Will speedway survive ?

[Deleted]

Gloom and doom merchants are always telling us speedway is finished, are they correct ? was it better years ago ? better run ? more exciting ?

[Deleted]

It's all bollox hatcham. We've been re-boarding our loft recently & I've found a load of old programmes which I've had a quick flick thorugh. A lot of the gripes & groans printed in the promoter notes in those could have been written last week & not 30 years ago.

I might dig a few out again and post some of the comments on here over the weekend, you can then compare whether the sports in any better state now than it was in the early-mid 70's onwards.

In fact I was going to ask if anyone knows what a "ghost" rider was, and what this standing riders down business was all about - I saw this mentioned a few times in progs from the mid 70's.

[Deleted]

I was reading through some Cradley programmes from 1983 and there was much the same thing. Malcolm Boyden complaining about Coventry bringing over another untried American called Ricky Miller rather than giving the place to a young English lad etc etc.

Bruce Penhall used to take bookings for meaningless individual meetings on the continent over riding in a league match at Cradley because he could earn more money from it.

There seems to be the same problems as there always were, but maybe less people left to complain about it, which is probably be the biggest problem in itself

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2008 13:03:30 GMT @wacks said:

I might dig a few out again and post some of the comments on here over the weekend, you can then compare whether the sports in any better state now than it was in the early-mid 70's onwards.

It would be good if you could Wacks........it would make interesting reading.

[Deleted]

No problem Kev.

Most of the programme notes from the early Smallmead days were penned by Reg Fearman so I'm sure you can imagine some of it indeed does make interesting reading.

[admin]

The trouble is that in the 1980s people thought the sport was on its knees, but it's worse now and people - possibly those same people - look back on the 1980s as some golden age for the sport.

[schumi]

Sept 5, 2008 13:03:30 GMT @wacks said:

It's all bollox hatcham.

Agreed. The only reason I look back with fondness is because my favourite rider was always winning. But he was still miles ahead of the rest, and it was still fairly processional. I suppose the only thing that can be said about those days is that there were more characters, although there are still plenty of those around now.

As an aside, I said yesterday it seems a lot of people are losing interest in the sport. There's not even much going on on the BSF.

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2008 14:22:22 GMT @schumi said:

Sept 5, 2008 13:03:30 GMT @wacks said:

It's all bollox hatcham.

Agreed. The only reason I look back with fondness is because my favourite rider was always winning. But he was still miles ahead of the rest, and it was still fairly processional. I suppose the only thing that can be said about those days is that there were more characters, although there are still plenty of those around now.

As an aside, I said yesterday it seems a lot of people are losing interest in the sport. There's not even much going on on the BSF.

This is interesting, I have long wondered whether problems with speedway/football/anything really are magnified because it is so much easier to debate them with chat rooms/forums etc as they are now. I never used to go into lengthy debates about the merits of the guest system for example with my mates at the pub after the meeting but there is a constant disection of every meeting/decision/team going on that maybe focusses people's mind on to the things that could be improved within the sport (no doubt there are plenty of those).

The only opinions I used to read were the letters in the Speedway Star and I only ever felt strongly enough to reply once (I still have a copy somewhere )

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2008 14:22:22 GMT @schumi said:

There's not even much going on on the BSF.

I suspect one reason is that the school holidays are now over!

[schumi]

I didn't really answer the question, did I? Sorry, hatcham. Okay, I was contemplating this the other day. As most of you know, I follow Sweden more than I do the British League (in which I tend to read about only Lakeside, Peterborough and any riders I particularly like). The problems that we have had (financial) are being echoed there, with riders not being paid, murmers of dropping down a league, and teams maybe looking at cheaper options for next year. Of course, there are always a couple of "richer" teams, but largely the economy over there is much the same as ours.
Over the last year I have read and contemplated the situation within our own ranks, and the feeling of impending doom is getting stronger all the time. Not only teams being closed, but riders disappearing, rules being changed to suit certain people, and no communication with our foreign counterparts.
This year it's obvious that Sweden and Poland have similar problems - okay some are to a lesser extent, but it's a worrying trend.
As has been said many times, there needs to be a drastic overhaul or, quite simply, no, I don't think it will survive.

[Genghis]

Sept 5, 2008 14:17:29 GMT admin said:

The trouble is that in the 1980s people thought the sport was on its knees, but it's worse now and people - possibly those same people - look back on the 1980s as some golden age for the sport.

The 1980s WERE a golden age, that's why. We had huge crowds at Oxford ever week - I reckon in 1985 and 1986, we were getting 3000-4000 every week.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the comments, the reason i posted this today,was because i had just read an article which said:

" Speedway will go downhill if someone doesn't think of something to spice up the interest,in fact the only ones to cling to it will be hysterical 16 year old girls. The same riders are always winning, races where the four riders are strung out in a line, long waits between events, and the vast difference in standard between the teams"

what do you all think ?

[schumi]

Speedway will go downhill if someone doesn't think of something to spice up the interest,

No, that's part of the problem - too much spice and tampering. There's nothing wrong with the basic product.

in fact the only ones to cling to it will be hysterical 16 year old girls.

I'm rather offended.

The same riders are always winning, and the vast difference in standard between the teams

Same can be said for any sport, and not just team sports.

races where the four riders are strung out in a line,

Can't do much about that.

long waits between events

Events? I assume they mean heats?

Who wrote that?

[admin]

Sept 5, 2008 15:49:46 GMT @hatcham said:

Thanks for the comments, the reason i posted this today,was because i had just read an article which said:

" Speedway will go downhill if someone doesn't think of something to spice up the interest,in fact the only ones to cling to it will be hysterical 16 year old girls. The same riders are always winning, races where the four riders are strung out in a line, long waits between events, and the vast difference in standard between the teams"

what do you all think ?

Well, that's bollocks.
Speedway would probably be in a healthier state if it was able to attract the "hysterical 16-year-old girls" market. After all, that particular demographic did boy bands and the like no harm at all.

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2008 15:49:46 GMT @hatcham said:

Thanks for the comments, the reason i posted this today,was because i had just read an article which said:

" Speedway will go downhill if someone doesn't think of something to spice up the interest,in fact the only ones to cling to it will be hysterical 16 year old girls. The same riders are always winning, races where the four riders are strung out in a line, long waits between events, and the vast difference in standard between the teams"

what do you all think ?

I think there is room within the meeting for more entertainment, of some sort. Take Monday's Sky match for example, it was rushed because of the threat of rain but what time did Heat 15 finish? I can't remember exactly but I'm sure I looked up at around 8.45 and they were around Heat 12. If you could shorten the wait between races where possible (allowing for extra time with 2 rides in succession for example) - could you fit in a junior match before the main event if the start time was brought forward a little? People would then have the option of watching, say 21 Heats for the same money and the kids get a chance to take part in what could be a competitive type of league ala BL II from a few years ago.