Leicester Lions 2017

[stevethelion]

I never jumped ship. Found out from a friend that someone else had been given the job. I heard nothing until I phoned Buster and was then told that someone else was doing it.

I then found out that it was the guy who has been helping me for the last 5 years. I had been talking to him weekly since the season had finished he never said a thing.

 

Glyn

Oh dear! is that the bloke who always seem to stall the tractor or dump the shale in a big heap on the back straight, he didn't seem to have much of a clue.

[speedflash]

Yep thats him.

[Long Eye]

I never jumped ship. Found out from a friend that someone else had been given the job. I heard nothing until I phoned Buster and was then told that someone else was doing it.

I then found out that it was the guy who has been helping me for the last 5 years. I had been talking to him weekly since the season had finished he never said a thing.

 

Glyn

You're having a laugh aren't you? That's the only person I have met who can be out smarted by a wet sponge!!

[flagrag]

StevetheLion - Yes that is Kevin Blunder Thrift I will never forget the nights he jack knife the tractor and bowser in the middle of the track and also drove into the start gate we are going to need some luck although I expect that Buster will do most of the preparations and in the event of poor weather will be the one to sort it out.

 

I am sad to see Glyn go as a nice bloke with some ideas and always tried his best to sort the track, To be honest I think if it had been anyone else than Buster buying Leicester then Glyn would still be there.

Edited January 15, 2017 by flagrag

[Mr Bump]

Oh dear! is that the bloke who always seem to stall the tractor or dump the shale in a big heap on the back straight, he didn't seem to have much of a clue.

The same fella that did a lap of the track with the intention of watering it? Only he didn't spray the water over the width of the track, just dribbled it out the back of the machine? And then flooded turn 2 by the pit entrance trying to reverse the tractor back in to the pits?

 

Comedy gold was that.

[Sidney the robin]

That's quite the norm. I remember having a weekly gig at a club in Bournemouth. Did every Friday night and built it up from nothing, and I mean nothing, to having it packed out every Friday. The place was very popular. I had a 'mate' who used to look after the decks while I took a p break and got a drink. Then the club changed hands and closed for a month for a refit.

 

I popped in a week before it was due to open to see how things were coming along, to be told my services were no longer required. My "mate" had been in and told the new owner he could do the same as me for beer money. (I took half the door money). So I paid the 'mate' a visit and asked him what he was up to. The bloke didn't know where to put his face.

 

Needless to say he didn't have a clue and the night died on its feet very quickly. I got a call asking if I wanted it back and got great joy in telling the new owners where to shove it.

Any chance of BIGGING your self up anymore? cringeworthy😅

[Big Al]

And I bet that Glyn is still owed money

[Gemini]

Bloody hell I hope not.

Danny king - wouldn't mind

Kenneth Bjerre - no thanks

Lasse Bjerre - Leicester reject

James Sarjeant - tape breaker

Jason Garrity - knuckle scraping Leicester reject

Josh bates - knuckle scraping Leicester reject

Lewis Kerr - whatever

Are you dissing the Coventry team Liontamer?

 

So where does Justin Sedgmen fit in?

 

Has he signed? Take your pick then on changing one of my suggested team.

I never jumped ship. Found out from a friend that someone else had been given the job. I heard nothing until I phoned Buster and was then told that someone else was doing it.

I then found out that it was the guy who has been helping me for the last 5 years. I had been talking to him weekly since the season had finished he never said a thing.

 

Glyn

Nice way to be treated. Good luck Glyn and thank you for all your hard work over the last 5 years.

[A ORLOV]

Are you dissing the Coventry team Liontamer?

 

 

Has he signed? Take your pick then on changing one of my suggested team.

Nice way to be treated. Good luck Glyn and thank you for all your hard work over the last 5 years.

I posted a couple of days ago that Justin has had talks but nothing was signed as yet, ie a couple of days ago, he is planning to fly back to the UK during Jan as he has to get a new visa by the end of Jan.

Edited January 15, 2017 by A ORLOV

[1 valve]

I never jumped ship. Found out from a friend that someone else had been given the job. I heard nothing until I phoned Buster and was then told that someone else was doing it.

I then found out that it was the guy who has been helping me for the last 5 years. I had been talking to him weekly since the season had finished he never said a thing.

 

Glyn

Well this is far from what we would want to see from the new promoters. This is the sort of behavior we are led to believe would be typical of what was dished out by the outgoing promoter (not saying it was). Cant see any difference here - hope its a one off and these guys DO LEARN from their mistakes.

[Crazy robin]

That's quite the norm. I remember having a weekly gig at a club in Bournemouth. Did every Friday night and built it up from nothing, and I mean nothing, to having it packed out every Friday. The place was very popular. I had a 'mate' who used to look after the decks while I took a p break and got a drink. Then the club changed hands and closed for a month for a refit.

 

I popped in a week before it was due to open to see how things were coming along, to be told my services were no longer required. My "mate" had been in and told the new owner he could do the same as me for beer money. (I took half the door money). So I paid the 'mate' a visit and asked him what he was up to. The bloke didn't know where to put his face.

 

Needless to say he didn't have a clue and the night died on its feet very quickly. I got a call asking if I wanted it back and got great joy in telling the new owners where to shove it.

What a bloody ego you have to change the situation to you😳😳

[Steve Shovlar]

What a bloody ego you have to change the situation to you

Its called a similar situation and what happens to people all the time. The new Leicester promotion think they are saving money using the other guy and kicked the better guy into touch. Its false economy and could well come back to bite them on the arse, as it did with my experience.

[robert72]

I never jumped ship. Found out from a friend that someone else had been given the job. I heard nothing until I phoned Buster and was then told that someone else was doing it.

I then found out that it was the guy who has been helping me for the last 5 years. I had been talking to him weekly since the season had finished he never said a thing.

 

Glyn

You did miracles to polish a turd each meeting on that badly shaped track.

 

I was surprised you came back for a second stint and hope you will give a full statement on how hard your job was and the hurdles you faced.

Surprised you were blown out in favour of someone not qualified to prepare a race track.

 

Good luck Glyn

[1 valve]

Reading the Speedway Star article I see DD has dropped a very strong hint that Lions will race on Saturdays...is that anybody's else understanding?

[Gemini]

I haven't read the article but am hoping it's Saturday as that's the best option for continuing to encourage children to be in attendance with their parents, also away fans and occasional visitors. So presumably DH, Glynn, Norrie Allen and Mrs DH have gone. Has the Lion mascot survived?

[Glennylion]

Reading the Speedway Star article I see DD has dropped a very strong hint that Lions will race on Saturdays...is that anybody's else understanding?

I never read like that at the time but having re-read, I see where you're coming from when DD rubbishes the idea of Coventry using BP he refers to Coventry on a Thursday impacting on a Saturday attendance.

 

I'm hoping it was a scenario he was using rather than suggesting it as a chosen race night.

 

 

Separate issue but how many kids go? The number of kids seem limited. Why do no other tracks want kids to go?

Edited January 16, 2017 by Glennylion

[robert72]

I never read like that at the time but having re-read, I see where you're coming from when DD rubbishes the idea of Coventry using BP he refers to Coventry on a Thursday impacting on a Saturday attendance.

 

I'm hoping it was a scenario he was using rather than suggesting it as a chosen race night.

 

 

Separate issue but how many kids go? The number of kids seem limited. Why do no other tracks want kids to go?

So what your saying is that speedway is no longer a family sport ?

 

Saturday night or late Sunday afternoon should be the chosen days to race, sod Poland let's put British speedway first and bring back families at affordable prices.

[Glennylion]

So what your saying is that speedway is no longer a family sport ?

 

Saturday night or late Sunday afternoon should be the chosen days to race, sod Poland let's put British speedway first and bring back families at affordable prices.

Did I say that?

 

If Saturday was so crucial and necessary to kids in attendance or crowds generally, why do so many others not have Saturday race nights? Either they don't agree or aren't necessarily seeking to attract kids.

 

Don't know the answer, just asking a question or 2.

 

If Saturday nights were the best night for kids, why are the attendees significantly of an older generation?

 

Do under 16's not attend other tracks?

 

Did under 16's not attend blackbird road?

 

As a percentage of gate, how many are kids? Would the percentage be the same as at other tracks?

 

Saturday evenings are times to be spent with families. I agree. That however presents choices. My family aren't interested in speedway despite my attempts so if I want to spend Saturday evenings with my family (as you imply) then it's away from speedway.

 

That doesn't take into account other activities that impact more so on a Saturday than other days to do with not being at work such as in my case cricket.

[LionsDen]

That is totally incorrect, ermelenko arrived a long time after Hemsley was involved. I know because I assistied DH with getting the lease granted by the local council. I attended a couple of council meetings and also ran a Stars V Leicester meeting to raise public awareness (received good local TV news coverage).

 

I was never in it to be the promoter but saw it as an opportunity to help, as I am sure many others did. Once the lease was agreed and planning consented DH went about raising the funds to build the stadium, at that point I was no longer involved and I believe that was when ermelenko arrived.

 

Ken Naylor and others will back me up on this, and whilst DH may not have proved to be a good promoter, the stadium solely exists for the Lions team to race in because of the capital he invested (which in my opinion was a risk 999 out of a 1000 would never take).

I can back you up on this Jonathan. I was on the LSSC committee during your involvement. And I remember the likes of Ken Naylor, Robert Ball, Andy Joyce and myself working extremely hard to get a decent Lions following at the NA that night. It was a cracking meeting, despite the 38-40 loss! ;-) We were thrilled you managed to get the likes of Chris Holder, Lewis Bridger, Kevin Doolan and David Howe to represent the Lions and I remember well the tv news cameras being there.

 

Our LSSC committee held the displays at Radio Leicester, made various media approaches and organised various supporters events such as the Q&As you did at The Blackbird Pub and an xmas party in town. As you know, all of these events supported by yourself, including the aforementioned council meetings, enabled us to eventually put in for the eventual planning application in early 2009. DH never did fully explain to the LSSC committee why your involvement came to an end, other than some vague issue regarding funding part of the application. Whatever it was, that’s between you and him.

 

Planning approval was achieved at a Council meeting in August 2009 and Sam got involved soon after, being presented to the fans at a Supporters Club event in November 2009. Personally I was happy with that because following your departure we’d lacked anyone with any credibility from within the speedway industry itself. Sam had a definitive vision and used to use my city centre office space for various meetings and was working hard behind the scenes to get local business involvement and funding. As the campaign’s chief designer I did numerous presentation documents and materials for his meetings with local business leaders, large companies and various enterprise groups. It should also be pointed out, we had NO money at this point. The money for the planning application had wiped out what budget we had left, and that includes DH. At one point he even wanted to introduce an ill-advised share scheme, that bombed. I remember the LSSC writing him a cheque at this time for over 2k just to cover a legal bill he had. And don’t forget we also raised £5.5k to enable a concrete terrace on the back straight.

 

To support the new initiatives and to make the planning approval a reality a ‘Leicester Speedway Organising Committee’ was set up. The first meeting took place in the summer of 2010 in the dilapidated changing rooms at Beaumont Park. Present were DH, Sam, Alan Jones (who had been brought in by DH to look after the PR), Ken, Andy Joyce and myself. Maybe Linda Jones too, though I can’t recall for certain. However, Sam only attended that first meeting as his fall out with DH came soon after when DH got impatient and moved the goalposts after striking a deal to tip construction waste on site. This wasn’t what Sam had spent all his time working towards and he felt it had been deliberately done behind his back. That tipping deal is what actually funded the ‘stadium’ being built - and is the reason why it was done on the cheap and ended up nothing like the plans we had originally presented to the Council and the public at various open meetings. The promised ‘sports village’ ended up being a red herring and I honestly believe planning would never have been granted had the present set up been put before the City Council. They were expecting much more, a multi-purpose sports village that featured a cycling velodrome, 12x 5-a-side football pitches, BMX and a purpose-built pavilion/grandstand in fact.

 

Once Sam had gone, it soon became apparent that the whole project was fast losing it’s “team” ethos, something which had worked so brilliantly for us during the 4 year campaign. Whilst on the face of it people still ‘volunteered’ for particular tasks, such as checking the lorries doing the tipping all day every day, behind the scenes it rapidly became the DH show with a “my way or no way” attitude, something he quite vociferously enforced. That soon resulted in people such as Ken, who’d spent so many years fighting for this dream to be realised to walk away. He and I ceased our involvement with Leicester Speedway Ltd in February 2011 just prior to the opening meeting, though I carried on as LSSC Chairman for another couple of months to facilitate one or two things we’d had in the pipeline. I haven’t been to BP since 2011. We still follow what goes on up there because like you say in a later post, there’s an emotional attachment, and wish the new people all the best, finally relieved that the person who without question did so much to get it back, but sadly even more to ruin it, is no longer running it. There is a lot of goodwill to repair with the many supporters and sponsors now lost. Effectively they need to start again.

 

Anyway, just thought I’d add this to provide a historical timeline following some earlier posts where the information was a shade cloudy.

 

Steve Chilton

Edited January 16, 2017 by LionsDen

[1 valve]

Separate issue but how many kids go? The number of kids seem limited.

DH use to use the argument that Saturday night meant more kids and hence more families would attend. Clearly there has always been a divided opinion between us fans on whether or not this is true and to what extent. Looking at other clubs venues I don't see any significant difference in the profile of attendees no matter what the race night.

The arguments for and against Saturday nights are well known and both hold water, but looking at the sport overall I am not sure we all agree on what we mean or imagine by the term kids. Kids are by definition those under 16 and although I can imagine some mums Dads would like to bring much younger folk we should consider just how many very young children (say under 10) do come on Saturday who wouldn't come on a midweek night v how many 11 - 16 year olds would also stay away.

With speedway being a summer sport sharing light nights and school holidays this must play a part in negating those fears of DH and frankly the truth is whatever race night the Lions do run, then more than likely it will please some and not others. The bigger factor to increasing attendance is not what night but what team and how good the experience is...As the saying goes "build it and they shall come"

Edited January 16, 2017 by 1 valve