Plymouth Remain Open!

[SCB]

shut up

Why don't you piss off if you don't like it?

Edited March 22, 2016 by SCB

[allthegearbutnaeidea]

Why don't you piss off if you don't like it?

Hahaha, nobody want's your stupid invalid opinion on riders riding for free right now, create your own thread if you're so bothered about expressing it, but not here, going to miss Plymouth a hell of a lot, had a lot of friends through speedway from down there and was my favourite track to visit as a Berwick fan, would probably even class it as my second team

[SCB]

Hahaha, nobody want's your stupid invalid opinion on riders riding for free right now, create your own thread if you're so bothered about expressing it, but not here, going to miss Plymouth a hell of a lot, had a lot of friends through speedway from down there and was my favourite track to visit as a Berwick fan, would probably even class it as my second team

Here is the perfect place to say it. This proves the point. Some of us have tried to explain it to the happy clappers on here the riders, like the rest of us are human and thus ride for the money. They don't "do it for the fans". If they "did it for the fans" Plymouth wouldn't be closing down.

 

Anyway, sorry for the last post. I thought I was a speedway rider or promoter chatting to a fan there for a second and telling people not to bother attending.

[Ghosty]

Best man to save Plymouth would be Chris Dawson (CDS & The Range) Nothing much wrong with the Plymouth team or the track..........Huge crowd potential on the doorstep.... only needs good sales & media people to sell the product.

I have been in business for many years & can see NO REASON why Plymouth could pull crowds of 2 to 3 thousand every week.

 

Next best man MIGHT be Matt Ford???? but no Mike Bowden PLEASE!

[Da Readster]

Last year before the Spring Classic I contacted Brian Cave at the club and suggested that they invite people to sponsor an individual rider's race jacket for £25 to help raise money for the club. They could meet the rider before the meeting, have their photo taken with them and at the end of the meeting collect the signed race jacket. They decided to go ahead with this but then the meeting was postponed due to weather. This year I contacted Brian Cave to ask if they were going to re-run the race jacket sponsorship and was told yes. I didn't see any publicity for this and, if I hadn't asked the question, wouldn't have known about it. When I arrived on Friday it appeared that this hadn't been mentioned to the riders and the whole thing was badly organised. For the club to survive they need to have professionally minded and organised people in key positions.

 

This has come as a shock to me and I will miss my Friday evenings at the SBA and the friends I have made there. Hopefully we can find someone to rescue the club and all of the riders can either return under a new promotion or find new clubs for their services as they have been deceived by the club's intentions.

 

Fingers crossed...

[allthegearbutnaeidea]

Here is the perfect place to say it. This proves the point. Some of us have tried to explain it to the happy clappers on here the riders, like the rest of us are human and thus ride for the money. They don't "do it for the fans". If they "did it for the fans" Plymouth wouldn't be closing down.

 

Anyway, sorry for the last post. I thought I was a speedway rider or promoter chatting to a fan there for a second and telling people not to bother attending.

It's a stupid assessment in my opinion, if you was a builder and the company that you worked for was struggling financially but your mate was the owner of the company would you work for free for him or would you go elsewhere so that ypu can get payed so you can pay your bills, how is a speedway rider meant to maintain 2 bikes and a family if they are working for free? please explain because I simply don't understand where you are coming from with this

[KIRKYLANE]

Hope for the best result and a survival package is found.

 

Good track and entertaining racing... Sad if it goes.

[Tsunami]

Hope for the best result and a survival package is found.

 

Good track and entertaining racing... Sad if it goes.

Lets hope so, but no Bowden, family and friends.

[Najjer]

Is there more to this than meets the eye? I wonder why they've knocked it on the head when Somerset are due in town who must surely bring the biggest amount of travelling fans to Plymouth.

 

Basing figures on an open meeting with a poor line up is nothing short of stupid. Barely anybody is interested in these meetings.

[Fromafar]

Is there more to this than meets the eye? I wonder why they've knocked it on the head when Somerset are due in town who must surely bring the biggest amount of travelling fans to Plymouth.

Basing figures on an open meeting with a poor line up is nothing short of stupid. Barely anybody is interested in these meetings.

Something dodgy about the timing of closure!Imo

[Lord Skid]

Bowden, didn't think it would be long before he came crawling out from under a stone.

[trophykid]

I've got a feeling about Exeter amongst all of this. David Short, Allen Trump, Seemond Stephens all connected to the Falcons. A resurgent Falcons are more of a 'name' than the Devils, and with their proposed return imminent, who knows? Something just stinks about this.

[RobMcCaffery]

This is awful news for the fans and riders of Plymouth and I am so very sorry for them.

 

If the attendance for the opening meeting was so crucial I would question the scheduling of a very cheap and nasty individual meeting format for that opener instead of waiting a week for an official team match against local rivals.

 

Has there been a split within the promotion? Failing to achieve a low break-even point of 700 makes quite desperate reading.

 

As ever I am sure there's much more to this than can be seen. I do hop[e that something can be done to rescue the situation - and find those 700 fans!

 

I loved my trip there a couple of years back and was desperately frustrated that despite spending a fortnight in Devon last September there were no meetings at the SBA while I was down there!

Edited March 22, 2016 by rmc

[arthur cross]

So it's taken 11 years and nearly 5 months since Colin Hill's death (30-Oct-2004) to reach today's extraordinarily-timed exit by the club who galloped so recklessly through the final chunk of his legacy for speedway, ideally in-or-around Exeter but later widened across the rest of Devon.

 

My first dealings with any speedway promoter were with Colin Hill in 1988-&-89 when I was studying in Exeter so although I now live well away from the South-West, it saddens me greatly to see such an abrupt end for the Devils.

 

I've plenty of sympathy for Plymouth's riders and fans ... another name I'd add to that list (although I've often been critical of his overall BSPA chairmanship in recent years) is Alex Harkess given his immense determination in previous winters to keep the Devils included within the Premier League.

 

What a kick in the teeth for such outside effort in the recent past for the local guardians of the club to bale out at such an early stage of this season ... at the very least, the Devils riders, fans and the speedway world in general deserve a much better explanation than today's brief news from David Short (or anyone else near the top of that club) to explain why it's taken just one individual meeting to drive such a wretched skewer into their 2016 budget.

 

From my distance, it looks like Mr Short should never again be allowed anywhere near the running of a speedway club given the budget gap that's suddenly yawned open here.

Edited March 22, 2016 by arthur cross

[SomersetBlue]

I just said to my Uncle it would be great if Debbie Hancock put a challenge meeting together a week Friday against the Devils. Anyone agree?

[jenga]

sorry to say this, but it looks like holder will be heading home as no teams are going to change their line ups. its Plymouth or no one . (2 year sponsor ) there is a time scale involved . ty had to leave pretty sharpish. so with jack not having a sponsor it looks like goodbye . not the best decision by the Plymouth people, but maybe the best financial one .. sad..

[Pinny]

Surely, as with Sponsor visas for brits in aus, you get 28 days to search for a new sponsor before you have to leave?

[Cliffeboy]

Pretty crappy for Jack Holder he must be wondering what he's done to deserve all this.

Comes over on an agreed 5 average to a team that includes his mate Brady Kurtz, that all changes overnight and he becomes a 7.

Plymouth take him on amid accusations of cheating against the Rebels from various angles. Then Plymouth resign him for this season and go bust...and now looks like it is home for him now.

He must look at Brady's career so far and think what's happened.

I really hope something gets sorted for this lad, he has genuine talent and deserves better than this.

[alfiemorris]

A terrible shame. Last time I was there a couple of years ago crowd looked good. Must've dropped off alarmingly

Not so I think? Yes, rain-off's and Saturday meetings do seem to have an effect. Last Friday was bloody cold, and for a challenge/individual/pointless opener, I would say more than 450 thru' the gate? may be? We are all gutted, upset and angry! Very angry! Just hope Superman arrives quickly!

[rogero]

Horrendous times. Now is not the time for any finger pointing etc but it does make you question who does the budgets?

I mean if you are only getting 450 people a week then don't pay wages based upon 700-800 attendee's.

 

Either way i hope all the riders get fixed up soon and hope they can recoup some of the expense they will have undoubtedly laid out.

 

Perhaps this opens the door for an Exeter revival?

well, interesting that David Short was able to state 450 .. a mid-March, cold night and an individual meeting. The the crowd for the last competitive team match last September was well over 4 figures. Well over! Yet, he didn't mention that and the Promotion never has. Everything in my business, speedway and logical instincts tells me that there is something inexplicable here. The timing is indefensible. This weekend we were due to race against local rivals Somerset. Surely that would have been a better time to assess. I am furious, upset, devastated and I feel for the riders. After seeing Reading, Exeter, Oxford, Weymouth, Newport & Bristol all close I am now devastated about my home city Plymouth Devils. My 55 year love affair with speedway is now set for divorce.