Coventry Stadium Sold

[YerRopes 3,009]

 

While on its paper round it wears a sandwich board advertising an estate agent.

 

I thought it was on about building sand castles...

[Starman2006 2,355]

 

Starman, your post suggests that Jacques is a bit of a 'porker' and would have to squeeze into one of your blue-haired seats How rude are you ?

 

 

No not at all. Just we have a near full Grandstand every week, so it would be hard to find her a space, but im sure we could squeeze her in somewhere..

Edited February 21, 2014 by Starman2006

[stevebrum 6,824]

In your first post (#38) you called me a clown (or isn't that a clown icon)?

 

There is no opinion in what you quoted but you missed off which IS the opinion! Wasn't snide at all but if that's how you read it I'm happy for you.

 

 

It a wasted effort trying to have a sensible conversation with that poster.

[Jacques 3,114]

If it is housing developers they are taking a bit of a risk with the history of planning failures on the site and nearby.

 

I wish I could agree with you Woz, but that's not the case. I lived in Wolston for over ten years. Farmland, on the outskirts of the village, was sold to a developer. It took them many years and various applications, but they won in the end and when I visited friends last month. It was already a building site. Not even the newts could save it, they just made a pond nearby

 

Brandon is effectively brown field and would NOW seem a prime development site for housing sadly....I hope I'm wrong!

 

 

It a wasted effort trying to have a sensible conversation with that poster.

 

It's*

Edited February 21, 2014 by Jacques

[abbo 229]

This talk About Birmingham and Leicester it's Coventry Bees we are talking about.I first started supporting the Bees in the 40's I am fully signed with season tickets for this season the football saga has run on, we need our speedway as the rest of the sport in the City is dying. Gone Highfield Road, Coundon Road is this the last nail in the coffin stop all this backbiting on the forum and get behind Mick Horton and see that whoever has bought the stadium will face a long process before building etc can take place Coventry is the last bastion of Speedway in the UK and we need to fight for Brandon or a replacement if the news is the final nail.

Give up girls

[FTM 146]

This talk About Birmingham and Leicester it's Coventry Bees we are talking about.I first started supporting the Bees in the 40's I am fully signed with season tickets for this season the football saga has run on, we need our speedway as the rest of the sport in the City is dying. Gone Highfield Road, Coundon Road is this the last nail in the coffin stop all this backbiting on the forum and get behind Mick Horton and see that whoever has bought the stadium will face a long process before building etc can take place Coventry is the last bastion of Speedway in the UK and we need to fight for Brandon or a replacement if the news is the final nail.

Give up girls

I may be mistaken but we had a conversation among ourselves (office staff and trackstaff,(me and my helpers) in 2008 about the main site of the Stadium and we were told by the council offices, Brandon is definitaly Brownbelt land and as such cannot be redeveloped for anything other than a sporting venue .If I am right there maybe a situation worth looking into by someone with more clout than a poor old truck driver (me) .Fingers and anything else crossed .

Edited February 22, 2014 by FTM

[Authorised 60]

I think it is very easy to blame Sandhu. We all know that Speedway functions best when the landlord is also the promoter. Sadly, a dying breed. Whether you were on the Sandhu/Frost side, or Ford/BSPA side, the one thing we all knew - whoever "lost" would eventually exit the sport. You cannot blame them. Their business came under attack, and it has been well documented that Sandhu has helped both speedway and greyhounds since. I doubt Sandhu was picking up a base rate return on his investment in the stadium, why expect him to continue? Did he owe forumites who support other teams anything? No. You expected him just to fall in line and shut up? Why. He had the best interests of Coventry Speedway at heart, it was his business.

 

There is no shock about the announcement. We have all known the site was up for sale. A natural course was it would be sold. We cannot jump to conclusions about the landlord, other than everyone on here or within the sport had a fair and equal opportunity to buy the stadium. Maybe the BSPA should have stepped in and made it a National Stadium, maybe fans, of all teams, could have grouped together. We can just remain hopeful that a new owner is speedway orientated.

 

The sport itself needs to take a good, long hard look at itself. It allowed the initial fall out, there were no remedies, and the general organisation since 2006/07 has been shocking. Rules made up as we go along, a desire for fewer fixtures etc.... Sandhu was the landlord, and the sport itself wanted FEWER fixtures! It is a complete contradiction. It reduces any return for a landlord, so why shouldn't they look to sell?

 

I have always thought speedway actually needs more fixtures, and full time riders in the UK. We know the riders have stamina for it, double uppers and international riders can race up to 6 or 7 times a week. If costs were controlled, then maybe speedway could aspire to the 80+ fixtures that NBA and NHL manage to fit in. Advertising, sponsorship and bookies would like it. It does need landlord promoters, it would need covers, I would like indoor stadiums or covered tracks using systems like Hamburg tennis arena. Don't get me started on the irregular fixtures that have become the norm. It is unacceptable to customers like me, and to any potential landlord-speedway promoter. These stadiums could have multi-purpose use, but are under-used by speedway, and the lack of investment in facilities - even the basics, let alone my aspirations - means they could not attract pop concerts, these popular DJ events that have taken off in popularity, or other sports.

 

Of course, this requires foresight and investment. I laughed at the Greyhound comment requiring stability for >2.5 years, well, speedway is lucky to get 1 year. You could not make a capital investment in a stadium when you don't know basics - fixtures, format - and that rival teams could dictate to your business. My very first post here was that BSPA needed an independent governing body....many said, why would businesses give away control, but in the end the Sandhu-Ford battle just showed what happens when rival businessman clash over the governance. The same mistakes are repeated, season in, season out, and there is an expectation of a different outcome. I am not sure why. These arguments are for another day though.

 

I hope that Brandon Stadium continues, and I know there will always be Speedway of some sort, I have no doubts. It is always nice if it continues in a stadium that has such history and memories. I have been going since 1979, but sadly more irregular because life needs organisation and speedway does not have it. Coventry is now as mortal as other tracks, in a way that it never was during the 1980s or 1990s as tracks came and went. I always felt that the speedway season was twice as long back in the 1980s, twice as much racing, juniors afterwards etc..., twice the crowd, and half the time between races. As the seasons get shorter, as fixtures are curtailed as soon as a result can stand, as the empty weekends during the summer with no top flight speedway increase towards a month hiatus, the hours available to make more memories at speedway tracks in the UK has definitely decreased. If a developer did move in, at least those memories can't be knocked down, they are not dependent on the future.

 

Well almost, I gave my son the middle name of Brandon as he arrived at 7.33pm on a Saturday evening during the summer. It could be difficult to explain that choice with no stadium. He was born in a July - which from memory had 3 different race nights, at least a 2 week break in the middle, followed by 3 in a week, then nothing at Brandon Stadium until late August. How can you make a plan, or money, around that?

 

Even if Speedway continues at Brandon - investment and organisation is needed at that stadium and in others across the country to ensure that the uncertainty cannot hang over the sport, a governing body should be there to protect the sport and give it a legacy. It relies on the blind loyalty of supporters for far too long and far too often. The fans appear to be the ones to suffer the most, which ever track, what ever the corner of the UK. It is difficult being a speedway fan! To paraphrase from the play "Peter and the Starcatcher", when your track has any level of uncertainty, it does hurt, its supposed to hurt, that's how you know it meant something.

[Woz01 3,589]

 

I wish I could agree with you Woz, but that's not the case. I lived in Wolston for over ten years. Farmland, on the outskirts of the village, was sold to a developer. It took them many years and various applications, but they won in the end and when I visited friends last month. It was already a building site. Not even the newts could save it, they just made a pond nearby

 

Brandon is effectively brown field and would NOW seem a prime development site for housing sadly....I hope I'm wrong!

 

 

It's*

Luckily for us its a different site with different issues for planners. We don't yet know what they plan to do, it might not be as bad as we think.

[T.N.T. 355]

It will be no suprise to anyone if the site of Brandon Stadium is redeveloped for other purposes in the future and that will be a ad day for speedway as many of us have had some great times there from British Finals, Grand Prix's, Miller Testimonial, Olse Farewell and any time Wolves went there and won !!

 

 

The short term shouldn't be an issue as the current lease should still be in place but I do wonder if he sale has anything to do with Coventry City Foot ball Club as they have had financial problems and have been looking for a new home. The Ricoh Arena was too big and expensive for a league club and they needed Premiership football to stay there and that is now as likely as Trinidad and Tabago winning the Winter Olympics Downhill skiing.

 

 

If they can secure the backing from sponsors, council etc then maybe a new smaller stadium (10,000 - 20,000 capacity) at Brandon would be a good option for them. If this is built on the left side of the current car park, the Speedway Stadium could stay there for the next year or so while the right side of the car park could be redeveloped for offices/factories or maybe even a retail park featuring a well known supermarket who would possibly be the actal owners of the land. (Supermarkets ar said to own over 20% of the land in Britain at present)

 

 

Would the new Coventry City FC Stadium include Speedway ? ............. Doubtful but not beyond it but it would possibly mean moving corners during certain times just as Wembley did in the glory days.

 

 

Maybe it has nothing to do with the football or supermarket giants but it is obvious that such a large piece of land can not be financially viable through minority sports like Greyhounds, Stock Cars and Speedway.

[Woz01 3,589]

It will be no suprise to anyone if the site of Brandon Stadium is redeveloped for other purposes in the future and that will be a ad day for speedway as many of us have had some great times there from British Finals, Grand Prix's, Miller Testimonial, Olse Farewell and any time Wolves went there and won !!

 

 

The short term shouldn't be an issue as the current lease should still be in place but I do wonder if he sale has anything to do with Coventry City Foot ball Club as they have had financial problems and have been looking for a new home. The Ricoh Arena was too big and expensive for a league club and they needed Premiership football to stay there and that is now as likely as Trinidad and Tabago winning the Winter Olympics Downhill skiing.

 

 

If they can secure the backing from sponsors, council etc then maybe a new smaller stadium (10,000 - 20,000 capacity) at Brandon would be a good option for them. If this is built on the left side of the current car park, the Speedway Stadium could stay there for the next year or so while the right side of the car park could be redeveloped for offices/factories or maybe even a retail park featuring a well known supermarket who would possibly be the actal owners of the land. (Supermarkets ar said to own over 20% of the land in Britain at present)

 

 

Would the new Coventry City FC Stadium include Speedway ? ............. Doubtful but not beyond it but it would possibly mean moving corners during certain times just as Wembley did in the glory days.

 

 

Maybe it has nothing to do with the football or supermarket giants but it is obvious that such a large piece of land can not be financially viable through minority sports like Greyhounds, Stock Cars and Speedway.

The club have confirmed it is not them who have bought the site. They have said in the passed a lot of hurdles would need to be jumped to get any sort of planning permission. It wont be a supermarket either as there is a Morrisons and also a new shopping complex next to it with a Marks and Spencers and Asda Living on the site.

[Starman2006 2,355]

It will be no suprise to anyone if the site of Brandon Stadium is redeveloped for other purposes in the future and that will be a ad day for speedway as many of us have had some great times there from British Finals, Miller Testimonial, Olse Farewell and any time Wolves went there and won !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder what purpoes they might be. I can see the council rubbing their hands together now... Ger Granville, fer fetch the till... And people moaned about Havvy having a fairwell meeting.. Oh i forgot, its not being held at Coventry, is it!!

Edited February 22, 2014 by Starman2006

[Daniel Smith 5,666]

Can't see Speedway continuing at Brandon after this season. Regardless of the length that remains on the promoters lease the stadium owner / developer just won't blow any money on maintenance and extra bills required to keep the stadium open.

 

If anything, they'll be looking to pay off the lease

 

This is terrible for Speedway, another venue with history set to disappear and not likely to return. Are there any other oval track venues in and around Coventry as this will be their only hope? A new venue would be almost impossible to find seeing as the football club are struggling with an almost identical problem. There certainly won't be a merge with the speedway and football, they just won't want the track around a football pitch, no club wants that.

 

Belle Vue have been very fortunate in the fact that Manchester City FC has been banging £millions into the redevelopment of the City leaving the council with funds to help pay towards a new Speedway venue.

 

New speedway ventures are nigh on impossible

[naffer 442]

The football club have said it is not them ,but to be fair they are conservative with truth to say the least.

I am sure the bees will get a couple more seasons at Brandon as planning procedures are not quick.

But on a negative side I cannot see a property developer keeping the speedway on site .

Equally it's hard to see the cash materialising to develop a new track unless it's a caveat in the deal.

Hoping for a positive outcome expecting the worst.

Up the bees!

[Starman2006 2,355]

Can't see Speedway continuing at Brandon after this season. Regardless of the length that remains on the promoters lease the stadium owner / developer just won't blow any money on maintenance and extra bills required to keep the stadium open.

 

If anything, they'll be looking to pay off the lease

 

This is terrible for Speedway, another venue with history set to disappear and not likely to return. Are there any other oval track venues in and around Coventry as this will be their only hope? A new venue would be almost impossible to find seeing as the football club are struggling with an almost identical problem. There certainly won't be a merge with the speedway and football, they just won't want the track around a football pitch, no club wants that.

 

Belle Vue have been very fortunate in the fact that Manchester City FC has been banging £millions into the redevelopment of the City leaving the council with funds to help pay towards a new Speedway venue.

 

New speedway ventures are nigh on impossible

They could share with Wolverhampton or Leicester. Not quite the same though... Money talks nowadays, Sadly.

[Daniel Smith 5,666]

They could share with Wolverhampton or Leicester. Not quite the same though... Money talks nowadays, Sadly.

Leicester most likely as Wolves already have Dudley in there. There must be an active oval track open that's closer than Leicester though?