old bob at herne bay
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Everything posted by old bob at herne bay
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I would suggest Buster makes more money from the Stock Cars in one meeting that he does from the speedway in one month. Speedway must be a pain in the arsenals to him with all the filthy dirty messing around with track preparation , and the fickle riders who will complain every week about the track being too bumpy too slick too grippy too wet too dusty too grippy on gate 1. Just have the feeling that the 2021 BSPL conference will be one of the most important conferences ever :-) :-) :-)
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Looking at the latest updated fixture list the next home meetings are Saturday September 4th vs Newcastle, then Sunday Sept 5th vs Berwick .
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Mentioned a financial restructuring is taking place and was optimistic it could be sorted in “ a few days” To see EB complete the season
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MattB .... thanks for posting link.
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Looking at purchasing a Eurosport subscription next season for my Father - who currently has BT sport to watch the SGP's .... but from what I read on here Eurosport coverage is poor, and its by no means certain that they wil cover the SGP next season ? Anyone in the know have any advice please ? He certainly hasny been impressed by the highlights offered on Quest this season.
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Five tracks you never got to but wish you had
old bob at herne bay replied to BOBBATH's topic in Years Gone By
White City - strangely one that got away from me - personal circumstances at the time ... even more bizarre since I was living in London at the time ! -
Five tracks you never got to but wish you had
old bob at herne bay replied to BOBBATH's topic in Years Gone By
Trelawny, Buxton, Bradfors (Odsal), London White City, Haringay. -
Clubs that find themselves in financial trouble, ought to be placed under “emergency measures” by the BSPL at least to complete the season and given an opportunity to clear debts. So how about the riders in teams under emergency measures being paid only at the “BSPL rate” plus a bonus dependent on how many paying spectators above the promoters breakeven watch them? teams given lee way to reschedule home and away fixtures to smooth out cash flow. teams given a temporary discount on SCB fees and referee fees to assist with short term finance issues. Teams applying for emergency measures will be required to submit their accounts to an independent auditor to review the business , audit club officials renumeration and make binding recommendations to allow emergency measures to be applied
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Sadly I have lost count of the number of successful teams I have passionately supported in my younger days , only to be completely let down by a “promoters” ego at the end of a season to take “their” club into a higher division, based on no more than a wing and a prayer and certainly no firm financial business plan. Stuff the supporters. Example: Eastbourne Speedway enjoyed its most successful “noughties” period under Connor and Martin Dugard. Sound financial plan in the NDL and they were the team to beat in the NDL. Then, mysteriously Jordan and Cook moved in, Connor and Martin “stepped aside” great things were promised moving into the Championship, but losses began to accrue. Some might say Covid caused this...... I beg to differ... Eastbourne were a very successful NDL club, appealed to the local youngsters and that’s their level given their crowd demographic and level of interest in the area. I have seen this all before , ( the late Jon Cook being involved with another venture with Stuart Douglas) at Lakeside with riders still owed money , Hackney completely ruined by John Louis and Ronnie and Terry Russell going into the Elite league with a woefully weak side, leading to the rapid demise of Hackney one season later. This is why I have no time for any modern day speedway “promoter”. I don’t believe a word they say.
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Mikebv posted “Every track should be made to present its business plan to a group of people who represent the BSPL.. They then sign it off as acceptable after reviewing historical crowd data..” Maybe they all ought to feature on an episode of “The Apprentice” and see how many Sir Alan Sugar would back. Sadly I fear if your idea were to be implemented, very very few clubs would pass muster as viable businesses .......
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If this is as you allege, then re assuring that the riders will get paid something from the BSPL "bond ". Not likely that the stadium owners will ever rent the stadium out for speedway again - given they are no doubt owed rent.
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Sadly, a very ominous statement :- ( The financial position of Eastbourne Eagles Limited. (Limited liability company of £100 according to Companies House) is clearly more serious and deep rooted than that of Newcastle and Birmingham. Not even a rallying call for fans to get behind the team and show their support in numbers to keep the club running. Something VERY wrong down there with the BSPL clearly not satisfied that Eastbourne Speedway Limited can service their existing debts prior to continuing the season ? The business situation at Arlington seems fairly strightforward in 2021. Spedeworth are tenants for the Stocks and Banger cars, Eastbourne Eagles Ltd are tenants for the speedway. Ian Jordan (unknown business background) and Les Fineing ( programme printer) are directors of the speedway company. Trevor Gear and Lee Kilby are co promoters. Owners of the stadium are Eric and Margaret Dugard (stated elsewhere on this thread) In the last filed accounts for season Dec 2018 - Dec2019 the speedway made a loss of £33k. That was I believe a full season in which Eagles were fairly succesful, although spoilt by Tom Brennan's injury. Company assets were valued at (£28k) ie minus £28k. Surprising then that they lined up in 2021 with 2 teams (NDL and CL) after such financial results given the huge uncertainty over COVID and a delayed opening.
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Kent v Berwick 17/08/21
old bob at herne bay replied to Old Crusader's topic in SGB Championship League Speedway
Any side has a chance of an away point at Kent this season, with Kent relying so heavily on Scott Troy and Paul. The rest of the side all have their moments but are very inconsistent and only if one has a good meeting allows Kent to get to the magic 46 point winning score. All makes for close results with the occasional home defeat. -
Swindon Robins 2020
old bob at herne bay replied to Crazy robin's topic in SGB Premiership Speedway League
Well done LAKESIDE legend Adam Eliis on becoming British Champion ( mentored by fellow Lakeside llegend Matt Read) -
THJ hits the nail on the head, the promotors are paying the riders unaffordable wages, financial packages, call it what you will. With Covid disrupting the sport for so long , there was an opportunity to regroup and re cast budgets for the benefit of the entire sport. Nope all guns blazing we launch back into the same sport with a greater cost base (PPE and segregation rules) and paying riders more than can be afforded. The solution is simple, but almost impossible with the present bunch of "promoters" who are all hell bent on winning the "p.offs" at any costs. There needs to be a gentlemen's agreement by promoters on the maximum pay for teams in the respective leagues. its nigh on impossible for in my opinion they are not gentlemen) People shout " they will circumvent the rules via sponsorship deals". I say as long as the club isn't paying out their money for the "sponsorship" deals" then let the riders take their chances with sponsorship. No, they will cheat, bend and manipulate any rules agreed - as has been proven over and over again. One example was back in the day of the 2nd division being kept for UK riders only, by gentlemens agreement. One club broke the rule threatening all sorts of legal action the floodgates opened and opportunities for young UK riders in the second tier dried up. There will always be one renegade who is willing ot flout any gentlemans agreement. .
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mikebaker , you have a couple of options. My met office weather forecast app shows fine weather for Lewes this weekend, so if you havent been to Lewes before you could keep your room booking and treat it as a mini weekend break , and if the speedway is running , that's a bonus. No interest in Lewes ......wait until tomorrow p.m and then get a refund on your accommodation - otherwise I guess you are committed to a few hundred quid fror accommodation and meals. There's no meeting previews on the Eagles website nor any news as I write this 3pm Tuesday.
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There are clearly serious issues with the speedway operation at Eastbourne, headed up by IanJordan. His business plan appears to have gone spectacularly wrong. Earlier this year we were told the the stadium owners had invested heavily in the stadium facility, tarmacing approach roads in the car park, rewiring the stadium, and improving the toilet facilities. This does not sound like a stadium owner about to sell the stadium for redevelopment? However, Eric Dugard is a successful businessman, and clearly is expecting a return on his investment, from his tenants, or at very least breaking even. I would suggest that the stock car operation is profitable, and will continue to provide an income to the stadium owners. The speedway operation however, clearly is costing the owners money ( how much is pure speculation) and no stadium owner is going to continue subsidising a tenant. Serious issues to resolve. For all Eastbourne fans, I hope that speedway continues at the venue.
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British final 2021
old bob at herne bay replied to Jonny the spud's topic in Speedway News and Discussions
BSPL supporting British riders......ha ha . What a bunch of losers. It’s their poor management of the sport that led to IoW leaving the NL, toform the NDL which is now a joke training league losing teams like England losing wickets in test match cricket.