YeOldPitGate

I agree Mike and think this is the best chance for trying to steer towards a mildly better future even if its 6 teams in top flight they meet home and away once then into play offs , if you didn't get into the play off you would only get the one chance to see Emil, Holder Jnr, Kurtz, Bewley etc if nothing else it would reduce club losses. From the big six the teams those that wanted could then also run a team in the second division this would consist of championship standard riders who would commit to at least 90% of matches, these matches would be run on a night that best suits the club ideally not Mondays and Tuesday's. If three of the top league teams went with it this would give a 12 team second division once home and away then into play offs. The rising star to be used in second division sides not the premier league which has always seemed bonkers to me for every Rob Lambert or Screen that are good enough to go into the top division there's a lorry load more that are sacrificed to make the numbers up, You then have the issue where their confidence is shot to bits within a year and then they are lost to the sport forever, where if they progressed gradually they might never be world beaters but could be the new second division engine room types like Si Lambert, Howarth etc currently are.

Rob always runs teams to win at home on a shoestring budget he's not the kind of fella who's willing to repeatedly drop six figures every year.

Pray god its not poor old Tolley behind this huge expense to get up and running in an area with no Speedway following/heritage in the most expensive league of the three to boot.

Really hope for their sake they don't they seem to be slowly turning things around at Plymouth why risk increasing your operating costs by 30-40% going back to running on a duff night, plus they are on the edge of England so a lot of riders don't want to travel all the way down there for home meetings. Look how Birmingham have struggled to put a competitive team together and Plymouth haven't got Tolley's deep pockets to bale them out.

I think that was the fella it was defo Wheels complex and from memory he poured in a lot of money to keep things running but after possibly one season as a businessman he saw the writing on the wall and pulled out.

It is bizarre he looked unbeatable at times when riding for Sheffield, maybe he's the modern day Andy Graham for older fans who remember him he was an average rider until he turned up at Cradley Heath and he would pretty much bang in 18-21 every time.

I've done a google on it and can't find anything on him (although AI says a Corbett was associated with Brum Speedway) but AI is really internet scraping and there was no internet in mid 80's so could explain lack of results. I was really into Speedway in mid eighties and used to read the Star and Speedway Mail religiously he might have been a co-owner with someone else and I'm sure it was at the wheels complex as he poured a fair bit of money in but after a year to 18 months he saw the writing on the wall and pulled out. Interested if any Brum fans remember him going back 40 years so I would have been 14/15 at the time tracks same as now were always on the verge of closing but there seemed to be more white knights with a few grand to stave off the issues for 3-4 years before they chucked in the towel and rinse and repeat. One of those things nagging at me now sure I'm not barking up the wrong tree, equally I could have then name wrong but from reading about Evitts and Powell they were operating on a shoestring where this fella was in the Tolley money to burn camp.

Shame the young dane wasn't there as I'm sure he would have got 6-8, he looks a genuine future world class talent but I think it will be to much to overturn in the return leg.

I vaguely remember that from memory some wealthy race horse owner had taken over the Brummies and was trying to turn things round but the Wheels complex at the time was pretty basic and although he invested a lot of money (sounds familiar) the crowds just wouldn't come. Corbett or something similar was his surname as I say like many promoters he was very successful away from the shale.

As we all know there aren't any good/ easy immediate answers it won't happen but I have mulled if maybe there were six in the main league next year keep the superstars but just have one home and away then straight into the play off's if you wanted to see Emil,Jack Holder, Fricke you might have just the one chance rather than 4-5 opportunities now. The top six clubs could then run a second team like Oxford have done at Championship level assuming say the current remaining 9 championship teams run it could be once/home and away with maybe 5 man teams with riders who are committed to being available for at least 90% of the fixtures. This would give more variety and we would have to keep double down as a necessary evil for the near term but the likes of the Cooks, Harris, Lawson, Masters, (maybe Douglas) could still compete in both leagues to earn a decent living. If the third tier continues to run maybe allow each team to have a couple of aussies Jordy Loftus is a good example struggled when he got here but is now finding his feet and chipping in with a few points each meeting hopefully he should develop into a decent riders who would commit to UK next 5-10 years. I realise people will say the model hasn't worked for Oxford this year but I get the impression the problems are more down to the health of the main backer than the operating model. Getting away from Mondays is a must the worst night of the week to put anything on as people have had the low of going back to work after the weekend high and just don't want to go out that night, Thurs and Fridays the weekend feeling is starting to get back in peoples head and they are more inclined to do things.

I started going in 1985 and probably finished going regularly in 1991/2,even in 85 you could see things were on the turn Penhall who was a massive draw had retired, Dennis Sigalos who was the heir apparent had a bad ankle injury and was never the same again retiring soon after at a young age. Mike Lee was never as good on his post 85 come back and had several stop start years before leaving the scene, PC, Chris Morten, Dave Jessup, Tiger Louis were all towards the end of their careers. The Lynn team only really had Bob Schwartz as a top rider with the odd flash of the real Lee but we got battered most weeks home and away all be it the crowds in general held up pretty well but it just seemed at that point a lot of the big names had left or were past their peak. The Sky deal should have been the big reset but as others have said the money flowed out to the number one's with nothing reinvested into the general infra-structure. We have also lost a lot of big names in the last 5-10 years as well Crump, Ward, Hancock, Gollob, Adams just a few off the top of my head. Such a shame as the last four heats of the world team cup a couple of years back show that on a decent track with top riders what a quality sport it still can be.

Agreed I would pick Lawson out of the three he doesn't miss many matches and although he won't shoot the lights out can be relied upon to deliver a 7-8 point average over the season.

How many would you estimate were there last night the stadium looks like it could hold three thousand easily given they have only been getting 500 odd per match it seems a stretch to think multi thousands turned up ?

Fingers crossed that's the case we don't want to be losing any more tracks although the promoters take a lot of stick (justified in some cases) we can all agree 99% of them aren't in speedway for he money. Tolley is the perfect example hundreds of thousands spent but seems he's not done yet , his badge business must make a fortune for him.

No more knowledge than anyone else I wish the tigers all the best and hope they continue, its simply down to the same rumour's you will have heard the Bates family's main business struggling and the stadium situation possibly changing.

Its going to be an interesting winter Birmingham gone, doubts over Leicester, Oxford, Sheffield, that leaves Lynn, Belle Vue and Ipswich as possible starters, anyone moving up would be bonkers the fact the Ford's have no interest speaks volumes. Running with six teams is bad enough I can't really see it being viable with any less than that figure it looks like the day of reckoning is sadly finally here.

Oxford totally gone or just gone from Prem ?

Hopefull they are to shrewd to do that unless the new top league is championship standard and division 2 is national league standard.

I don't think he can cope with the pressure of being a number one he seems okay if he sits below someone like Jack Holder, Woffy or Fricke.

If Tolley continues somewhere else he should do it at Championship level to stem losses, try and get Rosco in as team manager and ideally find an experienced co-promoter. His heart is clearly in the right place but he needs a competent team around him.

Brilliant times I can remember heading down to Foxhole one bank hol mon afternoon early nineties for the derby was over five thousand their.

If they can land Beau Bailey and they can avoid putting day one pressure on him , they would certainly have an awesome signing on their hands, he's an out and out racer who looks like he has a massive future ahead of him.

Yes despite some horrible teams you can't fault Tolley's commitment to the cause his other business must make an absolute mint to cover the speedway losses.

Equally could be he's owed stacks so thinking why bother.

The other thing I have noticed when doing research and google flagging me posts on this site from 10 plus years back is how many people no longer post here unless they have rebranded, I reckon there is 30-40 of us on here which again is shocking for when you think about what the sport used to be.