Speedway Star Article On Facilities

[Lakeside Shrimper]

Evening all,

 

Just a quick note to let anybody who is interested know that I have had an article published in today's Star discussing the merits of new/improved facilities and how this could actually be a core problem with the current set-up of British Speedway. This is a topic which has been touched before on here, and one which I am keen to receive feedback on and if positively accepted amongst fans and professionals alike, develop further.

 

If anybody happened to come across the article today, your thoughts/opinions would be very much appreciated.

 

Best wishes

 

Sherif

[25yearfan]

Very interesting article with lots of correct views on speedway from someone without a lengthy history of involvement in the sport but all these views were what we already knew to be fair and its unlikely this sort of finance would ever be chucked at speedway as the chance of getting a return back on your investment is unlikely!

 

Afterall Posselwhite (or however you spelled his surname) tryed to be innovative and chuck lots of money at Reading during his short spell in charge at Reading but ended up broke and nearly saw the clubs demise!

 

Lots of things sound good in theory but until they are actually tryed we don't know for sure what is the best way forward or not.

Edited March 19, 2008 by 25yearfan

[speedyguy]

Very interesting article with lots of correct views on speedway from someone without a lengthy history of involvement in the sport but all these views were what we already knew to be fair and its unlikely this sort of finance would ever be chucked at speedway as the chance of getting a return back on your investment is unlikely!

 

Afterall Posselwhite (or however you spelled his surname) tryed to be innovative and chuck lots of money at Reading during his short spell in charge at Reading but ended up broke and nearly saw the clubs demise!

 

Lots of things sound good in theory but until they are actually tryed we don't know for sure what is the best way forward or not.

 

 

Where will this all all this talk of new facilities get speedway. I read today that the Football Association is pumping £200million into grass roots football. Where would speedway ever get that sort of cash to improve speedway from?

 

And are the GRA such an ogre to speedway? They only have two tracks under their control (Belle Vue and Birmingham) and since 2005 have lost interest in Wimbledon and Oxford. Not really "overall control" of British speedway tracks!

Edited March 21, 2008 by speedyguy

[Parsloes 1928 nearly]

And are the GRA such an ogre to speedway? They only have tw (sic) tracks under their control (Belle Vue and Birmingham) and since 2005 have lost interest in Wimbledon and Oxford.

 

"lost interest"..??!!

 

That is a disgraceful comment - dismissing at a stroke all the people to whom Speedway at two of the nation's most important tracks mattered for decades.

 

How do you think Oxford fans feel that what would've been the 60th. anniversary of their sport there was cruelly taken from them because the landlords "lost interest" ..??!

 

You will bend over backwards to defend the GRA, speedyguy, and this stance is doing you no credit whatsoever.

 

What happened at Wimbledon and then repeated at Oxford by the GRA is indefensible...

[25yearfan]

To be fair to speedguy I don't think he was trying to defend the GRA. He was only stating fact, the GRA do only have speedway at two of their stadiums now and must of 'lost interest' at Wimbledon and Oxford cause otherwise we'd still be seeing them two famous old teams in the British League!

 

Yes it was unexcuseable of the GRA to just wipe out 2 clubs with such a rich history and the potential to this day to reopen and become stable clubs thus making the GRA money!!

[speedyguy]

To be fair to speedguy I don't think he was trying to defend the GRA. He was only stating fact, the GRA do only have speedway at two of their stadiums now and must of 'lost interest' at Wimbledon and Oxford cause otherwise we'd still be seeing them two famous old teams in the British League!

 

Yes it was unexcuseable of the GRA to just wipe out 2 clubs with such a rich history and the potential to this day to reopen and become stable clubs thus making the GRA money!!

 

 

Exactly the point I was making. The GRA only controlled a handful of tracks (four) of which two are still staging speedway. The article tended to indicate they had a major influence on speedway which they do not have.

[shazzybird]

I'd rather piddle in the bushes and sting me arse on the stingers than go to the toilets at Eastbourne

 

 

[speedyguy]

Where will this all all this talk of new facilities get speedway. I read today that the Football Association is pumping £200million into grass roots football. Where would speedway ever get that sort of cash to improve speedway from?

 

 

 

Just read in the 'Non-League Paper' (Sunday March 23) that the FA's £200million investment into grass roots football could in time grow to £700million, thanks to additional income which is expected to come from the likes of the Football Foundation, local government, and the FA's partners which include Tesco and McDonald's.

 

Sadly, speedway will never be able to match that sort of cash for its development.

 

Or does anyone in speedway have any ideas on how it could raise this sort of cash input could be raised to follow the improvement of its facilities (GRA stadiums excluded! ).

[snailexpress]

Speedway does not need buckets of cash thrown at it

 

What it needs is more people on bikes

 

HOW YOU ASK ...NON LEAUGE RACING.

 

Open up all the tracks that can’t afford league racing for amateurs to have a go racing no prize money just trophies.

 

Every rider on a bike gets 4 in the gate plus other spectators and bring the admission price down

 

I was reading another thread on lack of training facilities why should you be training and for what get racing form your own rider clubs and do it yourselves.

Then you can create a rider depth and people can show how good they are before hitting the Pro Leauge scoring 2 points and getting canned.

 

In a nutshell the more people involved.... the bigger the following ....... make a lot of noise doing it

Then the sponsors and money starts coming in

 

[speedyguy]

Speedway does not need buckets of cash thrown at it

 

What it needs is more people on bikes

 

HOW YOU ASK ...NON LEAUGE RACING.

 

Open up all the tracks that can’t afford league racing for amateurs to have a go racing no prize money just trophies.

 

Every rider on a bike gets 4 in the gate plus other spectators and bring the admission price down

 

I was reading another thread on lack of training facilities why should you be training and for what get racing form your own rider clubs and do it yourselves.

Then you can create a rider depth and people can show how good they are before hitting the Pro Leauge scoring 2 points and getting canned.

 

In a nutshell the more people involved.... the bigger the following ....... make a lot of noise doing it

Then the sponsors and money starts coming in

 

And the cuckoo usually arrives at this time of the year...!

 

[snailexpress]

speedyguy you missed my point.

 

The reason why football can get all that money is simple the number of people playing the game from kids to semi pro level. And that turns into spectator level at the Premier leauge.

 

Speedway doesnt have a real grasslevel where anyone can develop other than training schools and or grasstrack. (not talking about fan base here).

 

As i said in my last post a group of past riders, want to be riders and or their dads should form clubs and start non leauge racing at some of these defunct or struggling tracks at lest give them a chance to encourge young guys to come into and try.

 

Its better than no growth or development.

 

 

[RogH.]

Exactly which defunct tracks have you in mind to re-open ?

 

I can't think of one that either still exists or would be available to stage speedway.

 

If there was one, who would pay the rent, and the cost of re-instating the track, pits etc ?

Edited March 26, 2008 by RogH.

[Lakeside Shrimper]

Evening all,

 

Thank you for the feedback. The points you make have been taken on board, but you must understand that the article mentions the GRA as a point of concern because of their recent involvement in high profile evictions such as Oxford and Wimbledon. I appreciate they are not responsible for the generally poor standard of facilities in UK Speedway and the even poorer crowds.

 

With regard to funding new facilities, the parallel drawn with the FA is not the best, because the BSPA are not a wealthy governing body, and the article does not suggest this as the way forward. The only way to obtain funding imho, is, in brief, for Speedway promotions to approach the Local Authority, identify any outstanding needs accross the local community and propose the construction of a mixed-use facility which can incorporate speedway, but also attract the funding necessary from both private and public partners.

 

I have to say, the feedback received from the profession thus far has been very positive, and I remain hopeful that we can help even one club to make this leap of faith and show the rest that it can be done.

 

Sherif

[TonyM]

Speedway does not need buckets of cash thrown at it

 

What it needs is more people on bikes

 

HOW YOU ASK ...NON LEAUGE RACING.

 

Open up all the tracks that can’t afford league racing for amateurs to have a go racing no prize money just trophies.

 

Every rider on a bike gets 4 in the gate plus other spectators and bring the admission price down

 

I was reading another thread on lack of training facilities why should you be training and for what get racing form your own rider clubs and do it yourselves.

Then you can create a rider depth and people can show how good they are before hitting the Pro Leauge scoring 2 points and getting canned.

 

In a nutshell the more people involved.... the bigger the following ....... make a lot of noise doing it

Then the sponsors and money starts coming in

 

I appreciate the idea of expanding the 'pyramid' at the bottom which should mean that there would be more quality coming through to the higher (pro) levels of the sport but two major problems:

1. taking the highlighted text out of context - speedway is viewed as a noisy sport and thus locations where it is welcomed are few and far between

2. as it currently stands speedway is an expensive sport to participate in with specialist machinery which seems to need constant (read costly) love and attention, added to the cost of creating and maintaining a safe racing area and the sums dont add up

 

Rather than a DIY approach there should be more of an initiative taken by the BSPA (with its governing body hat on) to develop some form of coherent development policy within its existing structure

[TonyM]

LS, thanks for emailing the article, interesting reading

 

If anything I would take the exact opposite view in that for the sport to survive and prosper it must generate good returns for co-operative landlords rather than look to become the owners themselves.

 

Essentially I cant see that the speedway community would be able to raise the initial finance either internally or externally to create their own stadiums, many of the examples you quote would I guess have had a fairly substantial element of funding from the Football Trust or similar such orgainisation as well as possible proceeds from the sale of existing facilities, and even if the returns from the 'extras' surrounding the track were cash generators why would lenders include a vast (in relative terms) area that was used for such a specialist and loss making (if EL promoters are to be believed) activity as speedway

 

Even in its current state there are very few tracks where speedway is 'profitable' and many where facilities are subsidised by other activities be it greyhounds, stock cars or whatever so perhaps we should look to how the sport can be developed to start being an attractive (both physically and financially) tenant before we get ahead of ourselves and look to pour money the sport doesnt have into new stadia

[Lakeside Shrimper]

LS, thanks for emailing the article, interesting reading

 

If anything I would take the exact opposite view in that for the sport to survive and prosper it must generate good returns for co-operative landlords rather than look to become the owners themselves.

 

Essentially I cant see that the speedway community would be able to raise the initial finance either internally or externally to create their own stadiums, many of the examples you quote would I guess have had a fairly substantial element of funding from the Football Trust or similar such orgainisation as well as possible proceeds from the sale of existing facilities, and even if the returns from the 'extras' surrounding the track were cash generators why would lenders include a vast (in relative terms) area that was used for such a specialist and loss making (if EL promoters are to be believed) activity as speedway

 

Even in its current state there are very few tracks where speedway is 'profitable' and many where facilities are subsidised by other activities be it greyhounds, stock cars or whatever so perhaps we should look to how the sport can be developed to start being an attractive (both physically and financially) tenant before we get ahead of ourselves and look to pour money the sport doesnt have into new stadia

 

Hi Tony...thanks for the comments.

 

In brief, I should state that 90% of football clubs do not run at a profit, and likewise, most stadiums these days are being funded principally by the Council under the guise of a mixed-use community venue. The Football Club then typically become tenants under a Council appointed 'Stadium Management Company' who then try to make a profit out of the anicilliary facilities such as conference suites, 5-a-side pitches etc...

 

You are correct in saying that the Football Foundation offer Stadia Improvement Funds and grants, but they are only a very small part of the build cost. There is nothing stopping speedway promotions from obtaining funding from bodies such as Sport England, as long as the facility has a greater benefit on the community leisure provision. This is why Speedway promotions will not get away with merely building speedway-only tracks. Mixed-use is the way forward imho, and this is both how a business plan can be put forward to obtain the funding in the first instance, and also how a profit can be made over the life of the building.

[TonyM]

Hi Tony...thanks for the comments.

 

In brief, I should state that 90% of football clubs do not run at a profit, and likewise, most stadiums these days are being funded principally by the Council under the guise of a mixed-use community venue. The Football Club then typically become tenants under a Council appointed 'Stadium Management Company' who then try to make a profit out of the anicilliary facilities such as conference suites, 5-a-side pitches etc...

 

You are correct in saying that the Football Foundation offer Stadia Improvement Funds and grants, but they are only a very small part of the build cost. There is nothing stopping speedway promotions from obtaining funding from bodies such as Sport England, as long as the facility has a greater benefit on the community leisure provision. This is why Speedway promotions will not get away with merely building speedway-only tracks. Mixed-use is the way forward imho, and this is both how a business plan can be put forward to obtain the funding in the first instance, and also how a profit can be made over the life of the building.

 

Appreciate what you are saying about how football clubs and councils can stucture a deal whereby the football club is in effect 'subsidised' through other use or peppercorn rents but it is far easier to run a 'football in the community' scheme than one for speedway (even given the good work Lynn have done with their study centre)

 

I would be amazed if speedway could meet the Sport England criteria in the way more traditional sports can in terms of participation / equality etc

 

I think we both agree on mixed use, I just dont see how a speedway club could lead such a venture, even if you take out the fact that the sport is on its knees financially other sports have access to so many other funding streams that speedway because of the way it is governed (for want of a better term) does not. IMO a speedway club would nearly always be better going in as a 'second partner' or whatever term you wanted to use. Interesting that at the end of your article you use the example of Exeter Rugby club and their new stadium, not sure if you knew but they used to be landlords for the speedway but when they moved no provision for speedway was included - perhaps if speedway was seen as a key partner in the use of the stadium rather than something they were happy to leave behind we could get the facility upgrade we think is long overdue for speedway (also ask the question why the speedway didnt lead the move and have the rugby club as tenants and why Exeter speedway rather than building from scratch is now working with the local racecourse)

[invadersfan]

I'd rather piddle in the bushes and sting me arse on the stingers than go to the toilets at Eastbourne

 

[clarabuc]

Away you go then........

[25yearfan]

Speedway does not need buckets of cash thrown at it

 

What it needs is more people on bikes

 

HOW YOU ASK ...NON LEAUGE RACING.

 

Open up all the tracks that can’t afford league racing for amateurs to have a go racing no prize money just trophies.

 

Every rider on a bike gets 4 in the gate plus other spectators and bring the admission price down

 

I was reading another thread on lack of training facilities why should you be training and for what get racing form your own rider clubs and do it yourselves.

Then you can create a rider depth and people can show how good they are before hitting the Pro Leauge scoring 2 points and getting canned.

 

In a nutshell the more people involved.... the bigger the following ....... make a lot of noise doing it

Then the sponsors and money starts coming in

 

 

Good idea and there is already a healthy amatuer scene in speedway that could do such a thing but how many defunct tracks are available now?

 

Oxford is there but I doubt the GRA would consider renting it out for a handful of amatuer meetings!

 

Newport will probably come back into league racing once Tim Stones legal affairs have been sorted out.

 

Is the Hull track still in place?

 

There are more than a few stadiums still about that once staged speedway but have either been rebuilt or the speedway track doesn't exist anymore.