Leicester Hunter

I think that's about right, and it's a shame. Speedway at Elite League level anyway, has become one dimensional in that respect, as it's now the league title or nothing these days. I think that depends on how well your team does in the Play Offs! I've only attended the Play Offs once before, and that was last year's Birmingham v Wolverhampton encounter. The crowd at Monmore was excellent, and the atmosphere like a cup final, but of course Birmingham won on the night and that more or less killed that. The second leg at Perry Barr was played out in front of an average at best attendance and without a discernible atmosphere. That's open to debate I suppose, but at the end of the day, them's the rules, and we all know about them before the season starts. Yes they are, but that's progress for you. At least with the KO Cup as well, there was always something else to try to win. Maybe when the original Sky package was put together, cup matches should have been included, but we'll never know whether or not that would have helped now.

All a bit different to the Somerset experience last year. On 23rd August 2013, a group of five of us went to the OTA to Somerset's match with Ipswich. The match was rained off after 4 heats. As we all stood in the bar wondering how we were going to get to Somerset again before the end of the season, an announcement was made over the tannoy. Readmission tickets could be used for the restaging or other league matches in 2013, but get this - if for any reason you couldn't make it back before then, they would be honoured at any Somerset league or cup fixture in 2014. All you had to do was keep your readmission ticket and matchday programme safe and use them to gain entry to the match of your choice. Now that's what I call customer service. Recognising that supporters may not be able to get to another fixture that season, so use your ticket anytime over the next 12 months or so. It automatically gets round any nastiness regarding claiming your money back, and is good PR for the club at the same time. I did comment at the time that I couldn't imagine an Elite League club doing the same thing, and that view hasn't changed. All five of us used our tickets to attend the Newcastle match in July this year and didn't get any hassle at the turnstyles at all. Kudos to Somerset, I say. A professionally run club who put on a good show and know how to treat the punters. As a neutral now, I know who to give my hard earned cash to if I want to see a match in the future....

Thanks for that. Yes, I remember this topic came up around a year ago, and BWitcher mentioned that. I wasn't at home at the time, so couldn't search for the post concerned. It wouldn't be difficult. More self regulation in effect, I'm afraid. It was, and it surrounded Wolverhampton's point blank refusal to be promoted as 1963 Provincial League Champions into the National League for 1964. The Provincial League backed Wolverhampton to a man and the whole League was declared illegal by the Control Board. That they raced and were successful with it is now a matter of record. The big stumbling block, which brought everything to a head was Belle Vue's hosting of the Provincial League Riders Championship. Liking what they saw, and with their season virtually over, Belle Vue then embarked on a series of challenge matches at PL venues. The Control Board immediately suspended the Aces, and in retaliation, I believe Belle Vue submitted a tentative application to join the Provincial League for 1965. That would have been a mere rubber stamping exercise, and terrified they would loose their flagship team to another league, the Control Board rescinded the ban. The result in effect was that the 'junior' Provincial League absorbed the more senior National League to form the British League in 1965. It's a totally different scenario today, in that riders are not forced to choose which league they compete in, and indeed, the leagues today are not on a war footing, showing outright hostility to each other. Quite the reverse, really. Too many riders these days are competing in too many leagues in this country alone, and a strict review should remedy that. The remit is totally different to what Lord Shawcross faced almost half a century ago.

I don't think any reasonable person disagrees with that, I certainly don't, the BSPA and Alex Harkess in particular have tried to do the best they can in the circumstances, but have on this occasion come up short. The aftermath is not what is being discussed here. It's what led up it that is the problem. I'm not being disrespectful to season ticket holders here, they all lost money and that's not acceptable, but look at what sponsors lost. OK you might say, that's a gamble they take when they hand money over in a venture like that, but they didn't get what they paid for and with hindsight, might have put their money somewhere else that could have been more beneficial. Doubtless all involved were spun the same bullrubbish story that the fans were. 'No debt, no problems, club's viable, etc'. No wonder all the major sponsors were alienated, I wouldn't blame them if they never went near speedway ever again. What's worse, all Joe McLaughlin's hard work over the last few years was flushed down the pan in an instance by two utterly clueless chancers. That's the main reason Birmingham Speedway won't be at the tapes in 2015. It's easy to be wise after the event. We've all been there and done it in various ways, but it's nearly always for the same reason; Too much is taken at face value these days, and it shouldn't be.

Lord Shawcross was a barrister and former Labour MP for St Helens from 1945 to 1958, when he quit party politics. He was also Attorney General in Clement Attlee's Labour Administration from 1945 to 1951. He prosecuted at the Nuremberg Trials after WW2, and also prosecuted among others, turncoats William Joyce ('Lord Haw-Haw') and John Amery, who had worked in various capacities for the Nazis. He wasn't a speedway promoter, but he was an independent barrister who could be relied on to be impartial. The rest, as they say, is history.

Which is exactly what they ended up doing anyway. It speaks volumes that these two are not being allowed near the sport ever again. There must have been warning signs flagged up to the BSPA when the Drury's quit. And then Phillips junior was allowed to become the replacement promoter with no discernable experience whatsoever. I suppose they took Phillips' word for it that he had sufficient finance available, rather than selling to Tony Mole last Christmas time, but as we've subsequently discovered, Phillips' word, whether written or verbal meant naff all.

Well, that's being discussed elsewhere at great length by some and I just can't understand why. What on earth has the team name got to do with the City Council? So long as planning requirements are not broken, they could be called Mars Martians and it wouldn't make the slightest difference! Good point, and I think one of the reasons the relaunch bid for the Brummies has failed. Our fan base just isn't big enough. And as I said earlier, I don't think the GRA will deal with anyone wanting to operate speedway at Perry Barr without Tony Mole's involvement because of the rent payment problems of the past. I agree, what has been said about Tony Mole today is disgraceful. The person who has had to clear up the mess from two previous failed promotions at the track as well as bringing speedway back to the city seven years ago. Absolutely unbelievable. It would be a good idea to let Cradley use the track if they wanted, but I'm having difficulty getting round the 'use it or lose it' argument aimed at Brummies fans. Some have already said they wouldn't support the Heathens at Perry Barr, and fair enough, that's up to them (I'm one of them, by the way). Now if Cradley want to operate out of Birmingham, it's going to be on a business plan formulated on their own support. That, and that alone would decide whether or not it happened. If they do come to the conclusion that such a move would work and they manage to pick up some 'floating' Brummies supporters as a result of that, then that's a bonus as far as I can see.

As far as I understand it, the whole idea was to form a consortium along the lines of the Edinburgh business model and have it fronted by Tony Mole. I don't think it would work any other way. As we are now finding out, the failure to pay rent to the GRA earlier this year wasn't a one off occurrence; It also happened in 2010 under Gary Patchett's stewardship, so what happened at Oxford a decade ago has been replicated at Birmingham. I don't honestly believe the GRA would be willing to work with a consortium without Tony Mole's involvement, as he has a good working relationship with them, and from their perspective, they could be in the same situation regarding non payment of rent at any time without him being there. It would be nice to think that the club will make a comeback sometime in the future, but being realistic, I don't believe that will be possible now. Any club which closes now for whatever reason, will not be making a reappearance anytime soon.

Let's face it - the guy's an accountant. He can make money disappear and then reappear wherever he wants it to. I seriously doubt he lost much (or indeed any) of his own money in the venture. Other people's money, well, that's another question altogether.... The latest news is a real downer for Brummies fans, and I fear it's the end of the road for speedway at Perry Barr with a team running under the name of Birmingham. For Cradley Heath, however, this could be a totally different story. A ready made home to move straight into, and the ability to operate at whatever level they want to. And it would be a home for however long they wanted it. Planning permission may not be a serious problem for them now.

I remember having to move a CX Pallas estate around the forecourt at the garage I worked at in the early 80's, and getting them to stop smoothly was quite an artform until you got used to it. Like the DS before it, it didn't have a brake pedal, but a brake button. Gawd, talk about left foot braking.... Ole Olsen was only other rider I remember having a van, a Custom Ford Transit, paid for, I believe by Castrol, who were one of his major sponsors at the time. But yes, Ivan certainly knew how to get a sponsor.... that van was Volkswagen LT, fully kitted out and signwritten by VW GB themselves. And it was a great advert for the sport at that time. I can't remember. All the riders seem to have vans these days, usually a Mercedes Sprinter, fully signwritten and everything. Going back to the cars, most seemed to be Fords, either Mark 2 or Mark 3 Cortina's, Zephyr's or Zodiac's of varying vintage, or for those with a bit more of a budget, either an early Consul GT or a Granada. Now they really were the high speed loadluggers of the day. Unless you were Garry Middleton, of course. Then, only a Rolls Royce would suffice....

Only because all the others were Rory Schlein!

That's fair comment, and one I wholly endorse. The four week 'mini series' a few years ago on Mike Parker was one of the best speedway related articles I have ever read. A ruthless and driven individual no doubt, but the sport as a whole owes him a great debt of gratitude when he got a whole load of like minded individuals together to form the Provincial League. That was the start of speedway's 'golden era', no doubt at all....

Yes, how many times over the years after a race winning time has been announced have we heard from some fans "Slow!" only for opposition fans to retort "Fast enough to win!"?

Nope, according to an email I've received from the club, they can cover using either a guest or R/R. Being as Leicester have sacked Mads themselves, a facility should not be available. Just when you thought speedway couldn't get any dafter in this country.

In private, yes, but to do it in public just shows how unprofessional Allen is. I was at Leicester the night Martin Rogers delivered his infamous 'Several members of the team you saw tonight you will not be seeing next season' speech. Those of us in the crowd knew who he was talking about, but being the professional he was, Rogers mentioned no names. The individuals concerned were spoken to directly behind closed doors, which is as it should be. Given the team manager's general attitude, it's hardly surprising Leicester are stuck at the foot of the EL and will collect the wooden spoon. Frankly, if he's still there next season, the Lions won't get any worthwhile riders to turn out for them.

Good point, and in a perfect world, it should work. But then you introduce the human element. Someone could write the simplest rule on here, and I guarantee you will get gawd knows how many different interpretations of that rule.

Oh dear, what a shame. Never mind, eh?

As in continually slag off the loyal supporters, tell outright lies like "There is no debt at this club" when there blatantly was and don't pay the stadium rent, which results in them being locked out. Yeah, that's the way to do it.

In Phillips's case, it was the other way round. Just as the Brummies were being wound up, MiniMe opened a swanky new pub in Redditch. And he's driving around in a brand new 14 reg Merc. So much for the £400,000 loss then. I quite agree. See above.

Yeah, same goes for me as well. I'm attending tonight, as it will almost certainly be the last time the Brummies will track anything like a team this year. TBF, I've always enjoyed the Monmore experience, and it's a chance to catch up with folks I haven't seen for a few months. Plus, I reckon it'll be a much better meeting than some are predicting....

That's a fair point. Didn't Rob Woffinden cop a ban once, and it turned out he'd taken nothing more than some LemSip (or some such cold remedy)?

Fair point, but the world has moved on considerably since December 1990.... the internet's here, and it's all about getting noticed. Using lateral thinking, you could even say it's good promotion!

Bang on target. And you can add talking about Poole Speedway to that as well. Over the last three days this thread has expanded by over 260 posts covering over 18 pages. Says it all, really. So much for bad publicity. These days, any publicity is good publicity.

They don't care either. In all fairness, it's only the usual suspect(s) stirring and fishing as usual.

You could, but having seen all four riders Sidney has mentioned, I have to say I thought Karl Fiala was the best of the lot, and would have done rather well. It wasn't about speedway ambition for him, he retired abruptly at the end of the 1980 season, and I believe returned to Austria to help run the family engineering business. Absolutely. He is doing very well at EL level, but that's more to do with the 'like for like' racing there, whereas the PL still employs the old meeting format. Look at someone like Ben Morley. He's also doing well at Lakeside, but on his infrequent PL outings he can't even seem to buy a point, mainly due to the different match formulas.