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John Leslie

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Posts posted by John Leslie


  1. What I don't understand, however, is why the BSPA would want Mark Hennessy? What experience has this person got at speedway promotion for the BSPA to want him as their preferred option?

     

    I remember asking the same question about a dodgy-looking hairdresser in 1998.

    • Like 2

  2.  

    Well according to Companies House, Christopher Morton is the only active director of Belle Vue Speedway Limited:-

     

    https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06012405

     

    So does that not suggest that it is his company?

    That suggests he is a director of that particular limited company.

    I could get a job as managing director of Tesco, but it doesn't mean I own Tesco.

    i could even pay £25ish quid to companies house and set up a company called "My own Tesco Ltd" and be the sole shareholder and appoint myself managing director... but unless my own tesco owns a few thousand shops I'm not going to be voted retailer of the year.


  3.  

    But Chris still owns Belle Vue Speedway, so he must surely be included in future plans.

    Chris Morton never owned Belle Vue. He was only a co-promoter. His fellow co-promoter David Gordon was the 100% shareholder.

    But anyway their speedway licence was annulled at the AGM, as were both their promoters licences. So neither can be a promoter, although I suppose they could be employed in an unlicenced role.


  4. Terrible news for Belle Vue. Looking pretty desperate right now. Feel sorry for the fans and the riders who need to get fixed up.

     

    Thought Shovvy would be too busy breathing a sign of relief rather than trolling this thread. After all it's good news for both Belle Vue and Poole.

     

    From a Poole point of view this has to be good news. If Pairman had bought BV, how much time would he still want to devote to Poole?

     

    If you've been driving a Fiat Punto and suddenly get to buy a Ferrari, you're not going to be too bothered about still taking the Punto to the car wash every week when you can be driving your new Ferrari instead.

     

    From the BV point of view, the Pairman/Morton bid was apparently always 3rd choice out of the 4 bidders (and the 4th bidder was just a pipe-dream for someone who hadn't really got the money).

    With them out of the running the other two consortium bidders, which I believe are almost the same people, can get on with forming a consortium and finalise the deal and move forward.

    • Like 1

  5.  

    If thats what Eastbourne riders have to do to get sponsorship i think i would take my chances with Pipe at Buxton :D

    Sounds like some eye-watering sponsorship deals at Eastbourne.

     

    I would imagine the lubricant is for their Pipe!

    • Like 2

  6.  

    John Leslie, you are indeed an astute and knowledgeable contributor and perhaps indeed Lee was approached whilst Friend Pipe had gone walkabouts and was signed by the Moss family rather than Monologue Man. But it is what it is.

     

    Yes, I am aware that Lee has been around for some years in the junior leagues but as we well know, there is a world of difference between junior league racing and the rather more serious business of the National League.

     

    So he might be a slightly more mature novice than some of the young whippersnappers that appear but in terms of serious racing, I still regard him very much as a novice and I stand by my comment that the majority of riders in NL can learn something from a Tony Atkin type character.

     

    I wish Lee well in 2017.

    Not knocking Lee in any way.

    I do most of my watching around the Midland tracks so I've seen a lot of Lee over the years and he's a good lad. He's one that will always help out team-mates.

    The NL can't all be full of promising 15-year-old newbies. The league needs its share of Lees. (He's no older than Pipe's first choice David Wallinger anyway)

    • Like 3

  7. Where did you get the idea that Dave Darcy is the new owner from? All I can see is that he is the promoter and I am not even sure if he is the sole promoter as it does not say that in the press release. The press release also says that Dave Darcy is taking over running the business. So who owns the business. I am afraid that the press release asks more questions than it answers!

    Thought it was pretty well known that Buster Chapman is the new owner of Leicester?

     

    It was made clear that he would have to put someone else in as promoter to run the club for him to avoid being seen as having a conflict of interests with his other club King's Lynn.

    Strange though that the promoter is someone who was a promoter under the failed Hemsley regime, Aren't the Belle Vue promoters banned from doing the same?


  8.  

    it's a great shame that there isn't a Tony Atkin type of mentor there, as developing riders can gain so much confidence and knowledge from some of the elder statesmen of the sport.

     

    To be fair, as a 34-year-old who has been riding 13 years, Lee is more one of the "elder statesmen" than a raw novice.

     

    Notice the comments on the press release are all from Jayne Moss.

    Looks like this signing was made by Jayne after bossman Pipe went off on his hiatus when his choice of reserves Burton & Wallinger were poached elsewhere.

    • Like 1

  9. Gustix is entitled to be keen on any rider, (David Mason in this case),,even if the majority are not of the same opinion ,,and while a bit stuck in the past,he still makes a valuable contribution to speedway threads...And by the way Gustix,..David Mason could still get a team place this season..

    You need to read back a bit. No one has offered any opinion on whether they are keen on David Mason or not.

     

    The thing is, Gustix made a silly claim that 25(ish) of last years NL riders (presumably including David Mason) won't be able to get a place in this year's NL due to the points limit being wrong. This led him to the equally silly and erroneous claim that the NL is on a "downward spiral".

     

    This of course has been shown to be complete nonsense. Most knowledgable fans have looked at the team building, made the calculations and have worked out that the points limit is pretty much spot on. The NL looks to be competitive and strong.

     

    Just the one person keeps on trolling, but has been unable to say what he thinks the points limit should be, or even list who these (non-existent) 25ish riders who can't get a team place are.


  10. I went a bit further and identified 11 better riders (6.35 upwards) who at this stage look likely non starters for NL and with 1 new one (Boxall) left a combined net shortfall of 84.5 points. Replace with 10 3.0 pointers and the shortfall is 54 or 4.5 per team. This would indicate that only 37.5 are available unless some 'opt outers' change their mind.

    In this scenario it is certain that some teams will start at least a point under limit probably more.

     

    It also means the statement that no rider over 3.0 should miss out is spot on.

     

    Of the two teams completed Cradley are 38.90 and Eastbourne 38.27 which lowers the 37.5 availability even further for the other 10 teams. With Birmingham and Mildenhall also certain to be near the limit the situation must be getting pretty dire for the remaining 8.

    Unless there are some surprises none of us has anticipated I am pretty sure one (or more)will be under 37.

     

     

    So, despite some clown spamming this thread with nonsense about 30 riders being put out of work, you reckon there's a place for every 3.00+ rider and we still won't have enough riders to get everyone up to the 39 point limit?

     

    I'm a little more optimistic. I reckon we can have full employment and almost all teams will be close to 39.


  11. There's nothing like a fake retirement and comeback to help the old self-publicity.

     

    At least we can look forward to the return of our favourite single-paragraph ego-massaging press releases which remind us how the manager is far more important than any of the riders.

    • Like 3

  12. I make it over 1.8 million footballers in the uk will miss out on a premier league team place. Does this reflect the downward spiral of English football?

    Exactly.

    We know that 12 NL teams will give permanent employment to 84 riders. It can't be any more or less than 84 at any one time. We've also shown mathematically that a 39 (ish) point limit is the best to ensure that the 84 places go to the 84 best NL standard riders.

     

    There's nothing in dispute there...basically nothing else to discuss.

     

    Anyone who can't grasp the basic facts and babbles on about 35 riders missing out (whilst being unable to name these riders nor explain in what way they are missing out) must be a worry for society.

     

    It's like the demented old woman in the high street shouting at the pigeons. Everyone knows it's a barking mad thing to do, no one knows why she does it, but we're all just glad it's not us.

    • Like 1

  13. Just had a look at the teams in the Football League Division One....Scunthorpe United, Fleetwood Town, Milton Keynes Dons.....surely there are better teams in England than those?

     

    Remember when Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney played in Football League Division One? They played for the top teams not lowly teams like MK Dons and Scunthorpe.

    Football has really gone downhill.... In those days we had Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal in League division one.....now we have Fleetwood and MK in league one.....terrible.

     

    Oh no, of course....I'm jesting

     

    No one would be stupid enough to confuse the Football League division one (top flight) of Matthews' and Finney's day with the League one (third division) of today, no more than anyone would be stupid enough to confuse the Speedway National League of 1950s (top league) with the Speedway National League of today (third division).... would they?

     

    You'd have to be pretty dim not to know that the division one in Football that Matthews and Finney played in is now called the Premier League, and the National League in Speedway that Fundin and Duggan rode in in now called the Premiership.

    • Like 1

  14.  

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ​Study of the quotes will show that I was very much against using the word DEVELOPMENT in the title for the National League. Indeed I was delighted when subsequent comments late indicated that the league would in future be known as just the National League.

    However, comment elsewhere now indicates that DEVELOPMENT should continue to be used in the league's description. To outsiders the description NATIONAL LEAGUE indicates the league as being a competition embracing the highest structures in the sport where it is involved.

    Sadly, the current National League is far from that. It is by its own admission restricted largely to the development of young riders for their later involvement in higher rated leagues. That confirms it as being basically a training league and far from being a competition similar to to the original National League in which many of speedway's most famous international stars competed.

    The original league featured just to name a few greats like Ove Fundin, Jack Parker, Vc Duggan, Ronnie Moore and many others. The present competition is far from equal to that class. So, let's again revert to the current competition's real description as the National Development League.

     

    Clueless...totally clueless.

    • Like 1
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