uk_martin

Great News! Birmingham Speedway's social media feeds are buzzing once again about the addition of....have a guess.... 1. A rider to the team??? 2. A headline sponsor to pay some bills??? 3. None of the Above The correct answer is 3. Apparently, it's about the sir fence being put up and some more material being put onto the track, and the track looking very good. The volunteers who are keeping the faith were thanked most profusely. Now it's up to everyone else to keep the (blind) faith that three riders can be found within the next 2 weeks in time for P&P day, keep buying those season tickets and don't panic. Innit?

Hands up...I missed that. Thanks for the update.

The Brummies make a feature in their advertising about the bikes being 500cc. That would disqualify Kennett.

They could still do it... The Polish leagues have banned Russian riders, now the Swedish league have banned Russian riders, the Danish league will follow soon. So Artem, Gregori and Emil have to go somewhere, right? The BSPA have not yet made an announcement, and knowing how far into the sand their head is buried, who'd be surprised if they don't? So, in a world of diminishing options it could become a buyers market...Birmingham or nowhere for them. We could end up with the Birmingham Brumskis on "assumed averages" to fit them in and keep the team running "in the best interests of British Speedway"

So where would the likes of Jason Crump, Bjarne Pedersen and Rory Schlein fit in? You don't get older heads than them. Imagine what their running costs would be. Anyone capable of fiddling an expenses claim would have a field day. Fanbase or attendance? Fanbase is vanity, attendance is sanity. So who has more than 1,000 people coming through the gate every week? You're going to end up with one hell of a huge Div 3 and a tiny Div 1

P & P is 2 weeks from tomorrow. The first match is 18 days away as has been mentioned before. A week ago, it was announced that an un-named rider had agreed terms and it was just a matter of sorting out the paperwork. Well just how long does paperwork take? Paperwork between who exactly too? Between the club and immigration officials, or between the club and the rider? Was this just a decoy in the hope of shutting fans up for a few days? One thing's for sure. For a club desperate for increased sponsorship, and on attracting a higher attendance level than in recent years in order to stay afloat, let alone to prosper, this kind of smoke and mirrors game, does nothing at all to attract more sponsors or to engage with an increasingly restless fanbase. Just look at the web site - and apart from those who get a mention for giving their time to the club for free, there's only one paying advertiser. ONE. Season tickets used to be sold at the stadium on special Sunday opening times. Obviously with nobody buying season tickets any more that activity has ceased too. It's not looking good is it?

The problem with "past fans" is anno domini....those who were in their 60's when speedway returned in 2007 will now be approaching their 80's and there won't be that many of them around as there used to be, sadly. And wouldn't you rather have new fans in their 20-50's who pay full fare at the door rather than old fans who pay half-fare, from the financial point of view?

That assumes a level of competence in the BSPA, and that they don't believe the assurances that the management are handing out.

And in other Great News... The pre-season publicity campaign has begun, with Birmingham Speedway blasting social media with announcements that the Brummies are back! I didn't have the heart to reply to it that at this moment in time only 4/7ths of the Brummies are back, Nor did I ask for a guarantee that each meeting will feature the advertised 15 "thrilling" races Still, good to see that there is optimism in the camp. Let's hope that in the 16 days that now remain between now and P&P day, that the remaining 3 "Sits Vacant" can be filled.

Big what? Big question? Big Mac? Big Issue?

Minimally??? I don't think there were many more than half a dozen riders in the PL last year that didn't double down with the CL. Some teams were completely made up of double-downers. How is that "minimally"?

Great News The pub over the road from the stadium, "The Seventh Trap", is about to be demolished. In its place will be built a McDonalds Drive-Thru. Demolition will be finished before the start of the season, with construction to begin immediately afterwards. Should be ready in time for the play-off's.

Exactly the point I've been making for years. Just had a look at the BSPA Rolling Averages to see who's ridden in the UK recently. Deducting those that I know have retired now, (Schlein, Pedersen, Crump etc) and removing duplicate entries, there are now 137 riders featured, including NDL riders. Doing the maths, that's only enough to populate 19.5 teams, or 19 teams and 4 riders spare in case of injuries. And yet there are currently 25 teams in existence, meaning that doubling up is inevitable. And some people seriously want to expand that even as far as 30 teams? Seriously???

Well maybe not...it could have been at the home grounds of West Ham or Burnley...they feature claret and light blue in their interior decorations too, don't they? Balance of probabilities though is that it was at Villa Park.

Great News! The Brummies socials are buzzing again, with something that the fans have been waiting to see and hear for a long time. And why? Could it be news of a new signing? Could it be about a mega sponsorship deal? Er no...it's of a video that shows legendary broadcaster Tom Ross, (BRMB etc) filmed at Villa Park, telling us how pleased he is that the Brummies are back in action again this year. What else matters, eh?

What a great idea. Let's see if Henning Loof wants to ride again. Or maybe James Cockle? I don't think that they are currently signed up to other teams.

Great News! Birmingham Speedway's social media feeds are buzzing with a video clip of an interview with Josh Auty. What else is important these days?

Fun-guy or "Fungi", the geezer off Benefits Street?

Are you suggesting that Maceij Janowski is the new #1 for the Brummies?

Are you accusing our esteemed management of treating it's fans like mushrooms?

20 days until Practise & Press day....3 names still to go in the frame. That's now more than a rate of one signing per week needing to be made and announced to the public in order to restore faith in the team.

Can't help but wonder what the hit on season ticket sales has been resulting from the uncertainty about team composition and competitiveness. Was a time when season ticket sales took place in person at the stadium, but that stopped a few weeks ago. Has the well run dry?

According to the Facebook post I've seen, it says that they've "agreed terms", but won't announce a name until the paperwork is done. In other words, nobody has actually "signed" (yet?). That Facebook news comes to us from the same source that said that two riders were on the brink and just needed to check their fixtures, a couple of months ago, and more recently, that there were 6-8 riders of interest. Let's wait until we see who turns up at P&P in 3 weeks' time. My take on this is, it's 3 weeks to go, and 3 riders still to sign.

Any truth in the rumour that John Priest & Arthur Browning are both swapping tractor driving for speedway riding, and making comebacks at a combined age of 158, which will be perfectly in keeping with the age of the team's fan base?

On one hand some say "stick to posts about Birmingham" On the other hand you get people from north south east and west telling us from Birmingham what we can and can't say on here. Well tough. If you don't like it, click away. Nobody's forcing you to be here. If you don't like the analogy of people arguing crap, feel free to disagree. If you want to call me names, well sticks & stones. Nobody cares.