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there might be a number of people on this forum that would be interested in the answer though

If Steve Ribbons was doing this as a personal venture then yes whatever his previous experience/ventures were would be irrelevant as everyone would just be hoping he succeeds in reopening. The reason it is relevant, just in my opinion, is because you are asking us to put our money in to fund it. I think it’s valid to know who’s going to be using the money and whether it’s going to be used correctly rather than just chucking money over the fence to a stranger. I was initially interested in making a pledge but to be honest the track issues have made me nervous, now you are raising money just to pay the league bond but then having to get a loan to pay for the air fence, does that make all pledgers liable for the loan if they are shareholders, and surely it’s a lost cause for entering any national league competitions this season as it was reported that the deadline to have everything signed off to enter the national trophy was 15th March, however it’s stated that the foam fence would take 2 months to deliver once ordered ….. and they don’t yet have the funds to order it. I’m not trying to be negative and I think it’s really important that we try to get as many tracks running as possible and wish nothing but best wishes and support to this project, but I think it’s only fair that people have valid questions and concerns given the fact this is going to be a fan funded project.

There is no "new youth generation" to talk of... Mainly kids go with parents and grandparents until around 11 years old and then sack it off as video games and sports clubs training nights kick in, and then "hanging out" with mates when becoming a teenager is the usual evening time agenda... And any kid who still attends football matches mid week, or weekends, will need to catch up on homework, with not too many prioritising Speedway over Football .. The main opportunity for the sport is to get more "gone aways" back... Those thousands of 40+ something's who "used to go" but got dissilusioned by the sport and simply "gave up" on it... (But still watch pretty much every Speedway meeting on the TV)... Maybe start to listen to those who complain about the Mickey Mouse rules, lack of entertainment, and admission costs, and some may come back..? Much easier to get them older ex fans, with more disposable income, to attend, than expect a 12 to 16 year old attend each week... Anyhow, got my Star today from Tesco's and it again had a barcode issue.. The assistant took a photo of the barcode on her phone and it scanned using that photo... A great read again, what a tremendous production for such a small sport...

This is a discussion forum is it not?

I would actually disagree on that front, for the Star to survive it needs to cater for the older generation as they are the only people that pay for print media these days. A magazine that caters for the younger an generation won’t sell as the younger generation don’t buy magazines/newspapers and I would imagine (although don’t have the stats to prove it) also are on the lower end of paying for media content that is online behind paywalls

All the money is for the public record so no need to fear your money will be accountable. "edmon" is right, take any grievances up with Mr Ribbons direct, what you are doing is falsely causing concern for others. The other option is put you hand in your own pocket and launch it yourselves. I await your offers. Still waiting !!

WOT!!!! 🤬 Skip the gig. 😠😉

That makes no sense. If shares in this venture are being offered publicly to members of the public, why shouldn't those members of the public discuss things on a public forum? If someone doesn't want public information available to the public, that makes me immediately wonder what it is that they want to hide?

Restaurant guide coming soon on Pride of the East podcast 😂😂😂

Yes I believe the meeting is being streamed as I saw comments about friends and family in Australia watching the meeting online

If as you say you have valid questions, you should ask them directly and not on a public forum like this.

and why would our opinions scupper a reopening?

The closest place to the stadium is probably Freebridge Farm which is a Brewers Fayre pub. Not been there for years though so can't vouch for the quality. I'm guessing by your profile picture that you'll be coming up from Suffolk direction so The Farmhouse at Fincham might not be to far off your path. I've not been myself yet but from those that have been, they say it's very good. As @StarBoyhas mentioned, Marriott's Warehouse or Bank House are good options in town (on the quayside) and plenty of parking options nearby. I think the Lattice House has closed it's doors again (or at least that is what I was told). If you don't mind venturing further out from the stadium, The Crown (one in Gayton and one in East Rudham), Three Horseshoes (Roydon), Ffolkes Arms (Hillington) and The Dabbling Duck (Great Massingham) are all very good.

All the other main FIM world championships are behind paywalls and have been for years. No need for speedway to be any different really.

Brilliant. Thanks .

Our first meeting of the season is fast approaching. Let’s get behind the lads and make some noise on the road! Get in touch with the Supporters Club via Facebook or Instagram to reserve your seat on the bus to Edinburgh - (BANK HOLIDAY) Friday 18th April.

Certainly better than Royal Mail do in delivering it, I live 26 miles from where it’s printed and yet it takes on average 4 days for it to arrive on a first class stamp, RM are a complete mess.

Nobody seems to have a clue what's going on at the moment, it would be nice to hear something from WBD about what is being covered where... before the season starts! The fans do seem to be at the very bottom of their lists though.

The domestic competition's definitely piggy backed off the very regular success at international level.. Watching PC thrill the nation on a Saturday afternoon riding for England, certainly aided crowd numbers for league speedway across the country... And then the UK decided to train up riders from the USA, Denmark and "everywhere else" instead of developing riders to replace PC, Louis, Simmons, Jessup etc etc etc.. Meaning less UK riders to watch, and inevitably, less success, as the USA and Denmark in particular cleaned up... And TV then decided to give it a wide swerve as watching non UK riders win pretty much every major honour, year in year out, became something viewers decided wasn't worth doing.. Nowadays barely 20,000 will attend Speedway every week... Mainstream media wouldn't be interested in such a tiny sport... Particularly with it's weather impact issues and, domestically, its ludicrous operating model... The GP's maybe have a chance of MSM coverage now Lambert and Bewley are challenging? But the organisers seem happy with Satellite and running behind pay walls...

I don't think the explosion of TV channels has helped. Everything seems to have its own niche channel these days, BSN being speedway's example. Back in the day you just had 3 or 4 TV channels and if you were fortunate enough to be on one of them you were quids in. Then satellite TV came along and the whole entertainment industry was carved up into its different categories, and everybody now watches stuff in their own bubble. In the era of 3/4 channel TV if you were a "celebrity" you were a national celebrity, these days you could walk past most of the modern day "celebrities" in the street unaware as they're generally not known outside of their bubble. Add in the demise of the print media for anybody over 40 and it's really hard to get your message across without some kind of "on brand" message. Speedway with its very white, very male audience and participants will just get overlooked, having said that it does have the youth of the participants on its side that really could be exploited more. The old codgers in the crowd will not like crowds of hooded yoofs roaming the stadiums in gangs playing their awful music though 😂

The most despised person at Borussia Monchengladbach? The one who shouts... "Give us a B!".... The sport is tiny, with no major sponsors, an ageing white middle aged, and above demographic fanbase, hardly any competitor's, and an operating model ran with a credibility rating akin to pro Wrestling... A credibility rating which reduces any silverware success to fhe level of "Sunday League" sports who have a similar "lets bring in ringers" philosophy... Eg Thank you NKI for playing a significant role in Belle Vue becoming Champions, but Boool!!! For Bomber for helping Ipswich beat the Aces in the semi the year before... Before he then helped Sheffield beat Ipswich in the final.. . All played out in a wide ranging level of stadium standards and comfort, often miles away from what a 1995 audience, let alone a 2025 audience, would expect... Good luck with selling that product... Cannot see anyone pitching it on Dragons Den..

What a spectacular and incident-packed meeting - I had great fun on the comms, many thanks to all who tuned in. Full results here - not only is Lukas Hutla the first rider from outside Russia and Austria to win the Euro title, he is the first Czech to win any major international ice racing title since 1974! https://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/911/european-individual-ice-speedway-championship-sanok.html

Why not give feedback direct to Speedway Star rather than stirring up here.

I met Chris in his hospital bed in Christchurch, New Zealand after he broke his femur in a race at Christchurch a few days earlier. Such a nice chap

you should know who is who by the riders style and the team kevlars !!

You could start to do away with it if there was enough meetings in the Championship to do that. But would need 2/3 meetings at least every single week.

Just found this Speedway Forum post from @norbold regarding the ill-fated 2002 Wimbledon revival and its promoters: It was definitely Dave Cro ucher and Steve Ribbons who were behind the Wimbledon revival. They commissioned my book "Two Wimbldeon Legends" to launch on opening night. I offered to do it for nothing as long as they paid the printing costs, which they agreed. When I gave them the invoice from the printers, they both said I should speak to the other one about it and both denied ever making the agreement. In fact they both made it as I met both of them to talk about it. It took me over a year and various threats of legal action to get anything out of them and even then it only amounted to some of the cash and a number of complimentary copies of the book. Oh yes, it was those two all right. I'm not likely to forget it!