Non League Football 24/25

[Seventyseven]

Just seems an odd one, but not suggesting anything was done wrong. But thanks, only been following non league for a couple of years! 
 

It had potential last night but the amount of police on seemed to quell anything. I’d heard the young lads from both sides had met earlier only to be denied a scrap by the police who marched them to the ground. 
 

Would think it will be lively on Monday! 

[grobyfox1990]

14 hours ago, FoxesFan#1 said:

Hope you had a great evening regardless of result, I keep meaning to go to Anstey for a game as I'm back in that neck of the woods quite regularly.  My Dad used to play for them in the 1970s and I had one outing for the Swifts in the 80s!  Possibly had my best ever game in central midfield.

 

Funnily I'm at Beaumont Leys tonight for the Speedway just touching distance from the Nomads

I went tonight, first time ever. Was a lot of fun! Left when it started raining just after the crash, heat 14 I think 

[FoxesFan#1]

2 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

I went tonight, first time ever. Was a lot of fun! Left when it started raining just after the crash, heat 14 I think 

That's superb that you went, that makes my day!

 

I was there too, got back home at 10.15pm.

 

Very small crowd tonight with it being a qualifying round but actually the racing was good.  Normally get 1200 or so for league meetings, about double what was there tonight I'd say.  Last meeting (Ipswich) was much bigger crowd.

 

Ha yeah, that rain was annoying!  My Dad is involved in the club so we got to dash through the pits and head into the stand.  My mate owns the stadium and used to run the team too.

 

So good you went and to bring it back to football I saw the sign for Anstey as I was heading to the track!

[grobyfox1990]

3 minutes ago, FoxesFan#1 said:

That's superb that you went, that makes my day!

 

I was there too, got back home at 10.15pm.

 

Very small crowd tonight with it being a qualifying round but actually the racing was good.  Normally get 1200 or so for league meetings, about double what was there tonight I'd say.  Last meeting (Ipswich) was much bigger crowd.

 

Ha yeah, that rain was annoying!  My Dad is involved in the club so we got to dash through the pits and head into the stand.  My mate owns the stadium and used to run the team too.

 

So good you went and to bring it back to football I saw the sign for Anstey as I was heading to the track!

That’s great that you know people who are involved. I thought the racing was crazy fun, on the edge carnage.
It’s v rare that I’m in Leicester on a weeknight but for various reasons I have been for 2 of the last 3 Thursdays, I’ve gone to riders and now speedway. Would highly recommend both as brilliant local entertainment options 

[FoxesFan#1]

10 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

That’s great that you know people who are involved. I thought the racing was crazy fun, on the edge carnage.
It’s v rare that I’m in Leicester on a weeknight but for various reasons I have been for 2 of the last 3 Thursdays, I’ve gone to riders and now speedway. Would highly recommend both as brilliant local entertainment options 

Oh yeah they're brave lads that race, incredible souls that literally risk serious injury every time they line up for a race.

 

Thankfully it is much safer now with air fences but it's still a tough sport

 

Some good young lads racing tonight aiming to get into the British Final at Belle Vue later in the season, with the winner of tonight's meeting being a local lad.

 

Those that get to the top in England find lucrative contracts in Poland waiting for them, where crowds are often close to 20,000 - the authorities there support the sport and they have football style stadiums, unlike in UK where they range from old Greyhound stadiums to tracks in fields.  I'm just grateful good people keep it running.  

 

So good to hear you went to the Rider's too, it's good to see what else is going on.

 

Great speaking and apologies all for diverting some talk onto another sport!

Edited yesterday at 22:25 by FoxesFan#1

[CosbehFox]

12 hours ago, grobyfox1990 said:

That’s great that you know people who are involved. I thought the racing was crazy fun, on the edge carnage.
It’s v rare that I’m in Leicester on a weeknight but for various reasons I have been for 2 of the last 3 Thursdays, I’ve gone to riders and now speedway. Would highly recommend both as brilliant local entertainment options 

As a man of travel, if you ever get the chance watch a meeting in Poland. Add football support to that sport. Went to Bydgoszcz, absolute nutcases. The derbies are as strong as any football hatred. 

 

A trip to Cardiff for British Speedway Grand Prix was a cracking day out when it was reaching crowds of 50k. 

[grobyfox1990]

22 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

As a man of travel, if you ever get the chance watch a meeting in Poland. Add football support to that sport. Went to Bydgoszcz, absolute nutcases. The derbies are as strong as any football hatred. 

 

A trip to Cardiff for British Speedway Grand Prix was a cracking day out when it was reaching crowds of 50k. 

Thanks for the tips both of you! Saved the name of the town in phone notes

[FoxesFan#1]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

As a man of travel, if you ever get the chance watch a meeting in Poland. Add football support to that sport. Went to Bydgoszcz, absolute nutcases. The derbies are as strong as any football hatred. 

 

A trip to Cardiff for British Speedway Grand Prix was a cracking day out when it was reaching crowds of 50k. 

That's amazing you have been to Poland to watch a meeting, I'm very impressed and slightly envious too.

 

We used to be the leading light for the sport but many years of neglect have let it get to its current level

 

So many old clubs lost their stadiums to property developers so that bland housing estates can be built or warehousing to be extended.

 

The sport never reinvested in itself but thankfully there are approximately 15 professional clubs running still.

 

Some will sadly not be here in the next 3-5 years not due to crowd levels but mainly down to stadium owners selling up to property developers.

 

Some grand old clubs been lost with big followings but there are shining lights and some clubs re-appear out of town like Workington that used to share with the rugby team now have a great set up at their old training track.  

 

The clubs with the best future own their own land (or have long leases) and there are still enough to keep the sport running in the UK.

 

The ones to worry about are the ones in Greyhound stadiums like Poole, Sheffield, Edinburgh etc

 

Anyhow to bring it back to football, Berwick Speedway share with the football team and is the bigger of the two clubs.  Berwick football is non-league, ha I know it's not but trying to find some link back to the thread!

[CosbehFox]

13 minutes ago, FoxesFan#1 said:

That's amazing you have been to Poland to watch a meeting, I'm very impressed and slightly envious too.

 

We used to be the leading light for the sport but many years of neglect have let it get to its current level

 

So many old clubs lost their stadiums to property developers so that bland housing estates can be built or warehousing to be extended.

 

The sport never reinvested in itself but thankfully there are approximately 15 professional clubs running still.

 

Some will sadly not be here in the next 3-5 years not due to crowd levels but mainly down to stadium owners selling up to property developers.

 

Some grand old clubs been lost with big followings but there are shining lights and some clubs re-appear out of town like Workington that used to share with the rugby team now have a great set up at their old training track.  

 

The clubs with the best future own their own land (or have long leases) and there are still enough to keep the sport running in the UK.

 

The ones to worry about are the ones in Greyhound stadiums like Poole, Sheffield, Edinburgh etc

 

Anyhow to bring it back to football, Berwick Speedway share with the football team and is the bigger of the two clubs.  Berwick football is non-league, ha I know it's not but trying to find some link back to the thread!

Went Poland back in 2005 for the Polish GP. Saw Gollob in his prime on his home track. Obviously the sport over there has effectively become the Premier League with proper stadiums and professionalism.

 

However I don't think its just lost its appeal in the UK. The World Championships have lost stadiums such as Cardiff, Parken, Friends Arena in Stockholm, Melbourne etc. There are few riders at the level of Zmarzlik which has made it a real bad watch. It's dying in Sweden and Denmark and there is no developing market in the world. The loss of Russia hurt as three very good riders can't ride at a world stage. 

 

The saddest part of when I was watching if I look at 2005 Grand Prix line-up; 2 are wheelchair bound, another passed away from a crash and a couple of the prospects at the time similar fates. Tai Woffinden is a lucky boy after last months crash - we met him on my stag do (brilliant bloke) with Bewley as they were riding in Wroclaw and were on the same flight out to there. 

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by CosbehFox

[FoxesFan#1]

3 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Went Poland back in 2005 for the Polish GP. Saw Gollob in his prime on his home track. Obviously the sport over there has effectively become the Premier League with proper stadiums and professionalism.

 

However I don't think its just lost its appeal in the UK. The World Championships have lost stadiums such as Cardiff, Parken, Friends Arena in Stockholm, Melbourne etc. There are few riders at the level of Zmarzlik which has made it a real bad watch. It's dying in Sweden and Denmark and there is no developing market in the world. The loss of Russia hurt as three very good riders can't ride at a world stage. 

 

The saddest part of when I was watching if I look at 2005 Grand Prix line-up; 2 are wheelchair bound, another passed away from a crash and a couple of the prospects at the time similar fates. Tai Woffinden is a lucky boy after last months crash - we met him on my stag do (brilliant bloke) with Bewley as they were riding in Wroclaw and were on the same flight out to there. 

That must have been a great trip back in 2005.  I went to Vojens as a teenager on the club coach in 1994 for the World Final.

 

I think sadly for the sport you are so on point about all of the aspects you raised, it certainly needs a good shake up across the nations.

 

Oh yeah Tai is very lucky for it not to have been so much worse.

 

My Dad knows most of the riders and the vast majority are really nice guys off the track so it must have been nice speaking with two fine racers on the plane like you did