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Any Chance Of A Brafield Revival?

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3 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said:

And not far from Milton Keynes!

speedway in Milton Keynes was never sustainable, why should it be any different nowadays?

MK Dons, lovely stadium, virtually empty for home games.

Basketball, all but died a death.

 

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5 minutes ago, Odds On said:

speedway in Milton Keynes was never sustainable, why should it be any different nowadays?

MK Dons, lovely stadium, virtually empty for home games.

Basketball, all but died a death.

 

Point taken, but as the post above mine points out, Coventry not too far away and Long Eaton not too far away, so perhaps fans from those areas too could help with attendance and interest?

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1 hour ago, Odds On said:

speedway in Milton Keynes was never sustainable, why should it be any different nowadays?

MK Dons, lovely stadium, virtually empty for home games.

Basketball, all but died a death.

 

Can't agree with you there. The last speedway at MK was over 25 years ago. The town has changed greatly since then.  As for the Basketball team, The Lions only moved to London after they lost use of their home venue due to proposed redevelopment and no other suitable venue could be found within the town.  

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1 hour ago, HertsRacer said:

Can't agree with you there. The last speedway at MK was over 25 years ago. The town has changed greatly since then.  As for the Basketball team, The Lions only moved to London after they lost use of their home venue due to proposed redevelopment and no other suitable venue could be found within the town.  

I agree. When MK closed, the Town was only starting to be built up. Regards the Football, average crowds of between 8-12000 are actually quite healthy. If the Stadium was only a 15000 capacity one, then it would look almost full, but it was built much bigger at the time with progress in mind, because it was cheaper rather than keep extending it over the years.

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It is not how many people there are in a 25-mile radius but how many of them can you entice to speedway on a regular basis. In places with a huge population eg Manchester and Glasgow, it is not working out. Sadly speedway seems to be a faded washed up sport in the UK, unable to attract new fans to it. If things do happen in phases then there should be a revival boom in 2050. With green electric bikes.

Edited by waytogo28
Additional point made

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21 hours ago, Odds On said:

speedway in Milton Keynes was never sustainable, why should it be any different nowadays?

MK Dons, lovely stadium, virtually empty for home games.

Basketball, all but died a death.

 

as far as i can recall . Milton  Keynes were doing ok , until the BSPA  decided they would much rather have Terry Cheneys bond to share between them ,and levied ridiculous fines until it collapsed .  something i can see happening to Stoke shortly , 

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22 hours ago, Odds On said:

speedway in Milton Keynes was never sustainable, why should it be any different nowadays?

MK Dons, lovely stadium, virtually empty for home games.

Basketball, all but died a death.

 

I announced at the Groveway in 1985 and it seemed to be doing no worse than any other track and closed due to stadium availability, I believe. 

Elfield Park was a different matter. 

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Milton Keynes got a few decent crowds in 1978 when they first opened but from then until 1992 it was an uphill struggle with mainly below breakeven crowds. Had it not been for the old Eldfield Park training track being nearby, Milton Keynes speedway would of probably finished in 1988 when they left their original home at the Groveway stadium.

 

The Exeter promotion were the last lot to try and make a go of Milton Keynes speedway and that resulted in the final closure in mid 1992 and caused Exeter problems like having to ofload No 1 Tony Olsson to Ipswich in order to balance the books!

 

That said Milton Keynes is one of a handful of struggling early 80's teams (which also include Boston, Birmingham, Scunthorpe, Workington, Barrow, Ellesmere Port) who could of done with a 3rd Division being formed in the early 80's which could of prevented their demise much in the  same way that mostof the current NL teams owe their continued existence to the 3rd tier. I'm sure training tracks like Iwade and Felton at the time could of also ran in a 3rd Division together with the above tracks, reserve teams from higher League outfits and other possible new tracks tempted by a lower cost League to make a decent sized 3rd Division. There certainly was enough riders about in them days.

 

1992's a long time ago now so I think a Northampton "Knights" National League team at Brafield could be viable. But I think for any new tracks coming into the NL, especially in areas  where speedway struggled to create a foothold previously some of the current NL big guns like Birmingham (should be in the 2nd Division), Coventry, Cradley (both Coventry and Cradley wouldn't be in the NL if they had their own stadiums), Kent (I feel Kent have gone stale in the NL and would create more local interest by moving into the Championship)and Eastbourne (again like Kent would create more interest by moving up) would have to go into a more suitable higher Division.

Edited by 25yearfan

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23 hours ago, 25yearfan said:

That said Milton Keynes is one of a handful of struggling early 80's teams (which also include Boston, Birmingham, Scunthorpe, Workington, Barrow, Ellesmere Port) who could of done with a 3rd Division being formed in the early 80's which could of prevented their demise much in the  same way that mostof the current NL teams owe their continued existence to the 3rd tier.

Birmingham closed in 1984 because the stadium was sold for redevelopment: the promotion was perfectly viable at the time.  The present Brummies are in the NLbecause it was too late to apply for the PL (then) in 2015. NL proved to be very successful since with the supporters; the NL in general is, frankly, more viable than most of the present speedway. Any putative Braefield promotion would, like Kent, be best advised to join the NL.

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On 7/1/2018 at 11:10 AM, 25yearfan said:

Milton Keynes got a few decent crowds in 1978 when they first opened but from then until 1992 it was an uphill struggle with mainly below breakeven crowds. Had it not been for the old Eldfield Park training track being nearby, Milton Keynes speedway would of probably finished in 1988 when they left their original home at the Groveway stadium.

 

The Exeter promotion were the last lot to try and make a go of Milton Keynes speedway and that resulted in the final closure in mid 1992 and caused Exeter problems like having to ofload No 1 Tony Olsson to Ipswich in order to balance the books!

 

That said Milton Keynes is one of a handful of struggling early 80's teams (which also include Boston, Birmingham, Scunthorpe, Workington, Barrow, Ellesmere Port) who could of done with a 3rd Division being formed in the early 80's which could of prevented their demise much in the  same way that mostof the current NL teams owe their continued existence to the 3rd tier. I'm sure training tracks like Iwade and Felton at the time could of also ran in a 3rd Division together with the above tracks, reserve teams from higher League outfits and other possible new tracks tempted by a lower cost League to make a decent sized 3rd Division. There certainly was enough riders about in them days.

 

1992's a long time ago now so I think a Northampton "Knights" National League team at Brafield could be viable. But I think for any new tracks coming into the NL, especially in areas  where speedway struggled to create a foothold previously some of the current NL big guns like Birmingham (should be in the 2nd Division), Coventry, Cradley (both Coventry and Cradley wouldn't be in the NL if they had their own stadiums), Kent (I feel Kent have gone stale in the NL and would create more local interest by moving into the Championship)and Eastbourne (again like Kent would create more interest by moving up) would have to go into a more suitable higher Division.

If The Groveway was unviable they did a damn good job of hiding the fact when I worked for them!

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8 hours ago, *JJ said:

Birmingham closed in 1984 because the stadium was sold for redevelopment: the promotion was perfectly viable at the time.  The present Brummies are in the NLbecause it was too late to apply for the PL (then) in 2015. NL proved to be very successful since with the supporters; the NL in general is, frankly, more viable than most of the present speedway. Any putative Braefield promotion would, like Kent, be best advised to join the NL.

Yes your right the Brummies closed in 1984 cause they lost their home the old Perry Bar greyhound track and yes they were very viable there!

 

I'm referring to their 2 season 2nd Division spell at Bordesley Green in 1985-86, a venue that would have been better suited to 3rd Division racing. Had Bordesley Green been viable they'd of lasted longer than 2 seasons there and in fact would likely still be there now cause the track and stadium still exists! 

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3 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

If The Groveway was unviable they did a damn good job of hiding the fact when I worked for them!

The Groveway struggled on for 10 years until 1988. The Groveway lasted until the late 90's I think?

 

Had Milton Keyenes speedway been viable there they'd of stayed on there after 1988. When you delve into it, it was amazing they lasted 10 years there given it struggled for most of them 10 years!

 

Hopefully speedway will return to Brafield and it will hold its own, in the NL! 

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