mikebv 10,277 Posted November 26, 2022 2 hours ago, iainb said: Is this the same Rob Godfrey that has been at the helm since 2019 and for whatever reason has seen the demise of Rye House, Somerset, Swindon, Lakeside, Newcastle, Workington, Buxton, Cradley Heath, Eastbourne, Isle of Wight & Stoke since the end of the 2018 season... surely the most disastrous chairmanship of anybody in the history of sport. I'm not sure he's the man for the job personally Whether he is or not, you dont see a queue of promoters fighting with each other to take over from him do you? A thankless task I would imagine... I remember reading Jon Cook's summary of his time on the MC in the Star and the amount of pressure he got put under when being asked (often at the last minute), to make a ruling on a guest replacement for example... Promoters threatening to not run meetings, close tracks down, if they didnt get the result they wanted... Unfortunately so much of the issue all goes back ultimately to having a "subjective rule book" rather than a "specific" one... Meaning interpretation is often allowed... With the ultimate in fudge and cop out being the "in Speedway's interest" catch all caveat.... So many issues... Yet. So many are self inflicted... 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted November 26, 2022 37 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said: As he says in the interview all clubs are standalone businesses. if the owners can't make it pay or decide to close them or Chuck their teddies from the pram there's not a lot that can be done to keep them open as not many people are willing to put money into speedway. As matter of interest could you point out which clubs could of been saved by the Bspl That may very well be the case and I'm sure he does a perfectly good enough job for your club, but... I'm afraid they are the facts, 11 clubs gone to the wall under his stewardship and while not directly his fault it is his job to provide inspiration, ideas and leadership, like any leader of any organisation... and what do we get? The most shambolic season in the history of the sport! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arnieg 3,643 Posted November 26, 2022 49 minutes ago, racers and royals said: I wasn`t so shabby myself- RR for Tara O` Callaghan all season and objecting to Oxford successfully when they broke the rules Jusrt don't mention Peter Ravn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phillwhitewasmad 1,487 Posted November 26, 2022 (edited) 41 minutes ago, iainb said: That may very well be the case and I'm sure he does a perfectly good enough job for your club, but... I'm afraid they are the facts, 11 clubs gone to the wall under his stewardship and while not directly his fault it is his job to provide inspiration, ideas and leadership, like any leader of any organisation... and what do we get? The most shambolic season in the history of the sport! Unfortunately you can only lead from the front if the followers want to follow and as is blatantly obvious they don't . Example let's do 2 home 2 away meetings to increase the fixtures to be more relevant majority agree so announcement is made 10 days later the followers don't want it so major u turn like is said individual businesses running there own way and the organisation can't sanction them as they need them . Season runs over because of a load of different circumstances yet it's the organisations leader who is vilified and not the individuals who run the clubs who choose not to run for weeks on end during the warmest summer for years again clubs will only do what suits them and not the sport Edited November 26, 2022 by phillwhitewasmad 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted November 26, 2022 1 hour ago, racers and royals said: I wasn`t so shabby myself- RR for Tara O` Callaghan all season and objecting to Oxford successfully when they broke the rules ...strewth! I remember that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted November 26, 2022 40 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said: Unfortunately you can only lead from the front if the followers want to follow and as is blatantly obvious they don't . Example let's do 2 home 2 away meetings to increase the fixtures to be more relevant majority agree so announcement is made 10 days later the followers don't want it so major u turn like is said individual businesses running there own way and the organisation can't sanction them as they need them . Season runs over because of a load of different circumstances yet it's the organisations leader who is vilified and not the individuals who run the clubs who choose not to run for weeks on end during the warmest summer for years again clubs will only do what suits them and not the sport Yes, totally agree... I'll admit I've not read his interview in the SS, I can only go by what has been put out on socials and websites, but what has he said about any of this? Why hasn't he been transparent about what's going on? As a leader he should be calling these clubs out instead he's complicit in his silence. If he can't control the clubs, which must be like herding cats, then he should stand down and allow somebody else to lead while there are still clubs around to be led Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phillwhitewasmad 1,487 Posted November 26, 2022 6 minutes ago, iainb said: Yes, totally agree... I'll admit I've not read his interview in the SS, I can only go by what has been put out on socials and websites, but what has he said about any of this? Why hasn't he been transparent about what's going on? As a leader he should be calling these clubs out instead he's complicit in his silence. If he can't control the clubs, which must be like herding cats, then he should stand down and allow somebody else to lead while there are still clubs around to be led Don't think anyone else wants the job 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted November 26, 2022 2 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said: Don't think anyone else wants the job The sport in this country is doomed then Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phillwhitewasmad 1,487 Posted November 26, 2022 4 minutes ago, iainb said: The sport in this country is doomed then Personally don't think so I agree it needs more positivity . Negativity breeds more negativity 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HGould 2,213 Posted November 26, 2022 18 minutes ago, iainb said: Yes, totally agree... I'll admit I've not read his interview in the SS, I can only go by what has been put out on socials and websites, but what has he said about any of this? Why hasn't he been transparent about what's going on? As a leader he should be calling these clubs out instead he's complicit in his silence. If he can't control the clubs, which must be like herding cats, then he should stand down and allow somebody else to lead while there are still clubs around to be led May be you should read his very extensive interview. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a fan of his but it's a pretty detailed explanation on a number of topics and very interesting. He is lets not forget now a Director of BSPL. As are others at the top table. That's a far more responsible position than the old Management Committee and its now a Limited Company listed at Companies House. A lot who criticise him haven't the balls to take on the role nor the responsibility. He deserves resect for that, however much you may agree or disagree with his ability in doing the role. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted November 26, 2022 12 minutes ago, HGould said: May be you should read his very extensive interview. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a fan of his but it's a pretty detailed explanation on a number of topics and very interesting. He is lets not forget now a Director of BSPL. As are others at the top table. That's a far more responsible position than the old Management Committee and its now a Limited Company listed at Companies House. A lot who criticise him haven't the balls to take on the role nor the responsibility. He deserves resect for that, however much you may agree or disagree with his ability in doing the role. I can only go by his track record and not by his words, words are cheap. His track record is appalling Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phillwhitewasmad 1,487 Posted November 26, 2022 1 minute ago, iainb said: I can only go by his track record and not by his words, words are cheap. His track record is appalling What specifically are you pointing out Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted November 26, 2022 43 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said: Don't think anyone else wants the job ...should have given it to John Berry all those years ago! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martinmauger 584 Posted November 26, 2022 (edited) "This has happened with a couple of other magazines to which I subscribe. I suppose that they think that paper is 'green' after the stuff about plastic. Certainly the paper envelopes biodegrade in the post ." "Of course one of the problems with getting a subscription copy whether plastic or paper packaged is when the royal mail cwu members go on strike!! If the postie decides not to deliver on Saturday then its into the next week before I get mine." And me, 'courier deliveries' never are arrived at all, Royal Mail is as above. One interesting point: on the odd ocassion my Star hasn't arrived at all, like the next Tuesday or so (!), a replacement by 'the man of few words but very efficient' Dave Fairbrother is sent in a brown envelope, always arrives the very next day and, yes, I have shared this info with the Star / Pinegen. Supposed to be 'Speedway Star section' but, as stated, there's no queue to take over from Godfrey, who I don't agree with all the time, or any promoter for that matter. At one time I wanted to be an SCB referee then a team manager and made official enquiries, or if a load of numbered balls line up in my favour, a team & track owner / promoter, nowadays - not so much. I've been into speedway for far too long, or so I'm told (!), but not enough to take on the enevitable & prob endless grief & hassle of becoming an official or team owner, very few do.... Edited November 26, 2022 by martinmauger spelling Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted November 26, 2022 29 minutes ago, phillwhitewasmad said: What specifically are you pointing out Specifically, the year on year decline of the sport in this country, probably the most tracks closing down in shortest amount of time and culminating in last season, the worst in the sports history imo all under his watch. Look, if you think he's doing a great job, that's fair enough, can you specifically point out any improvements he's made to the sport in this country? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
