greyhoundp

This would be the biggest worry, it all depends how deep are the pockets of Stadium owners, and how others may need to raise cash, because as you say developers are always sniffing around for prime sites and a number of Speedway Stadia could be classed as prime sites, others would be more suitable for Warehousing..

This whole Covid 19 situation is affecting us all in one way or another, many firms will be in a dire situation during and at the end of it all, this will undoubtably impact on sponsorship and deals already agreed and signed may not be able to be fullfilled, Jobs will still be lost despite government help, losses will therefore be even greater, I dont know where things will be at the end of this season, we can only hope that it does survive in some way..

The issue could be that the season has not started, which is totally different to football in that football, rugby, horse racing, concert events have been suspended or cancelled, which as i said elsewhere it means at the moment a longer close season, of course they could claim for costs already incurred in preperation for the season, and if the season doesnt run at all then thats a totally different situation with regards compensation, at the moment none of us know how long this situation will last or where anything is heading, because first and foremost the virus has to be eliminated.

The Sport needs a major overall, but the BSPA have been incapable of doing that for many years now, its a leisure and entertainment industry which competes with others, and few Promoters seem to understand or accept and just continue with more or less the same old same old.

Well none smiling Promoters like Colin Pratt, Cvs, Peter Adams who seem to only have supporters on sufference certainly dont encourage people to come through the gate, whereas Barry Bishop makes everyone feel welcome, thats my personal evidence The fact that they continue to have Speedway at all is down to in a large part Barry Bishop.

Since Boris Johnson allegedly said yesterday that no medical coverage would be allowed at outdoor gatherings for 12 weeks, (something iv looked for but been unable to confirm) i would suspect that counts out any sporting events that need medical cover for 12 weeks which takes us up to the 8th June according to my calculations. If thats true then many competitions will be unable to continue, complete or even be held at all.

I was actually thinking this would be a sensible move.

The season has not really started yet apart from the one charity meeting last night, so what is there to actually lose, Its just an extended close season what do clubs lose in the close season ?. The biggest losers will probably be the riders who wont have any income for the months that its closed down. Medical services wont be required at Tracks, Track staff wont be needed, and i presume rent is paid as and when the track is used. The big issue is when will large gatherings be allowed to be held again, when will riders be allowed to travel between countries again ?, that wont happen until such time that this pendemic is on a downward spiral, the fact is we are all in unknown territory and as such there is uncertainty everywhere the world over. Just look at the supermarket shelves that shows us how everyone is reacting.

Im dreading when i sneeze i rarely if ever sneeze once its usually a minimum of 4/5 times in one go, i just hope im not around a crowd because for sure i will get some snotty looks..

Exactly this.

I take it that you are anti greyhound racing, ask the GBGB to remove the green form whereby Trainers/Owners can put a healthy Greyhound to sleep on economic grounds, which is totally unacceptable..

Yeah and i have booked for Gdansk, which is looking like a no-goer now. I believe i read somewhere Italy have banned any events where 1,000 or more would expected, so were the UK to do similar then Speedway will be affected.

I heard a whisper that Dan Greenwood is getting itchy fingers to ride again, i dont know if its true or not, but his average is to high at 6.72

Yes most of us can recall Scunthorpe a few years back..

Well one considers that factories may be considered as being a large public gathering, then speedway would likely come under that heading, lets hope that this doesnt need to be invoked for Speedway, but peoples health has to come over and above entertainment.

Just done a bit more research because my memory is vague, after all we are going back 50+ years ago. In 1964 the Provincial League operated outside of Speedway Control Board authority following a major dispute over how Speedway should be run. The controversy was brought about by the refusal of Wolverhampton to move up to the National League, which only had six teams at the time, after winning the Provincial League title in 1963. This caused a split between the leagues, and the Provincial League was outlawed by the Speedway Control Board and all National League riders were forbidden to ride on Provincial tracks. Provincial League riders were warned by the Speedway Control board that they were in breach of ACU regulations and could be suspended from all competitive racing. They were also barred from the World Speedway Championship. The Provincial League objected and went black the 1964 season, racing under their own rules and arbitrator, and appointing their own officials and referees.[1] An enquiry was held that year set up by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) and chaired by Lord Shawcross who decided that the SCB was acting illegally. He recommended that the SCB be re-formed with a new Secretary/Manager and a new Chairman appointed from the RAC. During the winter of 1964/65, meetings were held between the promoters of the two leagues and the SCB led to a reconciliation between the two bodies and the merger of the two leagues leading to the establishment of a single 18 team British League for the 1965 season. This reorganisation also led to the formation of the British Speedway Promoters Association.

How did the breakaway manage before ?, i know its going back years to the early sixties when the so called weaker Provincial League broke away from the National League, in no time at all the Provincial League was stronger than the National League before the 2 got back together and became the British League, from my vague memory i believe the PL riders were blacked/blocked from riding for NL teams, and that is probably what would happen now, but the Provincial League must have ridden under the rules of the ACU who i believe would be the governing body that any breakaway would come under again, where the SCB would fit into all of this i have no idea, is the SCB just an umbrella organisation for the benefit of the BSPA ?. https://www.acu.org.uk/ http://www.scbgb.co.uk/aboutus Financed entirely by fees generated through the issue of Track Licences, Rider Registrations and Officials Licences the SCB seeks to act as the independent body to ensure that the BSPA, Member’s Tracks, Riders and Officials all act within the Rules and Regulations of the SCB and most importantly within the best interest of Speedway motorcycle racing. The Speedway Control Bureau consists of 4 nominated Members, two representing the ACU are Tony Steele and Paul Hurry (ACU Members) whilst Rob Godfrey (BSPA Chairman) and Chris van Straaten (BSPA Promoter) represent the British Speedway Promoters Association under the independent Chairmanship of Jim Lawrence (a former speedway Referee). I have taken a couple of extracts from the about us, the one particular sentence i particuarly found interesting was the sentence ending "the best interest of speedway motorcycle racing" its very debatable as to what is in the best interest of Speedway, often it can conflict with the best interests of Speedway promoters, as an example the recent coming to light of NO Ghost teams/names.. but certainly whats never mentioned in ALL of the decisions is whats in the best interests of Speedway fans which can often be "in the best interest of Speedway" but is rarely if ever taken into account. The other interesting point is that its financed entirely by fees from the BSPA, so can it be an entirely Independant body as it states ?, personally i believe it acts in the best interests of the BSPA not for the best interests of Speedway.. which are two entirely different things. For someone to head up a breakaway would be a time consuming role, its doubteful if anyone would have the time or inclination to take on such a role.

Its not only the NL that needs to breakaway from the BSPA, however as a minimum the League needs to make its own decisions not have them forced upon them by an organisation that has an entirely different agenda to the NL.

I continue to be amazed how visas are issued when british riders are without Teams, I have personal experience of how difficult it is to obtain a normal visa, so why Speedway riders/sportsmen have a different easier criteria is beyond me. In my opinion the first question any Team needs to be asked when sponsoring a foreign rider is; Is there a British rider available for this team place ?. I believe foreign riders need to have finished in the Top 4 of State Championships, or American finals, so will it mean that only the top four from the Danish, Swedish, Polish championships can ride in the UK?, if so that should mean there are plenty of places for British riders , however im sure the BSPA will find a way around it so that they can continue to use none British nationals in there teams, hoping that they can find a rider on a 5 average that will score 6/7 upwards..

Another case of short sightedness by the BSPA, as an example during the years that Cradley had no team i went to 2 meetings once to see Coventry including H & H beat Wolves at Monmore, and the other was Birmingham V Edinburgh, my allegiance is to Cradley not to any other Team, the point i am making is i wont go to watch Wolves Kids race against whoever, but i will/would go to watch Cradley Kids against whoever.. this is backed up by Wolves running in the 3rd tier for a couple of seasons watched by one man and his dog, then someone had the bright idea to name the team Cradley Heathens and we all know what then followed, crowds of up to 1500. With regards the Reading situation at Swindon, yes a few Reading fans would go to watch THERE team (Reading) in a competitive League, but they wont go to watch Swindon, so its Swindon that will lose our financially. There was and is an easy solution to all of this, what is there to actually stop Teams from track sharing if there is support from fans ?, I notice Milan were used as an example, however we could also use Coventry City FC sharing the Birmingham City ground this season, I sometimes wonder if there are ulterior motives when the BSPA make these ridiculous decisions which have NO benefit to the Sport. Then they avoid taking decisions which could and should be made ie end doubling up/down, and having new riders from abroad when our own riders such as Nathan Greaves cant get a Team place, I wonder what the UKBA would think about sponsoring Clubs requiring visas when UK passport holders cant get rides?.. Oh and while we are at it, Would Edinburgh have been as succesful being known as Armadale ?.

I have to say what a brave brave lady she is to share those words with us, at what must be an incredibly difficult time for her at this sad time, condolences to her and the whole family. Danny Ayres was THE entertainer and he gave everything every time he got on a Speedway bike for every team he rode for over the years, I can only say "Gone but not forgotten" hopefully you have now found peace, RIP Danny Ayres..

Yep, firstly used to own one and paid to have it trained by someone, then found out it was possible to have my own permit licence, so took out my own licence and had the Greys at my place and Trained them, then i worked for a small (10 Greys Max) private Trainer in the North West and honestly he/we fed nothing but the best, and kept them as good as any dog thats in a household, they wanted for nothing, Duvets for bedding, groomed daily, massaged daily, walked 1 hour every day, Kennels disinfected daily, you could sleep in the Kennels and on occasion i did . The issue is mainly with Kennels/Trainers where there are large numbers of dogs these dogs simply dont have the staff to do a dog properly, and consist mainly of the dog being let out in the paddock whilst they clean out the Kennel maybe twice a day if they are lucky, they will certainly be fed twice daily though some of the food wouldnt be top quality, basically what im saying is they are NOT trained they are what i would call kept (keepers) not trained, its all to do with economics usually most not all Kennel staff are paid cash in hand, and its far from being minimum wage, my day used to start at 8 -00am and finish at midnight on racedays, or a last turn out around 9-00 pm on none racedays, some other Kennels i was aware of would shut up at 6-00pm and shall we say open again at around 8-00 am thats 14 hours stuck in there Kennel, like i say the money is not there for Greyhounds to be looked after properly in most cases, most Kennel hands do it for the love certainly not for the money.. However its a fact that there is good and bad everywhere, I lost 1 greyhound through a racing injury (Yes its one to many) and its not nice when it happens, another Greyhound bitch i gave to another Trainer for free, then found out when it (Bitch) was to old to race she gave it away to a guy who bred a litter from it with a Staffy then he put the bitch down with a gun, I wasnt best pleased when i found out.. The problem with Greyhound racing is what happens when they are incapable of racing any more, many are disposed of simply so that they have room for another race dog.. I can honestly say i have never ever had a healthy dog put down except for illness or old age, and it cracks me up when it has to be done..

Yes i had a Greyhound like that, he would bark and twist/jump around even if he saw his own reflection in a window, however that is not a reason to have him/her put down they just need the right responsible owners, I would actually like to know whats the yardstick when the "Not suitable for rehoming" is used ?, or is it just used as get out reason for putting a Greyhound to sleep.

Adam has to be the unluckiest rider around for getting injured, many a rider would have long since retired, and i sincerely hope he is not attempting a comeback. He is a really nice guy and im sure he could find a job managing in the NL if he wants to stay involved, also it would be good if he were to run some training schools and he can get his leg over on a bike to demonstrate any points he is trying to make..

Yes i meant Poole, Im aware as to who owns Poole but never ever underestimate Clark Osbourne and his underling Bill Glass, Whilst they will milk Swindon Stadium for every last penny they can get out of it, Poole and Torquay will be reasonably safe, but when the time comes that they can get nothing more out of Swindon they will switch there attention further south..