Wembley

[Halifordukesfan]

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailystar.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fother-sports%2Fspeedway-wembley-stadium-fa-event-29883532%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3UFKWnfP6TxqoR5lJhg0igENmfcwZDiNL6MoP7wiNYzKnuhAHbLwRILRc&h=AT1ZXzKRPOT3JPLpiUAXiSiYG0VEcysbdraK7yj3LZQsLuUs9geObtYEWHHv5_TjnTxP0gZdkDaZPHKvvbqCHhuXPPuiUo_eD2gBph2Xpu_Veio-313_5m4twH6ExFsDdmwcvN0c3og

[hammer1969]

I'd be front of the queue for tickets.  Speedway back in London even if it is only one meeting would be brilliant and Wembley is accessible by public transport.   We had West Ham, Hackney, Wimbledon, Wembley, White City etc and now we have nothing.  It makes my blood boil not everyone wants to go to shopping centres or cinemas etc.   People moan about the noise of bikes so planners get an easy run to get stadiums get shut down then they build houses next to motorways, I suppose motorways aren't noisy.  Back to the point in question  "bring speedway back to Wembley"  i'll be there.

[steve roberts]

3 hours ago, hammer1969 said:

I'd be front of the queue for tickets.  Speedway back in London even if it is only one meeting would be brilliant and Wembley is accessible by public transport.   We had West Ham, Hackney, Wimbledon, Wembley, White City etc and now we have nothing.  It makes my blood boil not everyone wants to go to shopping centres or cinemas etc.   People moan about the noise of bikes so planners get an easy run to get stadiums get shut down then they build houses next to motorways, I suppose motorways aren't noisy.  Back to the point in question  "bring speedway back to Wembley"  i'll be there.

I followed White City during its three year existence as a BL team...great days and memories!

[Goldhawk]

BRILLIANT NEWS !

[pvm]

Having read the article, I’m not to sure of the seriousness of the suggestion, especially when it’s suggesting an event in “November or December “.

[hammer1969]

Wembley does have a roof but most riders have packed up for the winter well before November, if speedway returns to Wembley for a one off it needs to be during the Speedway season.  If the UK can have 2 GPs then leave Cardiff in September and give the first GP of the season to Wembley.  

[Humphrey Appleby]

34 minutes ago, hammer1969 said:

Wembley does have a roof but most riders have packed up for the winter well before November, if speedway returns to Wembley for a one off it needs to be during the Speedway season.  If the UK can have 2 GPs then leave Cardiff in September and give the first GP of the season to Wembley.  

The roof doesn't fully close. It's primarily there to cover the spectators, but it can open so the pitch will (in theory) get light and air. 

[Mr Ore]

8 hours ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

The roof doesn't fully close. It's primarily there to cover the spectators, but it can open so the pitch will (in theory) get light and air. 

Even with the roof "fully closed" I received a thorough drenching during one of the NFL games there, like several hundred others adjourning to the concessions area to watch on live TV, for nearly the whole 2nd quarter. It is definitely no Principality Stadium, in that respect, only just covering the crowd.

More recently I watched the Blades in the FA Cup Semi Final there and, at regular intervals a  video loop played on the big screens, showing the stadium history, including speedway . Not very inspiring as it showed a murky black and white film of two old time riders with their legs stuck out going round a bend, followed by another from the same era, of one taking the chequered flag. The full colour Penhall heats in 1981 would have made far more impact but maybe ownership rights dictated.  

[Vic Meldrew]

Forget the Grand Prix round - hold an old fashioned one-off World Final at Wembley - riders to qualify during the course of the season and open to all riders from all countries. How can a rider who amasses points during the various GP rounds be properly called a World Champion when the the riders are competing in a "closed shop" and 90% of speedway riders around the world are not allowed to compete in the GP series (or preliminary rounds, if there ever were such events). 

[iris123]

All for it. Alternate between the GP's one year and the next a Wembley one off Final. Stop things getting stale, which for me the GPs have. I'd certainly do Wembley, whereas i couldn't be bothered with Cardiff. Especially now it has gone downhill in a big way. Would hopefully give the sport a boost just when it needs it most 

[1 valve]

Not easy to understand why November is being suggested when the Stadium itself is not used for football very much after May. Ok so other events take place but with careful planning quite easy to see the summer months being able to be used. One issue could be if Cardiff have some sort of guarantee that no other UK round for GPs can be held (say) 4/5 weeks or more either side of their date?
 

[Humphrey Appleby]

18 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Not easy to understand why November is being suggested when the Stadium itself is not used for football very much after May. 

Would think November is a bit of a dead time. No cup (semi-)finals or playoffs, only one international match, and unlikely to be any outdoor concerts then.

The Australian Speedway GP has been in late-October several times, so a GP in early November wouldn't be totally out of the question although that time of year is of course late-spring rather than late-autumn in Australia. 

However, I suspect it was just a throwaway comment by the Stadium Manager in response to a question, without any serious thought having gone into it. 

[Humphrey Appleby]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

All for it. Alternate between the GP's one year and the next a Wembley one off Final. Stop things getting stale, which for me the GPs have. I'd certainly do Wembley, whereas i couldn't be bothered with Cardiff. Especially now it has gone downhill in a big way. Would hopefully give the sport a boost just when it needs it most 

Would have thought the former Olympic Stadium would be a better bet, as I think that can be more easily configured as an oval due to the athletics track. 

[1 valve]

1 hour ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

Would have thought the former Olympic Stadium would be a better bet, as I think that can be more easily configured as an oval due to the athletics track. 

Good thought re the shape. Unfortunately the grass at the London stadium is not movable as per Wembley and there is only the shortest of time between football seasons when West Ham do not need it for their matches. 

[Grand Central]

Hilarious nonsense.

An object lesson in how a good journalist can get great coverage for the sport providing the word Wembley is attached … especially when a guy who knows absolutely nothing about the sport can be quoted spouting utter claptrap on a podcast.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Grand Central

[JamesHarris]

3 hours ago, Grand Central said:

Hilarious nonsense.

An object lesson in how a good journalist can get great coverage for the sport providing the word Wembley is attached … especially when a guy who knows absolutely nothing about the sport can be quoted spouting utter claptrap on a podcast.

Not very often I agree with you on here but as you say the guy giving the interview has absolutely no idea about speedway when he says he want's a GP in November or December. But when there's money to be made who knows what Discovery Sports will do. I personally think the bikes are too fast now for indoor or in Wembley's case outdoor artificial tracks. The racing is not good. it's usually first out the traps wins. I've been a bid advocate for a GP at the new Belle Vue as the track always produces flat out good racing but what do I know.  

[Ray Stadia]

1 hour ago, JamesHarris said:

Not very often I agree with you on here but as you say the guy giving the interview has absolutely no idea about speedway when he says he want's a GP in November or December. But when there's money to be made who knows what Discovery Sports will do. I personally think the bikes are too fast now for indoor or in Wembley's case outdoor artificial tracks. The racing is not good. it's usually first out the traps wins. I've been a bid advocate for a GP at the new Belle Vue as the track always produces flat out good racing but what do I know.  

I'm not sure what you mean. If a temporary track can be laid in Cardiff, why not Wembley? I know people say the Cardiff track is not a proper racers track, as it is temporary, but that would be the same for Wembley. It would be an opportunity to have speedway staged in the most prestigeous stadium in the UK! 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Ray Stadia

[OveFundinFan]

Wembley management ditched the speedway track back in the 1980’s, so now they need extra income. Why would speedway want to go back there.?  It was never a great race track. Maybe plenty good races but not great ones.  Cardiff is a stadium within the city with all its attractions on hand ie eating places, drinking, hotels etc, everything really that Wembley doesn’t have in abundance. Don’t tell me hotel prices in Cardiff are too expensive, they shoot up because speedway is on. Every where in the UK does that. Whenever a pop star arrives in town/city up shoots the hotel prices. Liverpool is a current example….Eurovision final is next weekend. A hotel room price shot up overnight as soon as the date was set. Arguably the best race track in the UK, maybe the world, is Belle Vue. When Chris Morton was involved in its initial design he consulted Peter Collins. His advice was “have a curve on the straight. Apparently Hyde Road had curved straights and so does the National Speedway stadium, and it provides great racing. The old Wembley speedway track was pretty bland, would a “new” track be any different? Wembley may provide a buzz of excitement for the older fans who can remember the excitement of Wembley with 60000-80000 fans, but I don’t believe the number of fans in todays speedway era would get anywhere near the lower number of 60k, and after the first few years the crowd numbers will drop when reality sets in. 
 Elle Vue would be the track that will produce real racing. The winner of a GP at BV will know they had to work hard to get that win. A problem stopping BV being on the GP circuit is it’s limited attendance of less than 10000. I prepared to watch it all live on tv or a stream. A stream at £25 for a world final GP round would be a bargain. Even so, there would be moaners on here that wouldn’t want to pay £25, they want it free. Well, a trip to Wembley for two would be in excess of 10 times that amount, as Cardiff is today for many, so don’t think for one minute Wembley live would be cheap entertainment.

[iris123]

On the other hand hotel prices in London wouldn't be affected by speedway at Wembley. It isn't the same as having speedway at Cardiff. For Cardiff it is a big thing, but not for London. And of course London would be a great attraction for all the foreign fans, which Cardiff obviously isn't

I do agree that after a few years the attraction might drop off. That has been proven at Cardiff, which hardly attracts many now. And even beforehand there were always questions about the announced attendances. But at least for a few years we might have a major attraction again and can ride the wave

I doubt though that we have people in the sport with the vision. That has also been proven over the past decade or more. I doubt though that when the next Cardiff contract is up for negotiation, that it would be feasible with 20,000 to continue with the venue

Edited May 6, 2023 by iris123

[IainB]

1 hour ago, iris123 said:

I do agree that after a few years the attraction might drop off. That has been proven at Cardiff, which hardly attracts many now. And even beforehand there were always questions about the announced attendances. But at least for a few years we might have a major attraction again and can ride the wave

I could be wrong as there are never any official numbers published but going on sight I would say the last Cardiff GP but one visually looked to be its largest crowd ever, after a pandemic and the start of a "cost of living crisis" it was followed by easily the worst crowd attendance, which came as a bit of a shock after the 2019 event. 

DSE will have to pull out a few stops to encourage people back this year.