The Dog

I agree in the main but the crux seems to be that the stadium owners don't want to collaborate with the speedway side of things. I know that Peter Mason and Laurence have had a reasonable relationship with the stadium owners but not enough to really help the Brummies move forward as they would like. Being a promotor must be an absolute thankless task and I don't think anyone will put in as much time and effort as Laurence has done recently

Birmingham had a lot of close meetings last year that went down to the last few heats, and with the likes of Harris and Riss in heats 13 and 15 there was always a chance they could win. Add to that some needle matches with other teams moaning about the track creating atmosphere, pit walks, track walks with the riders and kids entertainment, we still struggled to get decent crowds in. Other than what they were doing, I can't see how they will get the numbers required through the turnstiles. But I hope they do because its a smashing club and we all want them to survive and continue for many years to come.

I think Covatti would be good but not necessarily get folk through the turnstiles. Birmingham have tried a few promising talents over the last few years, but they've never really shown their potential and struggled to get to grips with our tracks and then ultimately their confidence suffers. Grobauer being the latest one...

Must admit that there is a lot of things out there that kids would rather be doing and it costing the parents the same as a night at the speedway. There is no obvious way to get more people through the gates unfortunately, else it would have been thought of by now.

Someone did suggest that speedway should be targeting the older generation like pensioners because they have a bit more disposable cash than people with mortgages and a family, and are happy to take grandkids along and thats where you get your next generation of supporters from. Whether that would work is anybodies guess tho. Birmingham have been excellent at catering for the kids over the last few years but if the parents can't afford to go or have lost interest then you will eventually lose that generation. It's an old-age problem that the sport has never solved...

Oh jeez lol

Which one? I think there's around 3 in this league

Would there not be a copyright issue using photos?

Bearing in mind that Oxford have no recent crowd attendances to go by, they've taken on some reasonably big earners in Nicholls and Batchelor without knowing how many fans will turn up on a regular basis to balance the books. Its great that we have another club back racing but can it be made viable?

Why not just take the whole Poole team, at least you know they'll be title challengers!!

Missed that. Bugger.

I'd be happy to give Roynon a chance on a 5ish average. A good gater which is a bonus for a second string or reserve because they get the inside gates and once ahead has speed and good track craft. I know he's had injuries but a lot of them haven't been his fault, he's just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, whereas Bates seems to create his own issues.

I'm not sure I'd take Bates on a 4 point average let alone a 6.20. Had too many nasty injuries and missed to much track time for me.

The previous promotion were losing an awful lot of money in the first batch of meetings before the enforced mid-season break and that was with crowds of 400-700ish people so we all hope the consortium have got their sums correct

At Coventry, it was suggested to Mick Horton that he gave away a couple of hundred free tickets to local schools, businesses etc to get them in and interested. Horton said he'd lose money because those people weren't paying. Couldn't get his head around the fact that those people weren't coming in the first place and all he would 'lose' was the cost of printing the tickets....

But will that get the fans through the turnstiles? We had Harris and Riss last season and fans didn't come. I know Coronavirus was still lingering but we need a massive increase in spectators.

I'd imagine Paco is nailed on again, after that I'm scratching my head a bit

Would rather they got the league fixtures completed in the summer months before attempting other competitions. If we have Covid issues again and a stop start season, then we could be struggling to finish either...

Nobody has said that they intend to run a slick track. All that's been mentioned is that if they completely relay the track it may be slick to start with whilst they build the shale up. People are going off on a tangent now with comments like this and it doesn't help anyone

Brilliant post. Without the likes of Laurence and Neil Vatcher and others, there would be no speedway. The closures of clubs is down to circumstances not Laurence who has for the main part, been a manager. To blame Laurence is like blaming Rosco for the closure of Coventry and Swindon or Lee Kilby for his part at Birmingham, Swindon and Eastbourne.

Ellis wage demands were beyond Birmingham last year hence why we didn't have him back. Maybe the new consortium have more available cash and can get the British Champion

Bizarre statement saying that 330k a year is a poor wage...

I'm not so sure about the advertising and presentation being a massive turn-off, more likely antiquated stadia (bar a few tracks), poor facilities and viewing when compared to other sports events or nights out. Maybe the thought of either getting dusty or wet just doesn't appeal to the masses anymore.

I'm not sure where the 50k rental figure has come from or if its correct but I'm sure Nigel will have all the figures he needs to make a decision. He might have very deep pockets and be happy to keep the club going, that is up to him. What I do know is that at present, he is the only person who is willing to take that chance and I hope it works out and it's an enjoyable season at Perry Barr

I never understand it when team managers say that a riders average is inflated. They've obviously rode well enough to earn that average.