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I have to say that you are full of it tonight. No track to moan about so you start to look for other things to pour doom and gloom on. Have a night off, you deserve it.

I would be happy to do a monthly DD for 100 and maybe another 1 person possibly 2. I would love to do something to keep the club alive. I would then happily pay a reduced admission of say 10.00 per meeting and a programme/hog roast/burger or something included. That way the club is still getting further income from ticket sales but we get a reward of food/programme which could then be off set through other profits from the van, 50/50 draw, supporters club etc. Then maybe a yearly get together where we can chat to Rob and team. One negative is we need to stop the clickyness. I've been coming for over 30 years and never feel involved, miss the interaction with the riders and a chat with Rob to let us know updates etc. I think there needs to be disclosure of the situation the club was truly in when Rob took over to stop the rumour mill and get the facts out there of just how all those interested in Newcastle Diamonds were screwed over by the previous promotion. Maybe then a clean slate for 2022 where we start a fresh and move forward.

I would be willing to pay up to £1000 as one upfront cost (not much I know, but as much as I could afford) and maybe £100 (maybe even more if I can persuade family members and friends to support too) a month from there on. If something like what THJ has suggested can be put in place... i dont have a business to promote or anything really, just want to see my club survive. I have some speedway spares and memorabilia I would happily donate to some kind of fund raising event to help save the club on the premise that we definitely operate in 2022... maybe a pre season event after we name our team? Hopefully with view of the long term moving to our own track for 2023? The support is there from a handful of fans, and if we can muster up enough budget to put a decent team together, the paying numbers will come from there... I just hope we can find a figurehead to put all of this together, as I have zero knowledge (or time) in business and I am too young to have any experience in the field...

Nora licensing only works for amateur events. If the National Development League did what it ought, and returned to amateur status, then that whole league could run under Nora 92. In my view, this is something that could work at Eastbourne, Newcastle and Birmingham, though maybe not under the current promoters. It is also my view that BSPL would then be mad to threaten those riders riding in a Nora 92 NDL with exclusion, as has happened this year, as they’d then struggle with rider shortages.

Euro sport could learn a lot from how clean cut sports film the racing less is more you could see every second of an exciting race which is something you can't say for Euro sports coverage it drives me mad.The way they switch from camera to camera misses a hell of a lot of the racing.Also with one camera if there is a race for a minor place just zoom out a little and in most cases you would not miss a thing.Plus it shows what viewing speedway is really like when watching it live, a motor sport involving 4 riders where you can see every second of the action.Which to me is a major selling point.

The above all sound like really good ideas with fans trying to save a iconic club. My main issue ( for what its worth which is zero ) would be the getting out of Brough ASAP. It has to happen as for a long time now the racing at Newcastle has not been great as the bikes have got faster. Yes I remember Andre Compton and James Grieves blasting around the boards on the 3rd and 4th bend but those races are few and far between and the stigma that goes with the track certainly does not help the cause. My worry is that Speedway as a whole is no longer 2021 compliant and one of those is the noise level. You tell me when the last new track was opened ? Its nearly impossible because of housing estates spreading at a alarming rate meaning Betty does not want to hear annoying bikes while she sits out in her garden any longer. Sound travels far and wide on a evening and a new track within 20 miles of Newcastle would be a massive surprise to me if it could get past the noise brigade. I had a conversation only a few months back with one of the owners at Redcar and he even said that if they were to apply for permission now for the track which is on a motor sports complex he believed it would not get the go ahead.They get regular complaints from residents miles away but luckily because they have the licence they don't come to much. We all whinge about electric bikes etc and with no noise and no smell the sport would die. The problem is the way the sport is now is on a life support machine with no magic wand to recover at present. Yes riders wages and bike costs have grown way more than crowd levels which has caused a huge financial gulf. Yes the sport as some say is probably a £10 sport having to charge £18 to try and cover the difference between the above. Yes the shortage of riders and doubling up makes it a bit of a joke trying to explain it to the public. BUT the noise issues also will STOP 99% of new ventures ever getting past the first hurdle. I love this sport as a rider ( loose term ) as a Manager of Redcar Cubs but most importantly as a supporter for the last 49 years. I hate as much as anyone to see it struggling in so many places around the country. Yes at Redcar we are fortunate that crowds are up and we don't have huge rents to pay but Im a SPEEDWAY FAN and without clubs we won't have this wonderful sport of ours for that much longer in its present capacity.

I think you would need Rob on board and give him the security of guaranteed income, but dont know obviously how his Company is set up to be able to do a share scheme... March to October would be 8 months of payments, £800 in total, (or do it over 10 months at £80 a month), like the Council Tax)... 250 putting £20 a week over 8 months would generate £200k.. (Less than two packets of fags). If it makes money (I laugh), then each get a dividend... Basically you would be buying "free admission" but these 250 could get access to the VIP suite, with each getting at least two matches in there, free programmes each week, free car parking etc. And maybe give them a free ticket each week to invite their partner, and up to five tickets a match to sell at a tenner to their family and friends? People who wouldnt ordinarily be there.. Ambassadors for the club if you like.. Another 400 a week paying "£x" to get in might then be enough if you are starting with a £200k guarantee, and the price to get in could come down if the guarantee covers enough of the costs.. Pipe dream I am sure but maybe worth at least a coat of looking at..

I have never believed home teams should be allowed a T/S ride...

Regardless of the result of this meeting, (and I am a lifelong supporter of Birmingham), I wish Newcastle and their loyal supporters, well. I hope that the attendance for this match will be big enough to convince either the current promotion or any prospective new promotion, that the club does have a future, and that they might have a re-think about carrying on. As far as Josh McDonald is concerned, it is ludicrous to suggest that he is intending to approach this meeting with an intention to make no effort. He is a young Australian rider who has made a promising start to his British career and will be wanting to emphasise this. Whether we like it or not (and I definitely don't!), guest bookings are an established part of speedway, and McDonald will be more than anxious to show that he is a rider worth booking when the need arises. I don't expect him to hit double figures, but I expect a return commensurate with his known ability.

Well all I'm going to say before I get me head down for another 16 hour shift tomorrow.. is that the previous promotion should ( hopefully ) be brought to justice for f@@king rob grant junior over & all there hangers ons ( & yes yous know who yous are ) let's hope the VAT men take them all the way to the cleaners & hopefully a few days months or even years in the big house is just what they deserve as they have took the p@ss out of the supporters for years at Newcastle speedway judging by what has gone on before our new owners took it on

Really Josh Mac riding for the Brummies, who have to win to overcome the Scorpions to 6th in the league!!! Josh is a Scorpion, I give up , only in British Speedway???

Could you get 250 people/companies paying £25 a week/£100 a month by DD for 100 shares per month. ? That's £25k a month coming in if you could. Maybe offering "Free" admission for that "investment" to each fan. And "Free" advertising for the companies around the stadium . Surely 250 people in a conurbation the size of Newcastle could be found who would like the sport to continue and could stump up £25 a week? Might need local media involvement and a certain Premier League Football Club may be able to help get the message out/put their hands in their pockets. Nothing ventured, etc etc NB. Maybe get Nicki P contacted to do some media work around the closure, someone must have a contact for him. He might also be the first to stump up some cash, given the push the Diamonds gave his career; and start the ball rolling. ..

Would there be much interest in putting together a package of support from the fans? Would there be any value in a meeting upstairs in the bar after the Birmingham meeting... are there enough like-minded people who have funds to invest in a lost cause to try and save the Diamonds? Something along the lines of a Debenture say.... however unlike a Debenture there are very limited assets to repay the loan... people would have to loan the money on the understanding that if the new venture is unsuccessful the money is lost and there may (probably) be the need to top up this Debenture on a regular basis... However this would be on the premise that we leave for our own home ASAP and a share issue is made against loans? Is it worth a try or do we just roll over and pray to the Gods that someone comes in on an off chance... Any thoughts or interest from other like-minded companies or individuals?... Regards THJ

And my employees will dictate to me how much I pay them because they want to have the best equipment to do the same job for somebody else, who will pay them more than me... And they will be allowed to branch out on their own, to fulfil their own ambitions, using the equipment I helped pay for by their salary demands.. My business is heavily reliant on good weather to be successful and my customer profile target will be families with young kids to ensure further growth.... So to that end I will mainly open during the week rather than weekends, on school nights, and hardly open at all during the summer holidays when the weather is better, instead I will open during the darker and colder autumn months... I am looking to offer you no more than a 50% stake in the business, and for that I want no less than £48.60....

Dunno, but maybe that's a 'Dick Head'?,,, a love all them folklore story's about trains, ladders and black cats and stuff.

Give us a break we should have been given 2or 3 t/s to try and make it interesting lol

WOW Can nothing stop the power of this Panthers team BIG BIG statement made this week WE CAME WE SAW WE CONQUERED AGAIN

At last someone who agrees with me!

The Leon Flint fiasco continues. No blame to Leon himself, quite the opposite, it is his great progress which shows how poorly thought out the rules are. Leon scoring good points in the Premiership but able to guest at reserve for Championship teams, standing in for riders on much lower averages because of the Rising Star system. He will be constantly in demand for the closing Championship fixtures, the Playoffs and the KO Cup and could decide the title. One of the few teams he definitely can't ride at reserve for is Berwick!

Forget the 10k add/remove the 40k back in what the liquidators took as well Gaz... Yep a successful team would have really knackered the job... aka Worky... Regards THJ

The VAT man taking nearly £40k off the club at the start of the season done the damage Aye you wouldn't put your 17 year old dog through it would you... just prolonging the pain As it happens Ruff just under £65 quid per point however your are spot on... However Rob has made a good fist of it and would have made a small profit this year (and this is a guess) to about £5k depending if we get the 550+ required for the last home meeting and talking to Daryl Illingworth last night about it and he reckons that would have been the first profit the club made since the early to mid 90's so it has been a hell of an effort by Rob and his team... It does need pointing out it is not solely the finance situation that has Rob fed up... its the whole thing he inherited; it was the rules and regulations he had to be tied into amongst many other things and the final straw I believe was the attempt to poach his only recognised heat leader just before the cut off date for changes... it does take a great deal of time and effort to run a Speedway team for not much recognition or any recompense and to be fair Rob never went into this for the plaudits but he has my full admiration for the effort he has put in this year because it has been one long hard slog but he got to the end of the season... not sure if it was good luck or by good management however he seen the year out without folding... Regards THJ

See previous; the costs remain the same for putting a meeting on between 2.5k and 3k a meeting but remember that home meeting needs to cover the away meeting cost and this is what blew Worky out of the water 328 turning up to the home meeting with Scunny and the team scoring near 60 points in this match and then going to Scunny and scoring over 50 down their where they usually got 35... Worky vs Newcastle 480 in and Worky get over 50 both home and away meetings when they very rarely broke 40 at Brough; Ipswich 428 crowd at DP then you win down their and the travel costs are double and you pay out for 47 points instead of the usual 30/35 ish and I could give many more examples... it is not sustainable even at 20 quid a head that gives you around 10k of income off that Newcastle meeting with an outlay of 2.5k for the stadium rental and putting the home meeting on then 70 quid a point average for your riders wages and 500 quid on travel; but you also have other costs that need paid for throughout the season. Rob Grant wasn't daft and he knew that 550 was his break even figure and that isn't an ambitious figure to be fair but we haven't got anywhere near that with the exception of the the first meeting of the season against Edinburgh when the Covid restrictions were on; the Redcar meeting and Double Header with Poole and Plymouth and for whatever the reasons we got 1088 in through the doors for that meeting which could have been the Poole effect with a good side and/or the Bjarne and Crump farewell tour effect with Plymouth... who knows... Would these meetings as separate meeting have brought in the same figures for two separate meetings? again who knows.... It is a definite juggling act when you are working on such tight margins; and you have to put out a competitive team; the bottom line is we can just about guarantee now around 350 fans which doesn't sustain "Jack" at the minute; however that figure would potentially keep an NDL team running if we could halve or better still get rid of the rental cost but we cant so you need 550/600/650 in to maintain a Championship team 200 to 300 more fans more than we have now... they all ain't sitting on a wall outside unfortunately and its not for the want of trying s the promotion have done a lot of work in this respect to try and encourage more people to come... and if we got just over a 1000 for every meeting we wouldn't be having this conversation whatsoever... Regards THJ

6 man teams with riders earning more as they get more races. Riders not chosen in declared teams go in to an "assistance pot" where they are allowed to assist any team up to a maximum of appearances. Riders earn more, lessens doubling up/down, team identity no longer guest/joke issue.

It would be a perfect opportunity for a new promotion at Oxford. Lower costs, control over the way to run meetings and a chance to gauge crowd attendance. It would make more sense than being tied into the BSPL without voting rights.

Pedersen is back to the #2 position tonight many a team manager would just go with the same riding order meeting to meeting but Rob Lyon certainly thinks whats best on the night , he has contributed so much to the success of the Panthers this season and just hope hes there next season as the main man running the show again for Buster or whoever hes a vital piece in the cog of the engine room of the team and i dont think the Panthers would be were they are without him . Sorry Lynn fans hes got to stay at Peterborough now .

If Pedersen scores big in the last 3 meetings it may well be a good thing if he was to go to reserve.Hitting that sort of form going into the play offs and at reserve would be a bonus wouldn't it?

would it be viable to run a NL team just to keep speedway at Newcastle for the time being surely with the likes of Freeman Smith Embelton Douglas all being local would be good for local advertising what would they need through the door to break even at that level put a decent competitive team together that could win home matches pretty sure Eastbourne and Birmingham both did it to keep the gates open

So with riders retiring and going to one league, presumably still restrictions from Poland, where are the riders going to come from?

Problem is... there is a great deal of good intention at present but when it comes down to putting in your cold hard earned cash that good intention tends to evaporate into thin air... There is an awful lot to do to take this on as a "consortium" of a fan based set up... We need to be speaking to a good solicitor who can advise on articles of association and possibly running as a Community Interest Company ( CIC )… A CIC is a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders... and a good architect who can draw up provisional plans (cheap or better still FOC) to get proposals underway for the Seaton Burn site... also maybe a reverse approach to our multi million pound company landlords to see if they would sponsor the club maybe in the top flight on a Monday night and give them TV exposure and brand the full team and stadium for ARC dog and horse racing... you never know they may wish to take on some Corporate Social Responsibility and support the team... but the clock is running... Regards THJ

They may see it as that.... however in all honesty it's far from that. Many on here who have questioned the operating model & the un professional manner in which the sport is run are told to ignore all that & focus on 4 blokes racing. You yourself have stated ignore everything that goes on & watch the racing. Hardly the viewpoint some who believes it to be a professional sport would take.

Because we don’t race every week.. so the weeks we don’t race everyone would still be paying and money increasing. These are just ball park figures really until we know how many are serious about putting money in.

Good idea mate, probably won't be able to make the bar, (will be busy),,, but as mentioned the the 'GoFundMe' raised good money. Wouldn't be able to stump up much, but if there was 100 of me we might get somewhere. Al be good for the cash (ask Rob). Keep us in the loop and I will work on some of the guys, which might be persuaded to put a little bit in, av managed it before.

This sounds like a good idea.. I couldn’t afford the other option but I think people would probably get involved this way and surely even 500-1000 people would pay a lesser amount per week/month to keep Newcastle speedway open. The go fund me page showed how much people were willing to help Newcastle speedway and think it’s a great idea if enough interested people. We have to try something as can’t let speedway die in Newcastle..

And drugs !

Mountain is decent, but he won't have a chance against our top 5.

Two home draws is only two points….

Just a thought to help the sport move forward, add a touch of supporter interaction & add some much needed suspense. Each club runs a competition on their website for two supporters to experience an interactive evening. The winning supporters have to arrive at the stadium 2 hours before the meeting. They are then escorted to the new VIP caravan that each track must have. Inside there are 14 riders all dressed in black leathers with BSPL approved paper bags over their heads. The 2 winning supporters then toss a coin to decide who is the representing the 'home' team & who represents the 'away' team. After this another coin is tossed to decide who has first pick of the riders.. They then take it in turns to pick a rider until each team has 7 riders. At this point the riders are asked to remove the paper bags to reveal to the excided winners who they are. At this point all those who know the true identity of the riders have to sign the official because this is speedway document that states they can never reveal the rider identities. After the big reveal the away team can demand a rider swap under the 'in the interest of speedway' rule. Once both teams have been confirmed with the officials the supporters then get to team manage for the evening. At this point the riders then put on their helmets & the turnstiles are opened. These cannot be removed until the last supporter has left the stadium after the meeting. The teams are then introduced as the home team & riders are introduced a rider 1 etc the same happens with the away team. As the riders are all in black leathers the only identity they have is a race jacket & helmet colour. I can only imagine the excitement of those spectators on the terrace not knowing who is representing 'their' team The keys positive points to this is that it removes the doubling up issues there will be no guests or rider replacement as the BSPL will always send 14 fit riders to each track for team selection. As the teams are simply known as the home & away team it's possible to have a league with more teams taking part than available venues. At the end of the season the prize for winning the various competitions are just simply returned to the BSPL office. Another benefit of this new operating model is there are no points limit issues as each team selection is based on pure luck.

Don't you mean Rodney'?

6 days before the 1st day.

As far as I recall Custom House was designed by Archibald Leitch who was the foremost Stadium designer of the day. Responsible for stands at grounds such as Ibrox, Roker Park and Goodison amongst many others. The trademark lattice design of the metalwork on the double decker stands at West Ham was similar to the ones at the other stadiums mentioned.

U 2 only full of negative vibes... Log off for a while and concentrate on your pre-war speedway book! :lol: But you are right, speedway can still be good even you believe all the riders to be crap...

No it was NOT a dust bowl only the patch on B1 , being selective with the photo arnt we

All good ideas being mentioned.. this maybe also need to be posted on Facebook at some point when further forward and can be put forward to supporters club. Hopefully Rob would stay on board as he deserves another crack at it and with a bit of assistance from the fans hopefully we could stay open and have a decent season.

Quite a few have suggested things like that, but judging by some of the comments on here, they're not interested in things like that. They want an hour's racing, and then they bugger off home... The same can be said about a lot of fans... I have no problems with gardening at the gate - particularly in modern times when gating seems to be so important. However, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for riders to return to the pits every time there is a false start...

My first is in Eat but not in Cat... My second is in Duck but not in Pack... My third is in Igloo but not in.. Oh sod it.. It's in the Edinburgh v Brum KO Cup thread, Ian...

You miss the point Polish speedway has always been ran as a proper professional team sport. Therefore has earned the respect and the passion of the town's people & the wider general polish population as well as big business. The UK operating model deliveries the opposite. It doesn't have the respect outside of speedway circles the team structure here does the opposite of building a connection between a town & the local people. The sport is now to fragile here to fight. Imagine trying to secure funding to build a stadium and the outline of your business plan for the build is it will be used by 1000 people a week for 12 weeks of the year we'll also generate zero revenue & coverage for the local area too. The big issues the sport has is nothing new promoter infighting guests make it up as you go along rule book. Instead of doing something about it all that's ever happened is watering the product down hike up admission prices and introduce rules that further erode the sport. I know you said elsewhere just enjoy the racing well I guess an ever decreasing number will take that advise while the vast majority stay home. For me do something about the product to make it more exciting & bring a true team feel to it so there is some emotional attachment & I'll return failing that I'll keep the memories.

But if you want to sell it as a team sport there has to be emotional attachment to that team.. Or simply no point in doing it... UK Speedway obviously cannot/choose not to (delete as applicable), run it as a team sport "properly" therefore their operating model cannot do anything positive whatsoever, but can only impact it negatively.. Only the riders benefit from the operating model, team sponsors and fans definitely dont.. I 100% agree if what you had was entertaining then it could work, sadly when what you are watching comes under the word "contrived", getting people to buy into in more than once or twice initially will take some doing.. The lack of any league sponsor, or major company team sponsorship speaks volumes for its operating model as no company would want to put their name to something so made up.. Riders can pick and choose when to turn up, and have a night off as they are tired... Or get stopped from riding for their own team when fit, after representing their other team several times in the previous few days.. Both scenarios resulting in guests, as shown this week.. Teams will go into the play offs not allowed to sign replacements for genuinely injured riders out for the season, and instead get to use track specialist ringers as guests.. You would need a seasons worth of full on entertainment in every meeting to make all the above nonsense get accepted.. Speedway should just either decide to do "it properly" or not at all, as the current "fudge our way through" simply wont cut it.. And by "doing it properly" either run (at least) the top league with credibility, or run individual meetings similar to Grass tracks, Superbikes, MX and MotoGp, with decent fields and prize money.. When you have to collude with the promoters that what you are watching is "real" they have a serious problem, however.... The raw product of Speedway racing can be uniquely exhilarating from a spectating perspective... So THAT is what they should sell.. Meaningful meetings, with a decent standard of rider, all racing for a decent prize pot, on days or nights when the healthiest crowd can be attracted to generate some atmosphere, at a price point conducive to attract, rather than prohibit, the fans from turning up.. If that's within a team framework then fine, and if it isnt, then also fine...

Yes we have staged a really successful and pretty high profile in Oxford 3TT over the summer with Oxford, Cradley and the Isle of Wight. Every meeting was really entertaining and certainly got the media responses I am sure Oxford (and the BSPL) would have hoped for in the push to return to sport to Cowley.

It’s interesting the just before Covid-19,the major Cinema Chains slashed its admission prices to £5.99 (half -price)because of falling attendance level and now they are thriving again.I agree that £30/40 is value but like you say no many will afford it every week.Speedway is a £18-£20 sport purely because of riders pay demands that can be resolved IMO.

1400 at Town match yesterday, despite it being a non event with league placings already sorted. Wish Comets could have still attracted similar 3 years ago... Can't really see Northside being viable.....but would still support it if it happens.