The future of British Speedway after the 2023 season

[IronScorpion]

A meeting at Lublin in Poland TOMORROW postponed because they can not prepare the track!!!!!

[Pinny]

After this season, it really is time to make it one big league now. Forget North and South divides, throw all the sides into one league and if it means 5/6 rider teams, then so be it.

Bring back a premier trophy style comp to start the season. Split teams into 3/4 groups. Race all those fixtures before the league starts. Have no gaps during the season and a fixture every week.

Fans are the backbone of the sport and its high time the powers that be listen to them. Fans want a team of riders who they can associate with their club every week of the season. Not once every three weeks and seeing their riders riding for other teams. Guests every single week. Its just a farce how its currently ran. Calling meetings off a day or two in advance because of weather forecasts. Baffling.

I stopped attending league speedway when Newport shut in 2011 and haven't been to one league meeting since. Don't get me wrong, the set ups were a shambles back then but they appear to be a whole lot worse now than what they were then.

Even now when watching clips on twitter etc, you see some great on track racing but the whole presentation in the back ground just looks and sounds a sham. Its time the sport moved with the times. Every other sport has.

I certainly wouldn't part with around 50 quid to watch league speedway every week anymore if I lived in the UK. Admission, a few pints and some food plus petrol and parking etc... it would be well worth the cost if it was a modern day / night out.

Instead of spending every off season tinkering with silly rules, renaming leagues and competitions and sticking another nail in the coffin, it needs a younger bunch of people who are in touch with the real world who are willing to rip the whole rule book up and start afresh with a view to bringing in bigger, younger crowds.

One thing I will say is despite most clubs websites being rubbish these days, the social media is really good. Websites don't matter as much anymore as barely anyone views them, social media is where its at and most clubs do a very good job on that front.

[KrisB]

On 4/20/2023 at 8:00 AM, Aries said:

Another defeatist! What’s wrong with you lot? This forum is a cesspit of complete misery!! You can wave the white flag and stop going if you like, but there’s plenty of good speedway I’m looking forward to attending in both leagues this year and I’m sure there’s thousands of others across the country that feel the same. It’s not a case of “burying head in the sand” as someone put it, far from it I acknowledge the difficulties some are facing and it’s concerning. But there was real enthusiasm before the season started and despite doubts over the longer term future of Peterborough and now Wolves, neither club have folded and it’s as you were as far as this season’s league set up is concerned so why do people think everyone should now just throw in the towel? It’s bizarre. 
 

If the worst does happen with those clubs then the relevant people will deal with that if and when that arises. If that means pushing another club or two in to the top flight, or merging the two in to one big league who knows, but life is short and none of us who post on here even know if we’ll be here this time next year! Live for today, smile, and worry about what happens next year and beyond when the time comes. You never know, it might not end up as bad as you think!

How will riders afford the loss of half their (doubling up) income?

[Falcon1983]

1 hour ago, KrisB said:

How will riders afford the loss of half their (doubling up) income?

My question would be "how many riders would it effect"?

Surely not as many as we think, if you're scoring 3 or 4 points across both leagues with the operating costs, surely you are not making money to start with, so scoring 3 or 4 points in one league and halving your operational costs is probably a benefit

 

[Fortythirtyeight]

5 minutes ago, Falcon1983 said:

My question would be "how many riders would it effect"?

Surely not as many as we think, if you're scoring 3 or 4 points across both leagues with the operating costs, surely you are not making money to start with, so scoring 3 or 4 points in one league and halving your operational costs is probably a benefit

 

You haven’t factored in the dreaded guarantee. Most 3-4 pointers will be on one so you ARE halving their income.

[FishersGate]

There are some great ideas here but the main problem is how do speedway get back on the map? Promoters always tend to be quite defensive when they get stick for small crowds or just the general decline of speedway. I first took my partner to leicester last season and I asked honestly what she thought of it. Her response was ' I love it so much, the racing is great' anything else I asked? ' its like speedway hasn't moved on from the late 19th century'. For one she had never ever heard of the sport which is concerning. 

Point 2 - she doesn't understand why technology isn't used more in the sport and its years behind everything else. 

Point 3 - she said the social media side of it is absolutely rubbish. Wheres the fan engagement? Tik toks, Instagram, Facebook are huge is the effort is dreadful. The advertising is the worst she's ever seen

Point 4 - The rules still don't make sense to her . The 2 minute rules, super heat etc are way too complicated

Point 5 - She doesn't want to come back cause she wants the old riders back from the championship. She was liking worrall and Kyle howarth and now she's never heard of fricke or sedgmen..so she's not bothered now.

I could go on but that's coming from someone who never heard of it and is looking at it from a complete neutral point of view..

[szkocjasid]

5 hours ago, KrisB said:

How will riders afford the loss of half their (doubling up) income?

Well not every rider doubles up, with the crowds these days, perhaps Britain should be semi-professional, lower end riders like Simon Lambert work as well as race, riders who want to become World Champions (Tom Brennan) race abroad as well?

[therefused]

25 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

Well not every rider doubles up, with the crowds these days, perhaps Britain should be semi-professional, lower end riders like Simon Lambert work as well as race, riders who want to become World Champions (Tom Brennan) race abroad as well?

Agreed, the loss of income from no league altogether would be worse than the cost of removing doubling up. 

[Chris]

23 hours ago, KrisB said:

How will riders afford the loss of half their (doubling up) income?

Who gives a toss?

Any little credibility the sport had in this country completely disappeared when doubling up got out of control & both leagues are virtually the same riders. You could accept one rider doubling up in the top league for experience but it's a mess now.

Look at the farcical situation with guests now as well & facilities handed out for riders who haven't even rode this season.

If riders can't make one league pay then get a job. The credibility of the sport is more important than any riders income.

[Haza]

Guest facility for a rider that rode two bends on lap one race one then quits the club if he was injured that’s different situation I suppose.

[Arthur73]

I don't really understand this idea that British speedway could become semi professional or be at a lower championship standard. I feel many won't turn up anymore if there's no Doyle, holder, Bewley or Fricke.

As an Ipswich fan I feel I've seen an increase in fans with Doyle coming in and the increase in entertainment he and Sayfutinov have brought is fantastic. They can miss the gate and still make their way to the front with some great passes. 

Maybe we will have to go to a 5 team league to keep the big names and make sure the top young UK talent we have can keeps developing with the hope Glasgow/Oxford/Poole/Workington make the step up in future.

I feel social media is the issue. British Speedway have no TikTok account and whilst the Instagram is better I feel it is more information based so is only interesting for established fans.

[mikebv]

2 hours ago, Chris said:

Who gives a toss?

Any little credibility the sport had in this country completely disappeared when doubling up got out of control & both leagues are virtually the same riders. You could accept one rider doubling up in the top league for experience but it's a mess now.

Look at the farcical situation with guests now as well & facilities handed out for riders who haven't even rode this season.

If riders can't make one league pay then get a job. The credibility of the sport is more important than any riders income.

100% agree, but..

The tipping point has well passed.. 

A rudderless ship for decades, ran by collectively making things up on the spur of the moment, with zero clear direction of travel and standards governance, has driven thousands away who still passionately follow the sport via other various media, but dont attend their local tracks regularly..

Which is a shame given the on track entertainment which is as good as in, if not better, any era I have watched.. 

If all the surrounding negative issues matched the actual product, the sport would be flying, instead they undermine it appallingly.. 

[Daniel Smith]

2 hours ago, Chris said:

Who gives a toss?

Any little credibility the sport had in this country completely disappeared when doubling up got out of control & both leagues are virtually the same riders. You could accept one rider doubling up in the top league for experience but it's a mess now.

Look at the farcical situation with guests now as well & facilities handed out for riders who haven't even rode this season.

If riders can't make one league pay then get a job. The credibility of the sport is more important than any riders income.

Spot on, but I don't think the rider's would lose that much. 2x home & away plus a North/South cup competition they'll be fine. 

It may also be a benefit as it should give the younger riders the hurry-up to find teams abroad, rather than the comfort zone. 

All that would be lost is GP/Ekstraliga rider's but that's no biggie either if we're working to save the sport as a whole. 

[IainB]

Early season, enthusiasm is (was) high, weather looks set fair for most of the country, people not at work, looking for a leisure activity... 1 Speedway meeting on this weekend in the whole country!

Edited April 22, 2023 by iainb

[LisaColette]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:16 AM, FishersGate said:

There are some great ideas here but the main problem is how do speedway get back on the map? Promoters always tend to be quite defensive when they get stick for small crowds or just the general decline of speedway. I first took my partner to leicester last season and I asked honestly what she thought of it. Her response was ' I love it so much, the racing is great' anything else I asked? ' its like speedway hasn't moved on from the late 19th century'. For one she had never ever heard of the sport which is concerning. 

Point 2 - she doesn't understand why technology isn't used more in the sport and its years behind everything else. 

Point 3 - she said the social media side of it is absolutely rubbish. Wheres the fan engagement? Tik toks, Instagram, Facebook are huge is the effort is dreadful. The advertising is the worst she's ever seen

Point 4 - The rules still don't make sense to her . The 2 minute rules, super heat etc are way too complicated

Point 5 - She doesn't want to come back cause she wants the old riders back from the championship. She was liking worrall and Kyle howarth and now she's never heard of fricke or sedgmen..so she's not bothered now.

I could go on but that's coming from someone who never heard of it and is looking at it from a complete neutral point of view..

1. Actually thought they are doing well on the social media side generally. Maybe Leicester not that great at it? Though I mainly use twitter and Instagram. Don't like tiktok.

2. Interestingly when I talk to people about speedway I always think they won't know what I'm on about. But must of the time I get 'oh yeah, I used to go to that ..' 

3. Not sure how the 2 min rule is complicated or the super heat tbf! But I already said you don't tell new people the rules!!!!! Fatal error 

4. Sounds like you need to trip to Plymouth lol, she can watch Richie and Kyle all she likes then.

5. Luckily my 11yr old isn't into it at the moment seeing as her fave rider Danny King isn't at Poole anymore. From my 11 yr olds pov, too long in between races, she says it's boring (then again I'm not sure she has actually seen a last heat decider at Poole!) She was into it for 2021 and 2022 but it was it lol. 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by lisa-colette

[IainB]

58 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

1. Actually thought they are doing well on the social media side generally. Maybe Leicester not that great at it? 

I'd love to be able to tell you but I'm still blocked after 4 years, a great way to treat one of their most loyal customers... looks like they hold a grudge 

[FishersGate]

1 hour ago, lisa-colette said:

1. Actually thought they are doing well on the social media side generally. Maybe Leicester not that great at it? Though I mainly use twitter and Instagram. Don't like tiktok.

2. Interestingly when I talk to people about speedway I always think they won't know what I'm on about. But must of the time I get 'oh yeah, I used to go to that ..' 

3. Not sure how the 2 min rule is complicated or the super heat tbf! But I already said you don't tell new people the rules!!!!! Fatal error 

4. Sounds like you need to trip to Plymouth lol, she can watch Richie and Kyle all she likes then.

5. Luckily my 11yr old isn't into it at the moment seeing as her fave rider Danny King isn't at Poole anymore. From my 11 yr olds pov, too long in between races, she says it's boring (then again I'm not sure she has actually seen a last heat decider at Poole!) She was into it for 2021 and 2022 but it was it lol. 

 

Social media side from a leicester point of view I think is weak. Just the odd photo and interview here n there. Just look at a football clubs social media it's posting atleast 3/4 times a day. 

Yes she loved Ritchie but doesn't get the rules why he's no longer with us. I said it's hard to explain and you'll get used to it.

Problem is that I'm not even 30 yet and still got a little way to go so my generation has never seen a bike turn left yet (well most haven't)

[LisaColette]

49 minutes ago, iainb said:

I'd love to be able to tell you but I'm still blocked after 4 years, a great way to treat one of their most loyal customers... looks like they hold a grudge 

Sure Buster doesn't run it 

[steve roberts]

1 hour ago, lisa-colette said:

1. Actually thought they are doing well on the social media side generally. Maybe Leicester not that great at it? Though I mainly use twitter and Instagram. Don't like tiktok.

2. Interestingly when I talk to people about speedway I always think they won't know what I'm on about. But must of the time I get 'oh yeah, I used to go to that ..' 

3. Not sure how the 2 min rule is complicated or the super heat tbf! But I already said you don't tell new people the rules!!!!! Fatal error 

4. Sounds like you need to trip to Plymouth lol, she can watch Richie and Kyle all she likes then.

5. Luckily my 11yr old isn't into it at the moment seeing as her fave rider Danny King isn't at Poole anymore. From my 11 yr olds pov, too long in between races, she says it's boring (then again I'm not sure she has actually seen a last heat decider at Poole!) She was into it for 2021 and 2022 but it was it lol. 

 

...I used to have that conversation many times (and no doubt will continue to do so in my new volunteer role at the NYMR) working within tourism in York.

[LisaColette]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

...I used to have that conversation many times (and no doubt will continue to do so in my new volunteer role at the NYMR) working within tourism in York.

Although I did get a few to attend for a few seasons anyway! But difficult when people have football season ticket for Premiership team. I think it helps when the kids get into it as nag the parents a bit!