HGould

I would not rush to lay blame with Team GB but at the doors of the BSPL Management Committee. I was told by one of the ex Brummies Management Team pre Tolley - that in 2020 / 2021 (delayed a year by Covid) that a 2 match mini Test Series was planned and actually scheduled on the initial Fixture list draft for Team GB Under 21's for 2021 to ride 2 Test Matches - 7 man teams - against either Denmark (Under 21) or Team USA All Stars (no age limit). The Matches were scheduled and planning was advanced and GB plans well set with the relevant Tracks. Team USA All Stars were able to fulfil 2 Fixtures in a week with no Polish Fixtures so would have included Becker and Nichol. Approx 4 weeks before the planned Fixtures Len Silver complained that it would take 4 riders (Kent and opponents) away from a rescheduled match at Kent - he had rescheduled after the original Fixture List was produced and conflicted one of the Fixtures listed for Plymouth - the BSPL adjudicated in his favour and at short notice Team GB and the relevant Tracks, had to cancel at considerable expense to Team GB and the promoting Tracks. This caused massive consternation in Team GB management as it was not the first time it had happened and aside from a couple of Events at Glasgow, they have not attempted to try to fit in any Under 21 (or age limited) Fixtures since.

The fact that they have moved the Fireworks back to one of the Parks in Wolverhampton suggests that the work is fairly imminent. As you point out - the infrastructure is all there so its purely a matter of excavating the grass, marking and laying the track, installing a fence and linking in to the electrics already in place. I'm not sure it would even need specific lighting as the huge lights on the Main Grandstand would light the whole area with minimal configuration. If they start this before November 5th (which is implied) then it's highly likely it would be ready for the Spring of 2025. I would imagine too that dogs would not pay rent to PB once dogs have moved, so even if that is May / June - Speedway would have to make up shortfall once they have gone. I am sure nigel said somewhere in the past rent for just speedway would be a five figure sum per meeting!

It's not a laughing matter!. Don't expect most of us to laugh when Poole closes - it will be an equally serious matter!

The commercial reality is that the moment that new Dog track at Dunstall Park is ready to commence operations and all of the PB dogs and related staff and contracts move there, then PB as a venue is finished. There is no viable commercial future for PB as a single sport venue , definitely not speedway. With Aston Villa expanding Villa Park, Birmingham City refurbishing St Andrews but also buying 70 acres of land for a knock down £30m off the bankrupted Council - (about 10% of the actual land value which they have already started to decontaminate at the old Wheels site) with a view to a massive new Sport Complex there by 2030, Warwickshire Cricket expanding Edgbaston, what Sport could Speedway possibly find to co-share PB as a viable 7 day a week financial concern. The notion that Speedway could move to the Alexandra Sports Stadium (Athletics) is fanciful at best, although the new Wheels BCFC development could include a Sports Village to include an Athletics Track in the complex in the event the new 65,000 seater Stadium seeks to stage Olympic / European level Events (in which case a major stadium temporary track has tp have a training warm up track next door) - which may mean that in the next decade that the Alexandra Stadium site may become available again once the new Knighthead Development opens. Whichever way you look at it, tenure of PB is almost certain to end by this time in 2025, there is no viable alternative venue in the City of Birmingham, no credible partner sport to move in to PB to share costs. The brilliant work of the Save brummies campaign that got the sport back to PB well over a decade ago now had already scoured the City for Sites - there were none / there are none! With Wolves still seeking a new base, Coventry stlll in abeyance; Heathens all but dormant; the grim but bottom line is this, if Speedway is to survive in the West Midlands, is it not time for the combined resources and fan base of Brummies / Heathens / Wolves and possibly Bees to combine their resources and look for a Regional based solution and to put aside the old tribal identities once and for all. Even then any resolution would likely be a patch of land in a Trading Estate type area well away from residential housing, close to existing road / rail / airport noise and environmental pollution and a literally ground up moderate max 2-3,000 capacity very basic home. Very worrying times!

Watched 3 heats this morning,great effort and rides by the Thompsons and Hook and more passes in 3 races and excellent racing than you'll see at some venues all season.

Last time i went to Plymouth (2023) sat in a very comfortable new seat in a 400 seater grandstand on Home Straight just under Refs Box with a cracking view and had some top quality BBQ nosh too. Far superior to some old and delapidated Venues still going!

Ultimately money talks, both in terms of what's offered, more importantly, in the self employed world of speedway, in surety of prompt payment.

Sad news. I believe Spedeworth now own the Stadium. Hopefully it can be restored to a degree of sustainability and adequate safety to resume operations

The bottom line with Poole is this. They can average 1500-2000 Crowds for the bulk of their summer season and possiblty exceed that in Play Offs and Cup Finals. They can sell upwards to 1000 (or more someone might confirm) season tickets at 150-200 quid a pop. They have excellent and mostly longstanding sponsorship. That alone is a guarantee that they can run, cover all the bills and make money. Most CL Clubs are happy if they average 600 - several have tried to match the spending of bigger Clubs on that sort of average and have palpably failed. Oxford have done exceptionally wel but will have to decide "what goes" next season, PL / CL or NDL as surely margins suggest its not practical long term to run all three. I don't see crowds significantly above 600 average at any other CL venue other than Poole / Oxford (stand to be corrected on that?) I do get the Ford logic, why go up and spend possibly twice as much (net) and risk reduced Crowds as they prefer Wednesdays - especially if there is no big Company / high net worth individuals to cover any losses. Maybe they are lucky to have that sort of core base, but I believe that generally that you make your own luck, if you don't you certainly have to have the sort of wise judgement not to chase rainbows and to live within your means. A few fine examples of that especially Scunthorpe!

It was on BBC On ITN it was to the west of IOW, right across South Coast eastwards

I don't think it's by any means certain that the dogs will continue throughout 2025. The license for the dogs is moving to the horse racing track at Dunstall Park Wolverhampton from PB Crazy to think that Wolverhampton will have Entain (Ladbroke dogs) at Monmore and ARC Arena Racing Dogs at Dunstall Park. No way Speedway could afford the rent on a single use stadium. Fingers crossed but it's literally 50/50. PS terrible storms due on South Coast tomorrow evening according to ITN Weather

At what point with assets they now have, do Poole have to bite the bullet and go PL on a Thursday? Lawson, both Cooks is a solid boiler room. I assume Brennan is still a Glasgow asset Plenty of top 2 heat leader asset options? Logical replacement for Brummies who I can't see affording another PL season.

I think it's all about the riders "mentality". Aussies are over ten thosand miles from "home" so by their very nature are "transient" - happy to have bases in UK / Poland. In some cases in Sweden as it allows easy access to UK and Poland (and most of Northern / Eastern Europe too) The British riders (aside from the top 3 GP and Bomber) are more insular, more grounded in the UK and think a trip from South to North is a long way. The old adage "where there's a will, there's a way" seems to fit best. Credit to Ben and those who make it work and want to make it work, and may be a few others should have the same mindset. To tie in with another thread, may be that Brennan identified that a midweek CL track after all allowed him to ride Poland / Sweden and 2 Leagues in UK whereas commiting to Glasgow every weekend did not work as well, especially as the Poles do like (where possible) their League participants to be tucked up in a Polish bed on a Saturday night.

Tracks are better when less sun, more rain and generally damper. Gets in to the base and water table. The biggest single issue though was when total loss oil system ended. All of that Castrol R that used to be deposited from the engine was a brilliant bonding agent for the shale.

Glasgow were head and shoulders above most others pre Covid. Did streaming, a lot of social media and marketing and an excellent documentary film (I think it was called Into the Red?). They had a young lad (Patrick?) who I think I read g it head hunted by one of the big footy Clubs. Since Covid they seem to have invested less in media, I suppose even Glasgow have to watch costs. A few other Championship Clubs pre Covid in 2019 spent a lot on media and social media.. Edinburgh, Newcastle, Somerset, Eastbourne but it can cost a lot more than it can ever recoup. There is always the nagging fear that if you make something too easy to watch from the armchair you can cut off your future commercial footfall.

Edwards is a joy to watch on a bike for an old timer like me coming from the upright 2 and 4 valve days. He looks so comfortable on the bike, moves around a lot less than the modern trend but never seems flapped or out of control. Going to Sheffield has probably been ideal for him to let the bike run in the corners and ride in deeper into the bend, having been bought up on the more technical tracks. Steadily improving and fair play to him. Hopefully he can find a PL spot when his Rising Star period ends. Off the bike he seems universally popular and a very good and interesting communicator. Fair play to the lad.

I suspect the truth is that VJF was fit enough to continue. I suspect the problem was that having wrecked 2 bikes that when the other 6 Pirates were asked to lend him one the universal answer was Erm... "no" Not without a signed damage waiver at the very least. The kid is very fast but very wild. No one wants to see him (or anyone) hurt but he really does need a wise head in his ear to calm him down.. Poole couldn't risk the spectacle of 3 riders and only 1 Pirate because no one would risk their machinery.

Start of the main English Schools 6 weeks holiday - what do you expect... Rain and more Rain! The M5 will be a grid locked Car Park all day anyway, so saved anyone travelling down from Midlands a journey from hell!

I find it very hard to make any negative comment about Nigel Tolley as a man and benefactor of the Club I've got no inside knowledge of how much money he has put in, but adding the dots, it would not be a surprise if it was north of £400k. So to those who moan and whinge I'd ask, would you put £400k in ??, if you had it. Now there are the analogies of "only fools parting with money" and the usual suspects will attack him for that, but without him the Club would have died when David and Peter Mason left, and why did they leave, hey ho....losing too much money. Other Clubs have similarly suffered and other people have lost money trying to save Speedway Clubs. If there is one criticism of Nigel it is that he is not great at PR and hasn't got the right people around him. That's partially valid in terms of his PR skills in my opinion but in terms of having "the right people around him" , whilst he hasn't chosen well, or inherited well, the biggest problem lies with the BSPL who insist that (the ever dwindling list) of failures and hangers on, aka "Promoters" who have and continue to make a living out of Speedway, have to be maintained as the are "experienced admistrators". I know everyone will again scapegoat Laurence, I won't ever attack his hard work and dedication to the cause and again, without him and the fact that he sought out and found Nigel when the Club was literally bordering on extinction, but i'm sure he and Nigel will be looking back and considering what went wrong. The Site Owners decision to leave the Club with only a "Monday option" can't also be forgotten, that forced the hand to go up to the PL, that creates massive extra cost and despite some TV money it was never going to bridge the gap. Trying to pay more out than comes in is atypical of the vast majority of UK Speedway Clubs and how many are actually self sufficient, Poole / Ipswich / Sheffield at a push......others are reliant on individuals like Glasgow and Oxford, others may be on Sponsorship like Leicester, but the whole model is utterly BROKEN. Shocking too the hear Mark Lemons comments about Belle Vue and the future of the NSS being reliant on bigger Crowds for Major Events. Is there a Plan B- is there a realistic option. May be look at IOW and Barry Bishop, he's created and found a niche that works for him, full credit to him, but would that model work at PL + CL clubs who have to pay massive rental costs?. Look at last weekend as the perfect example of the malaise in relation to the past. NOT ONE Saturday Fixture / Sunday Fixture other than NDL as the one scheduled Fixture was cancelled because a rider went on holiday and very few others can make weekends pay, as all the best riders that draw the crowds are filling their pockets in Europe. I sadly cannot see a sustainable future for Birmingham Speedway if the only option is Monday night in the PL. Too many counter attractions in terms of Sport and Entertainment, millions still seeing mortgages and rents rising ; and in reality, how can you budget to break even on a hard core of 500 people ??... I thank Nigel and Laurence for their efforts and hard work, I thank Sam for his days as a rider, he certainly ain't a team manager but more than anything for those, especially the likes of Brian Buck, Joe McLaughlin etc who have put their lives and souls in to trying to save the Club and to reenergise it not that long ago, I feel desperately sad that we seem to have arrived at the end of a cul-de-sac that on this occasion, there is no way out of.

The missing one who booked his holibibs.. Go figure...

Dear All "Wish we weren't here" "Very wet holiday" CV

Looks to me like Richie Worrall has been saving a sample up for another piss test to prove he's innocent...

It would have been far simpler on Tuesday after England won to have put out a simple message. Workington Speedway are mindful in these difficult economic times for our Sport that to directly compete with England v Switzerland in the European Football Championships would be financial suicide. We will therefore seek to rearrange the Fixture for a more economically beneficial date, and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Hearing Eddie Kennett has signed a 28 day deal. Poole got his average reduced by 75%, as he's only done 1 lap in 3 years

Don't worry he won't miss any League matches. He will ride for decent points money in the League but individuals on BSPL Staged meeting rates not his favourite.