Promoters Conference

[GWC]

Len Silver ran second half racing consistently for years. It gave track time to the NL side Rye House ran alongside the rockets.

It was professional but I’m told it didn’t come cheap but then Len was totally committed to young GB riders.

[R87]

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

[Fromafar]

4 minutes ago, R87 said:

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

Who said Workington could not make it pay in Lower Leagues last season.

[SteveLyric2]

9 hours ago, R87 said:

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

Birmingham had no choice. It was either race on Mondays (meaning Premiership) or close down due to the stipulations of the greyhound stadium leaseholders!

[Catalan]

9 hours ago, R87 said:

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

Not sure thats a statement you can make without knowing each business model.

[Speedtiger]

17 hours ago, IronScorpion said:

Poland had their meeting & only came up with home riders must be at 6 & 7 but they have massive sponsorship & backing from local councils.

Sweden have ben struggling financialy with non payment of some riders & what have they changed.

Stop being all "doom & gloom".

Ok, but the depressing outcome from the weeks conference jolly nor what you have told me about Poland and especially Sweden will stop the reality of the desperate state uk speedway is in, i.e. doom & gloom…im a fan and not just having a go for the sake of it, the fact is the sport has been in serious crisis for a number of years, crowds plummeting and clubs going bust or closing down, incredibly the bunch of people lead by the chief clown Godfrey who is currently running the show are clearly incapable of turning it around. It’s very difficult to be happy or blindly optimistic about speedways future! 

[frigbo]

So what position is the Swindon licence now in after the Conference?

[screm]

13 hours ago, R87 said:

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

Workington seem to be on a secure financial footing at National League level, with the NL all but disappearing they had the choice to move up or stay in a league of few clubs. Obviously Championship speedway will cost more but I think Workington speedway are here to stay.

Less sure about Birmingham, I`m sure they have received all the help possible from the BSPL for them to make to move to Premiership racing but if the crowds don`t significantly improve then they may face a very uncertain future.

Oxford seem financially secure but three league racing is, on the face of it, a move to far. 

[SteveLyric2]

18 minutes ago, Speedtiger said:

Ok, but the depressing outcome from the weeks conference jolly nor what you have told me about Poland and especially Sweden will stop the reality of the desperate state uk speedway is in, i.e. doom & gloom…im a fan and not just having a go for the sake of it, the fact is the sport has been in serious crisis for a number of years, crowds plummeting and clubs going bust or closing down, incredibly the bunch of people lead by the chief clown Godfrey who is currently running the show are clearly incapable of turning it around. It’s very difficult to be happy or blindly optimistic about speedways future! 

So where exactly has it been stated that 'attendances are plummeting' or 'clubs are going bust'??  Premiership clubs are reporting increased attendances due to having some 'big names' and several Championship clubs are also reporting increased attendances.

Those clubs that are closed have been forced into the situation due to the actions of stadium owners/leaseholders - otherwise the likes of Wolves and Panthers would be continuing successfully.

Oxford's owner is the stadium leaseholder (for 10 years at least) who also runs the greyhounds at Oxford and other tracks. I'm sure its his backing that is supporting Oxford Speedway Promotion to operate at 3 levels - simply to have activity at the stadium on several days a week. Presumably he takes the food. beverage revenue on all those days!?

Edited November 19, 2023 by Skidder1

[ragdoll64]

15 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Seems that the BSPL are trying to give fans more value for money with Junior racing added to the menu.

There are so many good points coming out of this years AGM that it surely must mark a turning point for the sport in the UK.

As others have pointed out with the new points limit in the PL, all the GP sooperstars will want to be  be back practising their  computer  starting prowess. Only lack of wages will prevent their return.  I don't see a problem.  

I do hope we don't have clubs manipulating the transfer window rule by rescheduling fixture to keep their window open longer.

The new gust for any position  1-5 rule is surely a "squad" system in disguise with clubs able to produce sick notes to allow gusts in their sides to ride track specialists ? A new term T/G will be needed to denote a Tactical Gust where this facility is being used.  No team in their right mind will be using R/R when a gust is allowed, so there will still be the "lack of gust" problem with the fixed race nights in the PL and expect more tactical call offs due to  broken pit gate hinges etc. etc.

Putting out junior racing before the main event as some suggest  is a recipe for disaster . Seen so many incidents occurring on a fresh grippy circuits by youngsters trying to show off their skills (or lack of) to the eager  assembled crowd.  Air fence repairs delaying meetings, no ambulance cover, no paramedic cover, I have seen it all after  junior racing before the main event.   Imagine if on a dodgy weather evening the juniors race and then the main meeting has to be abandoned before a declared result is achieved ? 

Enjoy your speedway  in 2024 those who have a track withing 100 miles of them (unlike me) 

S.E. England speedway is finally finished with the BSPL killing off  Sittingbourne sealing the deal.

 

 

 

 

Does the new “gust” system mean that only Connor Bailey (the Tornado) can be used as a replacement?……..lol

[mikebv]

54 minutes ago, ragdoll64 said:

Does the new “gust” system mean that only Connor Bailey (the Tornado) can be used as a replacement?……..lol

Could also see sWINDon back...

 

[SteveLyric2]

Following previous year's AGMs there has usually been another 'follow up' statement by BSPL giving more detailed info and clarification on other issues discussed, for example any changes to heats, scoring, fixture cut-off dates for play offs etc etc.

I wonder when we should expect it?

[Neila]

16 hours ago, R87 said:

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

Think you may need to apologise to the Workington promotion,  as it was a very successful return with an opening crowd reported to be over 2000 people later in the season crowds appeared to level off at 500 or so, which at the NDL level is a good crowd,  other teams seemed to get 200-250 including 50 travelling comets fans

[Bojangles]

16 hours ago, R87 said:

Ludicrous that Birmingham and Workington have decided to move up a league when neither of the could make it pay in lower leagues last year.  Even more crazy is Oxford running in 3 leagues!  Predict all 3 will be gone before end of next season.

There's been a lot of people saying Oxford running in all three leagues is madness. I was initially a little perplexed by it as well, but every other fan I've spoken to has been quite excited about it (bar the Spires name) - and all are saying they will try and go to every home meeting. Not a single person said they would only focus on one league, so maybe it's not such a crazy idea after all. I guess time will tell, and perhaps people will naturally start missing the odd meeting here and there - but the crowd sizes will tell all.

Last season the Cheetahs were averaging around 2,500 fans I think, and the Chargers were around 1,000. They're good numbers to build a base from, and it means they've got the finances in place to deal with potential losses if it all goes horribly wrong in 2024 - it won't be a case of the club going bust. Worse case scenario the promotion will just have to reevaluate for 2025, but good luck to them.

Edited November 19, 2023 by Bojangles

[Speedtiger]

3 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

So where exactly has it been stated that 'attendances are plummeting' or 'clubs are going bust'??  Premiership clubs are reporting increased attendances due to having some 'big names' and several Championship clubs are also reporting increased attendances.

Those clubs that are closed have been forced into the situation due to the actions of stadium owners/leaseholders - otherwise the likes of Wolves and Panthers would be continuing successfully.

Oxford's owner is the stadium leaseholder (for 10 years at least) who also runs the greyhounds at Oxford and other tracks. I'm sure it’s his backing that is supporting Oxford Speedway Promotion to operate at 3 levels - simply to have activity at the stadium on several days a week. Presumably he takes the food. beverage revenue on all those days!?

Point taken but just look back over the past 10-20 years and all clubs that have gone, now only 7 teams in premiership and 9 in championship is rather pathetic, take look on the terraces and see the age demographics, the sport doesn’t promote and attract young fans of the future.
Sorry but you could hardly consider things to be going well and the people running the sport a success!
Speedway is still in free fall and from what it appears the BSPL doesn’t have the acumen or capacity to stop it. 

[SteveLyric2]

2 minutes ago, Speedtiger said:

Point taken but just look back over the past 10-20 years and all clubs that have gone, now only 7 teams in premiership and 9 in championship is rather pathetic, take look on the terraces and see the age demographics, the sport doesn’t promote and attract young fans of the future.
Sorry but you could hardly consider things to be going well and the people running the sport a success!
Speedway is still in free fall and from what it appears the BSPL doesn’t have the acumen or capacity to stop it. 

Yes but looking back 10-20 years which of those clubs actually went bust and how many were kicked out of their stadia? I know of a couple that went through financial mismanagement by the speedway promotion but others??

[Bojangles]

1 hour ago, Speedtiger said:

Point taken but just look back over the past 10-20 years and all clubs that have gone, now only 7 teams in premiership and 9 in championship is rather pathetic, take look on the terraces and see the age demographics, the sport doesn’t promote and attract young fans of the future.
Sorry but you could hardly consider things to be going well and the people running the sport a success!
Speedway is still in free fall and from what it appears the BSPL doesn’t have the acumen or capacity to stop it. 

Not too sure what terraces you’ve visited, but the three venues I went to last season - all of them had loads of kids running about. In fact, Oxford and Poole I’d say there are/were far more kids than over 60s, with a crowd predominantly made up of 25-40 year olds. 

[old bob at herne bay]

5 hours ago, frigbo said:

So what position is the Swindon licence now in after the Conference?

In the freezer with many others.... 

[tonyd]

1 hour ago, Speedtiger said:

Point taken but just look back over the past 10-20 years and all clubs that have gone, now only 7 teams in premiership and 9 in championship is rather pathetic, take look on the terraces and see the age demographics, the sport doesn’t promote and attract young fans of the future.
Sorry but you could hardly consider things to be going well and the people running the sport a success!
Speedway is still in free fall and from what it appears the BSPL doesn’t have the acumen or capacity to stop it. 

With the comment of "the sport doesn't attract young fans I beg to differ, yes the sport can always do with more fans young and old but the problem is how do you get them to attend the sport? Back in the 60/70s when I started going it was mostly a family outing, these days how many family's do things together apart from watch tv? The first meeting I attended on my own was Wembley 71 and I could walk from home to the stadium in 45 mins and the same home again after the meeting. I was 14 that year and lets be honest how many of us would let our son or daughter do something like that these days? Yes the latest generation need to be tempted to speedway but exactly how?

In 2022 my grandson was gifted a couple of free passes for Sheffield speedway by the Bluebell Woods charity  and he asked me if I would go with him and his family to a meeting as he knew I was a speedway regular at one time. From that meeting in May that year to the end of  the 2023 season I think we have missed one match and we have also attended a few away tracks as well. He is obsessed with the sport and on the phone to me daily with speedway updates he has found out, AND to go with his obsession he  has a subscription to the Speedway Star and he had a 2023 subscription to BSN. The lad is not into football as much as he is his speedway and its all down to Sheffield speedway and the Bluebell woods Charity for those couple of tickets. 

 

[IainB]

2 hours ago, tonyd said:

With the comment of "the sport doesn't attract young fans I beg to differ, yes the sport can always do with more fans young and old but the problem is how do you get them to attend the sport? Back in the 60/70s when I started going it was mostly a family outing, these days how many family's do things together apart from watch tv? The first meeting I attended on my own was Wembley 71 and I could walk from home to the stadium in 45 mins and the same home again after the meeting. I was 14 that year and lets be honest how many of us would let our son or daughter do something like that these days? Yes the latest generation need to be tempted to speedway but exactly how?

In 2022 my grandson was gifted a couple of free passes for Sheffield speedway by the Bluebell Woods charity  and he asked me if I would go with him and his family to a meeting as he knew I was a speedway regular at one time. From that meeting in May that year to the end of  the 2023 season I think we have missed one match and we have also attended a few away tracks as well. He is obsessed with the sport and on the phone to me daily with speedway updates he has found out, AND to go with his obsession he  has a subscription to the Speedway Star and he had a 2023 subscription to BSN. The lad is not into football as much as he is his speedway and its all down to Sheffield speedway and the Bluebell woods Charity for those couple of tickets. 

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again you cannot be failed to be impressed when you first attend a Speedway match (Unless you've attended a shambles that we occasionally get). It's when you take a deep dive into the sport as you become more interested in it that it starts to let you down. It'll be interesting to see how your grandson retains his interest as he gets more into it and dare I say it Sheffield don't manage to put a serious challenge in to retain their title

Edited November 19, 2023 by iainb