called off too soon ?

[davieb1]

whats your opinion on matches being called off way too soon

as per last nights match with lions v glasgow

I feel there being way too hasty

discuss

[Fromafar]

12 minutes ago, davieb1 said:

whats your opinion on matches being called off way too soon

as per last nights match with lions v glasgow

I feel there being way too hasty

discuss

Your to late with this.

[W9 Lion]

Drove to Glasgow on Friday for a meeting. Drove back Saturday (8hrs+) to Leicester. Didnt see a meeting. And both rain offs were the right decision at the time they were made. The forecast was bloody awful (weather warnings on all weather apps for LE4 on Satrurday) when the decision was made and I would rather have the opportunity to make other plans rather than stand in the drizzle, watch second rate racing (due to track conditions) and possibly see a rider pick up an unnessary injury. But the one that I really hate, is the scrape to Heat Ten and get a result declaired on a track that should never be raced on. Remember you go to a meeting for a nights entertainment.

[LisaColette]

If the forecast is torrential rain then yes call it off. But if it is a bit hit and miss then they should wait at least til it is raining significantly before calling it off in an ideal world. However I don't own a speedway club so it isn't my money or decision. However Leicester are going to have a few fixtures to fit in during Autumn. Let's hope for an indian  summer!

[Endeavour]

24 minutes ago, davieb1 said:

whats your opinion on matches being called off way too soon

as per last nights match with lions v glasgow

I feel there being way too hasty

discuss

Was down for Edinburgh match at Leicester. We arrived at premier inn couple miles from track at 4.00pm to blue skies. Didn’t rain til next morning.

[East End Fan]

39 minutes ago, davieb1 said:

whats your opinion on matches being called off way too soon

as per last nights match with lions v glasgow

I feel there being way too hasty

discuss

Personally, I would always prefer an early call off so that I do not start my journey.  These days, my guess is that promoters cannot afford to chance it

and maybe run in front of a low crowd and I'm sure that  this is a major reason for early call offs.

[IainB]

44 minutes ago, davieb1 said:

whats your opinion on matches being called off way too soon

as per last nights match with lions v glasgow

I feel there being way too hasty

discuss

There's many comments on this topic on other threads, mainly the upcoming fixture chaos thread. If clubs are going to abandon the fixture list and call matches off based on forecasts it's time to award 1 point each and forget the re-staging.

[Trees]

Given the fickleness of speedway fans these days the promoters have to call off meetings if the forecasts are poor!  They need every paying fan they can get through the turnstiles .....

[mrss]

18 minutes ago, Trees said:

Given the fickleness of speedway fans these days the promoters have to call off meetings if the forecasts are poor!  They need every paying fan they can get through the turnstiles .....

Agreed speedway clubs do need every paying customer they get. What happened at Kings Lynn Thursday hasn’t done speedway in general any favours what so ever.

[screm]

To be fair to the promotions they are caught between a rock and a hard place as to when to call off a meeting. Do they chance it on an iffy forecast hoping firstly the forecast allows for the meeting to go ahead and secondly enough people turn up for a wet meeting without them losing a fortune, or do they call it off early enough to save riders and supporters the time money and effort in getting to a stadium only for it to fall victim of the weather.

[SteveLyric2]

Another thought -  for those clubs likely to be in the play-offs and well advanced with their fixtures, they won't want to finish those fixtures too quickly and then have a long (no fixture) wait to the play-offs, whilst other play-off contenders are keeping race-fit right up to the deadline.

[PowerfulPierre]

Headed to Glasgow on Friday for the Leicester match and consulted 4 different weather apps.  3 said wall to wall rain and 1 said 45% chance at 4.00 p.m. then clearing up. Based on that info., the decision to call it off would appear to have been the right one. As it turned out, it wasn't, although I understand that there was heavy rain about 5 miles away from the track.  Same yesterday at Leicester; the weather seems to be more localised and it's very much the luck of the draw as to whether or not the predicted rain will actually fall on the track or 10 minutes away down the road. Given riders expenses etc. getting to a meeting, there comes a time when a promotion has to make a decision. Your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

[Moranboys]

13 minutes ago, PowerfulPierre said:

Headed to Glasgow on Friday for the Leicester match and consulted 4 different weather apps.  3 said wall to wall rain and 1 said 45% chance at 4.00 p.m. then clearing up. Based on that info., the decision to call it off would appear to have been the right one. As it turned out, it wasn't, although I understand that there was heavy rain about 5 miles away from the track.  Same yesterday at Leicester; the weather seems to be more localised and it's very much the luck of the draw as to whether or not the predicted rain will actually fall on the track or 10 minutes away down the road. Given riders expenses etc. getting to a meeting, there comes a time when a promotion has to make a decision. Your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

You indeed are damned if you do and damned if you don't ,come on speedway fans,how many times have you been to a meeting after a long drive only for it to have been called off? It's a really frustrating feeling,both from a time point of view and the expense as well.speedway is,and always will be,a fair weather sport.i would imagine most people go to be entertained,I know I do,dispite the outcome,that's why I also watch a lot of meetings at scunthorpe as well as my hometown club.when it's wet though the entertainment factor is zero and to try and promote the sport you NEED entertainment,so when meetings are called off,they are firstly from the safety aspect and secondly from an entertainment point of view.i really do have sympathy for a lot of the promoters.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Moranboys

[IainB]

27 minutes ago, Moranboys said:

You indeed are damned if you do and damned if you don't ,come on speedway fans,how many times have you been to a meeting after a long drive only for it to have been called off? It's a really frustrating feeling,both from a time point of view and the expense as well.speedway is,and always will be,a fair weather sport.i would imagine most people go to be entertained,I know I do,dispite the outcome,that's why I also watch a lot of meetings at scunthorpe as well as my hometown club.when it's wet though the entertainment factor is zero and to try and promote the sport you NEED entertainment,so when meetings are called off,they are firstly from the safety aspect and secondly from an entertainment point of view.i really do have sympathy for a lot of the promoters.

What's the point of calling off meetings on a clear Saturday night in the summer and then having to run loss making double headers to cram the fixtures in to qualify for play offs and a show piece final that will most likely be held on a wet track in the last week of October?

Fixtures very rarely used to be called off before 6pm on race day after a track inspection. If this is the new world we are living in these meetings that are cancelled should not be restaged, just like in cricket, another fairweather sport 

[daza313]

I think Glasgow were a little to hasty calling off the meeting that early because of potential rain. Not sure how many times I've been to Armadale and its been called off after a few heats due to the track being soaked. I do get it for fans traveling half way across the country to cheer on there team but I'm always happy to travel even for it to be called. 

Take for example Armadale on Friday was due to rain heavy from 7pm onwards, not a spot of rain until around 10pm, my dad was suggesting we dont go due to the forecast but im glad i went. right now especially after covid all the clubs need whatever they can get in terms of financial support. 

[Skodaman]

32 minutes ago, iainb said:

What's the point of calling off meetings on a clear Saturday night in the summer and then having to run loss making double headers to cram the fixtures in to qualify for play offs and a show piece final that will most likely be held on a wet track in the last week of October?

Fixtures very rarely used to be called off before 6pm on race day after a track inspection. If this is the new world we are living in these meetings that are cancelled should not be restaged, just like in cricket, another fairweather sport 

The weather forecast for the leicester meeting was heavy, thundery rain. It did not happen but I still think that the right decision was made.

[IainB]

35 minutes ago, Skodaman said:

The weather forecast for the leicester meeting was heavy, thundery rain. It did not happen but I still think that the right decision was made.

So you think it was the right decision to cancel it even though it was clearly the wrong decision... this is the mess the sport has gotten itself into on this particular topic. It may well have been the correct business decision, I don't know, the club may have just been postponing their loss. It was certainly an incorrect sporting decision.

Is Speedway the only sport that gets itself into such a mess with fixtures? I can think of no other. It's worse than it's ever been with rider availability, for whatever reason, and now we're postponing meetings because it might rain.

[Moranboys]

2 hours ago, iainb said:

What's the point of calling off meetings on a clear Saturday night in the summer and then having to run loss making double headers to cram the fixtures in to qualify for play offs and a show piece final that will most likely be held on a wet track in the last week of October?

Fixtures very rarely used to be called off before 6pm on race day after a track inspection. If this is the new world we are living in these meetings that are cancelled should not be restaged, just like in cricket, another fairweather sport 

Well,it wasn't exactly a meeting with a team from down the road,Glasgow,s a fair old trek and the decision probably made with a lot of people in mind,plus,if it had rained,but the ref declared the track rideable ,would you seriously want to see both teams just tootling around just for the benefit of getting a result,I know I wouldn't and would rather see a double header or whatever in more appropriate weather condusive to racing.ive seen enough of the wet meetings and the entertainment is zero.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Moranboys

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, Moranboys said:

Well,it wasn't exactly a meeting with a team from down the road,Glasgow,s a fair old trek and the decision probably made with a lot of people in mind,plus,if it had rained,but the ref declared the track rideable ,would you seriously want to see both teams just tootling around just for the benefit of getting a result,I know I wouldn't and would rather see a double header or whatever in more appropriate weather condusive to racing.ive seen enough of the wet meetings and the entertainment is zero.

That is all very well but they will be relying on Autumn weather rather than summer!!!

[LisaColette]

4 hours ago, Skodaman said:

The weather forecast for the leicester meeting was heavy, thundery rain. It did not happen but I still think that the right decision was made.

If the track was wet through then yes it was the right decision.