GreenLightGo

I was appalled to learn of some disgusting behaviour of a group of speedway photographers against a 17yr old kid. At Glasgow we have a young man learning his trade and producing some fantastic stuff. He has been subject to an appalling bullying campaign by jealous photographers who are subjecting him to a hate campaign. They were recently busted by someone who screen shotted their WhatsApp group. The guys in question are the Leicester photographer, the Edinburgh photographer and 2 from Belle Vue. I appalled to say that 2 from Glasgow are also involved. i understand that this is being investigated by the BSPA. Personally I will no longer be purchasing any pictures from these guys until I see a public apology. i suggest you do too.

I don’t think you get it at all. The #amow is putting the laddie down isn’t it? Apologies if I don’t act as your researcher - have a look yourself. In the topic of the ‘formal introduction’ you keep referring to it in a work context - it isn’t. It’s a glorified hobby isn’t it?! Let’s not kid ourselves it’s anything more. I can’t imagine anyone’s making money at all. it looks like we’ll have to agree to disagree Ian. You think you are entirely blameless and it was a huge misunderstanding. Not much point in debating any further. Thanks Bob

Thank you Steve. I sense that you know a lot more and you are distancing yourself. love your stuff by the way - you’re obviously not up here but I see your stuff posted and it’s bang on.

Thanks Ian. I have no problem giving you some personal info as I have nothing to hide. My name is Robert Robb and I live close to Dumbarton. Been a Tigers fan for a long time. Thanks for the offer of a personal chat but I’m not sure how that helps inform others as to what’s happening. pleased you have owned up to the #amow and whilst you are doing your best to mitigate it as ‘silly’ - it’s really rather sinister and bullying. Especially when a good number of you are in on it. You are not an employee of Glasgow Speedway so this idea of formal introduction is a bit of a nonsense. If a new photographer appears then they have been cleared by the promotion - why then do they need your permission? BTW Phil Lanning HAS mentioned your name and I don’t blame him not taking your calls. But why call him when he’s there at the same time as you? Personally speaking you seem to be self justifying your actions and those of others when I think a public apology to the laddie is overdue. i get the feeling you feel validated in your actions and you were ‘simply trying to help’ i think a lot of people think otherwise Ian Bob

Thanks for that. its irrelevant that it’s private or not. And besides it isn’t private - it’s very much public. Plus as I have stated above many times - it isn’t just comments. It’s beyond that. It isn’t trial by social media at all. It will all come out in the wash as I understand it’s under investigation by the BSPA. Let’s hope it gets sorted officially.

When he was a junior he was terribly flash turning up like he was a GP Star. Not sure if that was him or his dad. But nowadays he is doing the talking on the track. I think a hard year at Worky has grounded him. i don’t expect him to be a top level star but he is solid and is taking some scalps in this division at a tender age. Great to see! Cant wait for tonight - taking the grandkids as it’s Saturday night and they are super excited to meet Roary!!! Mon the stripes!!

Thank you Bill Purnell Shame you didn’t cover the previous posts questions. Do we have an underage photographer operating without validity? Has someone issued a licence at the BSPA breaking their own rules? One for Ian Adam perhaps? Is this another reason For the behaviour Ian?

Thank you Ian Adam for at least coming back and giving your side. I have attended various fan meetings and have seen how passionate you are about this great club. I have my personal reasons about why I loathe bullies so much. I am not involved in the situation or “in the know”. Your explanation on the surface looks very plausible but on second read throws up a whole bunch of questions that you might want to address. - IF you have a fantastic relationship with the laddie and his father and this whole matter is a simple misunderstanding, then why has he named you a couple of times in public posts? And repeatably? - IF this is a misunderstanding then have you had a conversation with Lanning Senior about it directly (in the same fashion as you have publicly above) and resolved it? You and him must fall over each other at Ashfield. -Can you explain why you put #amow on some of your tweets which I understand to be ‘all my own work’ - a blatant dig at the laddie whom you all accuse of not doing his own stuff. Is this not a form of bullying? - Is not being ‘formally introduced’ to the track photographers really a reason for behaviour like this? (I didn’t realise you were all so sensitive) - IF Nigel Pearson is sending his team members to the different tracks then what business is this of yours and your WhatsApp buddies? - IF you were all so unhappy - did you go to the BSPA to make these issues known? If not then why not? What you outline as a ‘moanfest’ is a lot more than that. Same goes to #amow. To me, you are back peddling like mad on this as a poster outlines above. Let’s hope the investigations ongoing flush out what has really happened. Appreciate you coming on here though

This team is going places. Anyone noticed KBick just quietly going about his business and doing his job? Sarj is a bit of a liability though and refs are onto him big time. Mind you elastic sales are up wheres Jan Andersen in here? Strangely quiet

Totally agree with you.

Interesting but with respect irrelevant. You are trying to establish cause for the behaviour but you don’t know. Unless of course you are one of the magnificent 7.. If the reason for their behaviour is that someone has been given a card illegally then it doesn’t excuse what they are doing one bit. Their protestations should go to the BSPA. Can you share where you obtained the information about having to be 18 because you are suggesting Nigel Pearson is engaging the services of someone under the correct age and that the issuer of the cards is breaking their own rules. Both pretty serious. i really can’t see either party above taking a huge risk because if anything happens to the kid on the track wouldn’t there be an insurance liability? And wouldn’t that be void if rules were broken? (I confess I don’t really know the insurance issues for staff etc) BUT still doesn’t excuse their behaviour does it?

Interesting points you make. Glad you end your post the way you did. If you’re good enough then you’re old enough. It seems his work has made the national newspapers with both speedway and in darts. Would they accept his pictures if they weren’t of the highest quality? I think he already has a pretty good track record at least the editors of the big national newspapers seem to think so. This story is simple. A lot of 50/60 year old photographers have seen a 17 year old surpass what has taken them years to get to and they don’t like it one bit. Instead of being mature and having a grown up discussion, they started to bully him. i find it hugely ironic that the sport and its fans loves to see a teenage sensation on track beating the regular guys. But not if you’re a photographer.

As I have said before- it’s gone way past ‘comments’. I would say 100% of parents would not accept or tolerate.

The private WhatsApp group seems to be one element of it yes. And of course this goes on in all forms of life. but I understand it’s gone way beyond that and it is toxic and hostile behaviours towards the laddie. And that’s not on. As I said earlier up the thread, if the ‘men’ involved have a genuine grievance wouldn’t the mature thing be to sit down and discuss with the BSPA media team rather than pick on a young kid? if I was the boy’s father I would be livid and action would certainly be taken in the strongest possible fashion. Bullies cannot be tolerated. The photographers need to be named and shamed and banned. Lets wait and see what action the BSPA will take

I understand it’s gone much further than schoolboy stuff. And besides schoolboys usually get brought to book. We had a leather strap in the 60’s!! Really hope that the BSPA, the Speedway Star and the respective clubs take strong action to make a stand against bullies. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester and Belle Vue are some of the biggest names in the sport. Their promotions work hard in the community and these guys are pulling their names down.

He can refuse to use their pictures. That would be one thing he could do.

This looks like it’s still rolling on. Peter Oakes has picked this up so don’t be surprised if it becomes a red top story. in effect these people are bringing the sport into disrepute and I sincerely hope they have their BSPA passes removed. The only thing that might save them is the toothlessness of the governing body. If this was happening to a 17 year old rider in the pits, I’m sure they would find away if fining the riders. I understand that Phil Rising of the Speedway Star is on here a lot - so a question for Phil is what are you going to do about it?! Bullies cannot be tolerated

A bit like your No1!!

Wonder if Eddie McKennas putting in an appearance tomorrow? Wonder if anyone can get within 50 metres of the Maximum Man? Wonder if Campbell is supplying the welcome mats so we can wipe our feet on the way out? So many questions....

How’s life stuck in 2014?

Your not a Man United fan by any chance?

The Facennas have spent a fair bit up here and it’s got some good banking

How are the Armadillos going to react when the Maximum Man mullers them on Friday?

Great result for the Tigers. Best wishes to young Brennan

I couldn’t agree more. Yes the others have quickly deleted their #amow hashtags. At Glasgow last night I did not see two of the photographers that are involved so perhaps the Facennas have taken action already?. They run a large scale business and I imagine they know the consequences of not dealing with situations such as these. They have built a very professional operation up here and wouldn’t allow their reputations to be sullied in this way. I understand BelleVue are run by big London banking investors and I can imagine they will have a similar perspective on bullies. Leicester is run by a guy high up in the BSPA and Edinburgh by the ex chair of the BSPA. Can’t see any of them not wanting to take action.