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Reading through an old Sleepy Hollow annual last night and came across this little gem, at the start of the millenium, by then chair of the Racecourse association, Angus Chrichton-Miller:
"This century is going to see racing chasing and, I think, ultimately overtaking soccer as the really popular sport in this country?"
A decade into the century it’s perhaps time to take stock. Are we on track?
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"This century is going to see racing chasing and, I think, ultimately overtaking soccer as the really popular sport in this country?"
A decade into the century it’s perhaps time to take stock. Are we on track?
Droll stuff! I think it’s true is that
something
has got to replace "soccer" as the populist sport, because disillusion is setting in exponentially amongst fans at all levels in that neck of the woods.
Sadly, with all its internecine wrangling, Racing has not positioned itself to take advantage of the fallout when "soccer" implodes. Beach Volleyball probably stands a better chance of taking up the slack.
Unfortunately delusions appear to be a consistent symptom of participation in the higher echelons of the racing industry….
According to Paul Struthers on the 8th November 2010 ‘we’re the second biggest sport in the country,’ so racing must be closer than everything else.
By my reckoning, thanks to the the great levy settlement last week, along with other work like RfC in the sport, racing is projcted to reach the summit of British sport in 2014.
I think the key to that statement is ‘former’ chair of the racecourse association. I wonder how long he lasted after that golden nugget.
It’s ridiculous if for no other reason than the fact that the number of racecourses that can hold more people than any of the top 4 football club stadia in the UK is in single digits.
It’s two to be exact (Cheltenham & Ascot).
Did Crichton-Miller
really
say that?
If so, then Lord help us.
The fool has fallen into the trap of thinking that because racing gets nearly 6 million through the gates every year, second only to football, then it must so popular that …one last push…and we’re there!
Much as we might like it to be otherwise, the fact is that racing is not particularly popular, compared to many other spectator sports. In fact, hardly anyone follows it at all. Most of those 6 million are just there for a day out.
Proof?
Take a look at the many sports blogs on the Guardian site, by a very long way the most popular and commented on news site in the country, far more than all the other newspaper sites put together. Apart from the daily tipping competition (for which there is a prize), commentable articles by Greg Wood/Chris Cook/Will Hayler are lucky to get half a dozen responses. I’d say the general average for other sports is around 50 or so, for football or cricket you’re talking 100s.
Is that one of the ‘Racehorses of…’ annuals Glenn?
Which one? as I’d love to dig it out and read the whole thing in its full context. For a good laugh or cry
The next paragraph goes on to show how far we’ve come in the last 10 years.
‘2000 seemed to be a year of seemingly interminable bickering within the sport – bickering over new funding arrangements, dependent on agreeing and presenting proposals to the Government for a successor to the the Levy Board and negotiating a new media-rights contact;…bickering over reforms of the starting price system; bickering about the effects of ‘tax-free’ offshore betting.’
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