Birmingham Future In Doubt ? Alan Phillips Has Had Enough!

[theknow 2 180]

 

What if the people of Birmingham want Speedway, but don't want a fool and his son running ruining it?

Then people should turn up to support the sport. Birmingham is a large city and should be able to support a team but then so is London and they cannot also.

[StevePark 2,781]

What happens to other teams points etc are results just voided?

 

Yes.

 

http://www.speedwaygb.co/eltable14.html

[BeoBrummie 30]

Then people should turn up to support the sport. Birmingham is a large city and should be able to support a team but then so is London and they cannot also.

It should be noted that both Drury and Tony Mole have gone on record and stated that speedway was perfectly viable (and profitable) when they were running the show however, this does not apply if you have lunatics in charge of the asylum!

[david2905 230]

Then people should turn up to support the sport. Birmingham is a large city and should be able to support a team but then so is London and they cannot also.

 

Would you give your money to a bloke who is ruining the club and having a go at the fans and giving off a totally amateurish appearance ?, Speedway is backwards in this respect in that it automatically expects people to turn up and it's their fault when they don't, modern leisure attractions don't and can't work like that, because they know there are many alternatives should the customer not be happy with you and your product, the Phillips regime showed an unwelcoming and negative manner far too often with a poor team selection this year exacerbating the problem.

 

If you want people to turn up, make them feel welcome and entertained at a friendly venue, if you believe lambasting them every so often is the way, then frankly you deserve to fail, Speedway as a whole is p*** poor on the whole promoting and PR thing, it needs dragging kicking and screaming up to 21st century standards.

[theknow 2 180]

 

Would you give your money to a bloke who is ruining the club and having a go at the fans and giving off a totally amateurish appearance ?, Speedway is backwards in this respect in that it automatically expects people to turn up and it's their fault when they don't, modern leisure attractions don't and can't work like that, because they know there are many alternatives should the customer not be happy with you and your product, the Phillips regime showed an unwelcoming and negative manner far too often with a poor team selection this year exacerbating the problem.

 

If you want people to turn up, make them feel welcome and entertained at a friendly venue, if you believe lambasting them every so often is the way, then frankly you deserve to fail, Speedway as a whole is p*** poor on the whole promoting and PR thing, it needs dragging kicking and screaming up to 21st century standards.

Why was the club then sold to them ? You are 100% right with your points

[OGT 612]

 

Would you give your money to a bloke who is ruining the club and having a go at the fans and giving off a totally amateurish appearance ?, Speedway is backwards in this respect in that it automatically expects people to turn up and it's their fault when they don't, modern leisure attractions don't and can't work like that, because they know there are many alternatives should the customer not be happy with you and your product, the Phillips regime showed an unwelcoming and negative manner far too often with a poor team selection this year exacerbating the problem.

 

If you want people to turn up, make them feel welcome and entertained at a friendly venue, if you believe lambasting them every so often is the way, then frankly you deserve to fail, Speedway as a whole is p*** poor on the whole promoting and PR thing, it needs dragging kicking and screaming up to 21st century standards.

Good post and some very good points.

Speedway IMO needs to remarket as an extreme sport (I know I'm not the 1st to suggest this) if it is to survive to any great extent.

Watch any show like Nitro Circus or X-Fighters and you'll get the idea, obviously it would be nigh on impossible for most tracks to emulate the level of entertainment that those events generate, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be dismissed as a way forward.

One key ingredient is the atmosphere generated, which for a venue like Perry Barr would be a problem with the ban on airhorns and previous noise problems, but I guess that could be worked around.

Something drastic needs to happen to speedway in this country and it needs to happen pretty quickly.

[Gemini 4,894]

 

Um, so you see the closure of Birmingham Speedway as "Happy days"

 

Some people are beyond belief.

 

All the best

Rob

I think that's markyb's standard sign off but there's nothing happy about the Birmingham situation.

[RobMcCaffery 2,752]

I suspect that the sale to Phillips was welcomed as long as Luty's business and capital was behind it. Once that left I doubt whether an accountancy business was able to generate enough capital on its own

 

Tony Mole's comments showed that it is expected that promoters have cash in reserve to cope with temporary cash flow shortages and can inject money to keep things going.

 

It seems clear in this case such cover wasn't there and I expect this had the BSPA concerned. Once the sale to Mole fell through in November then the departure of Drury there wasn't going to be much sympathy when Phillips ran into trouble.

 

I just pray that a re-start canbe made in the sanity of the PL next year. It's a lovely speedway with great fans who deserved better than criticism, bullying and eventual closure.

 

I'll add that I saw this bullying first hand when I dared to criticise the promotion for their lunatic decision to ban BBC WM from Perry Barr. Some people just deserve to fail.

Edited July 15, 2014 by rmc

[The Pedaler 149]

 

It has nothing to do with "benefits Street" or "refugees"

 

It is simply a good business move from Mick Horton. He knows there are a few hundred prospective customers probably now looking for a new place to watch their speedway. It is likely the Birmingham season ticket holders would not have gone to other clubs as regulars in the short term so it is a move that costs nothing with the potential to create more Coventry fans next year.

 

While the Coventry angle is clearly a small loss leader to get new customers in it works well for the Birmingham season ticket holders lessening the loss on their outlay in some way.A win win situation a midst an almighty mess left behind by the Phillips'

 

I have no problem with the season ticket holders getting something from the other teams, as they've paid for something that they aren't going to get any more. Similar to how airlines would be expected to bring home passengers left stranded abroad if their carrier went bust...no problem with that at all...

 

HOWEVER this thing about the "weekly payer" simply doesn't make sense. Why should they get hand-outs for meetings that they might not go to and certainly haven't paid for? If Ryanair went bust, do you think EasyJet would come along and say to that if you haven't booked a flight with Ryanair, and haven't bought a ticket yet, they'll give you discounts over and above what EasyJet's regular passengers get? Do you honestly see serious and successful businesses taking that course of action?

 

But then this is speedway, where every angle should be explored to make life free or cheap for the spectators, and then wonder why promoters run out of cash. Yes, even the ones lauded a year ago for being the most pro-active, and "progressive" in the way that money-off bargains were being thrown about courtesy of Groupon, Amazon Local etc etc. Yes, business sense and speedway - great bedfellows.

Edited July 15, 2014 by The Pedaler

[stansolo 12]

 

I have no problem with the season ticket holders getting something from the other teams, as they've paid for something that they aren't going to get any more. Similar to how airlines would be expected to bring home passengers left stranded abroad if their carrier went bust...no problem with that at all...

 

HOWEVER this thing about the "weekly payer" simply doesn't make sense. Why should they get hand-outs for meetings that they might not go to and certainly haven't paid for? If Ryanair went bust, do you think EasyJet would come along and say to that if you haven't booked a flight with Ryanair, and haven't bought a ticket yet, they'll give you discounts over and above what EasyJet's regular passengers get? Do you honestly see serious and successful businesses taking that course of action?

 

But then this is speedway, where every angle should be explored to make life free or cheap for the spectators, and then wonder why promoters run out of cash. Yes, even the ones lauded a year ago for being the most pro-active, and "progressive" in the way that money-off bargains were being thrown about courtesy of Groupon, Amazon Local etc etc. Yes, business sense and speedway - great bedfellows.

 

 

Do you like Polish Speedway....

There have been more than the phillips dynasty that have put birmingham speedway public off, or potential supporters.....

[oldace 1,678]

 

I have no problem with the season ticket holders getting something from the other teams, as they've paid for something that they aren't going to get any more. Similar to how airlines would be expected to bring home passengers left stranded abroad if their carrier went bust...no problem with that at all...

 

HOWEVER this thing about the "weekly payer" simply doesn't make sense. Why should they get hand-outs for meetings that they might not go to and certainly haven't paid for? If Ryanair went bust, do you think EasyJet would come along and say to that if you haven't booked a flight with Ryanair, and haven't bought a ticket yet, they'll give you discounts over and above what EasyJet's regular passengers get? Do you honestly see serious and successful businesses taking that course of action?

 

But then this is speedway, where every angle should be explored to make life free or cheap for the spectators, and then wonder why promoters run out of cash. Yes, even the ones lauded a year ago for being the most pro-active, and "progressive" in the way that money-off bargains were being thrown about courtesy of Groupon, Amazon Local etc etc. Yes, business sense and speedway - great bedfellows.

 

 

But you are missing the point of such action.

 

In the case of Coventry (and others) it isn't a case of riding in on the white charger to save the day. They are merely the vultures hovering to pick up the worthwhile scraps from the mess. Like I said Mick Horton is hoping to turn those ex Birmingham fans into future Coventry fans with a nice little inducement.

 

It is more difficult in the case of none season ticket holders because such inducements can risk alienating your existing customer base if not applied across the board

[crescent girl 1,905]

While aware that not too many supporters of the recently-closed Birmingham Brummies will find their Saturday meetings accessible, Berwick Speedway confirm that, as is the case with some midland circuits, they will honour Birmingham season tickets at any 2014 meeting at Shielfield Park.

 

"We understand this offer will not suit many Brummie fans, because of the distances involved" explained Bandits' promoter Dennis McCleary. "But we feel for them, and should anyone holding a valid season ticket for Perry Barr be on holiday, or touring in the north, our doors are open to them at any and every meeting here for the rest of the year".

Edited July 16, 2014 by crescent girl

[Star Lady 5,400]

Whatever their motives, I cannot help but be slightly impressed (and surprised) that so many other clubs have said they will honour Birmingham season tickets. The Midlands clubs apart I doubt there will be more than a dozen take them up on the offer but that's not the point. If all clubs made the same offer something awful could be used as a positive thing. Press releases to the media along the lines of speedway cares about it's fans etc. It would cost most clubs less than a hundred quid, some much less, Come on promoters get off your backsides and do it.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Star Lady

[John Leslie 3,213]

Then people should turn up to support the sport. Birmingham is a large city and should be able to support a team but then so is London and they cannot also.

How pray, do you turn up and support the sport without supporting the clown and son who are killing it?

 

Only way I can think of would be to climb the walls and get in free and then give your £17 directly to the riders.

[bigeddiechek 1,094]

Berwick just announced they will honour Brummies season tickets too.

So sorry to hear of the end of the Brummies, they always brought a brilliant support up to Berwick in the PL.

 

I hope you get your team back soon guys.