Post by coombes on Jan 2, 2020 10:11:06 GMT 1
A new year and a new decade and with time to jump on the bandwagon of predictions for the 20s for our sport and our team, with more than a bit of "back to the future"
Speedway will celebrate its 100th birthday at West Maitland in Australia in 2023 with its British equivalent coming in 2028. Despite the dire predictions for our sport I've no doubt it'll still be around to celebrate these big dates. Australia will continue in its disparate fashion with no real interaction between tracks, while things in Britain will possibly be a bit less than we have today. Its hard to see new teams or new tracks coming along and the grim reaper that is stadium developers will have caught a few by the end of the decade. By 1958 the top division was going to be down to just four starters and co-opted the teams in division two to form one combined league. Could well happen again. The league lost more tracks than it gained in the next few years and the sport could have just withered on the vine had it not been for the Provincial League. Who'll be the new PL? F2 bikes perhaps, perhaps not.
As for the Tigers, we'll be here for as long as the Facennas are prepared to underwrite the substantial losses that our current, possibly bloated, set up incurs each year. Should there be no Facennas then we're at ground zero, starting from pretty near scratch and hoping a weak team can pull through - anyone remember the 1954 season.
It is to be hoped the 20s will be remembered as the time when Speedway got it's costs under control, adopted sensible budgetary practices and set affordable admission prices, possibly yearning for the golden years earlier in the century. All we need is a guru to lead the way. Where is the next Mike Parker?
Speedway will celebrate its 100th birthday at West Maitland in Australia in 2023 with its British equivalent coming in 2028. Despite the dire predictions for our sport I've no doubt it'll still be around to celebrate these big dates. Australia will continue in its disparate fashion with no real interaction between tracks, while things in Britain will possibly be a bit less than we have today. Its hard to see new teams or new tracks coming along and the grim reaper that is stadium developers will have caught a few by the end of the decade. By 1958 the top division was going to be down to just four starters and co-opted the teams in division two to form one combined league. Could well happen again. The league lost more tracks than it gained in the next few years and the sport could have just withered on the vine had it not been for the Provincial League. Who'll be the new PL? F2 bikes perhaps, perhaps not.
As for the Tigers, we'll be here for as long as the Facennas are prepared to underwrite the substantial losses that our current, possibly bloated, set up incurs each year. Should there be no Facennas then we're at ground zero, starting from pretty near scratch and hoping a weak team can pull through - anyone remember the 1954 season.
It is to be hoped the 20s will be remembered as the time when Speedway got it's costs under control, adopted sensible budgetary practices and set affordable admission prices, possibly yearning for the golden years earlier in the century. All we need is a guru to lead the way. Where is the next Mike Parker?