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foamfence

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Posts posted by foamfence


  1. 1 minute ago, Grand Central said:

    I was thinking of something a little more factual than 'somebody from Halifax (I think it was the council)' ... Doesn't really add to my understanding at all

    Well that's all and I'm certainly not a liar.


  2. 1 minute ago, George Dodds said:

    maybe the terms weren't attractive - something along the lines of "you bail out the football club, pay to bring the stadium up to acceptable standard and we'll allow you to take on the financial burden of the lease - and hope that the fans who wouldn't make the short trip to Bradford will pay to watch you in Halifax". Hardly a cast-iron opportunity

    I don't know, I would be guessing but I do remember the representing party visiting Odsal.


  3. 13 hours ago, 25yearfan said:

    I never knew this!

     

    Another massive error of judgement in the history of British speedway. Like I said before Halifax was well supported a hotbed on a par with the likes of Cradley and Coventry. - The 1986 - 1997 Bradford Dukes era was largely a story of bankrolling by the local Council and the Ham brothers to compensate for unviable crowd levels. - I'm sure that had speedway been reintroduced to a redeveloped Shay grounds in Halifax in the early 90's it would still be operating today and probably in the top flight. I wonder why the Ham brothers didn't take the opportunity to move back to a stadium in an area that undoubtedly would have supported speedway in greater numbers?

    Probably because they got the pick of the top events at Odsal.


  4. 43 minutes ago, Grand Central said:

    Please can you give more details on this offer ... I have no memory of ever hearing of this at the time or since.

    I remember someone from Halifax (think it was council) coming to Odsal and speaking to the Hams about Speedway returning to the Shay, they declined the offer and so the redevelopment took place without the inclusion of a Speedway track.


  5. 7 hours ago, noaksey said:

    Certainly Berwick are proof that speedway can survive in a football stadium however it's hard to see how it could have at the Shay given the complete redevelopment undertaken by Halifax Town.

    The redevelopment was by the council and they offered the speedway (by then at Odsal) a place in it, they refused so no track was included.

    • Sad 1

  6. 17 minutes ago, ch958 said:

    20 pc non white, not predominant

    That was the 2011 census figure, still not predominant but It'll be much higher than 20% The fact is that Odsal never really attracted paying crowds for league racing. it was all but dead when it closed.


  7. 25 minutes ago, barrybishop said:

    You see I dont view any meeting as "Mickey Mouse", although I admit some maybe more attractive than others. However we put on a show, week in, week out... and this is what people want to see now. It's true to say in my view we risk having a sport where the only entertainment is whether your team gets the league points or not and not the "show" on the track. For me, it's showtime every time.

    All the best

    While there's some truth in that, it does appear to broaden the grey line between sport and entertainment and that's something that many have struggled to find credible about Speedway.


  8. 26 minutes ago, teaboy279 said:

    I honestly imagine it depends on the money involved. For example if a stadium such as Cardiff with a roof and a massive capacity became available I imagine many of the hoops say for example Poole with a smaller capacity would have to jump through would be removed.

    They have to consider things like parking and nearby accommodation and travel facilities.


  9. 1 hour ago, GWC said:

    Maybe so but the bspl will outlaw and ban any rider who rides on a track not under their control.

    It happened back in the early 60’s when Mike Parker set up the Provincial league without authorisation from the then National league promoters.  Riders were blacklisted and a closed shop then but as it turned out it was the saving of speedway when both leagues combined in 1965.

     

    The big difference was that the Provincial league was actually bigger and stronger.


  10. 3 minutes ago, Grachan said:

    It's interesting watching discussions on the football breakaway league on TV this morning.

    People are basically saying that it is not sport if teams can chose their league based on finance and that it cannot be a proper sport if there is no accountability through promotion or relegation as it doesn't matter if you lose.

    Remind you of anything?

    Yes, the circus that this forum is dedicated to.

    • Haha 1

  11. 14 minutes ago, Rich said:

    If it's Amateur I don't think "employ" is the word. In the past the ACU tried and failed to ban AMCA licence holders from riding in ACU events.

    Employ as in 'use'. I was thinking more of the BSPA but there's a long way to go yet.


  12. 42 minutes ago, Rich said:

    Not Speedway I know, but there's nothing to stop a rider with an AMCA licence holding an ACU licence at the same time and riding in events organised under both governing bodies.

    Neither is there anything to stop one set-up refusing to employ riders from another.


  13. 30 minutes ago, f-s-p said:

    They will when a “breakaway league” rider wants a FIM licence without a valid FMN license from a member federation of FIM. Until then its non of their concern.

    I'd be very surprised if any of the likely riders here reach that standard.


  14. 9 minutes ago, brianbuck said:

    The interesting thing about this development is that there appears to be an alternative organisation to the BSPA, and one which is acceptable to the FIM so clubs who feel disgruntled about having no say in how their league is being run or who disagree with the imposition of rules which they think are wrong, seem to be free to give their alliegance to this organisation without any of their riders incurring any penalties.

    I certainly can't see the BSPA being in any way happy about this!

    I'm surprised the FIM have any opinion on this.


  15. 22 hours ago, Halifordukesfan said:

    People always knock Odsal's level of speedway fans but it's a vast stadium, you could put the fans of any British club in the stand & it wouldn't be full, no other speedway stadium has a capacity of nearly 23,000.

    They were getting less than a thousand towards the end and that's from a time when crowds were slightly bigger than now, on average at least.


  16. 31 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

    All air fences are removable, that’s how they get replaced after a puncture during a meeting.

    The Cardiff air fence belongs to the circus that is the GP and it’s owners.

    It would cost a few Bob to transport around 45 + panels to Bradford from any other track and I doubt any one track has enough panels to fit out Odsals track although Belle Vue might come close plus the compulsory spares. To give you a comparison , your track , Redcar, uses 31 panels so quite a lot needed for a track three times the size.

     I believe they also need suspended wood panels under the air fence.


  17. 6 minutes ago, jenga said:

    mornin . does anyone know what lou samsung is doing now  ? sure he was doing breakdown recovery in ozz . what are other former workington riders doing now . 

    the 70s were brill days . it was oh so simple then ..  

    He manufactures mobile telephones.

    • Haha 5
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