King Jamie

There will be absolutely no weather problems tonight. Sunny Armadale will live up to its name. Scorching rays from the late afternoon skies will see a picturesque scene and stadium temperatures of minus 26. Ah, the joys of a Friday evening in West Lothian's plushest venue

You're looking at the August averages (both 8.40). For September, Kennett remained on 8.40, while Barker dropped to 8.00. The guest assumes the average and team position of the rider he's replacing. Looks like a typo.

i can see where you're coming from, especially in relation to race night and rider security. If Monarchs don't run in 2023, they'll lose their Friday evening seniority and face hosting a number of home meetings on 'off nights' if / when they return. And obviously a ground share at Ashfield would mean a move from Friday in any case, hence why it won't be top of the any potential 'choice' list.

1996 at Shawfield, the company made a loss of £60K (or perhaps £66K, can't remember). The impact of that is still obvious in the balance sheet even now. Granted it was one big league at the time and hopefully any potential repeat wouldn't incur quite so much financial damage but I'm not convinced it would be first choice among the directors. As you say though, needs must.

Mixed thoughts on this. Part of me is thinking the Council are correct to look after the area's interests as they see fit. I read about how they put the land up for sale for Monarchs to buy and yet it was mentioned the club was more likely looking at a lease purchase. A bit of a difference in terms of incoming cash flow for WLC. If Monarchs couldn't raise the funds to buy outright, why shouldn't the Council sell it to another party who apparently can? Meanwhile, another part of me is thinking, I guess that's what happens when people vote Labour.

Interesting to see Monarchs giving up their 'advantage' in the play off QF by deciding to host the first leg instead of the second. An obvious admission that having the first leg at Redcar (as should've been the case) would've led to a deficit that many would see as irretrievable, hence potentially lowering the attendance figure. Smart fixture planning

Just like the bloke at Cardiff who, at one point, I'm sure announced him as 'Nick Bloomberg'. Quite pathetic. Not to mention disrespectful.

Not sure how that's worked out. The rulebook states that, where two riders have the same average, whoever was higher in the previous issue would retain seniority. It also says you don't go beyond the second decimal place. Neil Watson stated the rule was written badly and riders are separated beyond two decimal places on occasion. He also proved that Tom Brennan was 'higher' than Ostergaard on this basis (both were 6.62 in the green sheets). Despite that, Ostergaard retained his previous seniority throughout August and Glasgow were able to use guests for him after he picked up an injury, as third heat leader (Brennan no.4). Fast forward to September and we have: Edinburgh - Lasse Frederiksen (4.00) retaining senior status over Jacob Hook (4.00). This is correct, as LF was originally 5.00 at the start of the season. JH has never gone above 4.00. Redcar - Jason Edwards (4.39, previously 4.85) retaining senior status over Kyle Newman (4.39, previously 4.31). Again, this is correct. Poole - Daniel King somehow becoming the new number one (8.26, previously 8.29) ahead of the previous incumbent Steve Worrall (8.26, previously 8.48). For the purposes of consistency, Poole's first opponents in September should lodge a protest and have the line-up adjusted accordingly

We won't know how much money has been raised for 'the pot' from sales of assets until the final report is issued. If the time scale for this is similar to Newspeed 2003 Ltd, we're probably looking at next year. There are no 'secured' creditors in amongst the full list, which means everyone will be scrapping for whatever is left but, as you say, by the time the liquidators take their fees, I wouldn't imagine that will amount to much, if anything

Within the Statement of Affairs, on the Summary of Liabilities page, there is an amount of £8,872 owing to 'consumer creditors'. I would guess season ticket holders are included in that figure?

Looking at it another way, the 5-1 from James and Jacob in heat 2 is the difference between the sides going forward. Really enjoyable meeting on Friday. Highlight for me was Michele Castagna posting a 60.1 in heat 14, thus equaling Mark Loram's Powderhall track record. Yes, I know, I'm easy pleased! Re Fireman Sam, he spent most of the evening piddling round the white line. No change there. We're well used to it by now. No criticism from me. At least by the time the second leg arrives, he'll be two weeks further along the fitness trail and will be able to extend his hose further. Roll on Friday...

Yes, defo see you there. I'll be the one with a bed sheet over my head

Where does the sun sit in relation to Oxford Stadium? As in, will it be shining in our faces or will it be 'hidden' behind the stand? I've not been down yonder since a British Final many moons ago and can't remember if I fried that night or not. Given the forecast for Friday, I could very well melt

Interesting meeting. With the top 2 not quite scoring at their usual rate (hats off to Richard Lawson for a decent effort though), Monarchs were never comfortable and it took yet another heat 15 5-1 to seal the 3 points. There were some vital contributions from the supporting cast, including heat wins for both Police Sarjeant and Dr Hook. We were even treated to a victory lap from young Lasse after finishing third in heat 10. Never seen that before. The glue that is Kye Thomson turned in probably his most dominant display to date, showing a new found aggressive side and some excellent passing. Perhaps he should lose a chain in his first race every week! For the Gladiators, after two races, it looked like they might need to call upon old friends Hunter and Jet. However, they already had the Wolf man at number one and his part in the heat 3 5-1, alongside the brutally inconsistent MPT, turned the meeting on its head. Of the rest, Ben Barker/r posted his best sunny Armadale score since, er, no idea. HNA really is a classy performer but he doesn't half give up easily. And Ben Morley did what Ben Morley does. Paid 9 was good reward for his evening's work. Unlike last week, there was no controversy. Not that there was ever any chance of that with the best referee in the sport in charge. Thank you again for 2014 sir Roll on a week on Friday...

Ostergaard ranked third in the averages, ahead of Brennan. Who'd have thunk it?

Pardon my ignorance but when was the go fund me pot set up? As the only available accounts are up to 30 Nov 2020, could it have been later than that? If so, then the director's loan would be separate. The so called last meeting was in 2021 so, unfortunately, we'll most likely never know what happened to the income from it. Swallowed up by stadium rent, etc, presumably? The liquidator will prepare a Statement of Affairs, just as they did for Newspeed, followed some time later by a final report. As I said yesterday, I await these with interest...

Oops, sorry about that. Strangely, they work on my office PC but not on my mobile. Must have done something wrong somewhere. Technology never has been my best friend

Was the go fund me money ring-fenced or was it allowed to be used to help with running costs? The only accounts for the 'new company' (period from incorporation to 30 November 2020) show capital and reserves of £(3,248). The share capital element is £100, so p&l a/c reserve would therefore be £(3,348). The main creditor is a director's loan account of just under £14K. This is money that Rob has loaned the company in order to keep it afloat. Technically, he is entitled to reclaim this as and when there's money in the bank. There's an accounting reporting gap between November 2020 and now. I suspect we won't ever see accounts to Nov 2021, although there's no mention of liquidation on Companies House as yet. If the company was continually racking up bills and the incoming monies were dwindling, the go fund me 'pot' would most likely have been used to help with this. Again, if it was ring-fenced for other purposes, the fans would have every right to be more than upset. If not, then I'm afraid there's not much anyone can do about it. I await both the Liquidator's Statement of Affairs and the final report with interest. However, unless you believe (or, more to the point, can categorically prove) Rob ran the business into the ground and deliberately incurred expenses he otherwise wouldn't have in normal circumstances, I don't think you can say he "took the go fund me money and season ticket money" as, technically, those funds were provided to help pay the bills. When the money ran out, he then chose to pull the plug. As 100% owner, that's his choice. By the way, I am in no way a Rob Grant sympathiser. And I fully understand why Newcastle fans are upset. Their team is (it seems) no more. All that history gone, in a flash. Here's hoping for some long overdue positive news, sooner rather than later.

Ok. I'll try to go through your points in order... Ordinary share capital is included in the accounts at cost. There were 100,000 £1 ordinary shares issued, hence the £100K shown in the capital and reserves section. Previously, the shares were owned by Andrew Dalby (25K), Martin Phillips (50K) and George English (25K). Before that, Alan Findlay, Joan English, Darryl Illingworth and Barry Wallace all owned various amounts. However, it's best not to get too bogged down in all of that. The £100K existed at the time of the original shares being issued and paid for (many years ago) and continues to sit in the accounts at that figure for eternity. It doesn't mean that, for example, Rob Grant paid £100K to purchase the shares from the previous 3 owners. A number of company takeovers are for £1, plus the newbie taking on the debts. However, the terms of any takeover will be kept private and most won't be obvious at all from future sets of accounts (especially the toothless micro-entity efforts). As I stated in my earlier post, the remaining reserves at 30 November 2018 amounted to £(74,438). Presuming this was solely the profit and loss account reserve, it basically means that, throughout the lifetime of the company, it has made £74K more cumulative losses than profits. In these circumstances, no dividends would be legally entitled to be paid (I think you noted that anyway). Everything was still looking reasonable in the accounts to 30 November 2018. Net assets of £25,562 isn't the worst position to be in. Much better than some other speedway businesses I've looked at over the years. I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to in relation to a bank overdraft? Basically the accounts information jumped from the November 2018 year to the liquidator's Statement of Affairs dated 2 November 2020. At that point, there was no mention of any bank balance or overdraft. What effectively happened was that the company went from plodding along merrily one day to receiving an invoice (investigation assessment) from HMRC for £158K the next. I suspect Rob would've looked at that and probably either cried very loudly or headed straight to the toilet to check his underwear was still clean. That £158K was the tipping point which sent the company over the edge. Rob obviously knew he couldn't / wouldn't pay it and so decided to wind things up. The liquidation process was carried out and, as stated, outstanding amounts due were the HMRC debt and the £100K ordinary shares. None of these amounts were settled. There was no "£100K taken out of the club". I hope that explains things Hopefully these links work: Liquidator Statement of Affairs can be fond here Liquidator's final report can be found here

No they're not. See highlighted bit from your post

Averages aren't calculated beyond two decimal places.

It's certainly the biggest rivalry in Scottish speedway

Not at all. Abbie says you're still chasing the play-offs...

I don't think that's correct. The last set of accounts prior to the liquidation process kicking in was the year to 30 November 2018. At that point, the net assets were £25,562 but, as the issued ordinary share capital was £100K, the remaining reserves amounted to £(74,438). This is most likely the profit and loss account reserve but no detail of the split is provided, as they're micro-entity accounts (pretty useless in all honesty). The next thing we know, the company is facing an HMRC liability of £158K, following an investigation of the period prior to Rob Grant taking control. This would have been more than enough to wipe out the £25,562 net assets, even if it consisted wholly of cash / bank (which it probably wasn't, as current assets at 30 November 2018 were only £33,696 and most likely included stock and debtors). The liquidator issued a Statement of Affairs, showing assets with an apparent market value of just £500. This was cancelled out by a creditor of the same amount. The bottom line of this statement showed net liabilities of just over £258K (£158K to HMRC and £100K ordinary share capital, all owned by Rob Grant). By the time it came to the liquidator's final report being published (around 8 months later), only a further £2,684.92 of assets had been realised, all of which was swallowed up by professional fees. Both HMRC and the ordinary shareholders received £Nil, as there was nothing left in the pot. Bottom line is Rob didn't "spend it on something else".

A couple of snippets from the rulebook: 011.1.3 2 Minute Allowance If a track has a countdown clock, that can be operated solely by the Referee, then it is compulsory for the clock to be used. 011.1.4 Starting a Race The Start Marshal shall bring the riders to the starting gate, in the order as determined by their gate position, commencing with gate a, b, c, then d.