Lakeside 2017

[marko 956]

I am surprised he didn't go to Manchester, he Only probably came to Arena because Stuart took over and he saw pound signs? if Dougo hadn't taken over and Ronnie Russel had stayed he would not be here in a million years.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Claret73

[gazzac 1,015]

May not be the case but when he was in charge at Eastbourne he lived in Brighton and think he still does. Not everyone would want to move up to Manchester to a job that could be short term.

[tocha 308]

I am surprised he didn't go to Manchester, he only came to Arena because Stuart took over and he saw pound signs, if Dougo hadn't taken over he would not be here in a million years.

If Duggo hadn't taken over neitherJC nor anyone else would have done as the club would have folded at the end of the 2006 season.

[Falcon Hammer 576]

The Vortex Hammers have announced that their Press and Practice will take place at The Arena Essex Raceway on Thursday 13th April, starting at 1pm, with members of the public also welcome to come along to see the new look Hammers.

 

Along with meeting the invited press, the Hammers team will pose for photographs, and will be taking to the track for additional practice ahead of the Season opening challenge meeting against local rivals The Eastbourne Eagles which takes place the following day, Good Friday, the 14th of April (tapes up 1pm)

 

Hammers Co-Promoter Jon Cook added Were really looking forward to the new season, its going to be a fun, exciting time, and all the boys looking forward to meeting the fans and getting on with the action!

 

We will be also be using the final practice to make our decision on our remaining number seven position.

 

As we mentioned at our Fans Forum, both Kelvin and I are looking at a number of riders for the remaining seat, and wanted to see the guys in action on the track, and their set up off it, as well as looking at averages.

 

Ahead of Press and Practice, the club have arranged a meet the riders night which takes place on Friday 7th April in the Garden Suite at The Park Inn hotel starting at 7pm. Further details will confirmed

 

http://www.lakesidehammers.co/press-practice-announced/

[E I Addio 15,845]

I am surprised he didn't go to Manchester, he only came to Arena because Stuart took over and he saw pound signs, if Dougo hadn't taken over he would not be here in a million years.

Where is the evidence that he only came because he saw the pound sign ? I have never seen that account in the public domain. Is that true or something you made up? If you can't back it up it is slanderous and should be withdrawn . Stuart Douglas account is that he imterviewed other applicants for the job and Cook was, in his opinion, the one best qualified for the job.

 

You seem to overlook the fact that at the end of 2006 Arens was on the point of closure and Cook was taking a leap in the dark because it meant increasing the crowds and balancing the books, otherwise he would have been out of the job.

 

I get it that some people don't like Cook and he is not my favourite person but I don't get why people seem prepared to make things up.

[liam 376]

Where else does it come from?

Well Iam guessing he would have a job outside speedway like Douglas when he took over the club. When Douglas took over as promoter he employed Cook as team manager so where was his income coming from then unless he made enough money being manger. It still says on the Lakeside website that both Cook and Douglas are promoters so are we saying they are going to share this season thousands they make from running in the National league? Edited March 11, 2017 by liam

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

Indeed. In fact it need not be as sophisticated as BV. The 90 metre training track was laid down virtually single handedly by Gerald on a BSPA grant if I remember correctly of £5000. Obviously a 300 metre track would be proportionately dearer and it wouldn't have the expensive state of the art drainage that Belle Vue has, but it would be sufficient fo league racing, and at least comparable to many of the other tracks that were laid down in the late 1940s /1950s. The present Rye House track for example was built by Len Silver without employing expensive contractors and that is a reasonable track even if it is not Belle Vue.

 

Then you would need stands on the home straight and terraced standing on the back straight which would not be cheap but basic facilities ( much better than the existing ones) could be set up to get the track in operation. Once the track is running further investment would come because the promotion would be making money on food outlets etc, which they don't at present.

 

It's still a big ask, and would take a lot of effort to get there, but if Belle Vue, Leicester, Kent etc can do it, then Lakeside's prospects shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. It is doable without running into millions.

 

I think any blueprint for a new track would probably need to be on the lines of Plymouth or Scunthorpe. If memory serves me correctly, Scunthorpe cost £100k for the land and basic facilities (track, pits etc).

 

I would imagine finding the land would be the major issue. No one in their right mind would 'build' a stadium where houses were viable - so a plot with the correct zoning is essential (just how much, if any, of that is available), who knows? Location and neighbours (or more precisely, a lack of them) will also be a key feature. It is a hard ask in the London commuter belt.

 

I think you are bang on. Finding the land will be harder than finding the money for building. There does seem to be a lot of potential brown field sites in the area though and there's also a lot of industry - which is more conducive to a speedway track than housing.

[E I Addio 15,845]

Well Iam guessing he would have a job outside speedway like Douglas when he took over the club. When Douglas took over as promoter he employed Cook as team manager so where was his income coming from then unless he made enough money being manger. It still says on the Lakeside website that both Cook and Douglas are promoters so are we saying they are going to share this season thousands they make from running in the National league?

When the website says they are promoters I think it probably means they each have s promoters licence, not necessarily that they are joint owners of the club. According to. Jon, Stuart is still very much in charge and involved in all the decisions.

[marko 956]

Where is the evidence that he only came because he saw the pound sign ? I have never seen that account in the public domain. Is that true or something you made up? If you can't back it up it is slanderous and should be withdrawn . Stuart Douglas account is that he imterviewed other applicants for the job and Cook was, in his opinion, the one best qualified for the job.

You seem to overlook the fact that at the end of 2006 Arens was on the point of closure and Cook was taking a leap in the dark because it meant increasing the crowds and balancing the books, otherwise he would have been out of the job.

I get it that some people don't like Cook and he is not my favourite person but I don't get why people seem prepared to make things up.

What other reason could there possibly be for leaving a perfectly decent setup at Eastbourne? He spent years trying to screw Arena Essex over in the name of winning at all costs then suddenly wants to save them? Look, there is nothing wrong with seizing an opportunity, thousands do it every week (footballers are a prime example) when the chance comes to make a better life for themselves and their family but if anyone thinks Jon came to Arena out of love for the club then they are deluded?

Maybe my memory on events is not right but I was on the understanding that Jon approached Stuart when he learnt of his plans, Stuart needed someone with a current license (a guardian so to speak) to be excepted so it fell into place.

And was there any real risk for Jon? Stuart is the man putting the money in, if the thing had gone belly up then Jon would have found a place elsewhere no problem at all.

[E I Addio 15,845]

What other reason could there possibly be for leaving a perfectly decent setup at Eastbourne? He spent years trying to screw Arena Essex over in the name of winning at all costs then suddenly wants to save them? Look, there is nothing wrong with seizing an opportunity, thousands do it every week (footballers are a prime example) when the chance comes to make a better life for themselves and their family but if anyone thinks Jon came to Arena out of love for the club then they are deluded?

Maybe my memory on events is not right but I was on the understanding that Jon approached Stuart when he learnt of his plans, Stuart needed someone with a current license (a guardian so to speak) to be excepted so it fell into place.

And was there any real risk for Jon? Stuart is the man putting the money in, if the thing had gone belly up then Jon would have found a place elsewhere no problem at all.

I can only repeat the way Stuart described it at a fans forum some years ago. Stuart found himself sitting next to Jon at some sort of meeting ( I can't remember what it was) in the days when Stuart was just a sponsor and they just hit it off very well on a personal level (and they clearly still get on well on a personal basis) Stuart later bought Lakeside and had interviewed various applicant for the job and was about to offer the job to someone when he got a call from Jon and the deal was done.

 

Apart from that I have heard from another source that Cook was basically getting fed up with being Bob Dugards bag carrier at Eastbourne and wanted to have a bit of his own responsibility. It's fairly common knowledge that Eastbourne wasn't a happy ship at the time hence riders like Adam Shields came across with Cook.

[TonyE 822]

I can only repeat the way Stuart described it at a fans forum some years ago. Stuart found himself sitting next to Jon at some sort of meeting ( I can't remember what it was) in the days when Stuart was just a sponsor and they just hit it off very well on a personal level (and they clearly still get on well on a personal basis) Stuart later bought Lakeside and had interviewed various applicant for the job and was about to offer the job to someone when he got a call from Jon and the deal was done.

 

Apart from that I have heard from another source that Cook was basically getting fed up with being Bob Dugards bag carrier at Eastbourne and wanted to have a bit of his own responsibility. It's fairly common knowledge that Eastbourne wasn't a happy ship at the time hence riders like Adam Shields came across with Cook.

That pretty much meets my recollection of what was said. Apparently, Jon told Stuart what he was on (money) at Eastbourne and that was used as a basis for JC's employment at Purfleet.

 

As to other comments re 'screwing over etc' isn't that what all promoters do (in the nicest possible way of course)!

[marko 956]

To a point Tony but if you go back to the early 90's where Terry Russell would often talk about the "Eastbourne trickery" then that's what i am pertaining too and back then they were in my opinion just as bad if not worse than Poole's attempts at win at all costs in recent times, given that as soon as he came to us his attitude changed makes me wonder whether he was really playing an active part in that or whether he decided to turn over a new leaf, only he knows.

Funny enough though, its that very heated history which is why we still have quite an intense rivraly with them to this day, nothing fake or manufactured.

 

Anyway, I have moved this thread off topic, but I would like to ask the question since there is an upcoming meeting the riders event soon, why wasn't this done at the celebration of speedway? surely that would have attracted a lot more interest all round?

[00000 1,279]

When the website says they are promoters I think it probably means they each have s promoters licence, not necessarily that they are joint owners of the club. According to. Jon, Stuart is still very much in charge and involved in all the decisions.

Correct. Not all promoters are owners.

 

In many cases, such as Jon Cook's, a better term would be manager.

 

Apart from that I have heard from another source that Cook was basically getting fed up with being Bob Dugards bag carrier at Eastbourne and wanted to have a bit of his own responsibility. It's fairly common knowledge that Eastbourne wasn't a happy ship at the time hence riders like Adam Shields came across with Cook.

Jon Cook's move to Lakeside also coincided with Bob Brimson taking over the promoting rights at Arlington and Bob D. reverting to stadium owner.

[The Voice Of Reason 2,124]

In fairness to Jon Cook, during his tenure at Lakeside, he's generally ran a decent, fair ship. He's also demonstrated a lot of loyalty towards riders; particularly when individuals have suffered a downturn in form. That's to be admired in my view.

 

My only gripe remains that, more recently, I think he's been somewhat lacking in telling the full story - particularly with our (have to use this word) 'demise' into non-league racing. I'm sure that most folk would rather be told the truth; rather than the reasons to date - which have the depth of a grain of sand.

 

Notwithstanding this, I will always admire, and have full respect, for the way in which our Promotion handled the gut-wrenching sadness when Rico was so tragically taken from us. The situation was handled immaculately; and I will be forever proud of the dignity and respect shown throughout the club.

 

I just wish that people were told of the true reasoning behind the decision to move to National League racing. Open, honest and regular communication is key in my book - particularly given what is a risk dropping into the NL.

 

It goes without saying that I truly wish The Lakeside Hammers ongoing success in whatever our future holds.

[*JJ 512]

My only gripe remains that, more recently, I think he's been somewhat lacking in telling the full story - particularly with our (have to use this word) 'demise' into non-league racing. I'm sure that most folk would rather be told the truth; rather than the reasons to date - which have the depth of a grain of sand.

 

I just wish that people were told of the true reasoning behind the decision to move to National League racing. Open, honest and regular communication is key in my book - particularly given what is a risk dropping into the NL.

 

Er ... the National League is NOT 'non-league' racing. What part of 'League' don't you understand? The fact is, that NL racing is just as good as that served up in the so-called 'Elite' league or whatever they call it now. Any Eastbourne or Birmingham fan will tell you that. Try not to be so closed-minded and give it a try.