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I have to say that you are full of it tonight. No track to moan about so you start to look for other things to pour doom and gloom on. Have a night off, you deserve it.

I would be happy to do a monthly DD for 100 and maybe another 1 person possibly 2. I would love to do something to keep the club alive. I would then happily pay a reduced admission of say 10.00 per meeting and a programme/hog roast/burger or something included. That way the club is still getting further income from ticket sales but we get a reward of food/programme which could then be off set through other profits from the van, 50/50 draw, supporters club etc. Then maybe a yearly get together where we can chat to Rob and team. One negative is we need to stop the clickyness. I've been coming for over 30 years and never feel involved, miss the interaction with the riders and a chat with Rob to let us know updates etc. I think there needs to be disclosure of the situation the club was truly in when Rob took over to stop the rumour mill and get the facts out there of just how all those interested in Newcastle Diamonds were screwed over by the previous promotion. Maybe then a clean slate for 2022 where we start a fresh and move forward.

I would be willing to pay up to £1000 as one upfront cost (not much I know, but as much as I could afford) and maybe £100 (maybe even more if I can persuade family members and friends to support too) a month from there on. If something like what THJ has suggested can be put in place... i dont have a business to promote or anything really, just want to see my club survive. I have some speedway spares and memorabilia I would happily donate to some kind of fund raising event to help save the club on the premise that we definitely operate in 2022... maybe a pre season event after we name our team? Hopefully with view of the long term moving to our own track for 2023? The support is there from a handful of fans, and if we can muster up enough budget to put a decent team together, the paying numbers will come from there... I just hope we can find a figurehead to put all of this together, as I have zero knowledge (or time) in business and I am too young to have any experience in the field...

Nora licensing only works for amateur events. If the National Development League did what it ought, and returned to amateur status, then that whole league could run under Nora 92. In my view, this is something that could work at Eastbourne, Newcastle and Birmingham, though maybe not under the current promoters. It is also my view that BSPL would then be mad to threaten those riders riding in a Nora 92 NDL with exclusion, as has happened this year, as they’d then struggle with rider shortages.

Euro sport could learn a lot from how clean cut sports film the racing less is more you could see every second of an exciting race which is something you can't say for Euro sports coverage it drives me mad.The way they switch from camera to camera misses a hell of a lot of the racing.Also with one camera if there is a race for a minor place just zoom out a little and in most cases you would not miss a thing.Plus it shows what viewing speedway is really like when watching it live, a motor sport involving 4 riders where you can see every second of the action.Which to me is a major selling point.

The above all sound like really good ideas with fans trying to save a iconic club. My main issue ( for what its worth which is zero ) would be the getting out of Brough ASAP. It has to happen as for a long time now the racing at Newcastle has not been great as the bikes have got faster. Yes I remember Andre Compton and James Grieves blasting around the boards on the 3rd and 4th bend but those races are few and far between and the stigma that goes with the track certainly does not help the cause. My worry is that Speedway as a whole is no longer 2021 compliant and one of those is the noise level. You tell me when the last new track was opened ? Its nearly impossible because of housing estates spreading at a alarming rate meaning Betty does not want to hear annoying bikes while she sits out in her garden any longer. Sound travels far and wide on a evening and a new track within 20 miles of Newcastle would be a massive surprise to me if it could get past the noise brigade. I had a conversation only a few months back with one of the owners at Redcar and he even said that if they were to apply for permission now for the track which is on a motor sports complex he believed it would not get the go ahead.They get regular complaints from residents miles away but luckily because they have the licence they don't come to much. We all whinge about electric bikes etc and with no noise and no smell the sport would die. The problem is the way the sport is now is on a life support machine with no magic wand to recover at present. Yes riders wages and bike costs have grown way more than crowd levels which has caused a huge financial gulf. Yes the sport as some say is probably a £10 sport having to charge £18 to try and cover the difference between the above. Yes the shortage of riders and doubling up makes it a bit of a joke trying to explain it to the public. BUT the noise issues also will STOP 99% of new ventures ever getting past the first hurdle. I love this sport as a rider ( loose term ) as a Manager of Redcar Cubs but most importantly as a supporter for the last 49 years. I hate as much as anyone to see it struggling in so many places around the country. Yes at Redcar we are fortunate that crowds are up and we don't have huge rents to pay but Im a SPEEDWAY FAN and without clubs we won't have this wonderful sport of ours for that much longer in its present capacity.

I think you would need Rob on board and give him the security of guaranteed income, but dont know obviously how his Company is set up to be able to do a share scheme... March to October would be 8 months of payments, £800 in total, (or do it over 10 months at £80 a month), like the Council Tax)... 250 putting £20 a week over 8 months would generate £200k.. (Less than two packets of fags). If it makes money (I laugh), then each get a dividend... Basically you would be buying "free admission" but these 250 could get access to the VIP suite, with each getting at least two matches in there, free programmes each week, free car parking etc. And maybe give them a free ticket each week to invite their partner, and up to five tickets a match to sell at a tenner to their family and friends? People who wouldnt ordinarily be there.. Ambassadors for the club if you like.. Another 400 a week paying "£x" to get in might then be enough if you are starting with a £200k guarantee, and the price to get in could come down if the guarantee covers enough of the costs.. Pipe dream I am sure but maybe worth at least a coat of looking at..

I have never believed home teams should be allowed a T/S ride...

Regardless of the result of this meeting, (and I am a lifelong supporter of Birmingham), I wish Newcastle and their loyal supporters, well. I hope that the attendance for this match will be big enough to convince either the current promotion or any prospective new promotion, that the club does have a future, and that they might have a re-think about carrying on. As far as Josh McDonald is concerned, it is ludicrous to suggest that he is intending to approach this meeting with an intention to make no effort. He is a young Australian rider who has made a promising start to his British career and will be wanting to emphasise this. Whether we like it or not (and I definitely don't!), guest bookings are an established part of speedway, and McDonald will be more than anxious to show that he is a rider worth booking when the need arises. I don't expect him to hit double figures, but I expect a return commensurate with his known ability.

Well all I'm going to say before I get me head down for another 16 hour shift tomorrow.. is that the previous promotion should ( hopefully ) be brought to justice for f@@king rob grant junior over & all there hangers ons ( & yes yous know who yous are ) let's hope the VAT men take them all the way to the cleaners & hopefully a few days months or even years in the big house is just what they deserve as they have took the p@ss out of the supporters for years at Newcastle speedway judging by what has gone on before our new owners took it on

Really Josh Mac riding for the Brummies, who have to win to overcome the Scorpions to 6th in the league!!! Josh is a Scorpion, I give up , only in British Speedway???

Could you get 250 people/companies paying £25 a week/£100 a month by DD for 100 shares per month. ? That's £25k a month coming in if you could. Maybe offering "Free" admission for that "investment" to each fan. And "Free" advertising for the companies around the stadium . Surely 250 people in a conurbation the size of Newcastle could be found who would like the sport to continue and could stump up £25 a week? Might need local media involvement and a certain Premier League Football Club may be able to help get the message out/put their hands in their pockets. Nothing ventured, etc etc NB. Maybe get Nicki P contacted to do some media work around the closure, someone must have a contact for him. He might also be the first to stump up some cash, given the push the Diamonds gave his career; and start the ball rolling. ..

Would there be much interest in putting together a package of support from the fans? Would there be any value in a meeting upstairs in the bar after the Birmingham meeting... are there enough like-minded people who have funds to invest in a lost cause to try and save the Diamonds? Something along the lines of a Debenture say.... however unlike a Debenture there are very limited assets to repay the loan... people would have to loan the money on the understanding that if the new venture is unsuccessful the money is lost and there may (probably) be the need to top up this Debenture on a regular basis... However this would be on the premise that we leave for our own home ASAP and a share issue is made against loans? Is it worth a try or do we just roll over and pray to the Gods that someone comes in on an off chance... Any thoughts or interest from other like-minded companies or individuals?... Regards THJ

And my employees will dictate to me how much I pay them because they want to have the best equipment to do the same job for somebody else, who will pay them more than me... And they will be allowed to branch out on their own, to fulfil their own ambitions, using the equipment I helped pay for by their salary demands.. My business is heavily reliant on good weather to be successful and my customer profile target will be families with young kids to ensure further growth.... So to that end I will mainly open during the week rather than weekends, on school nights, and hardly open at all during the summer holidays when the weather is better, instead I will open during the darker and colder autumn months... I am looking to offer you no more than a 50% stake in the business, and for that I want no less than £48.60....

Dunno, but maybe that's a 'Dick Head'?,,, a love all them folklore story's about trains, ladders and black cats and stuff.

Give us a break we should have been given 2or 3 t/s to try and make it interesting lol

WOW Can nothing stop the power of this Panthers team BIG BIG statement made this week WE CAME WE SAW WE CONQUERED AGAIN

At last someone who agrees with me!

The Leon Flint fiasco continues. No blame to Leon himself, quite the opposite, it is his great progress which shows how poorly thought out the rules are. Leon scoring good points in the Premiership but able to guest at reserve for Championship teams, standing in for riders on much lower averages because of the Rising Star system. He will be constantly in demand for the closing Championship fixtures, the Playoffs and the KO Cup and could decide the title. One of the few teams he definitely can't ride at reserve for is Berwick!

Forget the 10k add/remove the 40k back in what the liquidators took as well Gaz... Yep a successful team would have really knackered the job... aka Worky... Regards THJ

The VAT man taking nearly £40k off the club at the start of the season done the damage Aye you wouldn't put your 17 year old dog through it would you... just prolonging the pain As it happens Ruff just under £65 quid per point however your are spot on... However Rob has made a good fist of it and would have made a small profit this year (and this is a guess) to about £5k depending if we get the 550+ required for the last home meeting and talking to Daryl Illingworth last night about it and he reckons that would have been the first profit the club made since the early to mid 90's so it has been a hell of an effort by Rob and his team... It does need pointing out it is not solely the finance situation that has Rob fed up... its the whole thing he inherited; it was the rules and regulations he had to be tied into amongst many other things and the final straw I believe was the attempt to poach his only recognised heat leader just before the cut off date for changes... it does take a great deal of time and effort to run a Speedway team for not much recognition or any recompense and to be fair Rob never went into this for the plaudits but he has my full admiration for the effort he has put in this year because it has been one long hard slog but he got to the end of the season... not sure if it was good luck or by good management however he seen the year out without folding... Regards THJ

See previous; the costs remain the same for putting a meeting on between 2.5k and 3k a meeting but remember that home meeting needs to cover the away meeting cost and this is what blew Worky out of the water 328 turning up to the home meeting with Scunny and the team scoring near 60 points in this match and then going to Scunny and scoring over 50 down their where they usually got 35... Worky vs Newcastle 480 in and Worky get over 50 both home and away meetings when they very rarely broke 40 at Brough; Ipswich 428 crowd at DP then you win down their and the travel costs are double and you pay out for 47 points instead of the usual 30/35 ish and I could give many more examples... it is not sustainable even at 20 quid a head that gives you around 10k of income off that Newcastle meeting with an outlay of 2.5k for the stadium rental and putting the home meeting on then 70 quid a point average for your riders wages and 500 quid on travel; but you also have other costs that need paid for throughout the season. Rob Grant wasn't daft and he knew that 550 was his break even figure and that isn't an ambitious figure to be fair but we haven't got anywhere near that with the exception of the the first meeting of the season against Edinburgh when the Covid restrictions were on; the Redcar meeting and Double Header with Poole and Plymouth and for whatever the reasons we got 1088 in through the doors for that meeting which could have been the Poole effect with a good side and/or the Bjarne and Crump farewell tour effect with Plymouth... who knows... Would these meetings as separate meeting have brought in the same figures for two separate meetings? again who knows.... It is a definite juggling act when you are working on such tight margins; and you have to put out a competitive team; the bottom line is we can just about guarantee now around 350 fans which doesn't sustain "Jack" at the minute; however that figure would potentially keep an NDL team running if we could halve or better still get rid of the rental cost but we cant so you need 550/600/650 in to maintain a Championship team 200 to 300 more fans more than we have now... they all ain't sitting on a wall outside unfortunately and its not for the want of trying s the promotion have done a lot of work in this respect to try and encourage more people to come... and if we got just over a 1000 for every meeting we wouldn't be having this conversation whatsoever... Regards THJ

6 man teams with riders earning more as they get more races. Riders not chosen in declared teams go in to an "assistance pot" where they are allowed to assist any team up to a maximum of appearances. Riders earn more, lessens doubling up/down, team identity no longer guest/joke issue.

It would be a perfect opportunity for a new promotion at Oxford. Lower costs, control over the way to run meetings and a chance to gauge crowd attendance. It would make more sense than being tied into the BSPL without voting rights.

Pedersen is back to the #2 position tonight many a team manager would just go with the same riding order meeting to meeting but Rob Lyon certainly thinks whats best on the night , he has contributed so much to the success of the Panthers this season and just hope hes there next season as the main man running the show again for Buster or whoever hes a vital piece in the cog of the engine room of the team and i dont think the Panthers would be were they are without him . Sorry Lynn fans hes got to stay at Peterborough now .

If Pedersen scores big in the last 3 meetings it may well be a good thing if he was to go to reserve.Hitting that sort of form going into the play offs and at reserve would be a bonus wouldn't it?

would it be viable to run a NL team just to keep speedway at Newcastle for the time being surely with the likes of Freeman Smith Embelton Douglas all being local would be good for local advertising what would they need through the door to break even at that level put a decent competitive team together that could win home matches pretty sure Eastbourne and Birmingham both did it to keep the gates open

So with riders retiring and going to one league, presumably still restrictions from Poland, where are the riders going to come from?

Problem is... there is a great deal of good intention at present but when it comes down to putting in your cold hard earned cash that good intention tends to evaporate into thin air... There is an awful lot to do to take this on as a "consortium" of a fan based set up... We need to be speaking to a good solicitor who can advise on articles of association and possibly running as a Community Interest Company ( CIC )… A CIC is a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders... and a good architect who can draw up provisional plans (cheap or better still FOC) to get proposals underway for the Seaton Burn site... also maybe a reverse approach to our multi million pound company landlords to see if they would sponsor the club maybe in the top flight on a Monday night and give them TV exposure and brand the full team and stadium for ARC dog and horse racing... you never know they may wish to take on some Corporate Social Responsibility and support the team... but the clock is running... Regards THJ

They may see it as that.... however in all honesty it's far from that. Many on here who have questioned the operating model & the un professional manner in which the sport is run are told to ignore all that & focus on 4 blokes racing. You yourself have stated ignore everything that goes on & watch the racing. Hardly the viewpoint some who believes it to be a professional sport would take.

Because we don’t race every week.. so the weeks we don’t race everyone would still be paying and money increasing. These are just ball park figures really until we know how many are serious about putting money in.

Good idea mate, probably won't be able to make the bar, (will be busy),,, but as mentioned the the 'GoFundMe' raised good money. Wouldn't be able to stump up much, but if there was 100 of me we might get somewhere. Al be good for the cash (ask Rob). Keep us in the loop and I will work on some of the guys, which might be persuaded to put a little bit in, av managed it before.

This sounds like a good idea.. I couldn’t afford the other option but I think people would probably get involved this way and surely even 500-1000 people would pay a lesser amount per week/month to keep Newcastle speedway open. The go fund me page showed how much people were willing to help Newcastle speedway and think it’s a great idea if enough interested people. We have to try something as can’t let speedway die in Newcastle..

Wtf you on about, Ruff?

Having observed how Godfrey's mind works over the last few years, he'd have probably gone with the results between the two teams... you beat them 52-38 at your place and they beat you 54-36 at the EWR. Ergo, Scunny qualify having scored more points over the two matches this year. However, that wasn't needed, so well done. Hope we can join you in the playoffs.

I would though insist on a BSPL recognised promotion team with a decent track record before any cash is put forward by fans. We did a big collection when the Phillips promotion closed Birmingham. £10k was pledged to continue the following year. Unsurprisingly you get some scrupulous people come forward, we at Birmingham even had the Phillips family once again come forward!

I totally agree, although more people go on Facebook than come on here.. the website would be best option with a link to the vote maybe on Facebook. If the supporters club are on here maybe they could do this.. who knows.

Used to be one of the highlights of the season when it was the SWC. But I guess it just shows the lack of depth in the sport these days A lot of these riders shouldn’t be anywhere near a world final unless they are in civvies, rather than kevlars But as I said, maybe for the lesser places it can provide some good racing

Whilst agreeing that a meeting needs to be more than a 15-heat match, I think the problem with speedway compared to other sports is that it's a 'weekly' sport that doesn't always take place at weekends. To fill out the meeting in the manner above, you're going to need to rely on amateur riders - probably even relying on them to pay their own way to the tracks, and is that going to be viable all season? It might work at the Friday, Saturday and Sunday tracks, but I think it's a tougher ask for amateurs to be expected to turn out midweek on a regular basis. I also think competitions needs to have context - having a few scratch races is okay for an amateur meeting where only friends and family turn up, but I'm not sure will keep the interest of a paying public.

... and he can do that via text message

Well some of the riders need to come back next year,, with hopefully at least one more team moving up,, and Rory Bjarne and poss Jason retiring there may be a shortage of suitable riders.

Pepe staying with Falubaz ain’t he? Bellego’s leaving Byd

i like the £25.00 a week idea Good idea , but would that be keeping rob on board or finding a new promoter ??

Those days I was working for a shipping company called The Blue Star Line. I thought that when I went to watch speedway at West Ham I could forget about work but I had to spend the whole evening looking at a ship's funnel from ... yes you've guested it ... The Blue Star Line.

If the old bachelor turns up we’ve a chance of winning if the recent one turns up I can only see a defeat I would love him to turn his and our season round

I wonder when a rider drops out of the top 5 to a reserve spot if their pay rate is adjusted accordingly. Especially like we have seen at Peterborough recently with Bomber & Hans going to number 7. I'm kinda thinking their pay rate stays the same and they then go on to have 7 rides scoring a bag full of points and being paid money that would be better served being kept within the club. I would truly like riders to be paid their worth doing such a dangerous sport but sadly in British speedway it just isn't there.

4 of the top 5 yes, one a complete unknown, reserve or heat leader, but the odds are on another reserve at 2 is there anything in the rules about Batchelor wearing a Kent race jacket to get him to score some points

Have to agree there. Custom House was much more imposing, and not only looked like a proper stadium (concrete and corrugated iron), it FELT like a proper stadium...

JK`s excellent SON semi`s racecards Friday semi 1 https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2021/SoN2021-1.pdf Saturday semi 2 https://www.speedwayservice.at/images/racecards/2021/SoN2021-2.pdf

But back then you got to watch the worlds best on TV on one of only three channels most Saturday afternoons, with many of them household names.. And then had your tea... And then went to watch the same lads ride at your local track.. For a small dent in your disposable income.. With England ruling the roost in the Speedway World... Meaning the domestic leagues fed off the international success being beamed into (literally) millions of homes.. And if PC or Ivan were "elsewhere" and a guest replaced them, you found out at the track, after you had paid to get in, not days in advance.. Then the USA and the Danes took over.. So Promoters brought more of them over.. And then more Swedes, Norwegians, Aussies, Czechs, NZ's, Finns, Poles, etc etc etc.. And then viewing figures dropped because England were no longer winning, nor even looking like winning.. So the TV companies stopped beaming the sport into millions of homes... So then crowds started to drop in domestic racing.. Meaning inflation busting admission fees started to rise to pay for all these overseas stars, and the drop in crowd levels.. And that was 35 or so years ago.. Yet the same operating model has taken place all that time until today where we now seem to have realised that a successful national team might help fill some domestic league meetings with fans.. Yet that is undermined by all that nonsense that still exists with "guests", ridiculous made up rules, poor track prep etc, but is now done in a 24/7 social media glare which (quite rightly), holds it up to the ridicule it deserves.. People's disposable income has shrunk due to so much modern technology in the home and life in general being "a basic need", and not a luxury, with monthly outgoings very high in many homes.. Nowadays a Speedway meeting doesnt leave a small dent in the disposable income anymore, but a significant one.. What you could do and get away with in the 70's and 80's you cannot now.. The Worlds moved on, but UK Speedway didn't, and to a huge degree, still hasn't. .