Hackett

Shock !!! Wish Tommy B well ..... has come on leaps and bounds this year at Eastbourne !! Now to make the next step.

Bury the bad debt and start business again.

People in the know will be able to answer this better than I BUT recall Len Silver being interviewed at Arlington earlier this year and stated that riders are no longer assets plus teams don't have the finances to purchase riders like they previously did. So if you are Eastbourne and Brennan is your asset , it is no longer possible to sell him to Belle Vue or Ipswich Witches for example. In terms of Eastbourne wanting the same team as the cancelled team - I still think that was an honourable thing to do although if giving riders guarantees and Premiership wage levels is true that was never going to work. In terms of presentation it is difficult the facilities at most tracks are no better than 2nd tier non league football grounds. PA systems are dire. Currently I would work it around that no meeting should run longer than 90 minutes - if no crashes or stoppages. Break it into 4-4-4-3 heat quarters and riders ready for the next race immediately + put on 2 mins as soon as riders leave the track so that the racing is nigh on continual for the 4xheat quarters. If a tapes infringement etc straight round to the start none of this sitting at the pit gate and refuelling, having a chat and taking time for a couple of selfies - 2 mins should already be on so the racing should flow quickly. Track grading can take place between the quarters. It could mean on some occasions the main meeting is done and dusted in just over an hour - then so be it.

Young Speedway riders - travel not an option.

Or two new signings .....

If Cookie chooses to take time out - Lawson and Brennan will be announced on Fri.

Most are working from home at the moment - Have you seen London recently "ghost town" - ;-) As stated on thread the issue is the demographic of the speedway fan - For clubs like Birmingham , Newcastle and Eastbourne state that they were missing fans who could not order tickets online - In this "Amazon Age" and supporters couldn't order tickets online there is your problem. My family has always gone with an old guy - who only went because we were able to order his ticket. "Transfer the money - oh we can't do that .... would have to go to the bank" unfortunately that is the issue for many. Speedway is a hand to mouth existence - No support - leads financial problems. Hopefully this will be a case of bury the financial mismanagement and bad debt and start again - like many a business has over the years. However if the new promotion will have to clear the debts first (£30,000-50,000 has been posted on here.) No potential speedway promoter is going to look at that at an option - no oil oligarch's or Saudi Prince's in speedway. Nearest we had was the Dark Lord of Wimborne Road and he chose to move to France. Fingers cross for a return but SPEEDWAY needs to be restructured with an independent body leading it into a new era - not a group of promoters papering over the cracks - year after year year, after year.

Glasgow, Edinburgh Redcar, Scunthorpe would all lose points !! Edinburgh had an away win so valuable points gone there.

Guess when the kids have finished school , I can look at moving to a property on the old Arlington site - perhaps a house in Dugard Close or Norris Road or Kennett Avenue.

Brennan and Lawson to Glasgow. Kerr to Scunthorpe. Newman to Plymouth. Kennett to quit. Kemp to Kent

Son of God ???

Don't think there is any chance of that.

And announce his signing during the meeting .....

If that is the case Arlington soon to be housing.

Since the first meeting the promoters have said 1000 was the break even figure. Poole was a sell out and Kent with a good number of travelling fans was relatively close but the crowds have dropped steadily week to week. With the back-straight grandstand restricted in numbers the crowd is situated around the track but definitely noticeable that the numbers have dropped. The double headers, tapes delays, air-fence delays have not helped BUT as die-hard speedway fans are aware of these problems because they inevitably happen year on year. As Ruckerroo stated I would of definitely been looking to load the local derbies during the summer months BUT this season has been a little different and taxing for all. In fairness Jordan + Kilby have been pretty transparent from meeting one stating that we need 1000 in the stadium to break even but who knows what was going on behind the scenes with the owners. Birmingham + Newcastle stated the difficulties they had faced - Eastbourne it would seem that we won't even get a "call to arms" like the Brummies + Diamonds - Just a couple of non committal statements - wait and see.

Have no interest in "Banger Racing" but Bob + Martin both made it clear that bangers generated far more revenue than speedway ever did.

Praying for the miracle - but reading between the lines and seeing how speedway is organised I see today's non-announcement more about the SCB sorting out the situation with other promoters - lost points effecting the league and riders situations etc - rather than the delay being sorted to allow Eastbourne to find further funding. Eastbourne's location doesn't help them but it has been the same for years - All clubs are likely to struggle this season with the Covid restrictions and economic climate. I remember seeing posters around Brighton in years past but as stated on other threads - the sport and fanbase is dying so the promoters have to look at other ways of targetting a younger demographic and bring in an independent Chairperson to run the sport. Love him or loathe him an Eddie Hearn type to promote the sport. Social media coverage has improved but that is not difficult - the sport as a short sharp minute of action should be perfect for the younger generations attention span but needs experts in finding ways to tap into the digital age.. You-Tubers - instagram personalities riding on the back of a bike with a rider using go pros then using footage to their subscribers etc The greatest fear is that for anybody in London, Surrey + Sussex this is probably the last opportunity to watch the sport regularly live. My kids have been brought up with the sport taken in carrycots and now 11+15 - Kent Kings timings won't work , Poole is too far away ; so that will be it for a local side and th speedway itch wil have to be scratched with SGP, British Finals and SoN if at Manchester. Should they look at cutting costs in the future and Eastbourne return to NL - those days with Martin + Connor Dugard were very good and a successful time for the club but the current level of NL racing is a far poorer offering and definately wouldn't hold the same interest in it's current format as it did previously. Fingers crossed but don't hold out much hope,

So even a statement is full of confusion !!! Lunatics have taken over the asylum.

They were never planning to race this weekend as they were due to be on the Northern Tour - so I would imagine that it was never an option.

That's my Northern Tour hotels all cancelled. Next speedway for me will be SoN in Oct at this rate.

surely that should be sat on the airfence

EASTBOURNE FIXTURE UPDATE The upcoming fixture on Friday 27th August will now be the rescheduled Championship match against Poole Pirates, allowing Eastbourne Eagles time to resolve their current difficulties. From the Edinburgh Monarchs website .... those who have the Northern Tour hotels booked - the 1st leg is definately off the schdule.

The only rumours I have seen are Lawson refused to ride at Leicester in ht 15, the size of the debt with the stadium owners and that EK and RL have left ?? Hopefully they can resolve the situation and speedway can continue at Arlington. Time will tell .... "Fingers Crossed"

I would imagine that supporters of Speedway in Sweden and Denmark would say exactly the same. Undoubtedly in the 60's ,70's and 80's the riders were of a higher ranking on the World stage but those times have gone. Times have changed !! I would state that the quality of racing and the field is higher than when Tai Woffinden won his hat-trick of titles. Then you knew it was the semi final and final were the only seriously competitive races. Getting back to UK speedway now - the issue is the sport and the fan base is dying. Continually the sport is preaching to the converted - it needs to target a new demographic. I am no great fan of Eddie Hearn but it needs somebody of his sports business and promotion skills to drive the sport forward. Speedway is 15 mins / 22 mins of adrenalin fuelled entertainment in 1 min bites. Perfect for the younger generations attention span - the sport needs to be pushed via social media even more - instagram, tik-tok etc Get you-tubers at the meeting and on a bike with a rider for viewings on you tube - Glasgow Tigers one of the better promoted teams and have only 1300 subscribers - Speedway Great Britain has 6920 subscribers - Hashtag FC a football team driven by social media and social media content has 567,000 subscribers - this is where the new opportunity of support is !!! If speedway keeps reaching out to the support it already has it will always be in decline and meet the same continual problems. It needs a drastic change - the sport itself can be enthralling, exciting and entertaining but too many people are not aware of it. All sports are suffering in atttracting the younger generation and tearing them away from phones, tablets and computer screens - The issue is that the sport is methanol fuelled excitement , perfect in 1 min short bites of excitement - the potential is there ... it just needs somebody with the right forward thinking mindset.

Say nowt ..... To be Continued ....... 24th Aug