Birmingham

[czechhero]

IMO, one of, if not the, most important ways for speedway to go ahead in this country is for more tracks to (re) open in the major conurbations such as London and Birmingham. I know that opening new tracks in the capital is especially difficult for many reasons, but having tracks in cities like Brum is I feel essential for the sports survival. The Brummies were always a well supported club (except perhaps the Bordesley years)and took many supporters to away fixtures thus providing revenue for those smaller clubs. All we need is for our our go-ahead City council to get their collective finger out and get voting.

Watch this space.

[Gresham]

IMO, one of, if not the, most important ways for speedway to go ahead in this country is for more tracks to (re) open in the major conurbations such as London and Birmingham. I know that  opening new tracks in the capital is especially difficult for many reasons, but having tracks in cities like Brum is I feel essential for the sports survival. The Brummies were always a well supported club (except perhaps the Bordesley years)and took many supporters to away fixtures thus providing revenue for those smaller clubs. All we need is for our our go-ahead City council to get their collective finger out and get voting.

Watch this space.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Would love to see Birmingham back.If you've got a 'go-ahead council' that's a rarity these days,hope they are accomodating for you.

In Bristol,our council are only interested in the'Arts' & are stuck in the Victorian era still.

I think the most forward thinking council i've seen is Cardiffs.If someone was interested in promoting speedway there i think they would be plesently suprised!

[czechhero]

Actually Gresh, go ahead should have been, "go-ahead" (?).

[25yearfan]

More teams and tracks are essential for speedway to keep going and improve.

 

Those who say "The present days tracks are struggling to attract crowds without extra teams opening up." - When a track closes the large majority of that tracks support stop going to speedway altogether. I've seen it with my old team the Norwich Stars. So those who think that the possible reopening of Birmingham next year would have a detrimental effect on Coventry and Wolves crowds, I don't think that would be the case. Thats csuse Perry Bar would attract mainly old Brummies fans and new fans from the Birmingham area. For instance Plymouth have said they don't get that many fans from Exeter even though the Falcons are dormant this year (hopefully this year only!).

 

Those who say that the riders aren't about - Riders come out of the woodwork and in the CL there are many frozen out riders. What would happen is that if extra teams came into the EL then the next league down the PL would become watered down slightly in terms of rider strength. The same would hapen if more PL teams were in operation, then the CL would get slightly watered down.

 

I can think of quite a few big population areas that could accomodate top 2 League speedway that currently don't.

 

2 in London - Wimbledon Dons and one in North London - Hackney or Walthamstow Hawks.

 

Southampton Saints

 

One in Kent - Crusaders

 

Hull Vikings

 

Bristol Bulldogs

 

One in Cornwall though not a big population area always got good crowds. Gulls.

 

Cardiff Dragons

 

Birmingham Brummies (keep fingers crossed for next year!)

 

Cradley Heathens

 

Nottingham/Long Eaton Outlaws or Invaders

 

Leicester Lions

 

Norwich Stars (I just about live in hope!)

 

Bradford/Halifax/Leeds Dukes or Northern or Tykes.

 

Ellesmere Port/Liverpool Gunners or Chads

 

Exeter Falcons (hopefully next year!)

 

Nothing better than seeing new and/or old tracks coming back into the sport!

Edited August 18, 2006 by 25yearfan

[czechhero]

Blimey mate that's a list and a half, kind of proves the point though, doesn't it?

More tracks = more fans.

I remember when we reopened in '71 all the local tracks complained, but they weren't complaining when all those Brummies' fans turned up a couple of times a season.

If only a quarter of those teams you mention reopened, just imagine the extra interest in the sport it would create.

I've said this before but I know about 4 or 5 people at work who love watching speedway on Sky but have never seen the sport live. You can bet that my car will be full come the 1st night at Perry Barr (hopefully).

Edited August 19, 2006 by czechhero

[RogH]

Would'nt it be wonderful if all those tracks could be reborn.

 

Trouble is, the alarm clock rings and we're back in the world of reality.

 

Ask people at Cradley, Long Eaton, Norwich, Halifax, Trelawny, Bristol, Southampton, Wimbledon, Boston, Leicester, Bradford and latterly Exeter how easy it is to find a suitable venue.

Add to that list Birmingham as per this thread together with us at Hull.

 

Finding a site that is available at an affordable price that the planners will accept is a nightmare, as any promoter will tell you. The promoters at Scunthorpe, Plymouth and Redcar have done wonderfully well to revive their clubs, although all three clubs were many years out of the sport.

 

I believe that professional advice should be available via the BSPA for promoters looking to open new tracks, to weave a way through the planning maze. The consultant helping Cradley Heath would be an ideal choice.

 

Also, I know it upsets the purists, but I believe speedway must address the noise issue, which has prevented and indeed closed many tracks. Noise reduction measures for the machines must take place plus acoustic fences as at Weymouth need to become standard. Such changes must make us more user friendly and increase the chances for new venues to be established.

[AndyM]

Couldn't agree more. Perhaps land is too expensive and competition for leisure time and dollar too fierce in cities these days? There aren't many places where a track is in the centre of town, other than Poole. Great shame in my view that speedway isn't supported in these locations.

[SCB]

I can think of quite a few big population areas that could accomodate top 2 League speedway that currently don't.

 

Cardiff Dragons

Not an option due to the 30 mile rule I'd imagine even right on the other side of Cardiff, driving not flying you're still only talking 20 miles

 

Even if you built it by Cardiff airport (which is out of Cardiff, through Barry and nearly in St Athens) you're talking 28.31 mile according to the AA! Thing is, by then you're talking old folk not the masses of Cardiff.

 

While Newport Speedway is alive and plodding along, I can't see it happening, even if you got permission form the council etc and built your stadium , Tim Stone would not say yes, he'd be very foolish to IMO as Newport cannot afford to do anything which might take away a single fan.

[AndyM]

That's a misguided rule anyway. And it assumes that if club B didn't exist, supporters of club A would automatically change their allegiance and attending habits. Ain't necessarily so! As retailers like Starbucks seem to have found, the winning strategy is paradoxically to cluster around an area if you want to stir up interest and dominate the competition. Nothing better for stirring up good crowds than a keen local rivalry, wouldn't you say?

[heathen76]

The "major" local newspaper in the west midlands area(express & star) ran its main headline tonight(sat) stating that construction work on a new golf course in the sandwell area had been halted as the local council acted on a new ruling allowing them to do so,following complaints from nearby residents re noise and dust pollution. the golf course has full planning permission too,what chance for a new speedway track under these circumstances!! (in this case cradley obviously) with the recent news regarding exeter,it really does make you fear for the sports future

[scarletrider]

More teams and tracks are essential for speedway to keep going and improve.

 

Those who say "The present days tracks are struggling to attract crowds without extra teams opening up." - When a track closes the large majority of that tracks support stop going to speedway altogether. I've seen it with my old team the Norwich Stars. So those who think that the possible reopening of Birmingham next year would have a detrimental effect on Coventry and Wolves crowds, I don't think that would be the case. Thats csuse Perry Bar would attract mainly old Brummies fans and new fans from the Birmingham area. For instance Plymouth have said they don't get that many fans from Exeter even though the Falcons are dormant this year (hopefully this year only!).

 

Those who say that the riders aren't about - Riders come out of the woodwork and in the CL there are many frozen out riders. What would happen is that if extra teams came into the EL then the next league down the PL would become watered down slightly in terms of rider strength. The same would hapen if more PL teams were in operation, then the CL would get slightly watered down.

 

I can think of quite a few big population areas that could accomodate top 2 League speedway that currently don't.

 

2 in London - Wimbledon Dons and one in North London - Hackney or Walthamstow Hawks.

 

Southampton Saints

 

One in Kent - Crusaders

 

Hull Vikings

 

Bristol Bulldogs

 

One in Cornwall though not a big population area always got good crowds. Gulls.

 

Cardiff Dragons

 

Birmingham Brummies (keep fingers crossed for next year!)

 

Cradley Heathens

 

Nottingham/Long Eaton Outlaws or Invaders

 

Leicester Lions

 

Norwich Stars (I just about live in hope!)

 

Bradford/Halifax/Leeds Dukes or Northern or Tykes.

 

Ellesmere Port/Liverpool Gunners or Chads

 

Exeter Falcons (hopefully next year!)

 

Nothing better than seeing new and/or old tracks coming back into the sport!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Add Sunderland Stars/Gladiators to that list, we would dearly love to be back in speedway.

Nil Desperandum

[25yearfan]

Yes Iam very well aware of the fact that reopening or opening new tracks is a very difficult process indeed.

 

I was just going through the areas where IF(and it is indeed a very big IF!) a new track could be found a location then I think the areas would have the possibility to do well.

 

Good luck ROG with you and your associates attempts to get Hull back on track. A well run Hull outfit could do well but don't give up to soon cause it may take time for things to materialise. - Could the Boulevard be a possibility?

 

Yes I know their is a 30 mile agreement in place that can effect new tracks. But I think in high population areas this policy is rather irrelevent. Particularly in the case of Birmingham where it would be under 30 miles from both Wolves and Coventry but if things were worked out properly the Brummies return wouldn't effect either. I feel this could be the case as well with Cardiff and Newport if done right. In fact I'd say that like a Birmingham reopening a Cardiff revival would create tremendous rivalry between them and Newport as well as doing much to give speedway more exposure and therefore more fans in the area.

 

In the case of the attempts to establish speedway at Swaffham raceway about 3-4 years ago King's Lynn were right to protest about Swaffham. Swaffham raceways about 14 miles from King's Lynn in an area of sparse population who in the majority wouldn't be as wealthy as those in other areas. The plan was to call Swaffham, Norwich but I don't think enough fans from Norwich would of went to Swaffham regularly enough so the crowds wouldn't of been good enough.

 

To the ex Sunderland fan - I only mentioned areas that I feel could sustain a top 2 League speedway team.

 

I think their is many other areas that sustain CL speedway if done right.

 

These would be:

 

Great Yarmouth, Romford, Brighton, Matchams Park, Yeovil, in or around London area, another South West team, Portsmouth, Long Eaton or Nottingham, Birmingham area, Bradford or Halifax, Cumbria area, Crewe, one or two Scottish teams and last but not least Sunderland!

 

I think the now very plush Boldon Stadium in Sunderland former home of the Stars speedway team there could sustain Conference League racing but is to near to Newcastle and Redcar to attract top 2 Division crowds. When all 3 teams last ran together (for Redcar count Middlesbrough, same thing as far as I'm concerned!) in 1964 Sunderland Saints as they were then known shut mid season. When Sunderland had their last period in speedway 1971-74, Newcastle were dormant. Ironically Newcastle had shut in 1970 then reopened in 1975. - Really don't think it was that ironic that Newcastle and Sunderland closed and reopened without ever running at the same time during this period!

 

I do know that the owners of Sunderland, Boldon stadium would be willing to accomodate a speedway return but would want an excessive rent from it. Also the Newcastle promotion are known to be totally against attempts to reopen Sunderland cause they are worried about the effects on their attendances. But how many of the Brough Park regulars come from Sunderland? - Not many I'd suggest and CL speedway at Sunderland would act as a nursery track to Newcastle and Redcar (maybe more profitable than running the Cleveland Bays out of Redcar?). As Newcastles brief period of running a reserve team in the CL ended cause it was to costly I don't see the Diamonds managements problem.

 

Reopening Sunderland has been looked into on more than one occasion in recent years and I think it could do well. The Sunderland reunions have been very popular even though speedway hasn't been staged there for nearly 32 years!

[Deano]

In recent years new tracks have pulled in new supporters, ie Plymouth, Trelawny (no doubt these are now lost to the sport), Somerset and Isle of wight. These are places that we would never thought speedway would re-appear/appear. Seems a shame that Newcastle and Redcar couldn't pool resources and have a feeder from Sunderland.

 

I believe, (even though the council would never allow it, they don't like the idea of one let alone two), Birmingham could sustain two teams of the same level, one in the North (Brummies), one in the south (Bulldogs). This is because every Brummie fan comes from or was from the Great Barr/ Perry Barr/ Perry Beeches area, the southern team could tap new supporters from Hall Green\ Acocks Green\ Kings Heath etc areas that haven't had a team since the 1930's. There is potentially 1.1 million people to entertain, not everyone likes regular boozy nights up Broad Street.

Edited August 20, 2006 by Deano

[25yearfan]

Agree totally Deano!

 

Birmingham is big enough to have a Brummies team at Perry Bar (if the dreaded P/P can be overcome) in the senior leagues and another one in the CL elsewhere in the city. While it was still standing Norton Canes dog track was often looked at as late on as the mid 90's where it was considered a good potential venue for CL.

 

Hall Green staged speedway up until the late 30's when local residents complaining about the noise helped to shut it down. This very plush greyhound stadium could be made into a very good speedway stadium but the harsh reality is that if the nimbys helped to shut it down in 1938 in times of much more tolerance towards our sport then the chances of speedway racing at Hall Green now are remote to say the least!

 

I've always thought Hall Green would be a more than acceptable venue for Cradley to move to cause its not to far from Dudley and far enough away from Perry Bar to not effect the Brummies if they come back. - As I remember the vast majoriy of Brummie fans came from the Perry Bar/Great Bar/ Aston areas of Brum. One of the reasons I think that the 'wheels' project failed being in another part of the city.

 

Only chance of Hall Green staging speedway is if some method of noise reduction, such as acoustic covers, new silencers etc came in that helped speedway to gain P/P at stadiums where noise would of been deemed unacceptble.

 

Finding a universal method of noise reduction at speedway tracks that was proven to work, greatly reducing noise leaving stadiums, that was statisically proven to work is neccessary if British speedway is to keep a lot of present tracks and get new venues. - Look at the problem encountered by Tony Moles recent attempts to relaunch the Brummies at Perry Bar.

[RogH]

Thanks for your good wishes, 25 year fan.

 

The Boulevard is out of the question for two reasons. One it is surrounded by houses at present, and two the stadium is shortly to be demolished to provide low cost housing.

 

The search goes on though.

[Deano]

Rogh, so where are the dogs and rugby club going? This sounds similar to the Exeter debacle, did the vikings explore joining them?

Edited August 21, 2006 by Deano

[RogH.]

Deano, the dogs have just folded, and the rugby club left 4 years ago for the new KC Stadium. Certainly no room for speedway there.

[BriG]

For new tracks to have a realistic chance of opening up in well populated areas more work needs to be done at the BSPA / SCB level to develop a uniform strategy for noise reduction and implementation of the appropriate measures. In this day and age the technology exists it's all down to costs and when individual promoters are left to fund all that it takes to 'soundproof' a speedway stadium it just isn't going to happen.

 

The only way I can see it happening is if funding was made available to build stadiums to a blueprint in terms of environmental issues. The concept of soundproofed indoor tracks has been discussed elsewhere and it could be achieved if the funding were available. They don't have to be grand affairs like the Millenium stadium but more modest with say 5-10,000 capacity. Some of the smaller circuits alreaduy in league speedway would be swallowed up inside some of the modern industrial structures or old aircraft hangers.

 

If I win the lottery I kn ow what I'd do.

[czechhero]

It's been said many, many times on this forum at various times that noise is the big issue with the sport and the more you read of the problems of Exeter and Birmingham and others the more you come to realise that perhaps the bikes should be silenced further. I can remember when silencers were first used back in the 70s, most fans thought that the sport would never be the same, but the reality was that it was hard to tell any real difference. So perhaps the time has come for a more efficient silencer to be used. On the other hand, the nimbys will still complain even then.

As far as costs go, another plan I recall from the late 70s, early 80s was to use petrol instead of methanol. I think the view was a move to normal fuel could attract more sponsorship from the big oil companies. I wonder, has this plan been looked at again since?

[greyhoundp]

Deano, the dogs have just folded,

 

Rog; My information from the Dogs side of things; is they have been kicked out due to H&S issues, ie dangerous structures within the Stadium, and many thousands need spending to eliminate this.