Why No Speedway Track...?

[Pinny 2,536]

The club was in a mess by the end of the Tim Stone years , only have to look at the atrocious side that was put out at the start of the final season under his reign.

 

there was of course the strong rumour that we almost went NL only in the final season before he sadly passed away.

 

With the malletts, they tried lots but it didnt work out. They forked a hell of a lot of money into the club before a race was even started at newport. The stadium underwent improvements, the track was sorted out, and on paper the side in 2009 didnt look bad. Sadly it was rubbish on track and the injury to Watson in the first meeting, whilst he looked in good form, was the start of a nightmare.

 

They had many many negative points but nobody can say they didnt give it a bloody good go. Their family almost went completely bankrupt. In a way its good to see their haulage business seems to be on the up again

 

What they will never be forgiven for was the fact that they had the chance to make a bit of money back and sell the club on to Phil Morris - and would of rather seen it vanish than sell up.

 

But the last half season they were there they went out with a bang - that side imo was one of the most powerful sides of all time in the PL, certainly in the 15 or so years i attended. And absolute quality to watch on track as well.

 

We obviously got the wooden spoon in 2009, were awful the first half of 2010 yet ended superbly and should of taken off where we finished in 2011 but a couple of poor signings meant we started the year with about 10 straight defeats.

 

They had many bad points and handled things badly BUT i still think that a lot of the damage was done in the latter part of stoneys time in charge.

 

At the end of 1999 he had the world at his feet, one of the best crowds in british speedway, a massive away following everywhere, sponsors wanting in from all angles. Yet he tried cutting corners by signing a rubbish side for 2000 and never quite recovered. Wato was well known to of wanted a return for 2000 but stoney wouldnt pay him the extra points money, smarty left for swindon for more money whilst i think anders only agreed to come back late on in the off season.

 

But whats done is done and hopefully some kind of track can be made at this new Valleys project and some kind of speedway can return to Wales

 

I still maintain that if a shrewd promoter brought the sport back to Newport and done things properly, it could be a big success.

[Vince 9,458]

Maybe Tim Stones style of accept a rubbish team but know you're going to have one next year was the way to go?

 

I'm framing that one :D

there was of course the strong rumour that we almost went NL only in the final season before he sadly passed away.

 

 

Can say with absolute certainty that was never under consideration by Tim Stone.

 

I would also say that the Speedway stayed alive while he was which is what he used to tell everybody. You only have to look at other venues where Speedway has returned to see that they tend to follow a similar pattern with great crowds to start that dwindle away in time. It happened at Weymouth and Scunthorpe that I can think of in recent times.

 

Even a return from closure and the improvements to stadium and track couldn't draw sufficient crowds under the Mallets. They listened to everybodys opinion and did most of what people said was needed for Speedway to thrive in Newport and it didn't survive. Tim Stone listened to many then did exactly what he thought irrespective of their opinion and Speedway survived until his death.

 

Easy to say if and but, the above paragraph is evidence the rest is part informed guesswork. My opinion is that Phil Morris could well have been the only man to keep Newport alive but that also is part informed guesswork.

[Pinny 2,536]

Of course it was under consideration - and with the crowds even lower in 08 than 07 and with the prospect of finishing rock bottom in 08 , it could well of been nl only in 2009.

 

I hold my hands up and admit that it didnt go as well as planned for the malletts, far from it. But finishing rock bottom in their first season didnt help.

 

We all saw the crowd at the 2011 ko cup final first leg when we put nearly 70 points past glasgow, there was about 900 people there, some 500ish more than your average race night.

 

Crowds in newport are extremely fickle. Just look at the rugby and football crowds in contrast to their success.

 

I cant be bothered to go and have a look at the tables but since 1999 the Wasps only had one top half of the season finish - in 2011 when a load of 4 point away wins boosted them up the table.

 

Would of been very interesting to see what the crowds would of been like for 2012 - as the promotion assembled a quality side, pretty much spot on, to start the season. Obviously it didnt start.

 

Loads of big companys wanted to sponsor the club in its hey day - and , as was his right, tim declined.

 

The damage was done a fair while before he sadly passed away. Regular wooden spoons, remember the year he signed henka vedel on 8 to replace the injured Wato who had a near 10 average?

 

I have no doubt Tim had the club at his heart but to see a club deteriote as quickly as it did was a crying shame and sadly, there is only one person to blame for that.

[topsoil 2,498]

What is left of the track / stadium? I know about the fire, obviously, but has anything been built on the ground or is it just left empty?

[iris123 20,979]

I do agree with scb that the new track should stick to the idea he put forward and training schools.The worry is though and I have said it a few times before is that the BSPA don't imo want a track to do their own thing.Everyone has to play the same game and join the league.I hope not,as it could be the future and the saving of one or two tracks that can't afford regular speedway nights.Is it a worry that if one track makes a small success of open meetings that one or two others would join them and you are left without enough teams for the leagues.....

[lucifer sam 3,953]

Tim Stone had his own way of doing things, but he got speedway back in Newport and then kept it running throughout his lifetime. I wouldn't mind guessing it would still be there, if he was still alive.

 

As for Carmarthen, I really enjoyed watching the racing there. OSMA had Ben Barker at No 7, he missed the gate every single time and scored 18 or 19 points from 7 rides. We were stood up on the banking on the back straight and had a perfect view.

 

All the best

Rob

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

I do agree with scb that the new track should stick to the idea he put forward and training schools.The worry is though and I have said it a few times before is that the BSPA don't imo want a track to do their own thing.Everyone has to play the same game and join the league.I hope not,as it could be the future and the saving of one or two tracks that can't afford regular speedway nights.Is it a worry that if one track makes a small success of open meetings that one or two others would join them and you are left without enough teams for the leagues.....

There are 2 tracks which, I believe, operate outside the BSPA. Lydd in Kent and SITRA (Iwade) Kent. Surely the BSPA can't have an absolute monopoly?

[Tsunami 10,219]

There are 2 tracks which, I believe, operate outside the BSPA. Lydd in Kent and SITRA (Iwade) Kent. Surely the BSPA can't have an absolute monopoly?

Of course they can. They are the official organisation, under the supervision of the ACU, who are entitled to run speedway in this country. Are you really suggesting that other cowboy black tracks, with amateur officials and no insurance, should be able to hold their own meetings ?

[Rich 75]

Although not sanctioned by the BSPA, SCB or ACU, SITRA run under the MCFederation, http://www.mcfederation.com/about-the-mcf. Not part of the FIM, but they have proper insurance. Officials are Amateur in that they aren't paid, but I believe that's the case in Speedway in some cases.

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

Of course they can. They are the official organisation, under the supervision of the ACU, who are entitled to run speedway in this country. Are you really suggesting that other cowboy black tracks, with amateur officials and no insurance, should be able to hold their own meetings ?

From what I have seen of SITRA and Lydd, I wouldn't call them Cowboy! And definitely no! No track should be run without insurance.

[A ORLOV 8,628]

Any organisation should be able to run a meeting and it would be up to the riders to only ride there if they have the relevant insurance.

[Alan_Jones 1,005]

Although not sanctioned by the BSPA, SCB or ACU, SITRA run under the MCFederation, http://www.mcfederation.com/about-the-mcf. Not part of the FIM, but they have proper insurance. Officials are Amateur in that they aren't paid, but I believe that's the case in Speedway in some cases.

 

They are ACU sanctioned as well.

[Vince 9,458]

There is no way I would involve myself with the acu if I were to run a track but not wanting to enter the league. There are plenty of alternative affiliations and I'd opt for any of them rather than the acu. You can just about get insurance on your own but at quite a cost.

The insurance isn't for the riders so insisting they carry their own is a non starter.

[Vince 9,458]

Of course it was under consideration - and with the crowds even lower in 08 than 07 and with the prospect of finishing rock bottom in 08 , it could well of been nl only in 2009.

 

It was never under consideration by Tim Stone, you are assuming while I spent countless hours talking to him about what was going to happen at Newport in the year leading up to his death and not once did he ever mention withdrawing from the PL.

 

There were plans in place to let part of the car park go for an industrial unit and the terms and conditions for weekday use of the remainder of the car park had been drawn up and agreed so the stadium would have been in it's best position financially for years. Whatever your opinion of Tim Stone he wouldn't have spent the income on anything other than keeping the Speedway running.

 

The details were passed on to Nick when they bought the stadium along with my opinion that it needed income from other than Speedway to survive but they were of the opinion that they could turn it around. Their money to invest as they thought best of course and no matter what my later opinion of them they really did give it a good shot.

[Pinny 2,536]

Not what i heard from people who were at the track day in day out throughout the 07/08 off season. But the only person who will know for sure is sadly no longer with us.

 

Either way, the club had a superb fan base in the late 90s/early 00's and the potential to be the biggest club in uk speedway.