weatherwatcher Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Great news that all the fans dug deep to raise the money for the plaque to be placed on the stand. Sadly it sounds like Dennis will fail to see in place. Hope that he can fight the fight long enough for him to at least see a picture of the day it is fitted. A huge loss to the Lions speedway club. God bless 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandersome Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Great news that all the fans dug deep to raise the money for the plaque to be placed on the stand. Sadly it sounds like Dennis will fail to see in place. Hope that he can fight the fight long enough for him to at least see a picture of the day it is fitted. A huge loss to the Lions speedway club. God bless I would have like to 'like' TMW's post but what we're liking comes across as a bit murky. Weatherwatcher thankfully got all the important bits out (or in).. True, a great honour from the fans to Dennis. What it says about an owner who has stood off all season waiting for those fans to fully line the pockets before doing the 'honour' i wouldn't like to think. A gesture that probably encapsulates all the very good and the very bad in Leicester Speedway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I would have like to 'like' TMW's post but what we're liking comes across as a bit murky. Weatherwatcher thankfully got all the important bits out (or in).. True, a great honour from the fans to Dennis. What it says about an owner who has stood off all season waiting for those fans to fully line the pockets before doing the 'honour' i wouldn't like to think. A gesture that probably encapsulates all the very good and the very bad in Leicester Speedway. As far as I know the stands are available to Sponsor for a season but Dennis' Stand will be a permanent fixture. On a positive note people have been able to show their gratitude to Dennis for all the hard work he has put in over the years, one of the unsung heroes, trying to get Speedway back to Leicester. Can we not focus on the positives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 As far as I know the stands are available to Sponsor for a season but Dennis' Stand will be a permanent fixture. On a positive note people have been able to show their gratitude to Dennis for all the hard work he has put in over the years, one of the unsung heroes, trying to get Speedway back to Leicester. Can we not focus on the positives? Presumably this means that Mr Hemsley will be continuing then?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Presumably this means that Mr Hemsley will be continuing then?! As permanent as can be at any speedway venue these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert72 Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 (edited) I cannot get my head around the fact of why money had to be raised to name a stand after someone who has done so much for the club and its return. Could of named the back straight stand after him. Edited May 31, 2015 by robert72 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 (edited) I cannot get my head around the fact of why money had to be raised to name a stand after someone who has done so much for the club and its return. Could of named the back straight stand after him. Tbh I'm not sure why people are getting so hot under the collar. You had a choice to donate or not. Please don't use Dennis as ammunition. The money has been raised and Dennis will get his stand. I put Iit on here just to advise any donors of progresd who don't have FB. End of chat Edited May 31, 2015 by TMW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I for one will be proud for a stand to be named after Dennis. He did so much to get speedway back on the map at Leicester. The only downside of this is that it won't be the stand I sit in but the other one.. Maybe one day I can have a plaque too. But on the other side of that all I have done is come to the meetings. Don't put Dennis or the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes by the supporters club and all the work that I know that TMW has done towards it Was hoping to meet up with her at the Poole meeting but she was to busy collecting donations for Dennis's stand, plus other menial tasks. It is people like these that keep BP running on a match day. Keep up the good work.I just wished I didn't live so far away and could help out, but life sometimes deals out things that are not what we expect, I find it very hard to even get to meetings, love speedway and so does the grandson, but there are days when I never feel well enough to even drag myself to see the Lions. All the unsung hero who work so hard behind the scenes need a big round of aplause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 I for one will be proud for a stand to be named after Dennis. He did so much to get speedway back on the map at Leicester. The only downside of this is that it won't be the stand I sit in but the other one.. Maybe one day I can have a plaque too. But on the other side of that all I have done is come to the meetings. Don't put Dennis or the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes by the supporters club and all the work that I know that TMW has done towards it Was hoping to meet up with her at the Poole meeting but she was to busy collecting donations for Dennis's stand, plus other menial tasks. It is people like these that keep BP running on a match day. Keep up the good work.I just wished I didn't live so far away and could help out, but life sometimes deals out things that are not what we expect, I find it very hard to even get to meetings, love speedway and so does the grandson, but there are days when I never feel well enough to even drag myself to see the Lions. All the unsung hero who work so hard behind the scenes need a big round of aplause. Thanks for the kind words but apart from the adhoc things and texting heat results to proboards as Topspin(keeping people like your goodself who can't get informed) I don't do that much. Hope to meet up one day though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 All I can say is. I am glad that the meeting that the Lions should have riden in on Sky TV wast changed, because the meeting that went ahead at Coventry, was a nail in the coffin for British speedway. The Coventry riders said they would not ride due to the track conditions and fair play to them it was terrible to watch. I have seen more fans at our practice day than they had last night. Then it gets even worse, this morning to find that Coventry management and riders have been fined for refusing to risk their own saftey. We have lost to many riders this year through injury. So why try to send riders out in a meeting, that should never even have stated in the first place. The Lions where the winners with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmc82 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 All I can say is. I am glad that the meeting that the Lions should have riden in on Sky TV wast changed, because the meeting that went ahead at Coventry, was a nail in the coffin for British speedway. The Coventry riders said they would not ride due to the track conditions and fair play to them it was terrible to watch. I have seen more fans at our practice day than they had last night. Then it gets even worse, this morning to find that Coventry management and riders have been fined for refusing to risk their own saftey. We have lost to many riders this year through injury. So why try to send riders out in a meeting, that should never even have stated in the first place. The Lions where the winners with this one. Great post 👍🏻 The sport is already dangerous enough. It's okay for those not on bikes to send riders out but it's the riders who would be the ones to suffer if they had a terrible crash. Riders safety is more important than points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 All I can say is. I am glad that the meeting that the Lions should have riden in on Sky TV wast changed, because the meeting that went ahead at Coventry, was a nail in the coffin for British speedway. The Coventry riders said they would not ride due to the track conditions and fair play to them it was terrible to watch. I have seen more fans at our practice day than they had last night. Then it gets even worse, this morning to find that Coventry management and riders have been fined for refusing to risk their own saftey. We have lost to many riders this year through injury. So why try to send riders out in a meeting, that should never even have stated in the first place. The Lions where the winners with this one. Whilst I agree with the point re the Lions doing well in avoiding a meeting live on Sky and suffering the consequences rain which brought about poor crowd and a controversial end to the meeting. I feel less comfortable about supporting the actions of the Coventry riders and anybody else who chooses to use the emotive “safety of rider’s” trump card, simply because the Coventry team did not want to complete heats 9 & 10 because they knew they were going to lose and wanted the meeting abandoned. It was a bad advert for speedway, not because of the rain but because of the actions of the Coventry team and fine is justified because like it or not the officials must have the final say and after consultation, where riders choose to go against a decision they have to deal with the consequences 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) All I can say is. I am glad that the meeting that the Lions should have riden in on Sky TV wast changed, because the meeting that went ahead at Coventry, was a nail in the coffin for British speedway. The Coventry riders said they would not ride due to the track conditions and fair play to them it was terrible to watch. I have seen more fans at our practice day than they had last night. Then it gets even worse, this morning to find that Coventry management and riders have been fined for refusing to risk their own saftey. We have lost to many riders this year through injury. So why try to send riders out in a meeting, that should never even have stated in the first place. The Lions where the winners with this one. Except that had it been Bees v Lions, the Bees would probably have been in the lead and the meeting would have run smoothly until heat 10 or beyond!!! Norrie Allan would have been jumping up and down in the pits, yelling at riders and officials and trying to get the meeting called off by heat 6, whilst the calm, serene and smirking Havvy would be in the background ensuring that his riders remained focussed and went out to tapes well within the 2 minutes!! Edited June 2, 2015 by Skidder1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 At least in that senario above, something would have been done about calling the meeting off after 5 or 6 races. Which in all truth, was the case. Should never have been started in the first place, when they knew what the weather was doing. It would have made more sense to re stage it and give the 150 or so fans that came along in terrible conditions the chance to see a proper meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebrum Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Great post The sport is already dangerous enough. It's okay for those not on bikes to send riders out but it's the riders who would be the ones to suffer if they had a terrible crash. Riders safety is more important than points. Not to the team managers who care only about getting the points. They may bleat about rider safety it time and again has proven that once racing gets underway the aim is to get to heat 10 minimum to get the results. Havvy has proven his actions last night are those of a hypocrite. He clearly has forgotten matches they have happily got to heat 10 in dangerous conditions because they were in front. No sympathy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmc82 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 At least in that senario above, something would have been done about calling the meeting off after 5 or 6 races. Which in all truth, was the case. Should never have been started in the first place, when they knew what the weather was doing. It would have made more sense to re stage it and give the 150 or so fans that came along in terrible conditions the chance to see a proper meeting. Sky would rather put riders safety at risk than call it off. We have seen EL & SGP meeting called off for less than the conditions last night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Sky would rather put riders safety at risk than call it off. We have seen EL & SGP meeting called off for less than the conditions last night The major crashes I have seen which have led to serious injury have occured on dry/normal tracks where speed is far greater than when wet tracks are an issue. In these wet conditions the riders ride slower and more careful, yes the racing is less exciting and yes some fall off and many slide down slowly and dont even get to the fence. yes safety is always an issue, but in this case it was used as an excuse in the hope that the meeting gets called off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish McRaker Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 The major crashes I have seen which have led to serious injury have occured on dry/normal tracks where speed is far greater than when wet tracks are an issue. In these wet conditions the riders ride slower and more careful, yes the racing is less exciting and yes some fall off and many slide down slowly and dont even get to the fence. yes safety is always an issue, but in this case it was used as an excuse in the hope that the meeting gets called off. I'd keep quiet about that, if i were you. If the H&S Executive find out, they'll be requiring all tracks to be flooded before matches can take place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMW Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 From The Lions Facebook page. It is with regret that we bring the sad news that Dennis Manton passed away today. Dennis was a life-long fan of Speedway who first attended meetings at Blackbird Road during the days of the Hunters. When the sport returned to Leicester in 1968 Dennis followed the Lions through to closure of the stadium.During the intervening years Dennis was an active campaigner, often canvassing people door to door to raise awareness and lobbying support for the return of speedway to Leicester. Along with other like-minded people his work led to the submission of a petition to the local authority and subsequently Dennis became a member of an Action Group that began to look at possible land in and around the County of Leicestershire to build a new speedway stadium.During the time throughout the building of the stadium in Beaumont Leys, Dennis was involved as a volunteer in many ways and his dream of seeing his beloved sport return finally came to fruition in 2011. A long serving member of the Leicester Speedway Supporters Club and a driving force in raising funds to support the club and team on match days Dennis will be greatly missed by the speedway fraternity. He had a special place in the hearts of Lions fans and his absence will leave a great void within the club. ----------------------------- RIP to such a lovely man xxx 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 (edited) RIP in peace Dennis, such a shame to lose a man with so much drive and ambition, that he had to help bring the sport back to Leicester. Had quite a few chats with him on race night, a great bloke. Hope that where you are now all the old speedway riders have got stadiums and you get to see a meeting every day. The only thing I feel sorry about is that he never managed to get to BP to actually see that plaque fitted onto the stand. At least he knew that the fans had raised the money for it. That is if he was well enough to understand, about it as I know he was vet poorly at the time. A great honour for a great man Edited June 3, 2015 by weatherwatcher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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