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Just a few further thoughts on last night and speedway in general. It was my first visit to Perry Barr and it was a bit chaotic outside the stadium with the roadworks and everything, but I parked for free in the shopping centre as kindly recommended earlier in the thread. I had nothing to compare the crowd to as I had not been before but it looked a good turnout and it was a really friendly atmosphere. It was great to see that there were loads of families with kids there and it was a great idea to have the kids on the centre green in the interval taking penalties against the mascot and massive credit to the riders who got involved as well. It was a bit hard to see from where I was, but it may well have been Ashley Morris and James Shanes - brilliant effort, whoever it was. As pleasing was to see the turnout of the older end as well. It must be hard for some people to have the confidence to come out again but it was great to see the older diehard fans there too. I'm not sure what the capacity is at the stadium but to have had many more in there might have felt a bit uncomfortable for the older end. I went to the bar area in the interval and, although some tables were cordoned off, it seemed well populated and I loved the Hall of Fame on the wall at the top of the stairs. I update and contribute to the Speedway Researcher website, so am aware of the famous history of the club, but to see the display brought it home how important clubs like Birmingham and Newcastle are to the sport. It cost me £19.50 for my entrance fee and a programme and for that there was the 15 heat Championship meeting, a six race second half, and some 125 or 250cc races. The meeting was well presented by Ryan Guest and the announcer and the racing was pretty good. Two full strength sides, no guests, some great young British talent on display, and two of the best riders the country has seen in the past 20 years. How anyone can complain that this is not good value is beyond me. The track was a little dusty but with a big black cloud over the stadium for the duration of the meeting which threatened to empty itself on the track at any point, I could see why preparation may have been difficult and watering risky. I think we all know that speedway, like other sports, is struggling but I've been to all five meetings at Sheffield this year plus one each at Leicester, Redcar, Eastbourne and Birmingham and there is life in the sport yet. We have an older demographic and that age group have been through a scary time and, for many, it's a big step to come to a speedway meeting. We do have to attract new fans as well, but without alienating the hardcore with innovations like The Hundred at cricket, which to me is a total abomination. Finally, the demise of speedway is predicted by quite a few people on this site who clearly take an interest because they are on here every day, but seemingly don't go anymore. To those people I say - get down to your local track and support them. Put aside for a while your valid complaints about doubling up, guests etc, and enjoy the racing for what it is because speedway is still a great night out.

I'm not quite sure what you're saying here but the second and third paragraphs make me think that for the good of the sport (as you see it, perhaps) those in trouble should be put to sleep now. I'm also not sure where your "Marshall07" name comes from but assume it's the year of your birth... although I know 14 year olds who get the point more than you seem to be able to manage, however old you are. It's like this: generally putting a licence on ice is euthanasia. Withdrawal from a league before the end of a season is usually fatal. You airily talk about deadlines... once clubs go they often don't come back. Give your head a shake.

And yet knowing everything he goes to Leicester to watch rubbish speedway.

Well luckily there are people 'foolish enough' or we wouldn't have any speedway to watch and I would be out of business!!

Well you're in the "some won't agree" camp then, which is OK, however for me an early call off means I can watch the Lions rugby, followed by the Speedway GP. It means I can plan my day and evening. Call off's on the day are generally time consuming and costly for everyone. The way it is, we all know what's happening and why. Whether we agree with it or not is another matter, as articulated in the statement.

As I said if you think you can do a better job, give it a go. I think you will find that running a speedway club is not as simple as you think. In fact, from experience, it is a thankless task, as there are always people on your back ready to put the boot in. Some people do nothing but criticise, they live for it. You would be totally amazed at what goes into putting a meeting on and the hurdles that have to be jumped over. My father had to leave promoting because he got a stomach ulcer through the stress of it all.

First of all let me be clear , I DO NOT WANT NEWCASTLE TO CLOSE. I think Rob Grant is doing his very best & like our promotion at Redcar he is trying to bring Speedway into the 21st century . One of the things he is up against is the History at Newcastle of having excellent teams who with the assistance of a track that for many years has been a homer track has meant that they battered teams week in week out , We at Middlesbrough/ Redcar have suffered from that . What I am saying is that when Newcastle have a less than strong side the fans used to winning do not turn up . I will be there supporting Plymouth & Poole on Sunday but hoping my cash can help Newcastle survive. When you think of some of the No1 riders Newcastle hav had over the years from Mauger days they need to be saved. ,I really enjoyed the days when Teesside were div 2 & Newcastle in the British league , we used to attend both , Good luck Rob …

A little bit of an arrogant summary you could argue, you Edinburgh got lucky losing the toss as it gave them 1 and 3 in 13 and 15 but there is a pretty easy counter that if the Monarchs had won the toss and it was the other way round that Poole would not have had such a handy lead at that stage so all swings and roundabouts really.

fingers crossed I think my youngest is now converted. He really enjoyed himself.

Fantastic night of speedway, bloody brilliant, biggest crowd of the season, loads of youngsters, fans still queing to get in after the start time, pleanty of atmosphere, slickly run meeting, no hanging about, great racing with plenty of passing and a last heat decider, and we won , a great advert for our sport! My whole family and friends loved it we had a great night, thoroughly enjoy it, elated we are, roll on next week, Oh and the ref missed Batchelors flyer from the gate in ht 15. Valatin looking better each week , Riss, poor, threw his dummy in the dust and rode across the center green after finishing last, Shanes great entertainer, Harris on fire, Morris a battler, Paco moved of the white line and had a dirty underpants moment with the back straight fence but recovered. Thomas deserved more for his efforts . my glass is half full

You can still book in advance here https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing?eid=20692& or pay at the gate. The return of Steve Worrall, Bjarne Pedersen, Danny King and Alfie Bowtell and also three times World Champion Jason Crump should also be in the Plymouth line-up. I'm sure everyone is aware of the situation the Diamonds find themselves in, so it would be great to see a bumper crowd for this one and also for the rest of the season.

Go and have a pint with chrismorton. He is the one stood next to you in the queue..

Well if you are coming make a 10 quid donation to the club if you think its too cheap I'm sure it will be greatfully received Regards THJ

Is it not on the official site.

Any of you Poole fans who have not been to Berwick before, the Black & Gold Club is situated next to the stadium. Feel free to pop in for a pint to settle the nerves. You will find the natives a friendly bunch and we can all reminisce about the 1989 Cup Final

And Eurosport could do with watching it to learn how to film a race! Just one camera needed. Well done Pete! (Clean Cut)

No as stated they were specifically targeted by Rob to see how effective they were and primarily at people who had been before and knew what it was about; and the bottom line is they weren't successful at all unfortunately... so its back to the drawing board I'm afraid however help is always appreciated and to give the promotion their due they are looking at anything and everything that will encourage fans both new and lapsed to come and watch a meeting but its a thankless task... hopefully we "do a Birmingham" and get 800+ through the doors and give the promotion the lift they need to take this forward... Regards THJ

That is utterly ridiculous.

Iainb, I really do think with your fountain of knowledge and your incredible vision of hindsight, that you should run a track yourself. You surely can't fail as you seem to know everything about running a speedway track and even merchandise sales. I'd do it if I were you, you surely can't go wrong.

That's usually classed of a feast of speedway at the EoES. Long gone are the days when we ran regularly in the summer.

The short answer is no and unfortunately this is where our sport is totally failing. The issue here is not that of Birmingham and Newcastle but is a problem for British Speedway and it’s about time the power that be started thinking about how to support and work together for the good of the sport in this country. It’s been far too long a sport driven by self indulgent individuals with their own agendas and the fact that teams are struggling is a result of years of mismanagement. The BSP Committee should be looking at how they support those teams that are struggling to ensure their futures, not giving them additional problems that could lead to two very established clubs closing their doors for good. Unfortunately the current mindset of some leading this sport will be more around ‘which riders can I sign if they close’ rather than how do we help them in their hour of need.

As far as I can see I think they are being very sensible. Saving a lot of time and money for themselves and a lot of others.

I’m not totally sure if the 500 quoted has been amassed through different routes or this was simply as a result of the presence at the quayside market, but I’m assuming that given I haven’t seen or heard anything around this that it was solely from the activity at the Quayside market. I am certainly not knocking Rob and his team for looking to spread the word but I’m not convinced that this really gives a true reflection of the ability of Newcastle Speedway to grow its fan base or increase the attendances in the short and medium term. The driver behind giving out free tickets is simply to get new fans into the stadium but must have a clear link to the target market you are looking to tempt into the sport. You wouldn’t look to give out free tickets to a nightclub at a local bingo as you wouldn’t get the take up you were looking to achieve (apart from a few exceptions). The quayside market is not a place where I would look to achieve this but rather through local link ups with sports clubs, I see Newcastle Benfield has been mentioned, to look at fans with a similar interest in sports. Newcastle Eagles, Newcastle Thunder and some of our other local football sides could be a billboard to offering advertisement and free or discounted tickets provided through the team to interested part of their fan base. We also have Whitley Warriors ice hockey club who play in front of crowds around 1000 on a Sunday night (out of speedway season) and their fans have had no hockey for 18 months. Fans who have a void in their Sunday’s that sport has always filled. These are the type of target market we could get traction from, if we did it through the individual clubs as part of a partnership agreement. Also, the timing of the tickets being given out makes it less likely to gain any interest. Being a family man with young children my own day is planned well in advance and tickets being given on the morning of a match, which starts as early as 4pm means people are likely to already have plans in place. The more time we give people to think about going the better. Again I’m not knocking Rob and his team as they are dealing with a great deal already but with the right marketing strategy then I really do feel there is a demand for speedway in Newcastle.

I'm sure that the track walk, meeting the riders in the pits, kids on the centre green etc was all very successful given the amount of people who took advantage of it. The pits are always open to fans before around 6.30pm and was great to see all generations getting photos and autographs with riders. The kids entertainment was a weekly thing before covid and very popular with different activities every week with riders joining in too. Last night reminded me of 2019 with a really good crowd, lots of fun, families, and some good racing going down to a last heat decider. Well done to all involved and to those that supported it.

Obviously you don’t watch enough at Armadale to know that’s not true. Watch josh Pickering and you’d see otherwise.

I'm sure that all at the club understand that many who came last night won't be there every week. Re building the hard core fan base for the future was the aim and yesterday was a good start.

You set yourself up for that Blobby, most passes wouldnt happen if the rider being passed rode a better line. What a ridiculous comment from you

Thank you for making the effort to support the club tonight and travelling such a distance to do so. the same sentiment goes out to all fans from other clubs who did the same it is genuinely much appreciated

If granny had bollocks she would be my grandad

Was good to see a 1 min time allowance introduced for restarts in the GP's this season... something I've been saying that British Speedway should have introduced years ago... yet still haven't!

Over £10k now. Speedway fans really are the best. we are a fickle lot, but as seen at Birmingham Wednesday night, we can come together now and again.

You obviously haven’t got a clue have you? You should be a speedway promoter.

How much is it normally for Newcastle £17? If my speedway club in trouble I think I would pay the difference if it would help! £20 sure is a bargain though!

The promoters need every single fan they can get coming through the turnstiles so an early all off when the weather forecast is rubbish (which will 100% put fans off attending) is 100% the right call!! All our clubs could be in a Newcastle/Brum position .....

See, it's not all doom and gloom... Looks like it's doing better than Pigeon Racing..... I believe they were doing really well until there became a shortage of pigeons due to them starting to compete in international races at weekends... So they started to allow sparrows and blackbirds in to guest for the missing pigeons... Not crows though as they were deemed too good (they fly direct like a crow flies you see), to replace the missing pigeons so they did have some integrity... They did though allow magpies to replace losing birds during a race, and their mileage was counted as double due to them being black and white.... I'll get me coat...

Oh no!! This no2 position sure has a curse on it! I blame ZK if he didn't let people down (apparently) and get himself sacked, we'd be okay.

According to some there's been no negligence by the promotion but as you say, don't run two teams when you can't afford to even run one!

Track is covered presently.

You're correct, Shanes & Morris were on the centre green for the penalty shootout.

Hello John, I have assumed given the fact that through Social Media, TV, Newspapers or websites ect that I have not myself seen any offer of free tickets and also through the wording of your original post, it suggested to me that this approach was used. May just be the way I read it. At no point have I criticised Rob or the promotion for doing so only that I believe if we are giving out free tickets then would be better aiming at customer groups where the success rate is potentially higher. I take your point about my circumstances but how many people are in the same boat as me, having to consider commitments before making a decision to attend something new that day?. I would hazard a guess that it is a fair few. I agree the sports link up may take time but I have personally opened the door with the Whitley Warriors who were very keen to build links with the club. Again not knocking Rob as he has so much in his plate that this probably wasn’t his focus but he has the clubs info and I have personally passed this onto Rob. As part of the staff at Newcastle Speedway and links to the Newcastle Vipers during Darryls era in control of both teams, I have seen some of the attempts to build those links but the advancements of social media and digital presence then marketing between clubs has a far wider reach and the additional element of discounted or free entry is something that was not directly tried during that era. In terms of reaching out to the promotion. I have made it known that I will help out in any way I can and that offer remains on the table for Rob moving forward. As a forum for opinions, then hopefully I’m allowed mine:) oh and good luck to Rob and Rachel with everything. They have been dealt an awful hand this last 18 months but have done great to get us to this point.

1. Which Accounts? The one on Companies House is for period ending 31.1.20 and just shows assets of £10k and liabilities of £10k, net worth zero. 2. Now that is substantial, but mentioned where? 3. If true, that is outrageous

You just had to awaken the beast didn't you .

It does explain it though, rain rain rain and they trust their weather forecaster.

Here, have a read of the whole statement https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/eagles-v-brummies-postponed/

Far from ideal but not unusual given the other events at the showground.

Couldn't agree more Steve. We all said the same as soon as the coin toss was done. IMO Against all the other 'top' teams, given the option Danny should always defer to Heat 15.

I can't wait for the reaction from IainB.

Not the first German ex-Monarch to play that game

For streaming to work there has to be a lot of variables that happily come together.. Number one having the spare money to invest in a "gamble" rather than needing every penny (and more) to survive.. You also can be very lucky with those who provide the service as they may be fans who will do it for a "labour of love" and then advertise their video services more wider off the back of it, using it as an example of what they do, rather than any financial gain.. And then you have the potential uptake to consider, if there are zero restrictions on crowds, and you are not getting anywhere near filling your stadium, then there isnt much point streaming the event.. If you do have restrictions, or play to full houses every week, and therefore demand to watch outstrips the supply of tickets available, then streaming can become worthwhile to do... My local football team Stockport County streamed all matches during lockdown for £7 a game.. They did it because the owner has very full pockets that go very deep, so stood all the cost, and they get circa 4000 fans a match so a lot of potential buyers, meaning around 1200 fans who were missing watching their team play logged in every week.. Horses for courses I would suggest.. For those with deep pockets to absorb all the costs then they have zero risk and it could benefit them in the overall aim of growth, however given UK Speedways tiny following and overall brand awareness, I would think for many it would be a fair old gamble..