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yes this is a very real possibility, However, when I was personally involved in a similar scenario - The point was made and accepted that the stadium and its use was established prior to the houses being built and therefore the complaints were not justified. The residents did get reduced rates and complimentary tickets as compensation.

Putting the issue of a new stadium to one side for a minute- although I do see the reason for concern - can somebody confirm that it will be possible to run the 2017 season on the old track and that what has happened at Coventry namely the track and stadium has been made unfit for purpose, is not the case for the Robins

There is no future in looking backwards. Ok so history tells us that any permutation or all of Sandu, Horton, investin, Investin in Brandon, Brandon estates, and Uncle Tom Cobley are the Villains who caused the closure of Brandon stadium and the withdrawal of Coventry Bees from the 2017 season. There is no turning back, what has happened has happened and there is no worthwhile recourse to be had. So now, the only thing to do is look forward, and plan for what is required i.e Buy Brandon and put it back into shape to stage speedway & Stox (maybe dogs) - No amount of protesting is going to bring Speedway back to Brandon under its current ownership so unless an investor can be found who wants to promote speedway there, this is likely to be dead in the water from the off. Stopping housing development in the short term will not bring back speedway - it will just leave a run down derelict site which eventually will be developed. Develop a new site for speedway/stox?/dogs? A long journey ahead but maybe whilst the iron is hot there is a chance with the local authorities to get something moving quicker than the experience of Leicester - but a promoter will have to be found and so too the money for the stadium. whatever the case maybe, all efforts should be centered on finding financial backing / backers to establish a future for Coventry speedway - the alternative is to just keep going around and around in circles looking for someone to blame...That ship has sailed, time to build a new one!

Horton still holds the license for promoting Coventry speedway which if he is not to be involved in the future of Coventry Speedway then the license will need to be acquired by those new folk brave enough to take it on. This will be one way he gets some if not all of his investment back

Has he changed his mind about giving the UK a miss in 2017?

This is obviously a very sad and emotional time for the fans of Coventry and supporters of speedway throughout the UK. However, it is highly unlikely that the BSPA set out to stab anybody associated with the Bees in the back. On the contrary the BSPA extended (soft) deadlines to the promotion to give them a chance to sort out their home fixtures which eventually they did, but as it turned out there was insufficient funding to guarantee a full season of fixtures once it became clear to the promotion that they would not be able to return to Brandon after 8 meetings and run the remainder of the season there. Therefore it made no sense for the promotion to lodge money with the BSPA nor for the BSPA to allow the Bees to start a season they would almost certainly not complete. Please don't take this in any way as thumbs up for the BSPA - just that in this instance they had no choice but to take this decision.

Technical regulations and doubling up are not the reasons behind Coventry's plight. That said I don't disagree that the cost base needs addressing and although rebranding does not address that particular issue it does allow for a fresh start and the points limit and acceptance that for nowUK speedway cannot afford to have many big (expensive) star riders does. This year is the first time for a long time the promoters appear to have grasped the concept that doing the same thing only brings the same results and given those results are not good results (a continually declining sport) something has had to change....2017 rules and rebranding? its a start but not the end of the changes, hopefully not even the end of the beginning and more changes will follow to build on a improving situation. A case of evolution rather than revolution.

It really is truly fantastic that after all these years of most of us knowing that the track can be improved, that at last it is actually going to be improved. Further, the right people are involved and the intention is that this time everything will be addressed wherever possible. Hope the weather stays good!

Is it still the case that the home promotion has to pay the basic points money for both teams and then each team tops up the pay for any premium rates or has it reverted to each team pays only for its own riders? If the former does that mean some visiting riders also had to wait to be paid the basis points money for their meetings at Leicester?

Hope things do work out for the long term future of the Bees although I think the term "refurbished" is aiming high...think it will be more like a "patched up" Brandon the Bees return to.

Nothing muddy at all - just a process taking place. First, somebody required to take over from DH - ASAP maybe for the short or long term. second, Buster steps in and "acquires" the promoting rights and the lease for the stadium. Third, DD appointed lead promoter. Fourth D Bates provides viable business plan to take the Lions forward on a long term basis. TBD will DD still have a role at Leicester and if so in what capacity. fifth - team building can begin. All in all, a great success in working through the process of replacing DH with a positive future for speedway at Leicester - Well done to Buster and all involved.

Not too far fetched and as you say take the emotional side of things out of it, it makes perfect sense. Putting into context the concept of Coventry moving lock stock and barrel to Leicester, it is not as if this is a team of riders who have ridden for Coventry year in year out, it is in fact quite a new team. Yet again this type of scenario does raise more questions, but, it does make sense if (as I am sorry to say) Coventry cannot operate because of the mess at Brandon and frankly is very similar (but not entirely) what happened when Long Eaton moved lock stock and barrel to Leicester in the late 60's That all said, what are the financial reasons?

Aces fixtures announced with home race night being Friday - at least more is known than Leicester & Coventry although they appear to be Saturday & Friday nights but subject to confirmation.

Although it appears the Leicester promoters do not want the Bees in Leicester under such circumstances. Which is dissapointing

You are correct this is a different thread/subject..but the topic itself has already been covered/included in Leicester Lions 2017 anyway.

DH use to use the argument that Saturday night meant more kids and hence more families would attend. Clearly there has always been a divided opinion between us fans on whether or not this is true and to what extent. Looking at other clubs venues I don't see any significant difference in the profile of attendees no matter what the race night. The arguments for and against Saturday nights are well known and both hold water, but looking at the sport overall I am not sure we all agree on what we mean or imagine by the term kids. Kids are by definition those under 16 and although I can imagine some mums Dads would like to bring much younger folk we should consider just how many very young children (say under 10) do come on Saturday who wouldn't come on a midweek night v how many 11 - 16 year olds would also stay away. With speedway being a summer sport sharing light nights and school holidays this must play a part in negating those fears of DH and frankly the truth is whatever race night the Lions do run, then more than likely it will please some and not others. The bigger factor to increasing attendance is not what night but what team and how good the experience is...As the saying goes "build it and they shall come"

Reading the Speedway Star article I see DD has dropped a very strong hint that Lions will race on Saturdays...is that anybody's else understanding?

Well this is far from what we would want to see from the new promoters. This is the sort of behavior we are led to believe would be typical of what was dished out by the outgoing promoter (not saying it was). Cant see any difference here - hope its a one off and these guys DO LEARN from their mistakes.

Not sure if Glyn has jumped ship or has been pushed, if the latter then it is strange that the new promotion do not want to have the benefit of his knowledge and dedication given the results of a job he has excelled at. Guess the new guys have suitable alternatives. Best of luck Glyn and thanks for all of your past efforts.

Flagrag says"the promotion feel that DH should pay towards it as his stadium" rather than pay for all of it, but as DH would receive no extra revenue it is hard to imagine why he should feel inclined to oblige the promoters. If the track failed to conform to a required standard (and unfortunately a track that facilitates passing is not one of them) then that would be a different matter. Maybe the promoters are looking for a gesture of goodwill from DH but considering he did not pay for the changes on bends 3&4 last year when he owned both the track and the promotion (which incidentally the budget was £6K for all four bends so cant see this year it is £15k for two), It is difficult to see him forking out now & frankly why should he? Maybe the way forward is to include an element of payment to DH based on an increase in attendance, so a better raceway would equal better races and possibly a higher attendance at meetings. Having been involved in the hiring of stadiums for events I know the per capita bonus approach works well in the interests of both parties so (if not already included in the lease agreement) this sticking point could be resolved by providing for DH the possibility of seeing a return on his additional investment in contributing to the required track improvements.

Jonathan, Thanks for confirming the dateline of Sams involvement etc. There is somewhere a youtube video of DH introducing Ermolenko to the supporters for the first time which supports your feedback although didn't realise you had been pushed aside once DH had got things sorted, though I did wonder why you had not continued your involvement alongside Ken Naylor and others. so a belated thank you for all that the tremendous work and effort you put contributed in getting the Lions back up and running in Leicester.

If things were signed and sealed then signed and sealed by who? following your logic there was somebody other than DH who arranged everything without any input whatsoever from him. If that was the case then why didn't those people carry on with the project instead of simply letting DH take over? for you to say "Hemsley brought nothing back" is an inaccurate statement. Clearly there were people involved prior to DH but ultimately he was the one who made it happen similarly he played a part in his own downfall.

the bottom line to this debate is that speedway returned to Leicester due to the efforts of many including DH. I am sure there were opportunities for others to arrange funding and provide a viable promotion but for what ever reason they did not materialize and ultimately DH got hold of the reigns. As we now know, over time DH made mistakes which were avoidable (isn't hindsight a wonderful thing) and has paid the price. Now we need to look forward in the hope that others will learn from the mistakes made and along with the sport in general, become better organised, profitable and thus able to go from strength to strength. With thanks to all of those who have gone before whom without, there would be no opportunity to take advantage of I say GOOD LUCK TO ALL CONCERNED - Hope we have a sunny summer!

There have been (many ) times since as a 10 year old and now some 40 years later that I have screamed, shouted & hated what the Bees have dished out to the Lions - on track. I also resented the role no matter how big or how small the CO played in the closure of what was fast approaching a derelict Blackbird Road stadium. I also loved it beyond almost anything else (sporting) when the Lions came out on top (rare) and so when speedway returned to Leicester & when the rivalry returned (albeit so less emotional than way back) the journey from the dark days of no speedway in Leicester was complete. Why do I say all of this? simple. If there is anything which Leicester or anyone can do to avoid another speedway club being lost to the sport, and in the case of Coventry & Leicester saving one of the greatest historical rivalries in speedway then they should do it. After all, Many would rather have 4 chances every year of beating the Bees on track than willingly being part of a one off event of ending Coventry Bees for good....Actually If the bees did have to ride at Leicester, that would be great, I could go along every week and cheer for the opposition just like I used to do at Brandon whilst the Lions were missing for those 20+ years

Its a good question which any fan of speedway, not just Coventry, should be asking. The sport has a long history attached to it and Coventry, love em or "hate" em (only in sporting competitive terms) have been a significant part of it both as a club and as a team with world class riders attached to it. However, what we have to face up to is that today, we have owners and promoters attached to the Coventry club who have considerable personal interests vested in matters associated with the entity which we know as Coventry Bees and like it or not, the outcome of the deliberation between those parties is going to have to be settled first and the current fan base and history of this iconic club is not the priority to those involved. As stated elsewhere, it is a complex matter, and frankly one beyond what we fans will be told about because (as much as it may hurt) these are financial and contractual matters which does not directly concern those who pay to support the Bees & speedway however, we can hope that matters do get resolved allowing the Bees to race in 2017 and that this heralds the beginning of a new exciting chapter for Coventry speedway and slowly but surly the whole sorry mess of the past few years can begin to be consigned to history.