Birmingham Speedway

[The H Man]

As some of you may know, for my sins I am Director and minor shareholder in Birmingham Speedway.

Now isn't the right time for me to comment on the rights or wrongs of Promotional decisions on team building etc.

Nigel Tolley has bankrolled the club for the past few seasons and for that the Brummies fans and sport in general should be grateful, otherwise the club would have folded at the end of the 2022 campaign and a poor team is still better than no team at all as I am sure many fans of defunct tracks would agree.   

With 2025 being the final year for the club at Perry Barr, Nigel obviously wanted it to be a successful one, so his plan was to  put together a side that on paper looked as if it would be in with a shout for the play-off's.  As I say the make-up of that team or planning around it isn't for me to comment on at this time, but what I will say is that unfortunately the support in terms of numbers coming through the doors and promised commercial deals have failed to meet expectations.

I am not sitting here typing this to disagree with anything people have said on this thread, far from it.  I am just highlighting that intentions were for the best even if execution wasn't and that expenditure had to be reduced to ensure that the club continued to fulfil all it's obligations.   

Cheers, Paul.  

 

[Sings4Speedway]

42 minutes ago, MP78 said:

Brummies over 8 points under the limit... sad times indeed

What is the threshold for fielding an understrength side? Brum will be 20% down on the team building limit. Whilst it might be Birmingham's last season the teams they put out affect the attendances of other clubs. 

[Youhave2minutes]

On 6/23/2025 at 12:40 PM, IainB said:

Was this the picture?

 

Signing for the witches the broom gives it away

[IainB]

6 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

What is the threshold for fielding an understrength side? Brum will be 20% down on the team building limit. Whilst it might be Birmingham's last season the teams they put out affect the attendances of other clubs. 

I assume it's 12.00

That's 6 2 pointers and R/R!

[IainB]

20 minutes ago, The H Man said:

With 2025 being the final year for the club at Perry Barr, Nigel obviously wanted it to be a successful one, so his plan was to  put together a side that on paper looked as if it would be in with a shout for the play-off's.

The team he put together that had MJJ leaving at the end of May was only ever going to make the play offs if Brum had ridden all of their league matches before his contract expired! The fans ain't daft, despite the silence from the Birmingham promotion they know when they're being mugged off, like they were mugged off in a previous year with the short term signing of Adam Ellis.

Edited June 25, 2025 by IainB

[IainB]

28 minutes ago, Youhave2minutes said:

Signing for the witches the broom gives it away

That's Triggers broom he carries it everywhere, it's 20 years old 😂

Edited June 25, 2025 by IainB

[OGT]

1 hour ago, MP78 said:

Brummies over 8 points under the limit... sad times indeed

Any chance of a guest then? 🤔🤞🏼

[GeneralMelchett]

Barker was drafted into the Ipswich side a couple of seasons ago and didn't do much - best days definitely behind him. A trier but more than that is needed!

A sad but managed decline!

[GiveusaB]

41 minutes ago, IainB said:

The team he put together that had MJJ leaving at the end of May was only ever going to make the play offs if Brum had ridden all of their league matches before his contract expired! The fans ain't daft, despite the silence from the Birmingham promotion they know when they're being mugged off, like they were mugged off in a previous year with the short term signing of Adam Ellis.

EXACTLY!

Grateful or not ...the 'product' has been poor, season after season since Tolley took over...it's not hard to work out why!?

I'm not sure that I agree with having a team to watch is better than nothing....just my opinion!

[GiveusaB]

26 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said:

Barker was drafted into the Ipswich side a couple of seasons ago and didn't do much - best days definitely behind him. A trier but more than that is needed!

A sad but managed decline!

Unfortunately, that's the only thing that is behind him these days! 😀

[foreverblue]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

That's Triggers broom he carries it everywhere, it's 20 years old 😂

How many handles and heads has the old broom had?

[bluejam]

1 hour ago, The H Man said:

As some of you may know, for my sins I am Director and minor shareholder in Birmingham Speedway.

Now isn't the right time for me to comment on the rights or wrongs of Promotional decisions on team building etc.

Nigel Tolley has bankrolled the club for the past few seasons and for that the Brummies fans and sport in general should be grateful, otherwise the club would have folded at the end of the 2022 campaign and a poor team is still better than no team at all as I am sure many fans of defunct tracks would agree.   

With 2025 being the final year for the club at Perry Barr, Nigel obviously wanted it to be a successful one, so his plan was to  put together a side that on paper looked as if it would be in with a shout for the play-off's.  As I say the make-up of that team or planning around it isn't for me to comment on at this time, but what I will say is that unfortunately the support in terms of numbers coming through the doors and promised commercial deals have failed to meet expectations.

I am not sitting here typing this to disagree with anything people have said on this thread, far from it.  I am just highlighting that intentions were for the best even if execution wasn't and that expenditure had to be reduced to ensure that the club continued to fulfil all it's obligations.   

Cheers, Paul.  

 

Thanks for your input H Man(you're one of the good guys connected with Brum).

Could you tell us why Birmingham Speedway have been on a downward spiral since LR got involved?

[Pinny]

17 hours ago, Bald Bloke said:

You said in an earlier post , something like, "you don't know who i am, do you"

Please enlighten us.

I said nothing of the sort. I said to phil the ace "you clearly dont know who your talking to" or something along those lines when he was talking to steve brum regarding brady kurtz injury. Go and read it for yourself its on the BV vs KL thread. 
 

 

[Pinny]

3 hours ago, The H Man said:

As some of you may know, for my sins I am Director and minor shareholder in Birmingham Speedway.

Now isn't the right time for me to comment on the rights or wrongs of Promotional decisions on team building etc.

Nigel Tolley has bankrolled the club for the past few seasons and for that the Brummies fans and sport in general should be grateful, otherwise the club would have folded at the end of the 2022 campaign and a poor team is still better than no team at all as I am sure many fans of defunct tracks would agree.   

With 2025 being the final year for the club at Perry Barr, Nigel obviously wanted it to be a successful one, so his plan was to  put together a side that on paper looked as if it would be in with a shout for the play-off's.  As I say the make-up of that team or planning around it isn't for me to comment on at this time, but what I will say is that unfortunately the support in terms of numbers coming through the doors and promised commercial deals have failed to meet expectations.

I am not sitting here typing this to disagree with anything people have said on this thread, far from it.  I am just highlighting that intentions were for the best even if execution wasn't and that expenditure had to be reduced to ensure that the club continued to fulfil all it's obligations.   

Cheers, Paul.  

 

Hello Paul.

maybe now you have seen this at Birmingham, you can see where the Malletts were coming from at Newport. Throwing ridiculous money into the club with barely any crowds but despite their ridiculous behaviour , they kept the club going for 3 years and at least went out in the final season on a high by winning so many meetings and the ko cup .

 

not comparing Tolley to Mallett as a person but as far as speedway promoters go, they seem pretty similar. 
 

 

[mikebv]

1 hour ago, bluejam said:

Thanks for your input H Man(you're one of the good guys connected with Brum).

Could you tell us why Birmingham Speedway have been on a downward spiral since LR got involved?

600 to (on a good night), 800, was never going to sustain a competitive team in Div 1..

And, before some come on and say previous promotions did it, they didn't have to lay out big money to expensive top riders as very few rode over here for several of those seasons..

And they also often were in the lower leagues that crowds of 600 to 800 could be coped with...

They simply should have been allowed to ride Mondays in Div 2...

If that meant a few "guesfests" then so be it, (what's several more added to the overall total?)....

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

The trouble with a lot of folks who criticise clubs in the main havent got a clue what they are talking about and some don’t even go but want their say,this isn’t to say promotion’s are not at fault some of the time or indeed a lot of the time, I know one fan who hasn’t paid to get in a meeting for around 30 years but slags speedway and the last few years Birmingham off every chance he gets and most of what he says is complete crap but social media has given him a voice and doesn’t he just use it, shame he has no ideas, no clue and never ever anything constructive to say 

[bluejam]

2 hours ago, mikebv said:

600 to (on a good night), 800, was never going to sustain a competitive team in Div 1..

And, before some come on and say previous promotions did it, they didn't have to lay out big money to expensive top riders as very few rode over here for several of those seasons..

And they also often were in the lower leagues that crowds of 600 to 800 could be coped with...

They simply should have been allowed to ride Mondays in Div 2...

If that meant a few "guesfests" then so be it, (what's several more added to the overall total?)....

I remember attending PB when Lakeside Hammers rode there and there less than 350 in attendance( I was with a Berwick follower who was in the area for work purposes.He couldn't believe it😮)☹️

Edited June 25, 2025 by bluejam

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

As much as speedway is its own demise, the current worrying trend in attendances is in part down to the financial crisis currently hitting the world, people are starting to feel the pinch and are picking and choosing what they attend, it’s not just speedway it’s everywhere,every entertainment business, I think it has finally registered at BSPL towers and I’m led to believe that a huge shake up for the sport is happening this winter, it’s very hush hush at the moment but let’s hope it’s just not a new helmet colour 

[screm]

6 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

As much as speedway is its own demise, the current worrying trend in attendances is in part down to the financial crisis currently hitting the world, people are starting to feel the pinch and are picking and choosing what they attend, it’s not just speedway it’s everywhere,every entertainment business, I think it has finally registered at BSPL towers and I’m led to believe that a huge shake up for the sport is happening this winter, it’s very hush hush at the moment but let’s hope it’s just not a new helmet colour 

Without being hypo sceptical, a huge shake up for the sport has been promised for many a year, promised but as yet not delivered. Though to be fair its difficult for the decision makers to see the problems when your head is buried in the sand.

[Pinny]

13 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

As much as speedway is its own demise, the current worrying trend in attendances is in part down to the financial crisis currently hitting the world, people are starting to feel the pinch and are picking and choosing what they attend, it’s not just speedway it’s everywhere,every entertainment business, I think it has finally registered at BSPL towers and I’m led to believe that a huge shake up for the sport is happening this winter, it’s very hush hush at the moment but let’s hope it’s just not a new helmet colour 

What I think everyone needs to grasp is that speedway is just not a trendy sport and there is no younger generation of fans flocking through the gates anymore. Its 99.9 percent surviving on the old guard.

 

Ok, there will be one or two clubs who are making a decent profit from good crowds but they are very much in the minority.

The amount of clubs that have closed in the last few decades speaks volumes. 
 

The sport in the UK has been wrecked by lazy promoters who wont drag the club they promote into the 21st century, scruffy stadiums, ridiculous rule changes by the governing body and riders taking the complete urine. Thats just a couple of major problems, the list is endless. 
 

I have said it for years now, the only way out of this is to completely re format British Speedway and change the league structure. Two leagues sharing the same riders with riders missing every meeting just don't work.