Wembley 100 years

[MattB]

Interesting comments from Liam Boylan, who is stadium director at Wembley about 38 minutes in.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6S3z3fS5i48Yh7FkluzsMH?si=7PuBUTlpTTK32qR3vBCGRg

[IainB]

what did he say?

[Shockster]

He was asked if there was anything he'd like to bring back from "Old Wembley"?  He said he'd seen the Speedway at Cardiff and would like to bring it to Wembley, but showed little understanding when he said it would be perfect in November/December!!!!  He also mentioned he was brought up near to Belle Vue but never went?

[iris123]

Had a German article of the highlights of the 100 years. No mention of speedway. I did reply with a little bit of history and a youtube video of Wembley 1938

[Humphrey Appleby]

Wembley now is much better than it was then. Whilst there was a lot of romanticism about the old Wembley and it was probably decent for its time, it had become totally inadequate for large events by the end of its life. 

Football and oval sports (whether speedway or athletics) also don't go well together, and oval sports of any description unfortunately no longer pull the crowds to justify their inclusion in large stadia. This is quite aside from the fact that speedway is very weather dependent.

[Noodles]

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/other-sports/speedway-wembley-stadium-fa-event-29883532?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

[chris4gillian]

Seems like things could possibly happen...

Speedway GP could return to Wembley Stadium after over 40 years as FA eye new events - Daily Star

[IainB]

10 hours ago, Noodles said:

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/other-sports/speedway-wembley-stadium-fa-event-29883532?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

 

35 minutes ago, chris4gillian said:

Seems like things could possibly happen...

Speedway GP could return to Wembley Stadium after over 40 years as FA eye new events - Daily Star

Don't hold your breath... this is just a bit of free publicity thanks to Peter Oakes (nothing wrong with that)

[chris4gillian]

2 minutes ago, iainb said:

 

Don't hold your breath... this is just a bit of free publicity thanks to Peter Oakes (nothing wrong with that)

Not really sure why you're laughing at the above posts.  Did you ever go to the old Wembley when speedway was held there?  It was incredible compared to what we now have at Cardiff.  My memories of the 1978 World final (Ole, Ole, Ole, oi, oi oi!), standing on a stool so I could see the action, are still very clear to me.  Blows Cardiff away.

I for one would love it to return to the 'new' Wembley which is far more accessible than Cardiff is for those of us in the south.

And what's Peter Oake's got to do with things???

[Humphrey Appleby]

1 hour ago, chris4gillian said:

Seems like things could possibly happen...

Speedway GP could return to Wembley Stadium after over 40 years as FA eye new events - Daily Star

I think that's really just a bit of spin put on a throwaway comment from the Stadium Director. 

It would still have to be financial viable to rent the stadium and install the track. 

[IainB]

33 minutes ago, chris4gillian said:

Not really sure why you're laughing at the above posts.  Did you ever go to the old Wembley when speedway was held there?  It was incredible compared to what we now have at Cardiff.  My memories of the 1978 World final (Ole, Ole, Ole, oi, oi oi!), standing on a stool so I could see the action, are still very clear to me.  Blows Cardiff away.

I for one would love it to return to the 'new' Wembley which is far more accessible than Cardiff is for those of us in the south.

And what's Peter Oake's got to do with things???

I did indeed... 1981 World Final, fantastic day, quite a warm one if I remember correctly also remember my dad paying 50p for a can of coke... 50p in 1981 was probably as much as it cost to get into a league meeting.

A few comments... Is Wembley still Wembley? I haven't been to the new Wembley so I'm not sure. If it had kept the Twin Towers maybe but to level the place and start again I don't know. Other stadiums have been re-developed and kept their iconic structures.

Cardiff couldn't attract 20,000 last year, 20,000 in a 74,000 stadium looked bad, 20,000 in a 90,000? Not a great look.

Peter Oakes was the person that got the "story" onto the Daily Star website a nice bit of publicity for the sport but nothing more than that.

If Speedway were to return to London and that's a big if personally I'd prefer to create a new history at the London Stadium which has a smaller capacity, better transport links and infrastructure set around it.

[chris4gillian]

1 hour ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

I think that's really just a bit of spin put on a throwaway comment from the Stadium Director. 

It would still have to be financial viable to rent the stadium and install the track. 

It clearly states that Wembley are looking for more events and speedway is a possibility...how is that a spin?

[chris4gillian]

1 hour ago, iainb said:

I did indeed... 1981 World Final, fantastic day, quite a warm one if I remember correctly also remember my dad paying 50p for a can of coke... 50p in 1981 was probably as much as it cost to get into a league meeting.

A few comments... Is Wembley still Wembley? I haven't been to the new Wembley so I'm not sure. If it had kept the Twin Towers maybe but to level the place and start again I don't know. Other stadiums have been re-developed and kept their iconic structures.

Cardiff couldn't attract 20,000 last year, 20,000 in a 74,000 stadium looked bad, 20,000 in a 90,000? Not a great look.

Peter Oakes was the person that got the "story" onto the Daily Star website a nice bit of publicity for the sport but nothing more than that.

If Speedway were to return to London and that's a big if personally I'd prefer to create a new history at the London Stadium which has a smaller capacity, better transport links and infrastructure set around it.

Wembley is a far more attractive venue than Cardiff, therefore for that reason alone it'll attract a healthier crowd.  Also, London and the surrounding areas are far more heavily populated than Cardiff which again would draw in more people both including both current speedway fans and curious first timers.

Wembley is still at Wembley but the twin towers are no more. 

I think it's a bit more than a publicity thing, but still very unlikely.  It's just really good to read something positive about our dying sport.

Oh and the London stadium has a capacity of 80,000 so not much different to Wembley, however the difference is, is that speedway at Wembley was once iconic.  There's been no mention of speedway at all by the London Stadium and I doubt it ever will mention it. 

[IainB]

5 minutes ago, chris4gillian said:

Wembley is a far more attractive venue than Cardiff, therefore for that reason alone it'll attract a healthier crowd.  Also, London and the surrounding areas are far more heavily populated than Cardiff which again would draw in more people both including both current speedway fans and curious first timers.

Wembley is still at Wembley but the twin towers are no more. 

I think it's a bit more than a publicity thing, but still very unlikely.  It's just really good to read something positive about our dying sport.

Oh and the London stadium has a capacity of 80,000 so not much different to Wembley, however the difference is, is that speedway at Wembley was once iconic.  There's been no mention of speedway at all by the London Stadium and I doubt it ever will mention it. 

London Stadium 80,000 for concerts, 60,000 seated, according to wiki anyway. Don't forget there wasn't Speedway or mention of it in Cardiff... until there was.

Speedway was iconic at Wembley, but we're talking 40 or 50 years ago... I wouldn't think the modern, diverse population of London would even know anything about Speedway or it''s history.

One thing I will agree on though is that it's easier to get to.

Did this "story" make the paper do you know or was it just website click bait for the Speedway fan?

[ch958]

3 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

I think that's really just a bit of spin put on a throwaway comment from the Stadium Director. 

It would still have to be financial viable to rent the stadium and install the track. 

2 or even 3 meetings Fri-Sun would make more sense. GP, GP2 and summat else, maybe a golden greats

[speed29]

That will be very good if speedway back to Wembley, and all fans will be so happy to see it again .

[Humphrey Appleby]

10 hours ago, ch958 said:

2 or even 3 meetings Fri-Sun would make more sense. GP, GP2 and summat else, maybe a golden greats

Even if you could get 30-40k spectators, 2 or 3 nights in a row, would it be financially viable? 

I seem to recall hearing that Wembley costs at least 250k per day to rent (and that was a few years ago), plus it takes 10% of ticket sales. It would probably needed to be rented for a week to install and remove the circuit, and whilst it might be cheaper for set-up days, I doubt there would be much change out of a million quid. Then there would be installation costs of the track and paying the event staff, before you even got to the staging costs of the GP itself. 

Then any rain, and you could be faced with all these costs with no revenue. Insurance coverage would likely be huge. 

Would be a brave undertaking in the hope of getting maybe 50k fans at best. 

[ch958]

9 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

Even if you could get 30-40k spectators, 2 or 3 nights in a row, would it be financially viable? 

I seem to recall hearing that Wembley costs at least 250k per day to rent (and that was a few years ago), plus it takes 10% of ticket sales. It would probably needed to be rented for a week to install and remove the circuit, and whilst it might be cheaper for set-up days, I doubt there would be much change out of a million quid. Then there would be installation costs of the track and paying the event staff, before you even got to the staging costs of the GP itself. 

Then any rain, and you could be faced with all these costs with no revenue. Insurance coverage would likely be huge. 

Would be a brave undertaking in the hope of getting maybe 50k fans at best. 

well, to answer your question - no, it wouldn't. I think the announcement was column filler. I was just suggesting that more than one meeting would make more sense. Even at Cardiff I think it would.

[DazS]

you can never recreate the past. its impossible. even if you had a time machine you haven't created it you have just gone back in time.. just having a laugh.

[speed29]

Wembley is big staduim in London, it's time see Speedway back in Wembley lot of fans want it see happen!!!. Speedway is getting more popular with the fans.