uk_martin

I can recall, I think it was in about 2008-2009, it had been fine all day. the stadium was filling up nicely, and then almost without warning, at about 7.15pm the heavens opened. And it didn't stop. An hour later, no-one could believe it was still raining and the inevitable happened, the meeting was called off, with those who hadn't gone already, facing a wasted evening, and those who pay the bills, having a big hole in their finances. I got the news at about lunchtime. I looked out of the window,. with spots of rain appearing on the glass, looking at a few weather forecasts on the web, and thought, yeah, sensible decision. And let's face it, what would any of us have done in the same situation? I wonder if those fans who want promoters to take the extra risks would want to club together to fund the insurance premium for a policy that will compensate promoters for the financial losses that they could incur as a result of taking the extra risks and falling foul of them? Such "pluvius insurance" policies do exist. See if you can negotiate one, and pay for it? Maybe this could be something that the Federation of British Supporters Clubs, (or whatever that concoction that the BSPA was proposing, is called) could mastermind? They need something to do.

Not one set of accounts has been audited, and only one set described as "full". Hardly the stuff to engender trust and confidence is it? And of course Terry Russell's company is running at a loss again. (shock)

I love the way that Thomsen and Castagna are being ignored like they don't exist. If one or both of them bloom into decent riders, then that'll wipe some smirks off some faces. These things happen. Who'd have foreseen how riders like James Birkinshaw and Jack Hargreaves would have done so well for us until their respective injuries stopped them, all those years ago?

I wonder if the rev limiter could ever become a "smart" rev limiter, hooked up to a transponder whereby like in Formula E the fans can vote in extra revs for a rider of their choice for certain (safe-ish) parts of the track?

I assume that means "kick-off" our season, not "knock-out" our season? Ya gotta love abbreviations, innit?

Sounds like speedway supporters are showing the BSPA how to run a shambles. "Consistution sorted by individual clubs" - how is that supposed to work?

OK, so the BSPA would like a "United Nations" of Speedway Supporters Clubs, with an "ambassador" from each team's supporters club to sit around a table with all the other ambassadors, to come up with a united voice of the speedway fanbase? Is that about right so far? Has anyone decided on where the meetings are to take place? Will the BSPA / SCB donate their offices in Rugby to convene these meetings? As this organisation is at the desire of the BSPA, will they be funding the travelling (& other) expenses for those fans from the likes of Plymouth, Kent, Glasgow & Edinburgh, who will have substantial journeys to make to the meetings? Will the BSPA be drafting a constitution for their desired Supporters Club of Clubs, or will that be for the supporters themselves to sort out? And how often and in what way do the BSPA intend to "listen" to, or enact any of the things that the supporters suggest?

Maybe the BSPA should publish a YouTube video of our beloved and highly professional association's officers dressed like Kwik-Fit Fitters, doing a Derby-arranging draw, with all the team names being pulled out of a cardboard box?

Thanks

What's the difference between a rider getting injured in Poland on the Friday to a rider getting injured in Sweden on the Thursday or in England on the Wednesday? If they are out injured on the Saturday, then they are injured. End of. What does it matter how long ago the injury was incured? And are memories so short as to forget that British Elite League teams used to ride on Fridays? What qualifies us to criticise anyone else for doing the same?

Any idea when they sort out which meetings are on the Saturday and which are on Sunday? Also, any idea when decisions will be anticipated to be made for the venue of the Poliish Pairs meeting scheduled for 4th May?

Splash inordinate ammounts of cash on something that the Brummies would currently find unaffordable, and end up in the same place as the Workington Comets. Reality can teach some harsh lessons and fans need to be mindful of that. 2019 may not feature a team of Galacticos, but at least it's a team that should ensure some continuity of the club into 2020 and hopefully beyond.

As you quoted me, please show where in my quote I said that the faith school "should not be allowed"? Then please explain why a matter of fact report on what's going on is "very racist"? As for the rest of the trip you wrote, well that's not worth repeating.

RIP Workington Comets. Get ready for a rider merry-go-round and big edits being needed to the team line-ups.

If someone was really looking, then entering the words "speedway" & "Birmingham" into Google will find you the Birmingham Speedway web site at the top of their search results and it would be far quicker than trawling the BSPA site for links. It's the way people do it these days.

Has anyone noticed the changes? The old Columbian URL's that were formatted around www.[team name][nickname].co are being replaced by www.[team name]-speedway.com and the new style URL's have started to be rolled out to all the teams web sites. So as an example, www.birminghambrummies.co has become www.birmingham-speedway.com For now, the old URL is automatically redirecting to the new URL (or they are for Birmingham and Belle Vue, the ones that I've tried) but one must assume that in time any bookmarks that you may have saved in your browser, and any hyperlinks that you have to your team's web sites on TwitFace or InstaTube etc, will need updating.

Absolutely correct. The BSPA published it on their site so they assume responsibility for what appears on it. If they didn't like the wording, they should have insisted on an edit to it.

Great! Any particular shade of yellow? Hi-Viz yellow perhaps, or a gentler shade of dandelion? Lemon Yellow maybe? Take your pick, which would you prefer? I dare anone to tell the difference between Banana Yellow and White on a wet muddy day after a few heats of use.

The Birmingham Speedway announcement http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.35871 - published on the BSPA web site, states that "subject to the necessary paperwork being completed by the British Speedway Promoters Association" - A clear onus therefore on the BSPA to tidy up loose ends. And yet on another BSPA web site page - http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/championshipannouncements19 - we get the quote that R&R states above which puts the onus on Birmingham and Eastbourne to sort their lives out. A classic case of "it's not us, it's them". Bearing in mind that the Birmingham announcement was on 3rd December, and Eastbourne's was well before that, how much longer do the sports blessed administrators need to sort all this out? One would assume that until this is all done, there won't be any fixtures published, and if it all goes sour, then it would be too late now for Birmingham and Eastbourne to reconsider National League speedway, so that will be 14 riders left in the lurch, not to mention all the fans of the two teams concerned. What a mess.

Interesting to read somewhere that there are efforts being made to establish a Baltic League with teams from Russia (St P'burg) Finand, Estonia and Latvia. Possibly even Lithuania, (can't remember for sure) But this will be at the very junior level, almost semi-professional at best. From what I remember from the article I read, they tried this last year, I think, but it fell flat on it's face, but they are going to try again this year. Where there's a will, as they say...

To the first point, I guess a lot will depend on what is considered to be in the public interest. Bear in mind that one decently attended concert at a live music venue will attract more people and younger people than the average crowd at many speedway stadiums. To the second point, there are moves to encourage public and sustainable transport and to discourage private motoring. The City Centre will have a Carbon Curtain drawn around the Middle Ring Road in 2020, so that anyone heading to or through the city centre wil have to pay £10 for the privilage. The focus of this new "green agenda" will be on "moving people, not moving cars". So who knows what the noise situation from the roads will be in a few years time.

Potentially...I've heard of cases (including one in Digbeth, I think) where people have moved in close to pubs that had regular music events, which could just about be heard outside of the pub, and the same legal precident was used in the stopping of the live music. It's not just speedway that this affects. Whatever he was, the fact that it went to the House of Lords, means that local County Courts have a binding precedent to follow in the future. Future cases won't need the same level of financial clout unless it goes to appeal. Not sure if Legal Aid is available for these kind of claims either. If it is, anyone suitably clued up could be a "threat". But at least it'll be some while away. It'll be 2022 when the Commonwealth Games take place, so it will be 2023 before the accommodation has been converted to house families etc. So another 4 or 5 years to prepare.

Firstly, we are taking about Civil Law, specifically the Tort of "Nuisance", not Criminal Law, so "laws" on Noise Polution are not in question. Secondly, none of the above gets around the legal point which was made by the judges ruling, that moving into an area where there is a pre-existing noise "nuisance", shouldn't prevent you from taking legal action against it. Those who think that they can come and "change the world for the better" have that element of legal support now. And as this is a precident set as far up as in the House of Lords, it is binding on all lower courts too. And don't think that an appeal to the European Courts will change things, the Brexit voters cut off that avenue for the future.

Indeed, a corner of the car park could be lost to facilitate the Aldridge Road diversion and widening.

One of the Artists impressions from the Council documentation. You can see the stadium in it, and you can see how close a lot of living accommodation will be. Imagine this projection to be taken from above and behind the existing bus garage, looking westwards towards the One Stop Shopping Centre. Out of interest, the plan is that Aldridge Road that currently goes straight from the stadium to the "Crown & Cushion Roundabout" will be diverted around the stadium. Basically the road that's there now, will be widened and made dual-directional, meeting up with Walsall Road, near where the fly-over currently stands. Walsall Road will be "straightened out" to follow the route of the flyover, but at ground level, straight to the Crown & Cushion roundabout. The railway station and the shops adjoining it, and those over the road from it are also subject to compulsary purchase, so expect a new rail / bus interchange station to be built there, and the eyesore slum shops to be a thing of the past. These things are not shown in this drawing though.