salty

Report of yesterday's "Show of Passion" http://www.racingpost.com/news/greyhounds/industry-turns-out-to-support-mayor-of-london/1608106/top/ and a rather more upbeat article from last week (as far as Greyhounds is concerned that is) http://www.racingpost.com/blog/greyhounds/jonathan-kay/momentum-looks-to-have-been-turned-our-way/1606997/

You talk about fight and spirit, but what, in practical terms, do you suggest doing? A number of us on here have laid out in painstaking detail the economic realities of the situation but you continue to resist such views without coming up with a practical alternative. To say this forum "amazes" you is a bit strange in terms of this thread. With the exception of your posts, it is one of the best thought out and informative on the whole site (IMO).

"Inside Speedway" by John Louis - usually available on ebay, as is it's sequel.

You might not be horrible to Arthur, but you continually miss the point! There are two proposed developments for the site. One for a football ground and houses and one for a greyhound track and houses. The fact that houses is in both plans means that the chances of Speedway (or indeed any motor sport) being involved is slim.The housing is in both plans because that is what is funding the proposals. There was talk from the Taggart people that they would look favourably on Speedway, but that seems to have cooled over recent months. The fact that the local residents are currently backing the Taggart development can't be helpful for our sports chances.

Well, certainly not Kennett!!

Saw the thread title - saw the Cradley avatar of the OP - and knew Finn Jensen would figure prominently! World beater one race, novice the next. From a slightly different angle, what about Eddie Jancarz? Not because of his riding, but the frustration of not knowing what stage of the season he would be allowed to show up!

I have reservations about the sport being used for betting purposes in this way. There was reason why betting was always prohibited and I think those reasons are probably even more relevant in this day and age. We have seen from the spot betting scandals in Cricket and also some of the ongoing investigations in Football that the tentacles of corruption can reach deeply into a sport and I suspect a 4 runner race in a sport which is not awash with money would be vulnerable.

Nobody doubts there are enough riders to hold both meetings, its just that some of those riders happen to be the same people. Just saying the ERC is a shared event and that all are contractually obliged to attend is all well and good but not so easy circumvented when some of the riders have already agreed to ride for Havvy on the same day. I think legally the BSPA would be on dodgy ground if they tried to ban and fine riders who stick with Havvy and no doubt the easy way out, if a change of date isn't suitable, would be an ex gratia payment to the Havvy fund in lieu of the upset caused.

Yet again, an extremely well written and informative post from Arthur. I'm afriad I would have to concur with his pessimism regarding the future of dogs at Plough Lane - and as we have mentioned before - the only hope for Speedway (if any) is that Paschal Taggart wins the day.

Much as Gustix has to offer, I would venture that "Arthur Cross" is the most informative poster when it comes to Wimbledon Stadium. No news as such - the planning decision is due in April. However, the Greyhound world are planning this show of support later this month... http://www.racingpost.com/news/greyhounds/wimbledon-show-of-passion-confirmed-as-2pm-february-17-at-city-hall/1599872/top/

Good point Phil. As you say, at the moment the sums involved in the new Sky/Speedway deal remain confidential, but I think it is fair to say that it is more than a few pence less than the one that allows Sky to mess about with the football fixture list. Having said that, I think it is clear that Speedway needed the TV contract a tad more than TV needed Speedway, so it appears that we are at a disadvantage when Sky require a bit of tweaking of the schedules.

Anyone know what happened to the new magazine that was launched at the start of last season? Is it still going?

Both plans involve housing as that is what pays for the stadium development. Greyhound racing are organising the following.. http://www.racingpost.com/news/greyhounds/wimbledon-show-of-passion-next-month/1597766/top/

Thanks for your answer Arthur. Though I note you are unable to shed any light on the exact relationship between Galliard and RCP. Don't suppose it really matters in terms of the future because, as you mention, the big players now seem to be NAMA. Parsloes, I reckon that Mr Simpson of the WPRA was talking about the geography purely from the merton side of the stadium. I can't really see anybody travelling to Plough Lane using Wimbledon Park tube, but I would say Haydons Road is the closest station to the track. Anybody using Earlsfield or Tooting Broadway would probably still be using a bus along Garratt Lane to complete their journey.

I got an e-mail from the Save Oxford Stadium group at the weekend telling me that Galliard are appealing two of the council decisions. One the decision against demolition and then a separate appeal against the decision against the housing plans.

Thanks for posting this. I see Mr Feltham says that Galliard own the site. Maybe I missed something, but I thought GRA owned it who were in turn owned by RCP? Does anyone know (I'm thinking Arthur Cross) whatlinks there are between Galliard and RCP? Not entirely surprised to hear Mr Taggart now appears not keen on the stocks. I guess he needs the residents on side more than he needs the motor sport community.

Chris Chataway, Bert Williams and now Alf Weedon. What a sad day. RIP to all three of them.

I think the only way Darcy will surprise anyone next year I don't think anybody will be surprised if Darcy is challenging for the title. His scores in the 9 Gp's he rode in show that. I'd be more surprised if he wasn't up there with Tai, Emil, Jarek, Puk and Chris (and whoever else).

Very true, Gustix. The headline of the article on the website is "WWW fury as Nama supports Galliard" which doesn't help either, though there is a pic of Wimbledon Stadium with caption "Wimbledon planning inquiry opens on January 22 at Merton Town Hall". Parsloes - I'm amazed you didn't know of NAMA's involvement. The wonderful venture capitalists at RCP with the "visionary" Luke Johnson at the helm only got their hands on GRA by loaning the money from Irish banks. Arthur Cross - informative as ever - Thank You.

Thanks for posting R & R. Not massively surprising that NAMA are keen on the Galliard plan as it probably gets them their money quicker.

Didn't see anything wrong with your posts on the Ice Hockey thread, your moans about people going off the point were another matter though! But I agree with your earlier post regarding your right to post whether people agree with it or not. Back on topic Speedway 2014 - wishes and hopes As few injuries as possible. Good weather and healthy crowds Promoters to spend their energy promoting not looking for (and finding) loopholes in the myriad of rules. Some progress made on an independent overseer?? Hope the policy of two youngsters in the Elite reserve spots is a success.

But you were the one who quoted Arsenal's crowd yesterday!!! Read the thread and you will see why we got here! To save you the heartache - simply - the thread moved from a specific critique of PC's article to a more general discussion on the reasons behind Speedway's struggles to attract good crowds now compared to yesteryear. Somebody mentioned the effect of the recession and then others mentioned how the attendances at the World Darts and at Arsenal (that was you) showed that people were still happy to spend good money to attend sporting events.

What has this got to do with PC's comments in the Star? A thread goes where it goes - I can see why attendances at other sporting events became involved, especially when people began mentioning the effect of the recession on Speedway attendances.

I know this is a bit left field, but have you tried phoning them? Number is on this link. https://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact#h=eyJzdGVwMCI6ImNvbnRhY3RJdGVtTGluazU2NDIiLCJzdGVwMSI6ImNvbnRhY3RJdGVtTGluazU2NDIsNjU2NCIsInN0ZXBJZHgiOjF9

Why don't you try this link then? https://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact#h=eyJzdGVwMCI6ImNvbnRhY3RJdGVtTGluazU2NDIiLCJzdGVwSWR4IjowfQ As Bryn mentioned yesterday the logical step for you to take in your crusade to ascertain the voting figures would be to contact BT themselves.