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Certainly a good idea, though clearly a reaction to the outcry over the issue and in itself it doesn’t solve anything if the viewing of the racing is obscured. 

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3 hours ago, barraider said:

For those of you who would like to see track/view of track, Steve Jenson has invited people to attend this sunday between 11am-1pm with free tea/coffee 

And he will answer any concerns you may have

Excellent. That is the way to handle the situation. Hopefully any negative feedback will be taken in the correct spirit. Obviously I hope there is no need. If it works and sight lines are not disturbed an additional use for the track is essential and should be welcomed. 

 

 

Edited by RobMcCaffery
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3 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

Excellent. That is the way to handle the situation. Hopefully any negative feedback will be taken in the correct spirit. Obviously I hope there is no need. If it works and sight lines are not disturbed an additional use for the track is essential and should be welcomed. 

 

 

Good morning Rob,

Time to get realistic, the promoters have load a shed load of cash with the new TV deal and as the attendance at Speedway is not sufficient to pay for the stadium other revenues are needed or its Brandon/Hackney Wick time. As an old traditionalist I like a grass centre green but if the choice is Bumps and Speedway or Grass and new housing estate then its the first every time.

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21 hours ago, martinmauger said:

At the risk of appearing somewhat dense, though ball games aren't my bag at all, briefly how does 20./20 cricket differ from the 'regular' version of so many overs?...

Simply each side is limited to bowling 20 overs and who scores most wins.

Its normally done in a few hours unlike other Cricket that can be 50 overs per side or the real stuff of 3 or 4 days!!

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7 hours ago, Rayleigh said:

Good morning Rob,

Time to get realistic, the promoters have load a shed load of cash with the new TV deal and as the attendance at Speedway is not sufficient to pay for the stadium other revenues are needed or its Brandon/Hackney Wick time. As an old traditionalist I like a grass centre green but if the choice is Bumps and Speedway or Grass and new housing estate then its the first every time.

I do hope I am realistic. Of course stadia need to used to the maximum, especially with the ending of the TV life support for the top division. However the existence of that funding at Rye House had only been in place for a couple of seasons since the Rockets' elevation. 

Any extra revenue should not be at the cost of the quality of the original product. Of course you could say that rules out stock car racing but as a regular at Coventry for stock cars in the distant past I can testify to how the two sports can co-exist, providing you know how.

I hope the moto cross project works and that it doesn't impact on the speedway, but what if it does? We've lost Rye House to other motor sport before and we both know how tough it was to reverse that!

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I hope the moto cross project works and that it doesn't impact on the speedway, but what if it does? We've lost Rye House to other motor sport before and we both know how tough it was to reverse that!

Oh Rob I hope not, I don't have the energy to go through that again.

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2 hours ago, GWC said:

Simply each side is limited to bowling 20 overs and who scores most wins.

Its normally done in a few hours unlike other Cricket that can be 50 overs per side or the real stuff of 3 or 4 days!!

Thanx.  I have an uncle who enjoys 'the real stuff'....

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3 hours ago, Rayleigh said:

 

Oh Rob I hope not, I don't have the energy to go through that again.

Nor what happened to those who put in all the effort afterwards.........

 

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9 minutes ago, RobMcCaffery said:

Nor what happened to those who put in all the effort afterwards.........

 

They say the biggest complement is when they copy you, just look at the nomadic names that appear not least 7 "bonus" years foe Cradley fans.

 

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1 hour ago, martinmauger said:

Simply each side is limited to bowling 20 overs and who scores most wins.

Its normally done in a few hours unlike other Cricket that can be 50 overs per side or the real stuff of 3 or 4 days!!

 

1 hour ago, martinmauger said:

Thanx.  I have an uncle who enjoys 'the real stuff'....

 

Only having 20 overs means that games usually become a spectacular slog fest towards the end of the innings, with many 4s and 6s being hit; which is very exciting to watch, hence the big crowds the format draws.

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8 hours ago, Rayleigh said:

They say the biggest complement is when they copy you, just look at the nomadic names that appear not least 7 "bonus" years foe Cradley fans.

 

Hopefully we did inspire a few and have helped or may help future successes in resurrecting tracks. I was so proud to be involved in a meeting organised by Steve Ribbons at Iwade which included Scunthorpe and Weymouth, well before their new tracks were built and I suspect it was their first appearances since Ashby Ville and the Wessex Stadium were lost. 

Since then I think we've seen some practical attempts to revive teams with a professional plan to find a new track while some have seemed more idealistic than practical and a few seeming just like a 'cash-in'. After Rye House I had a year with Boston at King's Lynn and I know how hard Stephen Lambert and Malcolm Vasey fought to find a new track in Boston but every obstacle you could imagine was put in their way. Eventually you just got the feeling the town was determined that the sport wasn't going to return. Then there was one south coast venture where the promises that a new site was being searched for came across as rather empty. 

Even if a project doesn't end in success as at Rye House it can be moving to at least see a team with your track's name on revived. It sadly didn't work with Hackney and I note some similar revival junior league teams like Halifax have sadly fallen by the wayside this year. If 1999 had been a 'one-off' and Rye House not reopened the following year at least I had one more, highly enjoyable season despite my serious ill-health which I think I managed to hide from the public at least that year. We had to give it a go and it was an emotional day when we made our comeback at Eastbourne. It seems many Coventry fans are determined to boycott the Bees' revival at Leicester. One day they'll realise their mistake in missing what may be one final year to enjoy watching a team called Coventry Bees. 

Despite the events of 2000 that battle to get the Rockets back in 1999 will always be precious, especially in view of the ridiculous obstacles put in our way and the fans who refused to get involved. Thankfully enough felt differently and I was able to play a small part.

Having lost Rayleigh for good, then Rye House for six years, even with my distance (in more ways than one) from the club since '99 I am wary of any threats to the stadium and team and still care deeply that they both survive, even if our 70 year old colours didn't..... Those weren't Len Silver's colours, they went right back to the birth of the Rockets at their original home at Rayleigh in 1948. 

Now, if anyone fancies running a meeting involving Rayleigh Rockets wearing a white rocket on blue and gold halves let me know ;)

 

 

 

Edited by RobMcCaffery

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On 03/04/2018 at 4:16 PM, SFTGNigel said:

Not sure if this link will work, some video on instagram here : https://instagram.com/p/BgzRXc6hQSx/

Flippin eck, that looks terrible - the person doing the video is a few steps up and they're still losing the rider below the neck on the 3/4th turn.

God only knows how messy an accident will be if someone comes off on one of the straights.. 

 

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2 hours ago, RobMcCaffery said:

I know how hard Stephen Lambert and Malcolm Vasey fought to find a new track in Boston but every obstacle you could imagine was put in their way. Eventually you just got the feeling the town was determined that the sport wasn't going to return.

 

 

 

This is what I alluded to re: new Belle Vue stadium that raising funds was 'almost' the easy part.   I could literally write a book concerning the efforts required in order to build a speedway track, were I not sworn to secrecy ;).  To get a flavour of what is invovled, I challenge anyone to find an area of land, or even an existing stadium for that matter, away from housing & known to be empty and unused for years, then enquire of the local authority about the possibility of a running speedway on said land. Then let the fun begin.  So much time, effort, travelling, phone calls + some money, though not a lot initially, will be spent and potenially much blood, sweat and tears expended just to discover either someone owns the land and (frustratingly) refuses to sell or even lease, or that no-one actually knows who the owner is :o.   One will wonder why one is bothering, apart from the desire to build a speedway track and possibly resurrect one's team.  I won't say it will be a waste of time as anyone attempting the above will learn a heck of a lot, and you never know it, maybe, may just pay off....

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Well, we have had 'new builds' at Scunthorpe, Somerset and Leicester in the relatively recent past so sometimes the efforts can pay off, but yes I have seen for myself what goes into these searches. 

I hope you can find find a way to get Hull back, hopefully without being at the mercy of rugby league next time.

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