greyhoundp

https://www.jrmspeedway.com/en/engines

What does the FIM bring to British Speedway other than International events, and would it be possible to remain members of the ACU whilst not being FIM members ?. Would the FIM even allow its riders to participate in none FIM events ?, I agree going it alone would be an interesting choice because it would help us to bring equipment costs down, upright 2/4 valves would i suspect give the rider more control over the Bike, suit more of our Tracks, and maybe give more overtaking though this is debatable. We would lose the staging of International events, and probably most of the International riders though this would be through their choice, but they would be most of the higher standard of riders who have GP aspirations, or riders that can earn more money in europe than in the UK. Personally i think it would be worthwhile the BSPA considering it if its possible, however in my opinion they wont even think about it, but is a good debating point whilst their is no speedway..

James Purchase returned to briefly ride for Cradley.. https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/speedway-ace-jailed-for-death-crash-1-84164

If Barry & Martin have done nothing else, they have made supporters feel valued, whereas many of the old guard seem to have supporters their on sufference, and have to be put up with rather than valued, this also comes across from the BSPA, and the Sport as a whole..

That count is not far away, there was a count done a few weeks ago on another thread, in fact it may have been you that did the count..

Point by point. 1. I can't see Cradley ever coming back. How long were Birmingham and Leicester away for ?. 2. The fan base has dwindled due to age and apathy. The age issue applies to every Team in this country, the apathy is because the dream we were sold by P & P never materialised. 3. If the outstanding Tony Mole could not find a track location for them between 2000 and 2010 and make it work, then I have to ask "who can"??. There are still a few people out there who believe something can be put in place, the other major stumbling block now is the Sport itself. 4. The Money raised to support the Cradley Planning and set up was then squandered and used by Patchett and Pearson who have piggy backed on to the Cradley name for a long time, creamed money off it and done very little to actually support it. Now they have "run for the hills" as the money pit has run dry. Cant really argue with that. 5. Its 25 years since Dudley Wood closed and I fear Cradley will never return. Never say never, though i cant see it ever being in Cradley heath as such. 6. Birmingham and Wolverhampton are barely viable, so where is there room for another Club in the midst of that as I see very few Cradley fans (30-40 in 2019) at either track and Cradleys gates last year were probably below 500. Cradley are not just another club, again how many (30-40) attend the sport in general, I would suggest that age bracket and younger are/were the first to get disilusioned with the lack of (finding a track) progress, their were/are many reasons why the gates fell to under 500 that would take to long to answer here, I myself am one of the stay aways. 7. The horse sadly has bolted. The horse hasnt bolted, but its certainly lame .

All good points, but with regards Semi Pro riders its they themseves that decide if they want to be semi pro, its the promoters/sponsors that pay professional rider rates of pay, which the sport itself cant afford. The promoters need to pay a realistic figure that the Sport as a whole can afford and as for Sponsorship the promoters should not be allowed to spend sponsorship money on individual riders but use any sponsorship monies to cover meeting costs, the riders themselves should be responsible for obtaining their own sponsorship, but semi pro has to be the way to go as the sport can no longer sustain full time riders in the UK, indeed why should supporters and promoters continue to have to subsidise these riders.

Well we didnt/dont have much else around here, however the general concensus amongst Cradley fans, is that they would prefer the Championship as opposed to the Premiership, which contradicts what a few folk on here perceieve to be what supporters want to see..

Dont give up on us yet though a Stadium might be a bit to much to expect.. however a field could be the way forward.. after all as you say Cradley heath and class facilities dont really go together, but thats what makes Cradley fans what we are..

https://www.novaloca.com/commercial-land/for-sale/coventry/brandon-stadium-rugby-road/74889 No longer available..

Who actually owns brandon stadium ? Anyone can put in a planning application even if they dont own the land.. http://www.datalog.co.uk/browse/detail.php/CompanyNumber/JE116507/BRANDON+ESTATES+LIMITED https://opencorporates.com/companies/je/EXTUID_300208 https://companycheck.co.uk/company/08464341/BRANDON-ESTATES-LIMITED/companies-house-data https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08464341/filing-history So someone is behind this that doesnt want the general public to know who they are, i suspect its the Jersey based company, the clue is their accountants are based in Sutton Coldfield so i think all these companies are possibly one and the same..

Has anyone in fact contacted Brandon estates to see if they would indeed finance an alternative site ?.

So its a combination of the bikes being to powerful for the existing Tracks, for as long as i can remember and that goes back to 1965 whenever a top rider gates its almost impossible to get past that rider, no matter what the Track and what the bike be it 2 valve, 4 valve, upright or lowdown, so for me it doesnt need upgraded tracks but tracks prepared properly, but home teams will always prepare a track so that they get an advantage or how their riders prefer it, What it really needs is handicap racing so that riders are equalised to an extent and that can only add to the entertainment which is after all what people want to see, however promoters dont seem to have any inclination to go down this road they just continue with the same tweaks that have brought the sport to borderline extinct.. and home produced riders are fewer and fewer as each year goes by..

Thanks for those figures arnieg, I suspect the age range of supporters attending meetings now has got considerably older since 2007.

We know our Health service relies on many foreign nurses, especially Filipinos this is of interest to me as my wife is a Filipino. This nurse has made the ultimate sacrifice with her life to Covid 19 to try to save others, her husband who is also in the medical profession is also fighting against Covid 19 which means there daughter has had to go into care while they were both hospitalised, a Go Fund me page has been organised to help in a small way, it would be good if people could share this around.. Thank You https://www.gofundme.com/f/leilanis-fund-raising?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

Was the Honda workers, now i believe it can only be the BMW workers unfortunately..

Im dissapointed this thread has turned from will British Speedway survive into how many persons will survive the Covid 19 virus, there is a thread on Covid 19 if you wish to comment on that topic, meantime Rob godfrey said a few nights ago that he has had no indication that any teams may be going to the wall, which has to be a good thing for British Speedway..

Getting Speedway up and running in some form may be possible, but what would be the format ?, Its all very well saying the lockdown is over in the UK, but what about quarantine rules, what about other countries and flights, we may get the all clear UK wide, but what about europe, australia and the few americans they will all have different time scales, yes some kind of speedway may be possible within a week, League racing im not so sure about, and will the aussies want to come over if its only for 6/8 weeks even if its logistically possible.

Will that money be available now , or is it due to payed upon screening of matches ?.

But our teams will be in a similar position, Companies will be thinking of survival rather than how much cash they have available for Sponsorship.

Yeah and Jan O would pick them off one at a time knowing his fellow team mate was making up the numbers. We also had some dam good ones such as Bob Valentine, Ila Teromaa, Kristian Praestbro, Dave Shields and one that didnt work out was Arne Pander. There were as you say others that quickly faded from memory. There was a time during the 60,s when some of our so called heat leaders were half a lap behind .

Very informative Ben91 thanks for taking the time to check those figures out, I stand by what i said that no more than 50 senior riders from the Premiership/Championship would be the highest count of British riders, give or take one or two, how can that be enough for 19 teams ?.

Just had a very very quick check of British riders with Premier/Championship teams and i made it 44 riders, so even if there are 50 riders its nowhere near enough to have British rider only teams even if all of them rode for two teams.. which just shows what a poor state the sport is in in this country..

Well there are 19 senior Teams which means 133 British riders would be needed, I for one dont think there are enough British riders to go round, just to make up a team of seven British riders would most likely mean having some riders trail round a half lap or more that would not bring in spectators. I realise the sport would need to make decisions just to get teams on track, but very much doubt that would be a way forward.

Well said Barry, thank you and you and yours stay healthy and safe.. Slightly off topic British Speedway has never needed a man to oversee the Sport for the benefit of the sport as a whole any more so than it does now, however as usual the BSPA cant see the wood for the clouds or is it the Trees ? , to my way of thinking Barry Bishop is head and shoulders above anyone on the present management committee, and would not be afraid to make decisions that would benefit the WHOLE sport not just decisions that benefit the few, he should be leading the Sport in this hour of need..