showing great initiative.

[Fromafar]

Glasgow are very Pro -Active in trying to attract new and young people to the sport and it is working to degree,but they’re outlay in wages and overheads  still means they are losing money.Its obvious something in sport has to change.

[old bob at herne bay]

Hackney Hawk,

Like you I have endured experiences  with  rude and arrogant modern day  "promoters" that made me wonder why I bother.  Nil entertainment.... endless delays.... shabby stadium facilities and never even the decency of a reply to any letter sent.

Some 3 seasons ago I gave up attending.  My grandfather first watched speedway at Crystal Palace in the the early 1930's ... sadly I have ended the family tradition. Still take the Speedway Star and Classic Speedway magazine ... still watch speedway on TV , but you will never get me to visit another UK speedway track.

I have great memories and prefer to keep them as great memories.  

Sadly from my personal band of speedway "diehard" supporter friends, many of them have  passed away, and must be watching their speedway from afar. 

 

 

 

[LagutaRacingFan]

The spelling on this forum saddens me.

It's Inquiry, not enquiry.

Inquiry - Formal investigation

Enquiry - When you enquire about something

Edited July 30, 2020 by KeirStarmerFan

[mikebv]

11 minutes ago, KeirStarmerFan said:

The spelling on this forum saddens me.

It's Inquiry, not enquiry.

Inquiry - Formal investigation

Enquiry - When you enquire about something

It's grammar not spelling.

The spelling was correct.

[Fromafar]

47 minutes ago, KeirStarmerFan said:

The spelling on this forum saddens me.

It's Inquiry, not enquiry.

Inquiry - Formal investigation

Enquiry - When you enquire about something

[cityrebel]

4 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Sadly that sums it up for a lot fans, diehards will always turn up but attracting new fans is a struggle.

Some of the diehards may have been personally affected by the bug, or have lost their jobs. Some may have lost interest because of the enforced break. Replacing any absentees will be virtually impossible. 

[Ovalman]

I can only speak of my local track at Swindon. Great promotional work by Lee Kilby, British Premier Double winners last season, crowd of over 3000 as they thrashed Ipswich in Grand Final, hundreds chanting and singing, fantastic. Crowds were up on previous year.

Edited July 30, 2020 by auntie doris

[cityrebel]

6 hours ago, auntie doris said:

I can only speak of my local track at Swindon. Great promotional work by Lee Kilby, British Premier Double winners last season, crowd of over 3000 as they thrashed Ipswich in Grand Final, hundreds chanting and singing, fantastic. Crowds were up on previous year.

I was there, but the world has changed massively since then.

[marko]

Hackney 96! Yes what a disaster that was from the word go, countless issues with the stadium, the back straight stand never once opened, we started standing by the pits area but then suddenly after a few weeks got told we can’t stand there anymore, the general viewing was rubbish, one evening there was a power failure and even though there was a enough light to race they had to abandon because the main stand was air conditioned as it’s only source of proper ventilation.

Over the years I have often grown tired of dry under watered slick tracks, poor presentation and sloppy time keeping and a hugely irregular fixture list, but even then I still kept going because so much of my life had revolved around the sport, I was at Arena Essex every season (not every meeting but 90% of them) from 1988-2018 the only season I didn’t go was when they went into the NL because I remembered the disaster of trying to run a Hackney side a few years previous along side the main Lakeside team, and if Arena was still running I would go, even if it was NL because for all it’s ills I miss the good things, the noise, the smell the sheer sight of bikes being thrown into corners sideways at speed.

[cityrebel]

1 hour ago, marko said:

Hackney 96! Yes what a disaster that was from the word go, countless issues with the stadium, the back straight stand never once opened, we started standing by the pits area but then suddenly after a few weeks got told we can’t stand there anymore, the general viewing was rubbish, one evening there was a power failure and even though there was a enough light to race they had to abandon because the main stand was air conditioned as it’s only source of proper ventilation.

Over the years I have often grown tired of dry under watered slick tracks, poor presentation and sloppy time keeping and a hugely irregular fixture list, but even then I still kept going because so much of my life had revolved around the sport, I was at Arena Essex every season (not every meeting but 90% of them) from 1988-2018 the only season I didn’t go was when they went into the NL because I remembered the disaster of trying to run a Hackney side a few years previous along side the main Lakeside team, and if Arena was still running I would go, even if it was NL because for all it’s ills I miss the good things, the noise, the smell the sheer sight of bikes being thrown into corners sideways at speed.

The London Lions in 1996 was a tenner to get in. Astonishing, considering most tracks were charging £6 at the time. Despite all of problems at the stadium, i only missed 2 meetings there that season. I must have been mad!

[IainB]

16 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Glasgow are very Pro -Active in trying to attract new and young people to the sport and it is working to degree,but they’re outlay in wages and overheads  still means they are losing money.Its obvious something in sport has to change.

I went to Glasgow for the PO Final last year and from the moment you turn up at the stadium it feels like you're going to be watching a professionally run sport, it's the standard all other clubs should be aiming for... it's just a shame they can't make it pay!

2 hours ago, marko said:

Hackney 96! Yes what a disaster that was from the word go, countless issues with the stadium, the back straight stand never once opened, we started standing by the pits area but then suddenly after a few weeks got told we can’t stand there anymore, the general viewing was rubbish, one evening there was a power failure and even though there was a enough light to race they had to abandon because the main stand was air conditioned as it’s only source of proper ventilation.

I went to the first GP at Hackney and started off by standing on one of the "grass banks" until being moved on... then the best viewing position I could find was actually below the track and we stood there looking up at it, never went again. They should have called themselves the London White Elephants 

[Ovalman]

4 hours ago, cityrebel said:

I was there, but the world has changed massively since then.

Have followed New Cross, Wimbledon, Worky, but never known atmosphere like that night at The Shabbey Stadium.

[ch958]

and yet, we hear of new ventures at Worky, Southampton, possibly Odsal and Exeter so it does go on.

As with any business the number one thing that puts you out of business is not controlling costs.

Added to that admission fees have to compare with similar experiences (night at the flix, non lge footy, pizza, etc)

you then have to control your costs to work within that income

They tell you this day one of business studies!!