Great Central

Mike, many thanks for posting these. It really is a labour of love for you and I know the frustrations that you have in trying to get the complete picture of what happened. Your efforts in trying to provide a full record of all 2nd half meetings are very much appreciated. Martin PS I hope that all those riders who took a tumble at Buxton yesterday in their MDL match are ok.

Jon certainly looked much better today at Buxton and got better as the match went on. Ben Wilson is also starting to find his racing speed again after such a long time off the bike.

After all the troubles with the track, the 1st meeting of the season went well for the Potters, although made slightly easier by the withdrawal of Brandon Freemantle and Benji Compton. The track rode well, although a little patchy in places, but there was plenty of shale on it, not something that is common these days. It should produce some good racing once it beds down a bit more. Appeared to be a decent sized crowd after the delayed start to the season and good to see that some Kent fans made the long trip north to support their team.

Mike, thanks for the meeting scores. The result was a bit closer than I thought that it would be. Martin

Mike, KL have Josh Bailey, Alec Wright, Adam Kirby and Ryan Kingsley. The Long Eaton Invaders have Lee Geary, Adam Shepherd, Lee Springthorpe and Sam Woods. Martin

According to BSPA website the meeting is OFF

Thanks for the results. It looks like BV were really up against it last night.

Mike, Here are the heat details but I couldn't find any race times: Ht 1 Lamb, Ruddick, Deans, Basford F/X 3-3 / 3-3 Ht 2 Bickley, Douglas, Freeman, Wright 3-3 / 6-6 Ht 3 Lamb, Ruddick, Deans (3 riders only) 3-3 / 9-9 Ht 4 Bickley, Douglas, Freeman, Wright 3-3 / 12-12 Ht 5 Lamb, Ruddick, Deans (3 riders only) 3-3 / 15-15 Ht 6 Bickley, Douglas, Freeman, Wright 3-3 / 18-18

I knew that mining had taken place near the stadium but didn't know any details. It must be hoped that it isn't to do with those collieries since that could be a real big issue and of course with all the winter rain, some very strange things have been happening underground this year. I am not taking sides on this issue but it sounds like all the obvious things have been tried and with good weather last week, Dave and his crew would have been optimistic of success and it must be really frustrating for them not to be able to sort it. Frustrating of course for the riders as well who are now lagging behind most clubs in fixtures run.

Good points made in your post. Because the reports indicate that it is very localised, could it be ground water bubbling up in that area? The whole area must be riddled with old underground workings and if it is ground water then it could be costly to fix.

And that is why I added the words "one can only presume that it is more difficult to enforce than it seems." You have indeed explained the practical way to get round it although it is always dubious paying cash in hand to anyone however if all the NL promoters signed up to it at their AGM, then the rule can be enforced by a code of conduct.

Totally agree and it should be enforced. Mileage rates also. Any other money such as proceeds from sponsorship and 50:50 raffles should be totally separate from that paid by the clubs. Hopefully that would stop the have/have not situation occurring and then riders would go to the teams who they believe will be best for their development and not who pay the best rates. It seems simple to run like this but since it hasn't happened so far, one can only presume that it is more difficult to enforce than it seems.

You are right. I am not much of a football fan but there must be a lot of football clubs with houses nearby and those stadiums on a match day are the source of a lot of noise. Are they next on the agenda?

I am sure that both Ben and Chris will appreciate your best wishes. Thank you.

I sincerely hope that all those issues can be resolved since grass roots speedway needs Iwade. It is a brilliant little track, quite technical in nature and situated in a great place. Best of luck to all involved with resolving the problems.

Well it is now the 1st February and there does not appear to have been any last minute offers to rescue speedway in the isle of Wight for 2014 so that looks like the end for this year. This is an extremely sad situation for NL speedway, and for British speedway in general. This isn't about fighting to save the stadium because it is being sold off for housing, but for a problem that is more deep rooted in the lack of support and sponsorship. I sincerely hope that Wightlink have been thanked for their support over the last few years because without them it would be impossible to hold it in the past and they need to be kept on board should their sponsorship be wanted in the future. The fight now begins to build a platform, which the shareholders and Directors will support, on which to get it going again in 2015.

It has been on the BSPA website for some hours now

To be fair, a loss of £30k on speedway last year could have been possible and some of it is those skeletons. Unpaid VAT, Council loan not paid were just two mentioned last night. I don't doubt that The Chairman and Board are all honest people but just seem bereft of new ideas to turn it round. Population of 130,000 which must be doubled in summer and you can't get more than 250 there on a nice summers evening!!!

You are indeed entitled to your opinion and nobody should attack you for it, and you make a valid point about the Board stumping up an amount of money to save speedway in the IOW but the figure quoted is inaccurate unless the Chairman has put in nearly £80k of his own money and since he didn't know last night how much he had loaned, I can't argue with you. The bank overdraft and Council loan equate to nearly £45k of the £100k and the Council loan repayment appears well under control. What I found strange last night being a non shareholder and it being my 1st meeting, was that there appears to be no plan in place to turn it round and a resignation that if people don't want to watch speedway then there is nothing you can do about it. As greyhoundp said, given time, there was every opportunity to find ways of funding the deficit this year, even to the point that the debts could be cleared quicker but having said that there do seem to be too many skeletons left over from previous Boards that have wrecked forward financial planning. On a positive note, the Supporters Club seem hell bent on keeping going and finding ways to increase club funds so well done to them because they may provide the rock on which speedway in the IOW continues in the future.

I echo your comments - the fact that people are continuing to try their best to help the club will bring heart to Kevin Shepherd, Bryn Williams and the others who are fighting to keep the club alive.

I think that Bryn is probably the best person to take this question and possibly offline. What is disappointing is that you are one of a number of people that may have found some support for the IOW club and had the cry gone out earlier, then just imagine what may have been possible.

I agree but in reality it has passed through the promoters hands very quickly, paying un-realistic wages for EL riders. A portion should have been held back, like football does from their TV money, to support the sport at grass roots level and to support the development of the sport. It seems from what little I have found out to be a very complex situation and if anyone could offer the shareholders some advice on company law, I am sure it would be appreciated because as Bryn has stated it could be a fiery and emotional meeting on the 21st January. The air fence purchase was just a smoke screen since there were solutions and financing offered to get round it. Currently there is nearly 50% raised in pledges and there are still untapped sponsorship opportunities. The real problem has been low attendances and higher costs than some other clubs incur but when the Chairman or someone else appears not to want to improve matters in respect of the speedway element of the club, maybe even working against the aims of the club in that respect, the shareholders are in a tricky position. One wrong move could see the club fall into the wrong hands. I don't think it is as easy as voting out the Chairman and Directors and you only have to check how many changes in directorship there have been lately to know that things aren't right at the top. Great club and a great sponsor in Wightlink - just a pity that it has been steered down the wrong path.

Bryn, I agree with your comments and when there is no speedway left in the UK, maybe some people will be happy. Yes it isn't pretty at times and I am sure that we all have ideas on how it can be improved, but it is what it is until someone really looks into what speedway has become and starts looking into the future a bit more. I have two more wishes: 1) One which is dear to your heart, is that I hope the the Isle of Wight survives as a going concern. A great club that has lost its way a little and needs a lifeline to take it forward. 2) I sincerely hope that there are less injuries this year. It won't be solved by more air fences but by getting rid of those lethal silencers and there isn't much chance of that.

An interesting link that you have provided which I think shows that certain activities may be being run with the wrong cost allocation. Yes the 6 a side football is providing a contribution to the club but it is only bringing in £168 per week and presumably lighting and the referees have to be paid out of that. If the other other activities are contributing on a similar basis, the speedway will appear to be more costly than it is. This is not an unusual problem and I think they will find that if speedway doesn't run in 2014, some of the costs previously allocated to the speedway element will still be there and what was thought to be a profitable sideline is no longer so. Vince, you ask an interesting question over the constitution of the IOW Club. Not being a shareholder, I am not party to the constitution but I understand that you get a vote regardless of the number of shares held but the Chairman who is paid, I think, can make decisions without recourse to the shareholders so not running in 2014 may be one of those decisions that he could make to improve the financial position of the Club(company). Of course what complicates things is that speedway is part of the name of the company and was set up to run speedway so how will the majority of the shareholders feel when the company is not running speedway anymore. I suppose they will feel agrieved but unless somebody comes up with cash to run it, what else can they do? Could they cash in their shares and what effect would that have?

You are right Dean but it appears to me that he doesn't want to run it anymore, and doesn't want anyone else to run it either. Has he declared to the shareholders how much he has put into keeping the club going and doesn't this amount to financial mismanagement as a Director just putting in his own money to what is apparently a bankrupt business? It is complex and a situation has to be found but I do think that regardless of what you or anyone suggests, it won't happen because the Chairman doesn't want it to happen. Really sad situation since it is a great little club.