wealdstone Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 http://m.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/speedway/speedway-news/cash-is-flooding-in-to-save-panthers-from-folding-1-6399937 Cash is flooding in to save Panthers from folding Published: 05 November 2014 Overwhelmed and optimistic they are the feelings of the men spearheading the fight to save Peterborough Panthers. Long-serving club official Trevor Swales insists he and Ged Rathbone, who joined the management team during last season, are well past halfway in their bid to raise £40,000 and bring the city side back to the tapes in 2015. They insist that sum is required to cover set-up and operational costs. Swales and Rathbone were staggered by the turnout estimated to be between 250-275 people - and response at a fans forum staged at the East of England Showground on Friday night. Close to £13,000 was pledged during that event and they report more money has flooded in since, but there is still some way to go for Swales to declare an intention to race on when attending the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA) annual meeting from November 14-16. Swales said: Were in a much better position than we ever dared to dream we would be in at this stage. The amount of people who turned out last Friday astounded us and their support and generosity both on the night and in the days since has been wonderful. We were confident that the demand for speedway in the city was strong enough to try to keep the club going and I think weve been proven right. I think Im correct in saying we have raised around £23,000 and the figure is going up all the time. Im obviously optimistic about being in a position to declare to the BSPA that we will race in 2015, but there is still plenty of hard work to do. We must ensure we can not only start the season, but also finish it and be in a position to have a bright future. Myself, Ged and a dedicated team of volunteers are working morning, noon and night to try to pull this off. Weve put our family lives on hold to do everything we can and will continue to do so. As usual there seems to be a few bad apples being nothing but negative on the internet forums, but if they think they can do a better job of trying to keep the club going they should come forward. Swales revealed the donations so far made by supporters range from an anonymous pledge of £10,000 made during last Fridays supporters event to a promise of £20 of pocket money from a young fan. He remains in daily dialogue with co-owners Rick Frost and Julie Mahoney, but has so far been coy when asked about the nature of any deal that could be struck with them. Discussions have also been held with a prospective commercial manager while the club are understood to be attracting plenty of interest from potential riding recruits. An email account has been created to allow anyone interested in making a donation to get in touch. It is pantherspledge2015@gmail.com A very unfortunate turn of phrase to describe all those with any concerns or reservations regarding the future as bad apples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoho Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 As far as I'm aware, the sites only need to be hosted on the .co domain. Quite a few of the sites have different looks and are maintained and updated by a variety of people (although AP Media to run a whole load of sites for teams) Well, either way - they do not want the assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proud panther Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Onto tomorrow night's social evening, could anyone tell me what entertainment "Kev the Rev" provides ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 A very unfortunate turn of phrase to describe all those with any concerns or reservations regarding the future as bad apples. Funnily enough I thought of you when I read that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterborough daz Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) I just hope there is a long term plan not just season by season Edited November 6, 2014 by dazpanther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wealdstone Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Funnily enough I thought of you when I read that Nice to know that I am considered a bad apple!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semion Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Bad Apple fans, so how would Swales etc describe Horton ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Good post-I would add that as far as I know most club`s press officer has access to their clubs login/back room details so will do any updating/post stories themselves. Yes, each club has the right to maintain their own website, in fact it's the opposite of what yahoho has said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crump99 Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Bad Apple fans, so how would Swales etc describe Horton ? "supremo" was the popular term used in the press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haza Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 If the 40k is just for one season will the fans have to dip there hands in there pockets again this time next year ? The same fans handing over there hard earned cash will I guess still be paying admission money to watch there racing at the Showgound will in fact be paying twice -Also it's all well and good raising this money but not wishing to be a killjoy but really what has changed ? the problem of costs out weighing admission monies and sponsorship will that change ? If the Panthers track a weakened side whilst trying to live within the clubs means will fans turn out to watch a mid tabled team ? Just a few points . I wish the Panthers well as don't want any club to close . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) If the 40k is just for one season will the fans have to dip there hands in there pockets again this time next year ? The same fans handing over there hard earned cash will I guess still be paying admission money to watch there racing at the Showgound will in fact be paying twice -Also it's all well and good raising this money but not wishing to be a killjoy but really what has changed ? the problem of costs out weighing admission monies and sponsorship will that change ? If the Panthers track a weakened side whilst trying to live within the clubs means will fans turn out to watch a mid tabled team ? Just a few points . I wish the Panthers well as don't want any club to close .My understanding is a new company is required to be formed to take over and so the 40k is needed for start up and to cover the bond required by the BSPA. A switch to Friday nights will hopefully see an increase in admission monies and efforts are being made to increase sponsorship with recently announced sponsorship packages which seem realistically priced. Edited November 6, 2014 by Noodles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semion Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Fastest growing City in the Country population circa 200,000. Yet have to raise 40k. Maybe Speedway is not for The good people of Peterborough. Is this all a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ? If Swales and co believe Speedway is a goer at the Showground why don't they invest their own money instead of trying to ring even more out of the fans ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMungo Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Fastest growing City in the Country population circa 200,000. Yet have to raise 40k. Maybe Speedway is not for The good people of Peterborough. Is this all a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ? If Swales and co believe Speedway is a goer at the Showground why don't they invest their own money instead of trying to ring even more out of the fans ? Maybe he doesn't have the available finances since getting killed off Eastenders a couple of years back? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cambpanther Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 (edited) Fastest growing City in the Country population circa 200,000. Yet have to raise 40k. Maybe Speedway is not for The good people of Peterborough. Is this all a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ? If Swales and co believe Speedway is a goer at the Showground why don't they invest their own money instead of trying to ring even more out of the fans ? may be the fastest growing city but that is mainly because of all the pakistanis breading like flies Edited November 7, 2014 by Panther2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crump99 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Fastest growing City in the Country population circa 200,000. Yet have to raise 40k. Maybe Speedway is not for The good people of Peterborough. Is this all a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ? If Swales and co believe Speedway is a goer at the Showground why don't they invest their own money instead of trying to ring even more out of the fans ? Not many of them are really the good people of Peterborough in the recognised understanding of the phrase. This is taken from the website of a school local to me: "A significant and rising proportion of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and the largest groups are Pakistani and Eastern European. A large proportion of the pupils are at an early stage of learning English. The school has families and children from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, amongst many other countries." It looks like that is the situation across much of the city, now transpose that into paying speedway customers or sponsors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semion Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Whatever nationalities these people are, surely they are part of the same target audience. There are still an ever increading number of chimmney pots in Peterborough, out of 200,000 you are only looking at 0.5% of them to make it pay. If they cannot attract those kind of numbers, then Swales etc are staving off the inevitable. How many times can you keep going back to the same people and ask them to dip into their pocket to keep the thing alive. Is it not the same as making the admission £25, who in the right mind would pay that for Premier League Speedway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crump99 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 (edited) Whatever nationalities these people are, surely they are part of the same target audience. There are still an ever increading number of chimmney pots in Peterborough, out of 200,000 you are only looking at 0.5% of them to make it pay. If they cannot attract those kind of numbers, then Swales etc are staving off the inevitable. How many times can you keep going back to the same people and ask them to dip into their pocket to keep the thing alive. Is it not the same as making the admission £25, who in the right mind would pay that for Premier League Speedway. Bratters final blog (of 5 years ago, so you're not saying anything new!) said it all really, although if the product is right then people will turn up IMO as the last few months of Frost's tenure in 2013 showed; before we/he got stitched up by our lords and masters as per usual. Shame it took him so long, he might still be here and the begging bowl would have stayed in the cupboard? "During my time at Peterborough, I have done everything humanly possible to attract newcomers to our sport and all I might add on little or no budget. I have presented to over 2500 kids in various schools road show initiatives, I have invited and hosted whole organisations along for free and whole streets along for free. I have put up banners and posters, I have given away 1000’s of (sponsored) car stickers and more kids goodie bags than you can shake a stick at. I have offered free admission to members of the thriving local Polish club (one person came – once), 2 for 1 offers, Kids for a quid and Kids for free. We have on occasions been overrun by hundreds of Scout groups and I have undertaken umpteen radio interviews and quite a few local TV vox pops. I have put leaflets in newspapers, I have put leaflets through letterboxes, I have handed leaflets out in shopping malls and I have put 1000’s of leaflets on cars (with apologies to the owner of the Blue Vauxhall Astra in the Peterborough Railway Station Car Park in September 2007, honestly, it really did come off in my hand, so it must have already been broken). You name it and I’ve pretty much done it and all the time, our attendances have remained constant. Constantly poor. A successful team will bring you big crowds, but this is only a short term fix and as all Speedway aficionados’ know, and only to well, success in Speedway will never happen, year on year, it can’t, for the sport would simply die. People 'in the know' within the entertainment industry suggest that all Speedway clubs will lose 8% of their core support every year, through a variety of differing reasons. That in itself is quite alarming. And, I do believe this stacks up, in so much as, whilst I may have contributed to overall increasing our attendance by 5% or more each year, I was actually seeing shrinkage of 3%. Two things however, will always stick in my mind about whether Peterborough as a city will support Speedway in the 21st Century. 1) It has always concerned me that an inordinately high percentage of season ticket holders never had a Peterborough post code, this frankly, is shocking. 2) I will never forget that the 2006 Grand Final, arguably the greatest modern day meeting ever, watched live by over 6000 people and by thousands more at home, was followed by a Craven Shield fixture attended by less than 700 people. If that Grand Final won’t pull people in, then what will?!?!" Well Belle Vue never did but a £5/10 offer on the back of Grand Final attendance might have? (speculate to accumulate) Does give some idea of what the new consortium have taken on! Edited November 7, 2014 by Crump99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Swales on radio - we are not there yet: https://audioboom.com/boos/2626944-trevor-swales-with-an-update-on-the-future-of-the-panthers-06-11-2014#t=0m0s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LagutaRacingFan Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Fastest growing City in the Country population circa 200,000. Yet have to raise 40k. Maybe Speedway is not for The good people of Peterborough. Is this all a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ? If Swales and co believe Speedway is a goer at the Showground why don't they invest their own money instead of trying to ring even more out of the fans ? The difference is that Peterborough is a major city and has a top football team, Kings Lynn is like Poole as there's nothing to do apart from going to the speedway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cambpanther Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Did any more news come out of the end of season party last night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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