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Scunthorpe Scorpions V Workington Comets 29/3/24


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32 minutes ago, Moranboys said:

Correct,and why could this meeting not gone ahead at either 1 or 3 pm,,would have been done and dusted by then.i know hindsight is a good thing but just saying.Or call the meeting off after the initial downpour.

You can’t muck about people who have already paid to be there, e.g., season ticket holders.

17 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

Not so easy to find re-staging dates despite clubs seemingly having so few fixtures. I looked and Scunthorpe or Workington or Scunny have a NL fixture, on every Friday till well into June, when I got fed up of searching for a free date.

Maybe they'll put back a league match to run the BSN fixture, or race on a Saturday when they have an away match on the Sunday?

Next available Friday is 18 August, which is after Workington’s last fixture!

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Right here we go here are the unfortunate facts

 Yes I’m a travelling Workington fan but don’t let this distract you from the fact that this was a horrendous advert for speedway! We need people to want to come back and although I appreciate we have no control over the weather but we do have control over announcements and keeping the fans updated … nobody had a clue what was going on unless the speaker system was gone people on the first bend had no idea what was happening.

All appeared very unprofessional and especially as the promoter is part of the bspa we need to do better someone come on the centre and announce what’s going on! 
 

On a side note respect to the track staff for the work draining the standing water they did do a good job, my only issue is newbies won’t want to return and you can’t survive on idiots like me.

Onto the next one! Up the Comets!! 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Neila said:

Even jake Allen said on the stream it was just about rideable but not raceable 

Well, I'm glad the streamers were being kept up to date with proceedings because there was precious little being said in the stadium to the fans. All I heard was an announcement that it wouldn't be starting at 5:30 and then a load of horns blasting over the PA... what happened to the TV themes of the 80's?

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I’m more annoyed what it does to the “general “ speedway fans it looks horrendous and like I said although it’s disappointing surely communication with the fans will help a bad situation. He’s my gun shot my foot !

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11 hours ago, paul84 said:

Right here we go here are the unfortunate facts

 Yes I’m a travelling Workington fan but don’t let this distract you from the fact that this was a horrendous advert for speedway! We need people to want to come back and although I appreciate we have no control over the weather but we do have control over announcements and keeping the fans updated … nobody had a clue what was going on unless the speaker system was gone people on the first bend had no idea what was happening.

All appeared very unprofessional and especially as the promoter is part of the bspa we need to do better someone come on the centre and announce what’s going on! 
 

On a side note respect to the track staff for the work draining the standing water they did do a good job, my only issue is newbies won’t want to return and you can’t survive on idiots like me.

Onto the next one! Up the Comets!! 

 

 

Absolutely spot on! Not only is he the promoter part of the BSPA, he runs the whole 5h1t show, is it any wonder the sport is in the state it's in?

There should be some kind of time window in place to run meetings, much like they have in F1, to stop all of the faffing and dithering. It's the same today as it was 40 odd years ago when I first started attending. 

Edited by iainb
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Very disappointing travelling 180 miles for a rain off which was ultimately caused by a heavy shower about 30 minutes before start time. The second shower which came after 6-30pm only lasted a few minutes and made very little difference. These are my personal observations and thoughts :

Hard to understand why the track was watered with dark clouds approaching.

The PA system wasn't functioning properly so nobody had a clue what was happening, we just stood around cold in excess of 70 minutes after the advertised start time before people started walking toward the exit.  Not a great advert for Rob who was just saying in the Speedway Star how they are trying to raise the profile of the sport. 

The track staff did a good job with the track to the point were I believed the track would come to the riders after 3 or 4 heats if racing had got underway. It was observed that the drain on the 1st bend was higher than the track, this contributed to the large puddle of water that formed there.

We appreciated getting a refund quickly. It was made known to us at this time that the riders wanted to give it a go but the referee ultimately called it off.

 

 

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Agree this isn’t to damn our sport but it’s pointing out the obvious which need addressing, how can a club that has a promoter in such a position operate that way! ?

No miles or loss of money will ever stop me attending speedway and I’m fully aware this isn’t the norm! Let’s get things run like a professional sport and do better then this !

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Ok, can't do anything about a heavy downpour that was forecast on several weather apps. The promotor was straight out after the rain stopped, actually driving the tanker sucking the water off, so he was being very proactive in trying to get the meeting on.  If the call had gone out for 20 odd volunteers to help sweep off the rain water, I am sure they would have helped.  Even our number 7 , young Harrison , was keen to sweep the start finishing area!

What was a major failing, was keeping the crowd informed and entertained. Just playing the same tape over and over was plain lazy ( All aboard, all aboard...!) What is the point having an announcer in the box if they are unable to communicate with the crowd. Why no rider interviews to break the boredom- new team members, new female etc?

From the demeanour of the team manager and Worky captain,  on their track walk after sterling remedial work, it was obvious they had no desire to ride.  Don't know what Babs Horley was saying to the riders, but personally I have seen worse tracks raced upon? The second shower sealed the event end and finally a decision was forced.  To cap it all , the farce to get tickets stamped/ refunds needs to be addressed. Surely someone could direct the crowd to what was happening , which  side to queue, what procedures etc.  Maybe the tickets should be date stamped as they are being sold on entering the stadium, just a thought?

I only had to travel 5 miles home, but did wish the Workington fan parked next to me,  a safe journey home for his wasted time and money. As others have said not a good opener, we must do better all round.

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2 hours ago, iainb said:

There should be some kind of time window in place to run meetings, much like they have in F1, to stop all of the faffing and dithering. It's the same today as it was 40 odd years ago when I first started attending. 

That's a tricky one. Didn't Glasgow put a match back 2 or 3 hours last year to get it run. While that's a lot of waiting around, is better than fans driving home with no racing because of a window they have to complete it in.

Edited by szkocjasid
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It is very much "rinse and repeat" on here isn't it when it comes to the same old issues being outlined...

The comments made could have come from any meetings ran in similar circumstances over the past heaven knows how many decades..

The only real surprise I have is that some still seem surprised...:D

It is UK Speedway after all, a very small minority sport, ran, in the main, by well meaning amateurs, who use the sport as an "expensive hobby", with very little skill set around leading "the customer experience" at a public event...

So don't set your expectations too high, and that way you won't be too disappointed..;)

Any "newbies" may not go back again, but the "die hards" who persuade them to go there, will, so no real net loss to the business..

Maybe it's worth copying and pasting some comments on this thread, ready  for the next similar occurrence, to save time..

Then just change the names...:D

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7 hours ago, scunny1 said:

Ok, can't do anything about a heavy downpour that was forecast on several weather apps. The promotor was straight out after the rain stopped, actually driving the tanker sucking the water off, so he was being very proactive in trying to get the meeting on.  If the call had gone out for 20 odd volunteers to help sweep off the rain water, I am sure they would have helped.  Even our number 7 , young Harrison , was keen to sweep the start finishing area!

What was a major failing, was keeping the crowd informed and entertained. Just playing the same tape over and over was plain lazy ( All aboard, all aboard...!) What is the point having an announcer in the box if they are unable to communicate with the crowd. Why no rider interviews to break the boredom- new team members, new female etc?

From the demeanour of the team manager and Worky captain,  on their track walk after sterling remedial work, it was obvious they had no desire to ride.  Don't know what Babs Horley was saying to the riders, but personally I have seen worse tracks raced upon? The second shower sealed the event end and finally a decision was forced.  To cap it all , the farce to get tickets stamped/ refunds needs to be addressed. Surely someone could direct the crowd to what was happening , which  side to queue, what procedures etc.  Maybe the tickets should be date stamped as they are being sold on entering the stadium, just a thought?

I only had to travel 5 miles home, but did wish the Workington fan parked next to me,  a safe journey home for his wasted time and money. As others have said not a good opener, we must do better all round.

Good post.

I did feel for Rob and the team because it was such an unfortunate time to pour with rain on the season opener.  He was indeed very proactive with track work and gave it his best shot. If that track had been at a more prestige event then it is my view the meeting would have taken place. You sum up well were things need to be improved from the point of view of the paying public. I feel that the crowd have the expectation of a call off decision in the circumstances experienced nowadays so either the referee has to be stronger in getting the meeting going or the decision not to race taken quicker. It was a hard call but  with everyone already there I think the riders should have given it a go, the track would have only improved.

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1 hour ago, SteelShoe said:

Good post.

I did feel for Rob and the team because it was such an unfortunate time to pour with rain on the season opener.  He was indeed very proactive with track work and gave it his best shot. If that track had been at a more prestige event then it is my view the meeting would have taken place. You sum up well were things need to be improved from the point of view of the paying public. I feel that the crowd have the expectation of a call off decision in the circumstances experienced nowadays so either the referee has to be stronger in getting the meeting going or the decision not to race taken quicker. It was a hard call but  with everyone already there I think the riders should have given it a go, the track would have only improved.

The meeting should have been called off following the initial downpour,at least then the worky supporters could have been on their way instead of waiting seventy minutes for the inevitable.On a further point,is the food ever going to go back to the standards it used to be.The steak pie which used to be awesome when it was the old catering facilities,is now tantamount to being horrible.£7.00 for dried steak pie,dried chips and peas?lesson learnt from yesterday.Also,what happens with the 50/50 draw? Why couldn't that have gone ahead and what happens with the money? Is it rolled over?also,the choice of music over the tannoy,was more akin to a damn nightclub banging in your head four and hour and a half.prob worse experience I've ever had at scunny.

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3 minutes ago, Moranboys said:

The meeting should have been called off following the initial downpour,at least then the worky supporters could have been on their way instead of waiting seventy minutes for the inevitable.On a further point,is the food ever going to go back to the standards it used to be.The steak pie which used to be awesome when it was the old catering facilities,is now tantamount to being horrible.£7.00 for dried steak pie,dried chips and peas?lesson learnt from yesterday.Also,what happens with the 50/50 draw? Why couldn't that have gone ahead and what happens with the money? Is it rolled over?also,the choice of music over the tannoy,was more akin to a damn nightclub banging in your head four and hour and a half.prob worse experience I've ever had at scunny.

Apologies for ranting on but also,even if the meeting goes ahead,correct me if I'm wrong but don't we pay our money to be entertained for 15 heats,not watching follow my leader for five heats until the track dries out and then hope for ten heats of racing?

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12 hours ago, mikebv said:

It is very much "rinse and repeat" on here isn't it when it comes to the same old issues being outlined...

The comments made could have come from any meetings ran in similar circumstances over the past heaven knows how many decades..

The only real surprise I have is that some still seem surprised...:D

It is UK Speedway after all, a very small minority sport, ran, in the main, by well meaning amateurs, who use the sport as an "expensive hobby", with very little skill set around leading "the customer experience" at a public event...

So don't set your expectations too high, and that way you won't be too disappointed..;)

Any "newbies" may not go back again, but the "die hards" who persuade them to go there, will, so no real net loss to the business..

Maybe it's worth copying and pasting some comments on this thread, ready  for the next similar occurrence, to save time..

Then just change the names...:D

It's always a shambles at Scunny or seems to be whenever I choose to go, being brought up on the era of around 10 matches to choose to go to on a Good Friday this year I had a choice of 2! Poole too far away as a neutral with a 7:30 kick off or the 80 mile trip to the omnishambles that is Scunny. In recent years it seems to be the track I've spent the most time at waiting for Speedway to actually happen, usually I've been kept waiting due to inadequate medical resources. There's no way Rob Godfrey should be anywhere near the top table of British Speedway, he should step back and look at getting his own club in order.

At the risk of sounding like a Tory... Where is the plan? There's no plan! Like you say it's not the first time this has happened... anywhere! And it will happen again, we know what our climate is like and it'll probably only get worse before it gets better. A stadium full of punters, who were happily let in to be greeted by the sight of a track that everybody knew, deep down , was never going to see any Speedway ridden on it that night. There should be a set of procedures to work through, that have been proven to work, if a meeting is going to be attempted to be saved. Credit to those that tried to get the circuit into some kind of condition and clearing the pools of water on it but even after that work was carried out nothing was done to soak up the water that wasn't standing in pools but still quite clearly visible. I wonder if any research has been done into finding a financially viable absorbent substance that could be used on tracks in such events. Back in the day it used to be sawdust but the sport probably can't even afford that anymore. Blading the track and relaying with fresh shale would have been another option, just getting on with it may have been another option... or just calling it off after the downpour. That's my point there doesn't seem to be a set of procedures to run to in the event of this happening, it's generally nothing happens for a while, then riders start appearing, kicking the track, then work starts, the the ref, captains and managers walk a lap of the circuit, then there's more faffing about, everybody disappears for a while, then the ref, captains and managers appear again to walk another lap of the track, everybody disappears again, punters are stood around waiting, those who know, know and have already gone home... eventually it's called off... we've all seen it at our local tracks before and we'll all see it again!

Added with that on this occasion was the ridiculous "music" being blasted at the elderly crowd, not a single update as to what was actually happening, an annoying loud humming noise emanating from the PA when the "music" did cease and even more ridiculously a large queue to actually get out of the stadium! 

Edited by iainb
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Unfortunately as a general rule British speedway provides awful customer service. Those who pay the expensive entrance fee get taken for granted quite often. 

If you want to attract new customers and keep them coming back it goes without saying that things need to change. Not sure those currently running things have got that in them though unfortunately. 

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55 minutes ago, Moranboys said:

Apologies for ranting on but also,even if the meeting goes ahead,correct me if I'm wrong but don't we pay our money to be entertained for 15 heats,not watching follow my leader for five heats until the track dries out and then hope for ten heats of racing?

That's a perfect description of Oxford v Birmingham, after heavier than forecast rain the match went ahead and the first (of many) passes wasn't until heat 6, a match well received by almost everybody who attended.

Edited by arnieg
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Well I think different, disappointed you bet, but thats speedway /life in uk ,I just headed to the bar , nobody’s fault bar Mother Nature, rubbish happens ,had one of the best seats ever ,after everyone left and stopped complaining 

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