old bob at herne bay

With all the discussions about Oxford Coventry Rye House.......which still have the remains of stadia in place.. I was looking back and thinking how many defunct tracks have successfully been rescued ? The success rate is pretty low I think I can remember New Cross having a few attempts in the early 1960’s at reopening.... none of which lasted very long .....West Ham restarting in 1964.... and running for another 10 years...... but are there ANY more recent examples of tracks once closed being re opened ?

Question mark remains for me on Holders temperament. Good in a good side when everything is going well.... when the going gets tough, Holder tends to lose the plot. Lambert however seems to be made of sterner stuff.

Having read the Bournemouth Echo online, sadly I have to say this news has a sense of "deja vu" about it. In the case of Lakeside's venue their demise started with the Banger Racing Promotion pulling out. Despite all the promises from the Thurrock planning people about retaining a sports stadium ion thier Local Plan , it all came to nought and the site sold up for more housing. With UK government relaxing planning for the hysteria to build ever more houses I can only see this heading one way .........

The responses to this thread pretty much sum up the state of British Speedway today. We have one poster complaining about the spelling (or grammar) . Some think everything is rosy, others think urgent action needs to be taken. Many clearly just don’t give a tuppenny damn and don’t bother to post. This is replicated amongst our current set of promoters. They promote the sport, and until they cooperate fully, and put their personal ambitions to one side, I cannot see organised league speedway surviving in the UK.

Hackney Hawk, Like you I have endured experiences with rude and arrogant modern day "promoters" that made me wonder why I bother. Nil entertainment.... endless delays.... shabby stadium facilities and never even the decency of a reply to any letter sent. Some 3 seasons ago I gave up attending. My grandfather first watched speedway at Crystal Palace in the the early 1930's ... sadly I have ended the family tradition. Still take the Speedway Star and Classic Speedway magazine ... still watch speedway on TV , but you will never get me to visit another UK speedway track. I have great memories and prefer to keep them as great memories. Sadly from my personal band of speedway "diehard" supporter friends, many of them have passed away, and must be watching their speedway from afar.

With 90% of revenue throught the turnstiles and 80% of the clubs total income spent on riders wages, UK speedway was in a complete financial mess before COVID19. Like so many high street businesses this pandemic has just highlighted the problems. Ian Jordon hit the nail on the head when he said that 30 -40% of his crowd were uncertain that they would turn up this season. Not running league speedway must have been a cut your losses strategy.

Think you meant realistic Mr McCaffery .....let’s not kid ourselves that someone is going to invest money into Brandon Stadium to run speedway at a loss each and every week? Have you read this weeks Speedway Star page 2? Just about puts the tin lid on the Rockets . The new owner doesn’t want his new gym getting “all grimed up” from the bikes.

Surely will become another housing estate .... mega millions to be made .☹️

Yes Arthur it was ... I used to buy my Star from him every week at Hackney .. a real character, he would walk around the track in a white coat with armfuls of Stars and Mails ... must have been a nice little earner in those days

Is there a moderator of this British SPEEDWAY Forum ? Why is this thread even allowed on a SPEEDWAY forum. No relevance to SPEEDWAY at all.

The late Ivan Mauger always maintained that Speedway was a sport ridden by professionals and managed by amateurs. Seems stock cars is the complete opposite from what I am reading on here.

So an envelope to Scott Nichols riding for the Leicester Hunters and an envelope for Danny King for the Scunthorpe Saints ......should attract a crowd...... ACU referee required ? Medical Cover? Will the riders licences be valid for them to ride in these “amateur” meetings ?

Wow......“Scunthorpe Amateur Select vs Leicester Amateur Select” A fixture to savour...... will it be run over two legs home and away to add to the excitement ?

Some rather strange comments on here..... transferring blame to “The Government” As though it would be any different if we had some other bunch in “The Government” ?? Most of British Speedway’s problems date back pre Covid World War, this war has just highlighted their perilous state. Sounds like the moans and groans after a meeting has been rained off after a cloudburst , and you stand around for an hour with false hopes that miracously the track will dry out. We are told that the meeting is definitely ON ON ON ......and then suddenly it’s OFF.

Just think..... every season every UK club promoter announces that they have made a “ loss” running speedway . Sums of “ five figures” or “six figures” are bandied about. So no meetings run this season, no riders wages, no fees for referees, no fees for medical cover. Paid staff at most tracks are probably one or two, the rest casual employees and/or volunteers. Are the losses incurred any higher or lower than they normally generate running a league programme? Biggest issue IMO is whether owners of the stadia used by Speedway are still in business next year?