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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/16/2021 in all areas

  1. 7 points
    I have to say that you are full of it tonight. No track to moan about so you start to look for other things to pour doom and gloom on. Have a night off, you deserve it.
  2. 5 points
    I would be happy to do a monthly DD for 100 and maybe another 1 person possibly 2. I would love to do something to keep the club alive. I would then happily pay a reduced admission of say 10.00 per meeting and a programme/hog roast/burger or something included. That way the club is still getting further income from ticket sales but we get a reward of food/programme which could then be off set through other profits from the van, 50/50 draw, supporters club etc. Then maybe a yearly get together where we can chat to Rob and team. One negative is we need to stop the clickyness. I've been coming for over 30 years and never feel involved, miss the interaction with the riders and a chat with Rob to let us know updates etc. I think there needs to be disclosure of the situation the club was truly in when Rob took over to stop the rumour mill and get the facts out there of just how all those interested in Newcastle Diamonds were screwed over by the previous promotion. Maybe then a clean slate for 2022 where we start a fresh and move forward.
  3. 5 points
    I would be willing to pay up to £1000 as one upfront cost (not much I know, but as much as I could afford) and maybe £100 (maybe even more if I can persuade family members and friends to support too) a month from there on. If something like what THJ has suggested can be put in place... i dont have a business to promote or anything really, just want to see my club survive. I have some speedway spares and memorabilia I would happily donate to some kind of fund raising event to help save the club on the premise that we definitely operate in 2022... maybe a pre season event after we name our team? Hopefully with view of the long term moving to our own track for 2023? The support is there from a handful of fans, and if we can muster up enough budget to put a decent team together, the paying numbers will come from there... I just hope we can find a figurehead to put all of this together, as I have zero knowledge (or time) in business and I am too young to have any experience in the field...
  4. 4 points
    Euro sport could learn a lot from how clean cut sports film the racing less is more you could see every second of an exciting race which is something you can't say for Euro sports coverage it drives me mad.The way they switch from camera to camera misses a hell of a lot of the racing.Also with one camera if there is a race for a minor place just zoom out a little and in most cases you would not miss a thing.Plus it shows what viewing speedway is really like when watching it live, a motor sport involving 4 riders where you can see every second of the action.Which to me is a major selling point.
  5. 4 points
    The above all sound like really good ideas with fans trying to save a iconic club. My main issue ( for what its worth which is zero ) would be the getting out of Brough ASAP. It has to happen as for a long time now the racing at Newcastle has not been great as the bikes have got faster. Yes I remember Andre Compton and James Grieves blasting around the boards on the 3rd and 4th bend but those races are few and far between and the stigma that goes with the track certainly does not help the cause. My worry is that Speedway as a whole is no longer 2021 compliant and one of those is the noise level. You tell me when the last new track was opened ? Its nearly impossible because of housing estates spreading at a alarming rate meaning Betty does not want to hear annoying bikes while she sits out in her garden any longer. Sound travels far and wide on a evening and a new track within 20 miles of Newcastle would be a massive surprise to me if it could get past the noise brigade. I had a conversation only a few months back with one of the owners at Redcar and he even said that if they were to apply for permission now for the track which is on a motor sports complex he believed it would not get the go ahead.They get regular complaints from residents miles away but luckily because they have the licence they don't come to much. We all whinge about electric bikes etc and with no noise and no smell the sport would die. The problem is the way the sport is now is on a life support machine with no magic wand to recover at present. Yes riders wages and bike costs have grown way more than crowd levels which has caused a huge financial gulf. Yes the sport as some say is probably a £10 sport having to charge £18 to try and cover the difference between the above. Yes the shortage of riders and doubling up makes it a bit of a joke trying to explain it to the public. BUT the noise issues also will STOP 99% of new ventures ever getting past the first hurdle. I love this sport as a rider ( loose term ) as a Manager of Redcar Cubs but most importantly as a supporter for the last 49 years. I hate as much as anyone to see it struggling in so many places around the country. Yes at Redcar we are fortunate that crowds are up and we don't have huge rents to pay but Im a SPEEDWAY FAN and without clubs we won't have this wonderful sport of ours for that much longer in its present capacity.
  6. 4 points
    I think you would need Rob on board and give him the security of guaranteed income, but dont know obviously how his Company is set up to be able to do a share scheme... March to October would be 8 months of payments, £800 in total, (or do it over 10 months at £80 a month), like the Council Tax)... 250 putting £20 a week over 8 months would generate £200k.. (Less than two packets of fags). If it makes money (I laugh), then each get a dividend... Basically you would be buying "free admission" but these 250 could get access to the VIP suite, with each getting at least two matches in there, free programmes each week, free car parking etc. And maybe give them a free ticket each week to invite their partner, and up to five tickets a match to sell at a tenner to their family and friends? People who wouldnt ordinarily be there.. Ambassadors for the club if you like.. Another 400 a week paying "£x" to get in might then be enough if you are starting with a £200k guarantee, and the price to get in could come down if the guarantee covers enough of the costs.. Pipe dream I am sure but maybe worth at least a coat of looking at..
  7. 3 points
    Well all I'm going to say before I get me head down for another 16 hour shift tomorrow.. is that the previous promotion should ( hopefully ) be brought to justice for f@@king rob grant junior over & all there hangers ons ( & yes yous know who yous are ) let's hope the VAT men take them all the way to the cleaners & hopefully a few days months or even years in the big house is just what they deserve as they have took the p@ss out of the supporters for years at Newcastle speedway judging by what has gone on before our new owners took it on
  8. 3 points
    Really Josh Mac riding for the Brummies, who have to win to overcome the Scorpions to 6th in the league!!! Josh is a Scorpion, I give up , only in British Speedway???
  9. 3 points
    Could you get 250 people/companies paying £25 a week/£100 a month by DD for 100 shares per month. ? That's £25k a month coming in if you could. Maybe offering "Free" admission for that "investment" to each fan. And "Free" advertising for the companies around the stadium . Surely 250 people in a conurbation the size of Newcastle could be found who would like the sport to continue and could stump up £25 a week? Might need local media involvement and a certain Premier League Football Club may be able to help get the message out/put their hands in their pockets. Nothing ventured, etc etc NB. Maybe get Nicki P contacted to do some media work around the closure, someone must have a contact for him. He might also be the first to stump up some cash, given the push the Diamonds gave his career; and start the ball rolling. ..
  10. 3 points
    Would there be much interest in putting together a package of support from the fans? Would there be any value in a meeting upstairs in the bar after the Birmingham meeting... are there enough like-minded people who have funds to invest in a lost cause to try and save the Diamonds? Something along the lines of a Debenture say.... however unlike a Debenture there are very limited assets to repay the loan... people would have to loan the money on the understanding that if the new venture is unsuccessful the money is lost and there may (probably) be the need to top up this Debenture on a regular basis... However this would be on the premise that we leave for our own home ASAP and a share issue is made against loans? Is it worth a try or do we just roll over and pray to the Gods that someone comes in on an off chance... Any thoughts or interest from other like-minded companies or individuals?... Regards THJ
  11. 3 points
    And my employees will dictate to me how much I pay them because they want to have the best equipment to do the same job for somebody else, who will pay them more than me... And they will be allowed to branch out on their own, to fulfil their own ambitions, using the equipment I helped pay for by their salary demands.. My business is heavily reliant on good weather to be successful and my customer profile target will be families with young kids to ensure further growth.... So to that end I will mainly open during the week rather than weekends, on school nights, and hardly open at all during the summer holidays when the weather is better, instead I will open during the darker and colder autumn months... I am looking to offer you no more than a 50% stake in the business, and for that I want no less than £48.60....
  12. 2 points
    They may see it as that.... however in all honesty it's far from that. Many on here who have questioned the operating model & the un professional manner in which the sport is run are told to ignore all that & focus on 4 blokes racing. You yourself have stated ignore everything that goes on & watch the racing. Hardly the viewpoint some who believes it to be a professional sport would take.
  13. 2 points
    Because we don’t race every week.. so the weeks we don’t race everyone would still be paying and money increasing. These are just ball park figures really until we know how many are serious about putting money in.
  14. 2 points
    Good idea mate, probably won't be able to make the bar, (will be busy),,, but as mentioned the the 'GoFundMe' raised good money. Wouldn't be able to stump up much, but if there was 100 of me we might get somewhere. Al be good for the cash (ask Rob). Keep us in the loop and I will work on some of the guys, which might be persuaded to put a little bit in, av managed it before.
  15. 2 points
    This sounds like a good idea.. I couldn’t afford the other option but I think people would probably get involved this way and surely even 500-1000 people would pay a lesser amount per week/month to keep Newcastle speedway open. The go fund me page showed how much people were willing to help Newcastle speedway and think it’s a great idea if enough interested people. We have to try something as can’t let speedway die in Newcastle..
  16. 1 point
    It would have to be factored in, of course, however getting "guaranteed money", rather than "maybe they will turn up"... Or "if we run tonight the crowd will be crap'... Is a much better option I would suggest.. £800 is effectively 40 matches you are paying for in real terms, at £20 a match, however, there only will be around 20, so the money will go a long way to paying all the costs of staging the home meetings with the excess to help pay the away matches salaries.
  17. 1 point
    I'd take a point tonight if offered now tbh but this team never cease to amaze me as they've massively outdone everyone's expectations this season.
  18. 1 point
    Sadly, I have to agree with you. Brough park, is a relic of a bygone era and not suitable for exciting racing (modern day style). If speedway in Newcastle, is to flourish again. It has to be away from Brough. Anything else is sticking a plaster over a major injury and ultimately doomed to failure.
  19. 1 point
    Those days I was working for a shipping company called The Blue Star Line. I thought that when I went to watch speedway at West Ham I could forget about work but I had to spend the whole evening looking at a ship's funnel from ... yes you've guested it ... The Blue Star Line.
  20. 1 point
    Quite a few have suggested things like that, but judging by some of the comments on here, they're not interested in things like that. They want an hour's racing, and then they bugger off home... The same can be said about a lot of fans... I have no problems with gardening at the gate - particularly in modern times when gating seems to be so important. However, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for riders to return to the pits every time there is a false start...
  21. 1 point
    See as a Panthers fan I'm actually not that confident. That top 5 is powerful
  22. 1 point
    The thing is American wrestling isn't being marketed as a professional team sport is it. It's being marketed as a entertainment and knows it's place. And to be fair if one of the top names is missing they don't draft in a guest or wrestler replacement. Speedway needs to decide what it is & fast. Either its a contrived entertainment that people don't take too serious so it reinvents itself as that. Or it's a professional genuine team sport in which case it reinvents its self as that. Currently it's the former pretending to be the latter.
  23. 1 point
    And that’s not me sticking up for the racing, as I know fine well how bad it is, but never seen the likes of Cookie and Wells moaning about it like we usually do
  24. 1 point
    JK`s excellent SON semi`s racecards Friday semi 1 https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2021/SoN2021-1.pdf Saturday semi 2 https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2021/SoN2021-2.pdf
  25. 1 point
    No magic wand can make the sport year 2021 compliant anymore. Riders Wages are big to pay for the costs of bikes, a van, mechanic etc etc. Don't get me wrong I believe they are worth more than Premier League footballers but try telling that to your general public. The gulf between income from fans and expenditure on riders wages has risen to a non sustainable level. The sport IMO needs to go back to a part time one where you ride a couple of times a week and you have a job that fits around it. Then maybe we can build from the bottom and hopefully one day have a sport that could compete with Poland etc. Stadium rents against the size of crowds. Again the gulf has become non sustainable. If your owner isn't a wealthy businessman with tens of thousands per season to throw away you simply cant make it pay. The sport is a £10 sport. 15 minutes of entertainment over a 2 hour period. A family of 4 spending say £30-£40 is a good value night out. Spending £60 all of a sudden isn't value for money any longer. The bikes are loud and this stops any new tracks being opened. Soon as Betty hears the bikes in the distance sitting in her new Taylor Wimpey shoe box then the complaints roll in and the environmental people refuse permission. Maybe electric is the way to bring the sport back in to our towns and Cities ? I know the noise and smell are all part of us purists but not enough are coming through the turnstiles and this is why track after track are closing. I know Im involved with Redcar who are doing very well but as a Speedway fan of 49 years it saddens me to watch as club after club struggle and fold. I really do hope someone steps forward to take over at Newcastle, however unless they are a massive Speedway fan with money to lose then I cant see any sane person wanting to commit to a sport which in its present state cant survive in big high rented stadiums.
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