Eastbourne To Close Down

[PHILIPRISING]

Ipswich are my team Phil.

So would you welcome additional fixtures against Birmingham and Lakeside?

[em1500uk]

Sad to hear of Eastbourne's demise I hope the club doesn't close, but it doesn't sound good does it? Only made it down there for the first time in July this year! I suppose with Arlington being a little way out of Eastbourne, for those that can't drive or don't have their own car, I imagine getting to the track can't be straightforward...

[mickthemuppet]

These days, unless you are viable to be able to race midweek, the EL is not the league for you. I don't think Eastbourne have the catchment area really for top flight speedway do they??

EL should include Dudley and Ipswich IMO.

 

But the population of Eastbourne is 100,000 and the population of Kings Lynn is 43,000 so that's not really this issue is it?. The catchment area of Eastbourne is certainly bigger than Kings Lynn

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

So would you welcome additional fixtures against Birmingham and Lakeside?

Id be happy with fixtures against both those clubs in a league with a suitable fixture list.

[Loyal hammer]

 

Think Ipswich would be quite happy to see Lakeside joining the PL along with Birmingham, both of which must be on the cards surely.

 

Terrible to hear of Eastbourne's potential demise. Are Lakeside dropping to PL?

[E I Addio]

Think Ipswich would be quite happy to see Lakeside joining the PL along with Birmingham, both of which must be on the cards surely

 

.

Why MUST it be SURELY be on the cards that Lakeside will go PL?

 

We haven't even had the AGM yet so we don't even know what form the leagues will take, so what is your basis for saying that Lakeside are on the cards to go PL?

 

If Lakeside were to go PL then with Eastbourne gone there would only be seven EL clubs left which would put the Sky contract at risk, which in turn would put the whole EL at risk, so that is a serious claim to make unless you have anything factual to back it up.

 

So can you enlighten us as to why you are saying this?

[cityrebel]

According to the lakeside forum, BBC radio essex are reporting that the club will have new owners next season.

[SCB]

According to the lakeside forum, BBC radio essex are reporting that the club will have new owners next season.

Isn't that more down to the fact the current owner moved to America?

[PHILIPRISING]

Why MUST it be SURELY be on the cards that Lakeside will go PL?

 

We haven't even had the AGM yet so we don't even know what form the leagues will take, so what is your basis for saying that Lakeside are on the cards to go PL?

 

If Lakeside were to go PL then with Eastbourne gone there would only be seven EL clubs left which would put the Sky contract at risk, which in turn would put the whole EL at risk, so that is a serious claim to make unless you have anything factual to back it up.

 

So can you enlighten us as to why you are saying this?

JUST an opinion nothing more... but given their geographic position in relation to EL as against PL teams must be a consideration now that Stuart Douglas isn't there

[Guest]

Why MUST it be SURELY be on the cards that Lakeside will go PL?

 

We haven't even had the AGM yet so we don't even know what form the leagues will take, so what is your basis for saying that Lakeside are on the cards to go PL?

 

If Lakeside were to go PL then with Eastbourne gone there would only be seven EL clubs left which would put the Sky contract at risk, which in turn would put the whole EL at risk, so that is a serious claim to make unless you have anything factual to back it up.

 

So can you enlighten us as to why you are saying this?

 

 

According to the lakeside forum, BBC radio essex are reporting that the club will have new owners next season.

 

 

Isn't that more down to the fact the current owner moved to America?

 

 

JUST an opinion nothing more... but given their geographic position in relation to EL as against PL teams must be a consideration now that Stuart Douglas isn't there

All of which I assume relates to what is happening at Eastbourne?

[E I Addio]

JUST an opinion nothing more... but given their geographic position in relation to EL as against PL teams must be a consideration now that Stuart Douglas isn't there

 

So why fuel speculation by saying such an move MUST be on the cards when them truth is you don't know.

 

If ANY of the remaining clubs joined the PL it would put the Sky contract at risk and it is highly likely that some sort of rescue package would, be attempted. However, your own magazine has often stated that Lakeside run a tight ship,financially and quoted Jon Cook a few weeks ago as saying the club usually make a small profit so on that basis there is no obvious reason to drop to the PL, and if you are going to argue t.he geographical position you might as well suggest Belle Vue might go,PL.

 

Stuart's re-location has nothing to do with it. few weeks ago your own magazine, which it seems you don't bother to read yourself, published a long interview with Jon Cook who said that despite Stuart's absence he is still very much involved with key decisions and they speak by telephone 3or 4 times a week.

 

This is why people have complained about some of your posts in the past. When you make these bald statements people think that as a journalist you have certain information and unless you say specifically it is merely an opinion not based on fact it just starts the rumour mill going. The sport has enough problems with journalists fuelling speculation and gossip. It's bad enough with all the drivel we get from Gustix, another towering example to his journalistic trade.

[van wolfswinkel]

When I started following speedway in 63 at Provincial League New Cross think it was just current EL clubs Belle Vue, Coventry, Swindon, plus Oxford, Southampton, Norwich, Wimbledon, with West Am replacing Soton the following year in the National League. One of these years they had just 12 league matches.

Speedway will always survive in some form in Britain.

Tis sad to see Eastbourne leave the EL but if they only get crowds of 700 from a massive catchment area of Sussex, Surrey, Kent, sarf London what hope is there. With attendances down by nearly 30% across the leagues over the past few years needs to be a radical overhaul of the sport.

My local club Swindon were only saved by 2 big local sponsors last year with riders not being paid.

[OGT]

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but this ain't the 1950's anymore and it most certainly is nothing like the 60s either. People these days have a squillion other things to do that keeps them confined to the comfort of their own homes let alone the other stuff they can do if they actually do venture out.

Speedway has slipped so far down the pecking order that collectively it would need a Johnnie Hoskins/Barrie Hearne chimeria cross breed thing to even dream about rising to the level of the good old days, let alone achieve it.

The sport will just water itself down until it's finally at a level just above "amateur" and there it will probably remain because it will then actually be sustainable.

But at least there'll be the Poole/Wolves two team super league I suppose.

[mikebv]

no surprise an EL track closes...

 

british speedway is now reaping what it has sowed for, at least, the past two decades..

 

the sport has had so much feedback from so many sources yet the business plan, such as it is, seems simply to be 'ignore it they are wrong'...

 

truly incredible that any business would either not believe the feedback it was getting or simply bury its head and avoid facing the truth...

 

'outgoings' massively higher than 'incomings'??

 

not a great business plan is it??!!!

 

let's hope that all tracks finally face up to the fact that paying 'football championship' wages on 'football vanarama league' attendances has to stop and someone with real innovation and ability comes up with a clear vision of a workable plan for the future...

 

oh well, dream on eh??

[Vincent Vega]

If we are having new owners next year how about Stuart Douglas to buy Eastboure with Jon Cook running it.

[Guest]

If we are having new owners next year how about Stuart Douglas to buy Eastboure with Jon Cook running it.

Do you mean buy the whole land complex? Or just the rights to stage speedway at Arlington? There's quite a "few coppers difference" in the two amounts involved. It doesn't make economic sense to just sell the speedway rights at Eastbourne. A nice initial thought though!

[25yearfan]

Without the Dugard family, Eastbourne would have shut years ago and maybe never even made it to League racing as the venue was originally a training track I believe 1st used for League racing when Hastings speedway shut down!

 

Speedway was originally staged in that area at the Hove greyhound track which remains today a very plush venue.

 

I know Bob Dugard tryed to reopen speedway back there in the late 1970's but was turned down at the planning table.

 

It has to be said with the Brighton and Hove area being a large urban area, you'd imagine speedway would stand a better chance there cause you should never underestimate the amount of people who will go if it is walking distance or a 5 minute drive away. The extensive train network in that area would also be another big plus to get crowds in. Arlington is only easy to get to by car and I'd if any buses run there?

 

My regular track I attend at, Ipswich, gets a lot of its crowd from a 5 - 10 mile radius of the stadium. Its surprising when you get to know a few faces how many locals go. I bet most if not all of these wouldn't go if they had a 40 mile + round trip to speedway.

 

Bob Dugard is spot on about the fixture list. There are too many meetings which mean that people pick and choose cause they don't want to see the same teams over and over and also many people can't afford to go to all the fixtures. Look at me today, I did fancy going to watch Mildenhall V Stoke in the NT final but after the Fen Tigers huge win in the 1st leg last night and after seeing Stoke get thrashed at West Row the other week I've decided to not bother. This scanario happens over and over with many people.

 

Mildenhall is also a good example of less is better. Now I'd reckon Mildenhall average easily 600+ and thats because they don't ride every week. If they ran every week the crowd would drop.

 

Dugards proposal of a 9-10 team EL riding each other once at home and once away with 4 team play offs and then any EL team who wants more meetings could run a team in an enlarged PL or run a reserve team in the NL has a lot of credibility. The EL teams could be made up of 6 man teams (which they originally did in the early days) with a higher poitns limit and I'm sure they'd attract more of the Worlds top riders over which would make the League a proper EL again. The EL teams who wanted to run in the PL would obviously have a much lower points limit to work to but could use a fair few of the same riders in both Leagues. PL teams not in the EL could run a League cup competition between them to increase their fixtures.

 

I'm sure the likes of Eastbourne and a reopened Birmingham would be interested in running in a reduced EL. This set up may also favour the Cradley set up which has now outgrown the NL but as yet haven't got their own stadium.

 

The days of fans turning up in droves every week for their speedway fare has long gone. Once a fortnight for most tracks would see a more sustainable business!

Edited September 21, 2014 by 25yearfan

[P T Preece]

The things you learn on here, I never even knew there was a Hasting speedway.

[Guest]

Without the Dugard family, Eastbourne would have shut years ago and maybe never even made it to League racing as the venue was originally a training track I believe 1st used for League racing when Hastings speedway shut down!

 

Speedway was originally staged in that area at the Hove greyhound track which remains today a very plush venue.

 

I know Bob Dugard tryed to reopen speedway back there in the late 1970's but was turned down at the planning table.

 

It has to be said with the Brighton and Hove area being a large urban area, you'd imagine speedway would stand a better chance there cause you should never underestimate the amount of people who will go if it is walking distance or a 5 minute drive away. The extensive train network in that area would also be another big plus to get crowds in. Arlington is only easy to get to by car and I'd if any buses run there?

 

My regular track I attend at, Ipswich, gets a lot of its crowd from a 5 - 10 mile radius of the stadium. Its surprising when you get to know a few faces how many locals go. I bet most if not all of these wouldn't go if they had a 40 mile + round trip to speedway.

 

Bob Dugard is spot on about the fixture list. There are too many meetings which mean that people pick and choose cause they don't want to see the same teams over and over and also many people can't afford to go to all the fixtures. Look at me today, I did fancy going to watch Mildenhall V Stoke in the NT final but after the Fen Tigers huge win in the 1st leg last night and after seeing Stoke get thrashed at West Row the other week I've decided to not bother. This scanario happens over and over with many people.

 

Mildenhall is also a good example of less is better. Now I'd reckon Mildenhall average easily 600+ and thats because they don't ride every week. If they ran every week the crowd would drop.

 

Dugards proposal of a 9-10 team EL riding each other once at home and once away with 4 team play offs and then any EL team who wants more meetings could run a team in an enlarged PL or run a reserve team in the NL has a lot of credibility. The EL teams could be made up of 6 man teams (which they originally did in the early days) with a higher poitns limit and I'm sure they'd attract more of the Worlds top riders over which would make the League a proper EL again. The EL teams who wanted to run in the PL would obviously have a much lower points limit to work to but could use a fair few of the same riders in both Leagues. PL teams not in the EL could run a League cup competition between them to increase their fixtures.

 

I'm sure the likes of Eastbourne and a reopened Birmingham would be interested in running in a reduced EL. This set up may also favour the Cradley set up which has now outgrown the NL but as yet haven't got their own stadium.

 

The days of fans turning up in droves every week for their speedway fare has long gone. Once a fortnight for most tracks would see a more sustainable business!

 

You are way out on Eastbourne Speedway. In 1938 Eastbourne were champions of the Sunday Dirt Track League winning 10 of thei 12 matches. There was National League Division Three racing in 1947, then a move to Hastings for 1948 and 1949, with enforced closure by a High Court ruling following a complain by 13 local residents in regard to noise. Eastbourne were then vack for several seasons from 1954 in the Southern Area League (Ivan Mauger among their riders), then again in league racing at various stages from the 1960s.

 

Eastbourne (aka Arlington) can be traced back to 1928. All can be found at http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/eastbourne.html

 

Brighton ran briefly in 1928 when among the leading riders was the legendary Ron Johnson (Australia, Crystal Palace and New Cross fame). Look for scant information at http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Brighton%20Hove.htm

Edited September 21, 2014 by Guest

[jimmy jimmy]

I picked Ipswich because there would be local derbies against KL and Lakeside, Cradley would be against Leicester, Coventry and especially Wolverhampton. Throw in Poole, Belle Vue in a new stadium and Swindon, wouldn't that be a vibrant league??