singy13 372 Posted August 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, StevePark said: If it does close again, this time it could well be for good, as Planning Permission is highly unlikely to be be granted, which is why we are all hoping for someone to come along and save the club. So it requires a very quick fix then......hopefully THJ picks the correct lottery numbers asap. I see you were originally from Barra Marra.....did you attend Barrow speedway at Holker St in the early 70's....happy days v Comets. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 10,359 Posted August 31, 2021 I’m assuming the search for a bit land for a new site came to nothing? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tosh1218 592 Posted August 31, 2021 16 hours ago, topsoil said: Would you like to expand on this? Curious. 18 hours ago, Dandelion said: Sounds like we've been well and truly f#cked over by Godfrey and his croneys AGAIN... He won't be happy until it's Scorpions vs Stags every week... Maybe he thinks the whole country will ascend on Scunthorpe to watch the only speedway still in operation. How about we all boycott his club!! See how he likes being f#cked about Would love an answer on this from Dandelion , a few facts 1- Rob Grant got caught out on a few things the previous promotion had listed and Rob went with his heart on his sleeve and has come unstuck . 2- Running a junior side was a suicide decision from day one 3-How has the Speedway Promotors shafted Newcastle Diamonds and it’s promoters 4- The underlying issue here is there hasn’t been. the footfall through the gate to see the Diamonds survive these tough times 5- Has anyone asked for a lower rent from the owners 6- Can the local council help ?? All the above are not Rob Godfrey and his cronies fault as you call them , still awaiting a reply from my previous comment. Dandelion ?? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
montie 1,273 Posted August 31, 2021 Very sad to hear of what could be the end of Newcastle Speedway but.. Last Friday i visited a fabulous speedway club just south of Newcastle where the club seemed to be very vibrant,a really good crowd,brilliant racing,good presentation and a very strong team.The stadium looked really good and importantly supporters seem to be spending cash inside the stadium! The club seem to be brimming with sponsors and no talk at all of any closing or looking for investors,things looked really good at Redcar,and despite the result all of us headed back to Scunny thinking what a great night we had at Redcar[Hats off to the promotion and supporters ] how is it that Redcar`s nearest and dearest are in the position they are when the mighty Bears seem to be going great on and off the track? interesting that being so close to each other yet total different situations 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fortythirtyeight 840 Posted August 31, 2021 (edited) This was written when the begging bowl that is ‘ Go Fund Me ‘ was first put out , and before the third ‘ line manager ‘ was released, it makes interesting reading, even though it was written tongue-in-cheek by the author. Does this sound like a good businessman? Buy a business , based in someone else’s rented property , that has struggled for years and probably has not made a profit for quite some time. Don’t do a thorough check of the ‘books’ and sack your main staff members who have good knowledge of how the business has been kept afloat all this time including the main man who is highly respected within his very specialised field. Then, decide to double your potential outgoings by doubling your main staff wage bill whilst only expecting the same financial income as the previous few years even though the country is an a financial crisis and add it to that the fact that you have watered down your main product to such an extent that your ‘ customers’ are telling you they won’t be visiting your establishment as you no longer provide value for money. To add further to that issue, INCREASE the price of your ‘ product ‘ to the point where most of your repeat customers cannot afford to purchase it on a regular basis. Then, bring in inexperienced staff to run the production line, sack two ‘ line managers ‘ in a row before they even entered the premises and then put out an appeal for cash from the very people who you wish to spend their hard earned pensions within your business as you also threaten to close the doors due to lack of support. I ask you ‘ Dragons ‘ , do you want to invest ??? Whilst its sad to lose any track , and not all of this catastrophe can be fully blamed on Mr. Grant, why would any businessman in their right mind put money into speedway in the current climate ? Edited August 31, 2021 by Fortythirtyeight 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
screm 8,054 Posted August 31, 2021 19 hours ago, TotallyHonestJohn said: Honestly Ian can't disagree but the BSPL are the problem... I am brewing for a blow out with a few home truths I'm just checking with my brief and other colleagues as to what I can and can't say because it's disgusting what's went on really... but more on this possibly later... It gives me another meeting to work on Rob and see what we can do because he is the only hope for the spot... unless I win the Euro lottery that is... Regards THJ The fact you are checking with legal advise would suggest there are things that are better left un-said. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
singy13 372 Posted August 31, 2021 46 minutes ago, montie said: Very sad to hear of what could be the end of Newcastle Speedway but.. Last Friday i visited a fabulous speedway club just south of Newcastle where the club seemed to be very vibrant,a really good crowd,brilliant racing,good presentation and a very strong team.The stadium looked really good and importantly supporters seem to be spending cash inside the stadium! The club seem to be brimming with sponsors and no talk at all of any closing or looking for investors,things looked really good at Redcar,and despite the result all of us headed back to Scunny thinking what a great night we had at Redcar[Hats off to the promotion and supporters ] how is it that Redcar`s nearest and dearest are in the position they are when the mighty Bears seem to be going great on and off the track? interesting that being so close to each other yet total different situations It doesn't seem that long that Brian Havelock was pressing some alarm bells at that place though...... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fortythirtyeight 840 Posted August 31, 2021 23 minutes ago, singy13 said: It doesn't seem that long that Brian Havelock was pressing some alarm bells at that place though...... Because of how he ran it and the budget team he put out, look how it’s been turned around , the lesson was learned on that occasion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,272 Posted August 31, 2021 9 minutes ago, singy13 said: It doesn't seem that long that Brian Havelock was pressing some alarm bells at that place though...... Indeed .... And those fans from other teams that appear to be gloating need to realise that their team cannot eventually end up riding against themselves.. Bottom line is any club going to the wall wont mean too much emotionally to too many people locally near any track.. In most 2nd Divs case maybe 1000 or so max (?) who regularly go... In Div 1, maybe 1500? Or 2000 max...? In real terms hardly anyone... Those doing "well" should thank their lucky stars, as the operating model and business plan they all share is clearly inherently unfit for purpose, and their time, if it doesn't radically change, will invariably come... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scampispeedway 67 Posted August 31, 2021 (edited) My understanding was the City Council would not allow Speedway to re-open if Newcastle closed for more than one year, this is due to new housing regulations and people must realise that in 1929 when the Stadium was originally built, it was in open ground and there was not a house in site for anybody to object to the noise. Edited August 31, 2021 by scampispeedway 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
montie 1,273 Posted August 31, 2021 50 minutes ago, singy13 said: It doesn't seem that long that Brian Havelock was pressing some alarm bells at that place though...... agreed but that was then and this is now,i was more interested to the difference between the two clubs and the reason of one seemingly running well and one not so well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wee Eck 703 Posted August 31, 2021 1 hour ago, Fortythirtyeight said: This was written when the begging bowl that is ‘ Go Fund Me ‘ was first put out , and before the third ‘ line manager ‘ was released, it makes interesting reading, even though it was written tongue-in-cheek by the author. Does this sound like a good businessman? Buy a business , based in someone else’s rented property , that has struggled for years and probably has not made a profit for quite some time. Don’t do a thorough check of the ‘books’ and sack your main staff members who have good knowledge of how the business has been kept afloat all this time including the main man who is highly respected within his very specialised field. Then, decide to double your potential outgoings by doubling your main staff wage bill whilst only expecting the same financial income as the previous few years even though the country is an a financial crisis and add it to that the fact that you have watered down your main product to such an extent that your ‘ customers’ are telling you they won’t be visiting your establishment as you no longer provide value for money. To add further to that issue, INCREASE the price of your ‘ product ‘ to the point where most of your repeat customers cannot afford to purchase it on a regular basis. Then, bring in inexperienced staff to run the production line, sack two ‘ line managers ‘ in a row before they even entered the premises and then put out an appeal for cash from the very people who you wish to spend their hard earned pensions within your business as you also threaten to close the doors due to lack of support. I ask you ‘ Dragons ‘ , do you want to invest ??? Whilst its sad to lose any track , and not all of this catastrophe can be fully blamed on Mr. Grant, why would any businessman in their right mind put money into speedway in the current climate ? Tbh, I don’t see that as tongue in cheek, more an accurate description of what has happened. I will neither defend nor condemn the previous owners as I have no knowledge of what went on. I have read the allegations but am not aware that these have gone further than that. I know that HMRC have lodged a claim with the liquidators for a sum in excess of £158,000 from the previous company but, as this company is heading for voluntary rather than compulsory liquidation, that suggest that, one way or another, that claim will be or has been settled. As far as I am aware, no criminal proceedings have been started, something that you’d expect if there had been deliberate malfeasance. So, to me, the above comments ring true - a promotion that didn’t know what it was buying and got rid of all of the people that could have guided them, and instead used people lacking the necessary skills. When it was suggested that Neil Machin would be involved, that seemed a positive move but that quickly disappeared. Dave Tattum is certainly experienced but not recently at Championship level. Indeed, he had to drop down to the Development League from the then Premier league because he couldn’t make the PL pay. The final “nail” is knowing of people willing to help share the financial burden of 2021, who wanted to see survival this year with a push forward with a more competitive team in 2022 whose offers of assistance were turned down. Hopefully, there’s enough of them around that’ll take the club off the current promotion’s hands, and keep the Diamonds alive. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geoff100 1,426 Posted August 31, 2021 3 hours ago, singy13 said: So it requires a very quick fix then......hopefully THJ picks the correct lottery numbers asap. I see you were originally from Barra Marra.....did you attend Barrow speedway at Holker St in the early 70's....happy days v Comets. Question time, what is the connection between barrow speedway and elvis ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StevePark 2,780 Posted August 31, 2021 3 hours ago, singy13 said: So it requires a very quick fix then......hopefully THJ picks the correct lottery numbers asap. I see you were originally from Barra Marra.....did you attend Barrow speedway at Holker St in the early 70's....happy days v Comets. I left Barrow in 1971. I went to Holker Street with my ex-next door neighbour in 1973 for one meeting (Canterbury, I think) and twice in 1974 for two meetings (Boston and Workington). I also saw the 1977 Eddie Crooks Trophy meeting at Park Road. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
singy13 372 Posted August 31, 2021 12 minutes ago, geoff100 said: Question time, what is the connection between barrow speedway and elvis ? They were both sponsored by 'Happy Faces'...............they both ended up - 'all shook up'.......they both ended up in - 'Heartbreak Hotel'...they both were let down by George Best........ oh I give up geoff....? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
