Birmingham Brummies - Has The Come Back Trail Started?

[mdmc82 2,878]

Really sad to hear, enjoyed the meetings with Birmingham.

 

An team in the EL & PL has been ruled out for Birmingham but maybe they could have their own NL team like Eastbourne.

[oldtimer 340]

Very sad news.

[weatherwatcher 664]

What a sad day for the Brummies, I know I have not got the sort of money that has been asked to get the Brummies up and alive for next season, but £100.000 issmall fry to any large busness's. With Birmingham beinng the size it is and there being so many large companies that trade out of the City, I would have thought that a few of them could have easily come up with that sort of cash, and then use it for free advertising and sponsership. What a sad old world we live in.

Just hope that someone steps forward and offers a lifeline. To get the Brummies back and racing next season, but it looks very bleak at the moment. Sorry to say.

[Moorski 51]

There is rivalry between teams but we are not talking football here, the news is very sad about the Brummies and I do fear it is the end for us but you live in hope I guess. If Cradley can use Perry Barr then good luck to them why not,

[The White Knight 9,039]

Gutted to hear this News. I am still keeping my fingers crossed that something can be sorted out for you 'Brummies' Supporters.

 

Best Wishes.

[kitten2502 262]

#devastated!

[MANSE 480]

Re post91 from B Buck regarding previous promotion not paying there bills maybe they set a limit on what they were prepared to loose and that was it.Why did T MOLE require 100 THOUSAND did he not say it was a viable business and it was the previus promotion to blame. Reason T Mole only opens new tracks then sells after 2/3 years when the crowds start to decline GOOD BUSINESS thats why he is not prepared to put his own money in to Birmingham as it was a loss making business. Just my opinion

[New Science 1,059]

Very sad to read the Tony Mole statement after so much earlier positivity!!

 

However, does this open the door to any other potential promotion/consortium to get involved (without Mole's involvement) - aside from the previously mentioned Cradley possibility??!

Think it was Tony Mole or nothing ! As for Cradley the GRA were prepared to deal with Tony Mole, would they be equally agreeable to deal with the Cradley promoters,not sure if Tony was offering to pay off the current debt, plus Tony Mole now owns all the plant required to curate the track and would the rent be applicable to what Cradley are currently paying now.

[25yearfan 476]

["BBuck"]

There is no real animosity between Cradley and Birmingham supporters even though we are less than 10 miles apart, but there is the normal resentment at some levels (not connected with speedway) of a small town next door to a big City. "Birmingham Heathens" or "Cradley Brummies" would be a total non-starter. It would have to be Cradley Heath racing at Birmingham - like it or lump it. As a lifelong Birmingham supporter I fully appreciate that.

 

This is not to suggest that such an arrangement wouldn't work. I think it would and although it isn't the solution that either set of fans really want, it would at least be a lifeline for both of us to hang on to, and perhaps eventually the time will come when we can shake hands, wish each other good luck, and go our separate ways as two distinct clubs again?

 

To make this viable though, we would all of us have to accept it as a fait accompli and give it our support. Both sets of supporters have to give it their full backing and not take the view that "I'm not going to that place" or "I'm not supporting any team not wearing yellow and red." If too many take this attitude, then this will just lessen the long term chances of survival for both Birmingham and Cradley. If the combined attendances from Monmore and PerryBarr can be maintained, then speedway at Perry Barr would be a profitable undertaking.

 

We need each other - and never more than we do at this moment, so please, please supporters of Cradley Heath and Birmingham - give it your backing if it does happen. The alternative is what we Birmingham folk suffered for 21 years, and you Cradley people for 15 years, so does anyone really want that to happen again just for the silly rivalry over a name? I hope not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25yearfan

 

As ever Mr Birmingham speedway, you speak a lot of sense!

 

While the Phillips regime had a lot of faults, its fair to say that Birmingham speedway running at Perry Bar struggles to be viable even with a decent promotion. Tony Moles reluctance to finance a revival is firm evidence of this!

 

 

Although all is not dead. -

 

There maybe others interested in reopening the Brummies at Perry Bar though this would be unlikely.

 

The most likely solution would be the Cradley Heath Heathens speedway team running at Perry Bar, Birmingham. This could work if done properly, which its fair to say, exactly what the current Heathens promotion have done during their successful spell at Monmore!

 

Its a no brainer really,

 

Birmingham have a decent stadium, hardcore support and decent track with no promotion, while Cradley have a successful promotion, support and team but no track!

 

Cradley is under 10 miles from Perry Bar, so its nothing like Cradleys situation in 1996 when they raced at Stoke. Indeed I know that after Dudley Wood Satdium was lost in 1995, Perry Bar was a venue mentioned as a possible new home for Cradley!

 

The teams name would have to stay "Cradley Heathens" but the operation would be Birmingham speedway hosting the Cradley Heathens. The Cradley racejacket could show some recognition of the Birmingham link by having a small red Brummies "B" incorporated into it and a red and yellow trim round it!

 

 

Obviously in a perfect world both Cradley and Birmingham would be running in either the EL or PL in their own stadiums but that Eutopia is not where we are at present. Cradley running at Perry Bar would keep the hopes of both hopes of both club alive. I'm sure if Cradley eventually get planning permission for a stadium in their own Borough then they would go for it which would then leave Perry Bar free for a possible Birmingham Brummies revival?

 

In terms of the 1996 "Scottish Monarchs" operation that ran out of Glasgows Shawfield stadium, yes it was a financial disaster but it kept both clubs hopes alive and in 1997 Glasgow Tigers returned to Shawfield and Edinburgh restarted at Armadale which ironically is twice as far from Edinburgh that Perry Bar is from Cradley Heath!

 

Like I said before a complete no brainer cause it keeps both clubs chances of reopening alive and in the case of Perry Bar, the GRA are notorious for not being very speedway friendly so any lengthy period without speedway would very possibly make the GRA even less open to a speedway return.

Edited October 28, 2014 by 25yearfan

[Brummie Kev 519]

I am gutted, speedway has been my life for the last 7 years. Before the Brummies opened in 2007 I hardly had an idea of what speedway was, my dad went in 70s and 80s and that was how I was tempted along to the opening meeting in 2007. I loved the first meeting ( the Alan Hunt memorial) , the smell and the noise had me hooked straight away. Every week I looked forward to my weekly speedway fix even if it had been a crappy week at work, the thought of going down Perry Barr was what got me through. Now what do I do.

 

I just hope no other fan of any other club has to see their club close down the way ours has. We topped the highest league the sport offers last year and we are now defunct, it really is a bitter pill to swallow.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Brummie Kev

[Skidder1 7,654]

Think it was Tony Mole or nothing ! As for Cradley the GRA were prepared to deal with Tony Mole, would they be equally agreeable to deal with the Cradley promoters,not sure if Tony was offering to pay off the current debt, plus Tony Mole now owns all the plant required to curate the track and would the rent be applicable to what Cradley are currently paying now.

I hear what you say - but I was just asking/hinting as to whether there might be a promotion/consortium out there who might be willing to run the Brummies without having to work with/for Tony Mole?!

 

As much as I admire a lot of what he has done to save/promote speedway in the past - maybe he's not everyone's cup of tea?!! So now that he appears out of the picture, could something still happen? I hope so.

[Brummies_Ste 136]

 

From 2days Birmingham Mail

 

 

Tony Mole has refused to rule out the possibility of Cradley taking over use of Brum’s Perry Barr stadium in 2015.

 

The nomadic Heathens have used Wolverhampton’s Monmore Green circuit since their return to the shale in 2010 some 14 years after the closure of their Dudley Wood track.

 

However, they were recently informed their adopted home will no longer be available for regular racing.

 

With Mole cancelling plans to bring Birmingham back to the tapes in 2015 due to lack of finance, speculation has naturally linked their neighbours to the vacant Perry Barr track.

 

Having purchased vital track equipment from administrators following the collapse of the Alan Phillips ’ Brummies promotion, Mole’s position is crucial in deciding whether speedway will return to Perry Barr in any form.

 

However, he says the Heathens’ fate lies in the hands of their promotion with the clock ticking on any decisions ahead of the sports’ AGM.

 

Said Mole: “It’s impossible for me to say really whether I believe the Heathens will be riding at Perry Barr next season, because it’s a matter for their promotion to consider.

 

“They need to consider all the facts and decide whether they would want to take the risk of moving the club to Perry Barr. Maybe the fans would follow the Heathens to Perry Barr but it’s not for me to say.

 

“The BSPA will hold their AGM over the weekend of November 14, and that is when plans will be set out for the 2015 season.”

[Leicester Hunter 381]

I hear what you say - but I was just asking/hinting as to whether there might be a promotion/consortium out there who might be willing to run the Brummies without having to work with/for Tony Mole?!

 

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.

[SGP 49]

SAID a few months back that I expected Cradley to be racing from Perry Barr next season and I am sticking with that based on a few things. This is just my opinion, before I get asked.

 

As for Birmingham, I don't think it's quite the end of the road just yet.

[raymondbudd 57]

Based on the timings of the last 2 articles in the Birmingham Mail, there's a fair chance that preliminary discussions have already been had. I'm not suggesting its a done deal in any sort, more that I sense we (the public) are being drip fed approved news. No conspiracy, just a feeling of news management from Pearson Media.