heathen52

THJ The HSST were set up from the old Cradley Heathens supporters club, and were advised and guided by Supporters Direct then when HSST was formed we became a member of SD until the end of 2018 when SD merged https://www.thenews.coop/130902/sector/mutuals/supporters-direct-merge-football-supporters-federation/ with the FSF, and became more or less a Football focused organisation, HSST then continued on without being members of any organisation so maybe they now need to update who they are namewise and go back to being a Supporters Club which in essence is what they have always been but the thinking back in the day was that being a member of SD would bring them added benefits though Iv always wondered what they were.. Incidentally when I was a board member and HSST were members of SD we always had to submit our accounts to the FCA Iv no idea wether or not this is still the case.

I think a NORA/IOW type meeting may be feasible perhaps once a month, however I guess the Moss family now have other interests and it is no doubt time consuming even running once a month, it cant be under estimated the time and Staff needed to run even once a month. I guess its a case of where there is a will there is a way but is there ?.

Im surprised by what you have said as you are usually right, however down here we have the "Heathens Speedway Supporters Trust" who have been in existence for a number of years now, and while they are not set up to promote/run a Speedway Team they are there 100% to support any promotion that runs Speedway for the Heathens and have funds available as when and if ever a suitable piece of land is ever found, I know this for sure as I am a previous Vice Chairman which is why im surprised by your comments. Stay safe have a Merry Christmas and goodluck with whatever project you support for 2022, Im guessing its Northside .

I thought a Supporters Trust was the way they were going ?, for sure as a supporters Trust you can hold shares.

Maybe the smooth talking Laurence could persuade one of the following to make another go of Speedway in the Uk, Mason Campton, Lewis Rose, Victor Palovaara or even the Zak Wajtknect who would probably put a few bums on seats as he was well liked when he rode for the Brummies, mind im fully expecting to see either Vissing or Adam Ellis announced as one of the Team for 2022.

Such a shame Buxton cant find someone to takeover the reigns and enter Buxton back into the NDL, no no-one is going to make a fortune running Buxton but by the same token I wouldnt think anyone would make a big loss either and running some Flat Track and Training schools could subsidise the Speedway promotion. I always enjoyed my annual visits up to Hi edge and on a sunny summers afternoon it could be breathtaking up there, but on a bad day it is enough to freeze your wotsits off..

Are The Brummies a new company If so can they get a sponsors licence for overseas riders ?, If not then there options may be even more limited.

I know Brum will have a tight budget to work to but this will need to be balanced against having a poor team without having a proper No1, past history over a number of years have shown that Birmingham fans will not turn up to support a poor Team, so far no rider has been announced that makes me want to go and watch them. I know its not easy but Tolley, Rogers and Co need to give this a great deal of thought, Thomas will be a big miss for Birmingham as i think he has more scope for improvement than either Morris or Shanes.

Couldnt have put it better myself Yep thats whats needed, Im a Cradley fan and so far no Brummie signing has given me the Wow factor in fact exactly the opposite, now wether or not such a rider is out there Iv no idea but riders that put bums on seats is whats needed, so far the riders signed wont be costing a fortune which leaves more money for a genuine No 1, how much would Nicki P cost ?.

Let me say what i do know about Laurence Rogers, Firstly I have no idea if he owes anyone any money or not, he is a Speedway Fan above all else, he lives, eats, sleeps, breathes Speedway and has done for many years, yes its true that many of his Speedway projects have fallen by the wayside Mildenhall, Newport, to name a few and he has been involved with other Teams such as Coventry and more recently Plymouth, then there was the young American touring Teams put together by Steve Evans and others. Laurence is an ordinary working guy just like you and I who has done his best to try to keep these teams going, yes primarily with other peoples money but had he not tried then the majority of these Teams would have closed down sooner rather than later, Its surely better to have tried and failed then to have not tried at all, he is always willing to give young riders help and assistance to get on in the sport, The other thing that I know about Laurence is that if I contacted him wanted some help with something to do with Speedway he would most likely never say no and that maybe that is his biggest failing if it can be called that. I agree he is probably not the finest team manager that there ever was but thats possibly more to do with budget restrictions than anything else. My final word, It would probably have been easier for Laurence to walk away from Birmingham speedway and let it be consigned to the history books than to have the hassle and ingratitude of some by trying to keep speedway in Birmingham, but NO speedway is in his blood just like you and I, agreed maybe its not his money but no-one forces these people to put money into clubs that are struggling to survive, one thing is for sure Speedway will be the poorer when he finally decides enough is enough.

Is Luke Becker available to ride in the Championship ie does he have commitments elsewhere in europe ?, I would have thought he would be a very good rider to build the team around.

Nicolai Klindt

I suspect that you will see at least 1 if not the 2 of them back next season, but your correct both of them flattered to deceive last season.

Really sorry to read about the goings on up at Northside this type of travelling commnity really are the scum of the earth, its exactly the same around here in the Midlands from time to time they turn up at various sites, Car Parks, Waste Ground, Sports Pitches and Parks, they cause no end of grief whilst they are there, then when they leave the rubbish they leave behind is horrendous, usually they leave a calling card whenever they visit premises in the form of human excretia. All the local councils have fixed sites for these so called travellers to go to but it has made little if any difference, until the big knobs down in London pass a stronger law this will continue throughout the country. A few years ago they had set up on the car park of a local playing field I wanted to go onto this playing field so walked across the Car Park, next thing a big 4x4 was heading for me I had to rapidly jump out of the way before I got hit, the driver was just laughing as he went past Barstewards the lot of them..

Im surprised that there has not been any mention of any non League Football Club that may have the ability to stage Speedway, surely there must be at least one ?.

According to this Yes.. https://buxtonraceway.com/ and its next door to the Speedway track, incidentally there is activity at Buxton Speedway with Ride and Skid days apparently run by ex riders Aiden, Les Collins and Adam Allott. https://rideandskidit.com/

Is this a similar situation to what Rob Grant found himself in at Newcastle last year, does the potential buyer start an entirely new company or purchase the existing company and the potential debts that go with it ?, and we all know what happened at Newcastle dont we..

Its nowt to do with the Council how many fans watch Birmingham Speedway, do the Councillors tell Brummies to stay away or otherwise ?. The biggest issue Birmingham Speedway need to overcome apart from how many watch meetings is the apparent lack of security at the Stadium, and gaining more access to the Track to do remedial work.

As an ex dog man, who still has contacts within the Sport this is 100% correct, the only thing you forgot to mention is ARC also have major interests in Horse racing Tracks, but the model is pretty much the same with that ie all weather Tracks if possible.

It really is almost impossible to compare, lets take just 2 riders who i had the pleasure of watching during there entire career both cut short for varying reasons; Penhall and Gunderson by whatever yardstick you may use they were both great riders. Firstly Penhall in my humble opinion a better all round racer than Gundersen, however if Eric was in front in any race I rarely if ever saw anyone overtake him, take the last Wembley final yes Bruce won the Final but Eric took the Track record and didnt finish on the rostrum because if memory serves me right in possibly his easiest race he forgot to turn his fuel on and failed to score a point when just an extra point would have put him on 12 equal with Olsen and Knudsen, however thats all ifs buts and maybe`s, back to Bruce as Eric has recently said he and the Americans gave us a new style of riding away from the old upright sitting style, whereby they threw the bike around and moved around on the bikes during races, Bruce could perform on all Tracks and in all conditions be it from the front or back. Eric liked the big fast Tracks and generally would gate and go however he was known on occasion to grab a handful of throttle and take a big blast around the outside leaving the oposition in his wake. Who was the best? probably Bruce but in a match race I really couldnt say who would win.

What happened to the tie up with that promotion company that the BSPL had prior to covid ?, It was run by a young lady if i recall Top Hat Promotions or something like that.

Nope they aint listening and never seem to listen, the majority at the top seem to regard supporters as someone to be put up with rather than treated as customers, this is an attitude thats prevailed for far to long and continues to be the case, those at the top need only look to the Island near to you to see what can be done with a little effort, at least whenever Iv visited there the promoters have always made the effort to make me feel welcome, rather than someone who is there on sufference. With regards the websites again you are right, the first thing I would do is have a different website server rather than the standard thats the norm for most Teams, PR! do they even know what it is ?.

There is the possibility of running an NDL team in addition to Championship Speedway would that be more cost effective than only running 14 or so meetings ?, Iv no idea as im not an accountant, but if the rumoured 50k is a fixed figure whatever the number of meetings you may as well use the dates that you have, and it would give Mr Rogers an NDL Team to manage at the level he is best at.

Generally agree with a lot of what you say is correct, however few points i would like to make about ARC yes they are in the business of making profits and they are not concerned wether or not anyone comes through the gate for Greyhound meetings at PB, they primarily make money from televised Greyhound meetings they get a substantial amount of money from each of those meetings, and i do believe the Brummies will come to the Tapes in 2022. However apart from those 2 points your pretty much spot on especially about fans being replaced "we are all getting older" and when Iv been to PB they generally have a bigger percentage of senior citizens than most other Teams, 1,000 per meeting i cant see it being achieved where are they suddenly going to come from ? after all they havent been there for a few seasons, and if they have Track issues during the first few meetings then its going to be a big big struggle. I wish them luck should they go ahead as im sure most of us do.

If the BSPL were to do a survey to find out the average age of spectators that go to watch live Speedway they may find out the true state of British Speedway, for sure it IS broke but they year on year make no attempt to fix it, I will guarantee now that at least 1 other Team will fall by the wayside in 2022, last team standing turn the lights out please. One other fact some fail to realise is that any NEW Promoter cannot even vote or propose any new measures for 3 years, so he/she can see obvious problems within the Sport but cant even propose/vote for any changes, but he/she can continue to throw money at Speedway but cant do anything about it for 3 years, except walk away how stupid is that ?. Fixed racenights, Doubling up are not in the best interests of British Speedway, they are in fact detrimental to British Speedway but the powers that be cant see any further than the end of there noses.