GeneralMelchett

well run clubs don't call off a fixture cos the pit gate needs fixing!

Define badly or well run? By virtue of what you have typed here virtually every sports club in the UK is badly run as virtually none of them can operate on gate receipts alone! That's from Man U all the way down to the Sheffield Sharks Basetball team!

I think Wed usually do a pre season match there - we have a few other local sides Sheffield FC and Stocksbridge in the local county FA cups they always ensure a sell out which is 1500 However Hallam are on the up - i went Xmas 2007 i think it was and saw tem play in front of crowds of about 90-100 - they now average well over 500 per game - I am sure they picked up some diasaffected Owls but overall they are well up on ten years ago

There is, I saw a worldy of a free scored for Hallam FC the other week, as good as any you will see in the Premier League - however that was dispatched in front of 549 fans which for an non league football match is healthy - but a somewhat dull and unspiring Steel City derby yesterday was attended by 32k and we didn't see a stunning free kick! In some respects all sports need a bit of a reset as costs have been outweighing revenues for years.

yes or Emil show his complete mastery of the throttle, or even Danny pull off a outside pass, if Ipswich and Sheffield dont come to the tapes in 2026 then it will have to be just the occasional trip to either Scunthorpe or Belle Vue

No idea if this has any truth / mileage or not but it would be interesting to see a proper sound business man operate a top tier club - you can't deny Tru7 are a proper operation.

Well this would be an interesting time for the fans to come good and buy the club 😉 In another sport - AFC Wimbledon announced recently that a fan owned model isn't sustainable in football at the level they operate at, I rather suspect it wouldn't in top tier speedway speedway either!

Well the big crowd for the playoffs will be reported in the next figures, I know in the JL days he used to say a big BH crowd in May / Easter time set them up for the season. I always feel I wouild be a fairly good promoter, Ive worked in finance all my life so i understand better than most the pressures of running a business from the admin / financial side. The problem is all those 50-60k losses per season add up and eventually the funding either runs dry or someone stops being prepared to throw away 200k or more! The problem is not just speedway, i struggle to find any football clubs that are financially sound!

Its worth pointing out that Classtrend have been the promoting company at Sheffield since the days of Lucking and Machin - the losses only started when they stepped up into the top division, Machin was always adamant he would never run in the top league!

This is true - Sheffield lost another 60k last season and their accumulated losses are 500k - Bv have accumlated losses of 300k or more, only Ipswich appear to be solvent!

Well I have to say I am gutted as both the clubs I attend Sheffield and Ipswich are up for sale / facing uncertain futures. The truth will come out and we can all decide if Louis was taking his ball home or not (I suspect not) - but lets see - clearly someone who has devoted his entire life to UK speedway wouldn't just walk away on a whim / fit of pique!!

he owns a minority stake

I am ready to be corrected here but i think the Tavern was demolished as it meant no rates were due on the land - sadly the site has been now derelict since late 2018. Perhaps the same applies at PB, I know they were quick to rip out all manner of stuff at the EoES too

What a great shame about Emil but he leaves at the very top as a league title winner. I was there the night he broke the track record as well - thanks for some great memories of your fantastic racing!

Havvy was another with a style i really liked - Troy Pratt also reminded me of a lesser Andrew i.e. less of a leg trailer. Leigh Lanham was also a smooth inside line rider with a great style.