AndyPresley

Very happy with that line up after last season - excited to see how Complin does after a few years out. He was a rider I enjoyed watching before he retired.

Which riders are you suggesting? It’s very easy to say no to everyone, but much more difficult to offer alternatives.

Tim Sorensen is racing in the Extraliga in Poland next year, so he certainly hasn’t been flying under the radar. It also excludes him from racing in the UK as he will only be allowed to do 1 other league, which I guess will be Denmark or Sweden.

That’s a shame. I always thought that he struggled to get to grips with the Newcastle track, but he was good to watch as he never stops trying. Has a lovely style too.

I believe there are rules that Poland have imposed upon those riders, which restrict the number of leagues they can race in. I would be surprised if any of them would be available to the Championship for that reason.

Who is Tommy Gun?

Belle Vue, Peterborough and Sheffield yes. Lynn possibly, but Ipswich no, along with Wolves.

Only Rob Grant knows the reasons for the strength of the side he has built, but I do think our team is better than the one he built last season. I’d obviously like a stronger team, but I think I’m probably a little more understanding of the Diamonds situation than a lot and I am happy that I’ve got a side to watch. My point is that you need to accept that you won’t get what you want in 2022 and that isn’t the fault of the Birmingham promotion. There is a lack of quality riders available to British Speedway (which was very apparent to all Diamonds supporters this year) and although Josh Auty may seem an uninspiring signing, the chances are that he was one of the few decent riders available to your promotion. I’d be very surprised if you manage to bring in a big name at number 1 unless you throw silly money at someone, but even that might not work and isn’t a wise thing to do anyway. Unfortunately, whilst the new Birmingham promotion establishes itself, things will inevitably take a step back as they are playing catch up and rider confidence in them needs to grow. A lot of people seem to be overlooking these points and it frustrates me to see people seemingly surprised that the names being signed are not superstars. They won’t be and expectations should be realistic. Although they haven’t been announced, it doesn’t mean riders haven’t signed elsewhere already. I only had to read other teams threads to work that out. Try not to be too disappointed in Birmingham’s signings, as I’m sure they will be doing the very best they can with the cards they are holding.

This is a great move for young Archie. I’d love to see him back with us in the near future because he has a lot of potential. I thought it was the right thing for Rob to stick with him last season which will have offered good experience in the long run.

Always liked Tero when he raced for the Diamonds and would have liked him in our team next year. I definitely think you will get Allen now he definitely isn't going back to Redcar and I'm pretty sure I read last season that he is a Scorpion's asset? Douglas would be a good signing too if the rumours are correct.

Like I've already told you, you are getting what's left. What were you expecting?

Business are usually bought in one of 2 ways: 1. An asset sale - the buyer only purchases the assets of the company (e.g. air fence, tractors, rider assets). They would then operate as a completely new company. This is a much less tax efficient way of selling a business. 2. A share sale - the buyer is purchasing the shares of the company, meaning that they take everything, including all assets and liabilities. They continue to run as the same company, so much more risk is taken on meaning that a thorough due diligence process should be undertaken. Without this, there is a much higher risk to the buyer, but it is much more tax efficient to the seller as they are often entitled to an entrepreneurs relief (meaning they only pay 10% tax on the sale, which can result in huge savings). Given Birmingham's struggles this year, I would be very surprised if a savvy business person were to buy the club using the route of an share sale. So, assuming the consortium bought the assets and not the shares in the company, the debt is not theirs and remains with the previous promotion (and so it should, as it is their debt!).

Would love to see Lindgren back, but wouldn't be disappointed with either of those

My post wasn't in response to yours JJ, but yes, exactly like Newcastle this year, so I've experienced a season supporting a club who struggled to find riders after everybody else had put together the bulk of theirs. I'm not meaning to shoot Birmingham down and apologise if it came across that way - I am very pleased that they have been saved. I guess my point was that I hope Birmingham's supporters can be understanding and forgiving if they have to start all over again with a weaker side. When I read a Birmingham supporter calling last year's riders 'donkeys', I believe it is constructive make suggestions to those fans relating to managing expectations and getting behind their team. Rome wasn't built in a day was my point.

I agree that Birmingham had a decent team last season and they were very close to making play offs. If the track had been better, I'm sure moral and temperaments would have been too. By the sounds of things, the track is being made a priority in 2022 preparations which is good to hear.

If you think last season's team was was bad, I can only imagine you will be very disappointed with next years. Birmingham will have started team building at least 6-8 weeks after everybody else, so unfortunately they will be picking up what's left of the rest. I can't imagine that any rider would have committed to Birmingham even if they had approached people before this week's AGM confirmation that they are running in 2022. I wish Birmingham good luck in 2022, but they are going to need to pull more than 1 rabbit out of the hat if they are going to be anywhere near play offs in 2022.

That made me giggle

How many points do we have left for the last rider? Does anybody know?

There are exemptions in place for professional sportspeople, so the same rules will not apply to travel.

I hope not. I would love to see him back with the Diamonds as he is brilliant to watch.

Great post Halifaxtiger and I agree with the vast majority of your points. However, I wouldn't class those that offer constructive criticism, or those seeking answers to genuine questions as 'keyboard warriors'. I'd reserve that term for people that use this forum and other social media platforms to behave in an irrational and unreasonable manner, as well as using it to belittle others and those that are running the sport. I guess it comes down to what you define as a 'Keyboard Warrior'. I'd also suggest that stereotyping all promoters of the BSPL as being incompetent and dishonest, which I see a lot, is not necessarily true or fair. There will inevitably be some good and some bad - I don't believe that being a member of the BSPL automatically qualifies you as being the latter and each should be judged on their own merit - Barry Bishop being a good example.

I tend to believe that many of the voices and opinions expressed on this forum are not representative of the majority and certainly not of the average speedway supporter. A few negative comments on a forum should not influence your decisions in relation to Rye House. I wish you good luck and hope you can see sense to ignore any negativity on here. All the best, Andy.

Wouldn’t that equate to over £2K per meeting for meeting sponsorship? I’ve sponsored meetings in the past for significantly less than that - seems an ambitious figure to bring in on a weekly basis from a sponsor.

1000 break even figure! Wow. That will be some achievement if they manage that. Good luck to them, hopefully an agreement to buy the club is reached soon.

I guess it depends on what the supporters want. As a long-term supporter, I’ve always preferred regular, weekly speedway and most of the people I speak to would mirror that. Having said that, you are correct. It would certainly be possible for ALL clubs to run on the same race if they wanted, in a league where teams raced at home fortnightly. However, this is not how British Speedway currently operates and does not plan to operate next year. So, given the above, it seems a sensible decision to limit the number of clubs racing on the same day in the current circumstances. It is certainly not ‘absolute crackers’ as you have quoted - it seems to me to be based upon a logical decision making process and not one intended to harm any individual club.