Tsunami 10,219 Posted October 5, 2014 Here's food for thought for anyone convinced that the PL is the answer...Peterborough are citing losses of £60,000 in the last year as the reason why Mick Horton (honourable man that he is - ) is pulling out of his arrangement with messrs Frost and Maloney. http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.27463.20 Racing on the worst night of the week for punters, must be a prime cause of the failure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spencebel 181 Posted October 6, 2014 Keeping fingers crossed for you. Really hope you are back in 2015......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uk_martin 1,606 Posted October 6, 2014 well if EL was the answer they'd still be there So by process of elimination, that means that the NL is the place to be! Let's all follow Eastbourne into the NL next year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ch958 2,394 Posted October 6, 2014 So by process of elimination, that means that the NL is the place to be! Let's all follow Eastbourne into the NL next year. maybe! i think the more reasonable answer is PL, some better budgeting, a regular well chosen race day and some publicity Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
david2905 230 Posted October 6, 2014 (edited) well if EL was the answer they'd still be there Nonesense, that pillock Phillips would have sunk the club regardless of league, not saying the EL is the way to go, but it played no part in the clubs downfall. I think the fact clubs are having problems in all leagues shows the league pyramid needs a shake up, possibly going regional, certainly I can't see Sky being happy at the idea of an 8 club EL and few if any PL clubs being tempted to step up. Edited October 6, 2014 by david2905 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greyhoundp 990 Posted October 7, 2014 Looking at the comments by Bob Dugard Eastbourne, i think a number of factors are behind his choice of NL racing, there are fewer meetings in NL which is what he wanted, and if he does lose money in the NL his losses will be smaller than in EL or PL Leagues, also Im guessing another factor is his family, Kelsey Dugard who no doubts will benefit by riding for Eastbourne. Whats this got to do with the Brummies ? well i have said elsewhere i do think they will need some local derbies, the most obvious being against old rivals Cradley, and i do believe where The Heathens are riding will have a bearing on which League The Brummies ride in when they do return. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ommer Mon 381 Posted October 7, 2014 Racing on the worst night of the week for punters, must be a prime cause of the failure. Just wondering why you think Tuesday is the worst night of the week? It hasn't appeared to have dented the enthusiasm at Cradley. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greyhoundp 990 Posted October 7, 2014 Yeah but Heathens fans are a different breed , and who is to say we wouldnt get even more fans for a different night ? Im of the opinion were we to ride on friday evenings or sunday afternoon, we would get even more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
New Science 1,059 Posted October 7, 2014 Looking at the comments by Bob Dugard Eastbourne, i think a number of factors are behind his choice of NL racing, there are fewer meetings in NL which is what he wanted, and if he does lose money in the NL his losses will be smaller than in EL or PL Leagues, also Im guessing another factor is his family, Kelsey Dugard who no doubts will benefit by riding for Eastbourne. Whats this got to do with the Brummies ? well i have said elsewhere i do think they will need some local derbies, the most obvious being against old rivals Cradley, and i do believe where The Heathens are riding will have a bearing on which League The Brummies ride in when they do return. Not sure what this obsession with local derbies is ? Birmingham had 6 home matches which were local derbies in the Elite league and ended up closing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike.Butler 601 Posted October 8, 2014 the midlands has always been a hotbed with top-flight local derbies aplenty but with coventry now seemingly on borrowed time it might be that Leicester v Wolves will be the only 'derby' left. Well they can't be any further apart than the south coast 'derby' between poole and eastbourne. There's no east anglian derby any longer; Belle Vue have been marooned for a while and Swindon lost Oxford and Reading, so actually there may not be any if things continue like they are... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsunami 10,219 Posted October 8, 2014 Just wondering why you think Tuesday is the worst night of the week? It hasn't appeared to have dented the enthusiasm at Cradley. It is the worst night for going out for entertainment in the licensing trade. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted October 8, 2014 the midlands has always been a hotbed with top-flight local derbies aplenty but with coventry now seemingly on borrowed time it might be that Leicester v Wolves will be the only 'derby' left. Well they can't be any further apart than the south coast 'derby' between poole and eastbourne. There's no east anglian derby any longer; Belle Vue have been marooned for a while and Swindon lost Oxford and Reading, so actually there may not be any if things continue like they are... back in the good old days mike, eastbourne v Wimbledon was considered a 'local' derby! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
david2905 230 Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) Not sure what this obsession with local derbies is ? Birmingham had 6 home matches which were local derbies in the Elite league and ended up closing. 6 Matches which were probably in the top 10 best attended at PB, simple fact is Brummies v Cradley/Wolves/Coventry/Leicester would bring more interest than Brummies V Belle Vue/Lakeside/Eastbourne. For others I'm sure Belle Vue would get a decent crowd if Sheffield and Workington were in the same league, Rye House isn't a million miles from Lakeside either ?. North & South divisions (point limit suitably lowered to give ex PL clubs a level playing field) is the way forward. Edited October 8, 2014 by david2905 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greyhoundp 990 Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) Not sure what this obsession with local derbies is ? Birmingham had 6 home matches which were local derbies in the Elite league and ended up closing. As someone else rightly pointed out, Brummies problem were the people who ran the club, if the Philips had sold up during the close season 2013/14, rather than living on season ticket sales and advances of TV money and not paying bills when due, the Brummies would likely not be in the position they now find themselves in. The Brummies should have been able to survive with 6 local derbies, just plan them in on Bank holidays. Cradley reguarly did Coventry at home on the Monday morning and away at Coventry on the night. The fact remains that cost of Travel now, greatly limits how many away supporters go to meetings. Edited October 8, 2014 by greyhoundp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uk_martin 1,606 Posted October 9, 2014 As someone else rightly pointed out, Brummies problem were the people who ran the club I know it's fashionable to blame the last promoter, however if you think about it the problem is a lot more deep-seated than that, and it goes back to when the gates re-opened in 2007. The biggest problem has been the "lost generation" of fans, meaning that those fans who came back when speedway re-started were mainly in their 50's-80's. There has never since 2007 been any form of long term strategy for developing a younger fan base. Had there have been then the 12-13-year-olds of 2007 (what there were and who could be "hooked" on to the sport) would be full admission payers today, and the cash shortfall caused by dwindling attendances may have been averted. Sadly, the promoter (Tony Mole) had no incentive to go in for long term strategies, as his own business plan was always to sell the club on, so his investment in the younger fans wouldn't have given him any rewards. It was always going to be "someone else's problem" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
