King Jamie

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.

No rule change. The missing riders are representing their respective countries. Therefore a guest facility is available for all.

You'll need to help me out here. Roughly how long ago was this? I'm struggling to think of which rider you're referring to.

Aye, as long as he's pocketing enough zloty to pay for nappies and the mortgage, who cares about his contractual duties in the UK? Conscious much? I like the news snippet on the Monarchs website. Says something like, "he'll miss KL and Leicester and have treatment this weekend. He won't miss any more meetings." Perhaps they should have gone with, "he'll miss KL and Leicester and have treatment on Saturday before returning to action in sunny Polska 24 hours later." Wonder what sort of reaction that would've gleaned. Poland is famous for its 'gun to the head' policy. Perhaps we should do the same? If Mr Campbell wishes to purchase a rifle, I'm happy to provide the character reference...

What a farce. And not for the first time from Masters either.

The 3-3 in heat 1, if all subsequent scores had followed the same pattern, would've meant no T/S allowed, therefore no 1-5 in heat 9. Swings and roundabouts. Or chains and, er, something else unchainlike

Perhaps he's just a slow learner

The rules are long standing and make perfect sense. If a team (Berwick) is over the 42.00 limit and attempts to sign a 5.00 rider to replace a 4.3ish one, that's technically deemed as cheating. In such instances, it's only fair that another change has to take place in order to comply with the limit. If a team (Redcar, Scunny) is below 42.00, they can rebuild up to that level, no questions asked. League position is irrelevant. The joy of numbers

What a dreadful meeting. Thankfully, I was in hospitality, so had beer for company. Magnus Magnusson entered the stadium after heat 14 and announced: Edinburgh Monarchs. You've scored 45 pts and no passes. Poole Pirates. You've scored 39 pts and no passes. At least heat 15 gave the paying punter some entertainment. For the Monarchs, Masters was decent, Pickering likewise, Hook excellent, Thomson fine until heat 12, Castagna dreadful until heat 14, Sarjeant had a meeting of two halves and Fredriksen should've stayed at home. For the Champions, the former Worrallloadofrubbish, Daniel King, Ben Cook and young Ablitt gained pass marks. unKempt did his job by winning heat 8. The other two were woeful. I believe that's our first victory over Poole since 1995 at Powderhall, when Kenny McKinna was part of a heat 16 5-1 over Lars Gunnestad (a proper Norwegian rider), securing a 56-40 demolition and a bonus point to boot. Them were the days! Roll on Friday...

Sweaties isn't offensive. It's only rhyming slang. Why bother about it? Sticks and stones and al that.

Not sure about that. Between the 4 meetings between the sides last season and the recent Wimborne Road clash, Josh has only won 3 out of 23 races. His 40 points scored only averages 6.96. Indeed, in the two fixtures at sunny Armadale, he's returned a somewhat miserable 15 pts from 9 rides, an average of just 6.67. Much improvement required. As for Sam, even though he's only won 13 out of his 29 heats, at least he's averaging 9.24. Almost acceptable. Big test this Friday!

I do agree re unreliable riders not being ideal. Probably poorly written by myself but I was just noting how much more favourably he could be looked upon by certain teams given that he may be on 5.00 as opposed to the 6.73 average originally mentioned by MD. If he didn't cause any trouble during his Glasgow days then they, for example, could well be up for signing him in 2023.

It's better than that... The end of season rolling averages will be based on just 10 meetings. Vissing has ridden 10 this season (4H/6A) with an average of 5.00. Not sure if there will be any Newcastle adjustments to be made but I would say he's even more "hugely employable" now!

An interesting meeting resulted in an eventually comfortable victory, ensuring Monarchs remain unbeaten throughout the second half of calendar year 2022. No less than 14 of the 15 heats produced either wins or paid wins for an Australian rider. Surely some kind of record in UK speedway? The odd one out was heat 14 when Jacob Hook couldn't quite manage to follow home Michele Castagna for the 5-1. Damn you James Wright! Scunny put in a decent shift. Ryan Douglas was excellent. Simon Lambert was all action, as always, and managed to earn some welcome points to go alongside his efforts. However, after a bright start, Zaine Kennedy's scoring only went in one direction. With that, their challenge fizzled out. For the Monarchs, plus points all round. Lasse Fredriksen very nearly bagged back to back paid maximums (maxima?), while Sam Masters was more dominant than the Old Firm in a Scottish Premiership title race. We'll need the Fireman to repeat that again when the Champions visit 6 days from now. Finally, the proposed new stadium toy was on display, resulting in the first appearance by a model at sunny Armadale since... er, I've no idea. Can't remember Kate Moss ever settling foot in the place. Anyone know? Roll on Friday...

The facilities chart is straight from the rulebook, in which part D is highlighted. It wasn't done so by Normski to refer to anything in this situation.

Or perhaps not From 1 July, young Sarjeant will drop to 3.93, thus keeping both himself and Jacob Hook at reserve. Lasse will remain in the top 5, albeit now on 4.00 as you said. His previous higher 'average' will ensure he's not allowed to swap with Hook and enjoy a dabble in the bottom 2 for a while.

Fredriksen only missed one meeting all season. That was vs Redcar at sunny Armadale (he was taking part in some kind of qualifier or another that night?) and r/r was used that night. He returned, only to be decapitated by James Shanes. Don't worry though, he's due back on Friday apparently.