Main Man Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 What assets? Mellgren, Kurtz and Jones wont be worth much! Shawn ...I think we own more than those three!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montie Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 Shawn ...I think we own more than those three!! Whos on Newports retained list these days MM?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st century heathen Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 Such a shame to be losing a team from the NL. I, like a few others, thought that Newport may run NL only for a while as the financial risk is lower. Of course, it would have been a loss to the PL in that case so either way it's sad for us to be losing a club. Fingers crossed that the locals come out in force next season and the future of the sport in Wales is secured. Best wishes to all down there. Running a NL team will not attract any new supporters, unless you have a clever marketing ploy (like calling your team Dudley) It's far from a clever marketing ploy. The association with the Dudley name is keeping a lot of Heathens fan away because DMBC appear to have done, and continue to be doing, jack all to help us find a new name. Make no mistake it's extremely controversial and largely very unpopular. But after 14 years of no speedway the name is a small price to pay and many, like myself, don't acknowledge the Dudley part of the name anyway. I bet it wouldn't have been half as popular if the team was called the Wolverhampton Wolf Cubs or the Birmingham Baby Brummies, though would it? The Wolf Cubs raced in the old CL for a while. It was dropped by Wolverhampton Speedway due to low turn out. Birmingham Bulls have raced some meetings at NL level and been well supported I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 DMBC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Main Man Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 DMBC? Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brummie Kev Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 Birmingham Bulls have raced some meetings at NL level and been well supported I believe. Sadly not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyguy Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 I can't say I was surprised to hear of the end of Newport Hornets. I read n the Speedway Star they has 50 spectators attend one meeting. That's a long way from my early spectating days when I was part of a 20,000 crowd at New Cross meetings in the 1940s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st century heathen Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 DMBC? Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council ?? Sorry, I should have just type 'the Council' for clarity. Sadly not Really? I thought pretty decent numbers had turned up. Shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 Shawn ...I think we own more than those three!! I was being a little facetious. But It's not like Newport own a load of big names they can sell to make reasonable money. TBF, I doubt any PL clubs does. Mind you, Newports asset base isn't the greatest, despite a reasonable effort from the Malletts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndBender Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 I can't say I was surprised to hear of the end of Newport Hornets. I read n the Speedway Star they has 50 spectators attend one meeting. That's a long way from my early spectating days when I was part of a 20,000 crowd at New Cross meetings in the 1940s. That was a very different era. However, I can remember when we used to get better crowds for Mavericks matches than some clubs got for PL. I was there until the bitter end, and all credit to the Malletts for maintaining the NL side for as long as they did, but it was obvious, even long before the end, that it couldn't be sustained. A great shame, but not a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGE9359 Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 It's a shame - I used to enjoy sunday afternoons at QM, can't go on a saturday as the last train home is just before 9.00 but I gave up mid season as I got my fingers burned a couple of times when I bought advance train tickets only to find out the match had been called off by the management for various scheduling reasons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 (edited) I hope you dont take this the wrong way, because I certainly mean no malice, but you clearly don't understand the situation with the Dudley set-up at Wolverhampton. As has been said previously, the Dudley fan base is made up of largely of die-hard ex Cradley fans who have been looking for a home for donkeys years. Very few fans go to both Wolves & Dudley matches. You make it sound like the Wolves 2nd team, which it certainly is not. We have a team to support at a temporary home until we can find our own stadium. For that we are certainly most grateful to the people at Wolverhampton Speedway and Ladbrokes, but to imply that resurrecting the Heathens name is just a marketing gimmick is a very poorly informed point of view. 'Ommer 'Um And there lies the secret the teams draw from 2 different fan bases and not relying on the same fans to turn out. People who support EL probably wouldn't turn out in large numbers even if it is to support the future they would probably wait till the future reaches their level. There are some die hard NL fans out there but the Dudley thing is different. I'm sure the Dudley fans given the choice would go PL or EL but that is probably inconcievable until a track is found and as the original press release said they will become Cradely when that happens. I hope somebody is working full time on getting this track as the fans deserve it but i'm sure as and when they do get their own track they will be waving bye bye to the NL. The ideal thing would be for the NL to go Amatuer but that wouldnt help the lads already struggling and certainly wouldnt attract riders from other disciplins which has kept the NL going recently. Edited November 12, 2011 by TMW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 (edited) And there lies the secret the teams draw from 2 different fan bases and not relying on the same fans to turn out. People who support EL probably wouldn't turn out in large numbers even if it is to support the future they would probably wait till the future reaches their level. There are some die hard NL fans out there but the Dudley thing is different. I'm sure the Dudley fans given the choice would go PL or EL but that is probably inconcievable until a track is found and as the original press release said they will become Cradely when that happens. I hope somebody is working full time on getting this track as the fans deserve it but i'm sure as and when they do get their own track they will be waving bye bye to the NL. The ideal thing would be for the NL to go Amatuer but that wouldnt help the lads already struggling and certainly wouldnt attract riders from other disciplins which has kept the NL going recently. Dudley Heathens is an entirely different entity to any other NL team! Dudley have evolved out of the old top flight Cradley Heath set up which was one of the, if not the biggest supported and passionate fanbases in the Country. They are certainly no Wolves 2nd team (although in essence they do act like that for local NL basedriders) and no gimmick from the Wolves promotion like the Hackney team was this season. In fact they only started cause Cradley still had a large fanbase despite not running at their track since 1995. If Cradley got their own track they could probably go straight into the EL cause the fanbase would support that level. As for the NL becoming completely amatuer, thats never going to happen. Theirs always been a conflict of interests in the NL with standalone teams needing to have experienced riders in order to attract a crowd and 2nd teams of higher League tracks running basically a junior outfit in order to produce riders. Also tracks that get decent crowds like Mildenhall, Dudley and Stoke will pay their riders more which is fair cause the riders should share in the clubs profits cause afterall the crowds are there to see the riders race. Anyway the money that probably 75%+ of NL riders receive as payments for points they score wouldn't go anywhere near covering their costs. Also the NL has to remain open for standalone tracks otherwise Stoke would of probably closed last season, Mildenahll wouldn't of reopened and other tracks in the past unable to afford PL or EL would of fallen by the wayside! Edited November 15, 2011 by 25yearfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 It will also be interesting to see which of the top riders make themselves available to the NL this year as a lot will want to focus on PL and guest bookings in the EL I imagine and those who for whatever reason have not made the grade may retire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 Shame there will be no NL speedway at Newport but if this move ensures that speedway survives at the venue then it is a neccessary evil! All in all Newport speedway deserve credit for maintaining 3rd tier racing at the venue as long as they have when they have struggled for crowds and other more successful tracks don't run, or have have abandoned NL speedway much sooner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhoundp Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Such a shame to be losing a team from the NL. I, like a few others, thought that Newport may run NL only for a while as the financial risk is lower. Of course, it would have been a loss to the PL in that case so either way it's sad for us to be losing a club. Fingers crossed that the locals come out in force next season and the future of the sport in Wales is secured. Best wishes to all down there. It's far from a clever marketing ploy. The association with the Dudley name is keeping a lot of Heathens fan away because DMBC appear to have done, and continue to be doing, jack all to help us find a new name. Make no mistake it's extremely controversial and largely very unpopular. But after 14 years of no speedway the name is a small price to pay and many, like myself, don't acknowledge the Dudley part of the name anyway. The Wolf Cubs raced in the old CL for a while. It was dropped by Wolverhampton Speedway due to low turn out. Birmingham Bulls have raced some meetings at NL level and been well supported I believe. Yes, i will 2nd what 21st says about the local Council, it is an insult to the Heathens name to even have it associated with this Council, just to be called The Heathens would be enough, yes it is very unpopular, and hopefully the promotion will see sense and drop the name. To everyone who doesnt know, the Wolves and Heathens put up with each other, but that is all, if any Wolves fan comes along to watch a Heathens meeting, then it is the hope that they will see them lose, and vice versa. Edited November 14, 2011 by greyhoundp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Calling the NL team Dudley is just an attempt to persuade the ignorant Council that having a well supported team in their Borough would be so beneficial for so many reasons! I'm sure off the record, the Dudley promotion share the supporters complete discontent for not only Dudly Council but their neighbouring Councils as well considering the ridiculous way Cradley speedway has been treated since the early 90's! The Wolves Cubs CL team of a few years back wern't well supported so its doubtful the Wolves promotion would consider such a venture unless it was heavily subsidised. From what I've heard the few Birmingham Bulls meetings at Perry Bar wern't well supported either. Unless you have a special case like the Heathens, who are really an EL set up without a track (noone else like the Heathens fans!) or Rye House where Len Silver bankrolls the 2nd team, running 2 teams at one track has never worked cause people don't support the 2nd team in enough numbers. It didn't work at Belle Vue in the late 60's when crowds were much bigger than today, nor King's Lynn at the same time. In modern times Poole probably get the biggest crowds in the Country yet they couldn't afford to keep subsidising their loss making NL team Bournemouth who also ran home meetings at Wimbourne Road. This is why I respect Scunthorpe for keeping 3rd Division racing going as long as they have cause they don't get big crowds for their PL meetings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribbler Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 In modern times Poole probably get the biggest crowds in the Country yet they couldn't afford to keep subsidising their loss making NL team Bournemouth who also ran home meetings at Wimbourne Road. This is why I respect Scunthorpe for keeping 3rd Division racing going as long as they have cause they don't get big crowds for their PL meetings! Poole may have been making a loss - but, as the saying goes, you have to speculate to accumulate. Poole, with all the money they have, prefer to buy success rather than 'grow' it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boston five Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 totally agree the money thats paid to nl riders is pea nuts poole could well run a nl side i wonder what they pay to get over sea,s riders i would think the cost of one would pay for a season of nl racing looking back think of all the local lads who have rode for poole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
25yearfan Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Probably true about Poole! In the case of Newport Hornets (always prefered the Mavericks nickname cause I can still remember Rochdale Hornets from the 1970's!)if crowds were as low as 50 thats unsustainable especially with the Wasps team getting poor crowds there in the PL! Why aren't EL and PL tracks running NL reserve teams given some subsidy out of the BSPA pot to run NL teams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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