Do You Think Speedway might do in London in Future??.

[Hackett]

Cost would be prohibitive. With so many "wokes" in society these days and noise pollution there is zero chance of speedway in London unless a Saudi Arabian Royal Family member falls in love with the sport. 

 

[iris123]

Don't think these so called 'wokes' have anything to do with it

We have had NIMBY's for decades. Plus it is just a lack of support and finances.

Although that could be an advantage, in that the sport is a minority sport, and could capitalise on that aspect  

[LesR]

If there was someone with a pot of gold, and they have had to build up a successful buisness empire to achieve it, could you imagine them investing and being told by BSPL that they can only open on a Monday or Thursday, because the Poles only want the most productive days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I wonder how that would have worked with true Promoters of the 60's 70's and 80's?

[Trees]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:59 AM, LesR said:

If there was someone with a pot of gold, and they have had to build up a successful buisness empire to achieve it, could you imagine them investing and being told by BSPL that they can only open on a Monday or Thursday, because the Poles only want the most productive days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I wonder how that would have worked with true Promoters of the 60's 70's and 80's?

Fri, Sat or Sun maybe if they run Championship .....

[Technik]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:59 AM, LesR said:

If there was someone with a pot of gold, and they have had to build up a successful buisness empire to achieve it, could you imagine them investing and being told by BSPL that they can only open on a Monday or Thursday, because the Poles only want the most productive days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I wonder how that would have worked with true Promoters of the 60's 70's and 80's?

In those years gone bye it was the British Promoters that called the shots. The British were the ones that introduced demands upon riders one way or another, An off shore rider had to commit to the British club & if they should decide to race in their homeland then the British club would only be able to cover with a minimum average rider in their position. So really it's a case of the boot is on the other foot & someone else has the pot of gold & built their own empire.

[Trees]

3 hours ago, Technik said:

In those years gone bye it was the British Promoters that called the shots. The British were the ones that introduced demands upon riders one way or another, An off shore rider had to commit to the British club & if they should decide to race in their homeland then the British club would only be able to cover with a minimum average rider in their position. So really it's a case of the boot is on the other foot & someone else has the pot of gold & built their own empire.

Everyone has their day, Poland are making the most of it!

[uk_martin]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:59 AM, LesR said:

If there was someone with a pot of gold, and they have had to build up a successful buisness empire to achieve it, could you imagine them investing and being told by BSPL that they can only open on a Monday or Thursday, because the Poles only want the most productive days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I wonder how that would have worked with true Promoters of the 60's 70's and 80's?

That's an interesting question, as back in the 1960's and early 70's, the "market" for speedway riders was basically Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.  Denmark didn't really emerge until after Ole Olsen, Norway and Finland began emerging in the late 1970's plus there were one-off's from Germany and Holland. Russian, Polish, and most East European riders were tucked up behind the Iron Curtain until the early 1980's when a couple of Poles and some Czechs were allowed to earn some western currency, for themselves and their host clubs. British promoters were able, back then, to dictate who rode for which club, and the terms upon which they were employed.

British league racing was a weekday evening affair, with the best riders free to ride FIM events, long-track grass track or other individual meetings at weekends "on the continent". The only time "western" riders got to see Polish or other Eastern European tracks was for FIM World Championship (Team, Pairs or Individual) meetings. The rest of the time, travel there and back was forbidden, or more agro than it was worth.

Speedway on TV was a once-or-twice-a-year treat, with highlights of the World Final and possibly the WTC Final on World of Sport on a Saturday afternoon.

Eastern European riders were pretty much tied to JAWA machinery whilst the rest of the world benefited from the developments of Weslake, Godden and latterly GM engines.

A lot has changed since those days. Poland has changed immensely as a country and speedway in Poland has adapted to change a lot better than the "we're British and we know best" promoters in this country have managed to do with the sport over here. Just as Britain is no longer the epicentre of world football or world tennis, so it's lost that dominance in speedway to Poland, where they get huge attendances, huge television audiences, and huge sponsorships that are powering them to a position where they have to take measures to protect their investments. And understandably so. We have to resign ourselves to having lost control of the sport in Britain, and just as British promoters dictated to the rest of Western Europe how it could conduct its affairs before the Iron Curtain fell, so now we have to accept that we're just minnows in the sport and that we have to fit in with what other countries are doing. 

[arnieg]

Copenhagen - no speedway

Warsaw - no speedway

Stockholm - no speedway

The sport doesn't seem to do well in large cities.

[HackneyHawk]

On 8/3/2022 at 2:00 PM, Hackett said:

Cost would be prohibitive. With so many "wokes" in society these days and noise pollution there is zero chance of speedway in London unless a Saudi Arabian Royal Family member falls in love with the sport. 

 

How on earth have you brought 'woke culture' into a debate about speedway tracks????

 

[Happy Hunter]

Is Crayford Stadium still in existence?

[steve roberts]

1 hour ago, Happy Hunter said:

Is Crayford Stadium still in existence?

I believe it is but on a much smaller site?

[customhouseregular]

From memory of my only visit, it was pretty small then. 

[Chris116]

The current Crayford stadium has no room for a track inside the greyhound track for a speedway track. The stand has very poor viewing of the dog track as it is built too close to the track so from most seats you can't see the start finish line. I used to watch speedway, stock cars and bangers regularly at the old stadium and went to have a look at the new stadium a couple of years after it opened. I fear that even if the dog track could be made into a speedway track it would be almost impossible to get planning permission and equally hard to actually be able to see all of the track which only has viewing on one straight.

[HackneyHawk]

On 8/3/2022 at 2:00 PM, Hackett said:

Cost would be prohibitive. With so many "wokes" in society these days and noise pollution there is zero chance of speedway in London unless a Saudi Arabian Royal Family member falls in love with the sport. 

 

What have 'woke' people got to do with this???????

[Vic Meldrew]

They would surely be offended on behalf of everyone at the thought of motorcyclists injuring themselves or colliding with each other.

[Guest]

Is the stadium at Crystal Palace still there?

Edited September 17, 2022 by Guest
punctuation

[speed29]

2 hours ago, JohnHyam said:

Is the stadium at Crystal Palace still there?

I Don't know, i wish Crystal Palace come back

[25yearfan]

The current Crystal Palace Athletics stadium is on the site where the old speedway was.

 

A few years ago Crystal Palace unveiled plans to move to the site and build a new stadium there cause it was where they originally played in their early years. These plans fell through and now the Eagles have plans to increase the capacity of their current Selhurst Park Stadium.

[Ray Stadia]

On 9/17/2022 at 12:19 PM, speed29 said:

I Don't know, i wish Crystal Palace come back

I'm sure there used to be a car racing track in Crystal Palace? 

[Chris116]

1 hour ago, Ray Stadia said:

I'm sure there used to be a car racing track in Crystal Palace? 

Yes, the motor circuit used to feature car, sidecar and bike racing. It was the only non oval race track I have really enjoyed watching racing at. Sadly the athletics track cut across the bottom straight and they always had lots of complaints about noise from a local hospital. 

The chances of getting permission to run any motor sport would be very slim and that is if they would allow the athletics track to be dug up. There must be room in the grounds to build a simple stadium without knocking anything down but the noise issue would still stop anything happening.