Poole 2019

[Starman2006]

1 hour ago, Gavan said:

Doesn’t bother me wether we are the best or not

The sport as a whole is what matters not just one club.

Ive always said Matt Ford has been good for Poole as a business but he certainly isn’t good for the sport as a whole and it has to be said that some of Pooles title wins have had controversy about them.

So no I would rather have my club run the way it is right now and keep the sport running

Matt runs his club how he see's fit . Yup all 7 league titles start counting...

[Hodgy]

2 hours ago, Gavan said:

Doesn’t bother me wether we are the best or not

The sport as a whole is what matters not just one club.

Ive always said Matt Ford has been good for Poole as a business but he certainly isn’t good for the sport as a whole and it has to be said that some of Pooles title wins have had controversy about them.

So no I would rather have my club run the way it is right now and keep the sport running

The word is ‘whether’. 

If 10 clubs had 10 Fords I believe the sport could be in a much better place. Yes he has created controversy, who hasn’t in this game? Appears he’s had enough. Love or loathe, Poole have set the standard for several years. If they go it will be much worse than it is now. In my opinion. 

Edited September 12, 2018 by Hodgy

[Bald Bloke]

1 hour ago, Starman2006 said:

Matt runs his club how he see's fit . Yup all 7 league titles start counting...

All promoters run their club as they see fit.... Why wouldn't they.

Matt wants to win at all costs, we know that...Same as most of the fans....Why wouldn't he, it makes him money... He made money as a result of winning. Hence win at all costs... Could it be now that Poole can't dominate and the crowds are down, he is making little or no money. So no point, in his eyes...Can't see Ford plugging on for the passion of Poole speedway, or the sport in general, like lots of promoters seem to do for UK speedway.

Either that or he wants to influence the AGM in his favour.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2018 by Bald Bloke

[Sidney the robin]

Poole have the best destination for speedway only Poole fc and maybe Southampton as a competitor.Ford has done a great job for Poole and himself but has he been good for the sport as a whole??? i have my doubts.I dont agree with the win at all costs mentality the first priority for me is to get the entertainment level right winning and losing come after.Are people happy to see crap everyweek but go home happy because they are winning? i go to see good racing winning/ losing means nothing to me how important is winning to fans.?

[Steve Shovlar]

4 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

Poole have the best destination for speedway only Poole fc and maybe Southampton as a competitor.Ford has done a great job for Poole and himself but has he been good for the sport as a whole??? i have my doubts.I dont agree with the win at all costs mentality the first priority for me is to get the entertainment level right winning and losing come after.Are people happy to see crap everyweek but go home happy because they are winning? i go to see good racing winning/ losing means nothing to me how important is winning to fans.?

AFC Bournemouth are a premier league football club. Forgot about them? Five miles from Wimborne Road. About the same distance STFC is from Blunsdon. A bit different in status though. What have The Robins got to challenge them? 

As many have said, if the promoters were all like Matt the sport would be thriving in the UK. Easily the best current promoter in the country and has been since the start of the millennium.

Sport is for winning. People who say win at all costs mentality is bad clearly support a team with little in the way of trophies in the cabint over the years, as winning is everything in sport.

We are lucky to have a combination of Matt and Middlo. They will be a hard act to follow when they go. They have brought great teams, and so many league titles.

As for crap racing, it’s not something we suffer down here compared to Blunsdon. Racing is good overall. I know because I watch speedway away from Wimborne Road and there isn’t much on offer that’s better.

 

 

 

[Pinny]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

AFC Bournemouth are a premier league football club. Forgot about them? Five miles from Wimborne Road. About the same distance STFC is from Blunsdon. A bit different in status though. What have The Robins got to challenge them? 

As many have said, if the promoters were all like Matt the sport would be thriving in the UK. Easily the best current promoter in the country and has been since the start of the millennium.

Sport is for winning. People who say win at all costs mentality is bad clearly support a team with little in the way of trophies in the cabint over the years, as winning is everything in sport.

We are lucky to have a combination of Matt and Middlo. They will be a hard act to follow when they go. They have brought great teams, and so many league titles.

As for crap racing, it’s not something we suffer down here compared to Blunsdon. Racing is good overall. I know because I watch speedway away from Wimborne Road and there isn’t much on offer that’s better.

 

 

 

Hard to disagree with that Shov, Ford has without doubt been the best promoter of the last 20 years as trophys and crowds show. I just think he has lost a bit of interest now the top dogs arent riding here anymore , he loved having world champs and top riders at Poole and that doesnt happen anymore. The continued watering down of the league as well.

if I was Ford and was able to walk away with a profit and sell the club on, I would definately do so.

[Sidney the robin]

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

AFC Bournemouth are a premier league football club. Forgot about them? Five miles from Wimborne Road. About the same distance STFC is from Blunsdon. A bit different in status though. What have The Robins got to challenge them? 

As many have said, if the promoters were all like Matt the sport would be thriving in the UK. Easily the best current promoter in the country and has been since the start of the millennium.

Sport is for winning. People who say win at all costs mentality is bad clearly support a team with little in the way of trophies in the cabint over the years, as winning is everything in sport.

We are lucky to have a combination of Matt and Middlo. They will be a hard act to follow when they go. They have brought great teams, and so many league titles.

As for crap racing, it’s not something we suffer down here compared to Blunsdon. Racing is good overall. I know because I watch speedway away from Wimborne Road and there isn’t much on offer that’s better.

 

 

 

I feel you are in your own little bubble Ford is  a good promoter but does he do what is best for speedway as a whole.? Lets see if Ford could be a success in say Teeside/ Sunderland/ Barrow ? Poole is by far the best  destination for speedway a mini Monaco around Sandbanks/ Bridport.Also as for your  continuous slagging off of Swindon and the Abbey you need to look at the quality of Wimbourne Rd it  is a million miles away from the track it used to be.

[A ORLOV]

1 hour ago, Pinny said:

Hard to disagree with that Shov, Ford has without doubt been the best promoter of the last 20 years as trophys and crowds show. I just think he has lost a bit of interest now the top dogs arent riding here anymore , he loved having world champs and top riders at Poole and that doesnt happen anymore. The continued watering down of the league as well.

if I was Ford and was able to walk away with a profit and sell the club on, I would definately do so.

I cannot see many wanting to pay much, if anything, let alone Matts valuation when he wanted Somerset to buy  C Holder for £20,000, for Poole Speedway.  To start with the riders are not financial assets of any value, as they can just walk away and refuse to ride for any new owner, so Matt has a couple of tractors and other equipment and an agreement to hire the track when he needs it.  Add to this the state of speedway in this country and the way it is run.

[Bagpuss]

This has been discussed many times, Mr Ford has been excellent for Poole but along with a weak governing body and rule book his time in speedway has been pretty disastrous for the sport in the UK as a whole and the rule bending has contributed to crowds falling along with other factors. He would not be missed by many people.

[LisaColette]

4 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

This has been discussed many times, Mr Ford has been excellent for Poole but along with a weak governing body and rule book his time in speedway has been pretty disastrous for the sport in the UK as a whole and the rule bending has contributed to crowds falling along with other factors. He would not be missed by many people.

When he first took over at Poole, he did think of speedway in the UK as a whole especially at the AGMs, but he got burnt a few times by other promoter's so he decided to just put Poole first. 

[Pinny]

1 hour ago, A ORLOV said:

I cannot see many wanting to pay much, if anything, let alone Matts valuation when he wanted Somerset to buy  C Holder for £20,000, for Poole Speedway.  To start with the riders are not financial assets of any value, as they can just walk away and refuse to ride for any new owner, so Matt has a couple of tractors and other equipment and an agreement to hire the track when he needs it.  Add to this the state of speedway in this country and the way it is run.

Poole reportedly get 1500 average a week crowds , I would be stunned if Ford didnt still make a handsome profit from the club. I just think he has fallen out of love with the sport .

so it isnt just a case of Ford selling unusable rider assets and a few tractors, he would be selling a profitable buisness.

[The Weasel]

4 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

As many have said, if the promoters were all like Matt the sport would be thriving in the UK. Easily the best current promoter in the country and has been since the start of the millennium.

 

 

 

Didn't we have a couple of promoters that wanted to take the sport up a level about 10 years ago?  1 with deeper pockets (Rick Frost) and another who outfoxed him in 2010 (A Sandhu), what happened to them? 

[The Weasel]

4 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

We are lucky to have a combination of Matt and Middlo. They will be a hard act to follow when they go.

 

 

 

 

These 2? And is that Starman in the background? 

[Gambo]

58 minutes ago, lisa-colette said:

When he first took over at Poole, he did think of speedway in the UK as a whole especially at the AGMs, but he got burnt a few times by other promoter's so he decided to just put Poole first. 

Or, to put it another way, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

[Steve0]

9 minutes ago, Pinny said:

Poole reportedly get 1500 average a week crowds , I would be stunned if Ford didnt still make a handsome profit from the club. I just think he has fallen out of love with the sport .

so it isnt just a case of Ford selling unusable rider assets and a few tractors, he would be selling a profitable buisness.

I'm not so sure it is a profitable business - even for Poole.  The number of tracks are ever reducing, crowds are dropping across the country and the league continues to be diluted so because it has been profitable in the past does not mean that it will be profitable in the future.  As has been said many times before, it is all well and good putting your club first but if you do not look at the bigger picture you end up being the best team in a league of dwindling numbers until you are the only team left - won't be profitable then.

Picking up on a previous post where many have said that Matt is a great promoter and it would be great if they were all like him - I am pretty sure the vast majority of them would be Poole supporters because I haven't heard many others saying this.

[A ORLOV]

21 minutes ago, Pinny said:

Poole reportedly get 1500 average a week crowds , I would be stunned if Ford didnt still make a handsome profit from the club. I just think he has fallen out of love with the sport .

so it isnt just a case of Ford selling unusable rider assets and a few tractors, he would be selling a profitable buisness.

It would only be a profitable business if the riders want to ride and there is speedway at a decent level.  All I am saying is that the value may not be as high as Matt expects. 

I obviously hope the club continues as along with Somerset it is one of our two local Derby clubs.    

Edited September 13, 2018 by A ORLOV

[LisaColette]

8 minutes ago, Gambo said:

Or, to put it another way, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

Yep, that too! 

[Pinny]

12 minutes ago, Steve0 said:

I'm not so sure it is a profitable business - even for Poole.  The number of tracks are ever reducing, crowds are dropping across the country and the league continues to be diluted so because it has been profitable in the past does not mean that it will be profitable in the future.  As has been said many times before, it is all well and good putting your club first but if you do not look at the bigger picture you end up being the best team in a league of dwindling numbers until you are the only team left - won't be profitable then.

Picking up on a previous post where many have said that Matt is a great promoter and it would be great if they were all like him - I am pretty sure the vast majority of them would be Poole supporters because I haven't heard many others saying this.

As it stands Poole speedway I am almost certain will be a profitable buisness. Matt Ford will still make a few grand each week off it, if he doesnt hed of flogged it already. 

You dont hear many other fans saying theyd love Ford promoting their club because they know it wont happen thats why . If for example Matt Ford offered to run Kings Lynn speedway would the likes of Bagpuss be against it? No of course they wouldnt despite what people say.

[Odds On]

1 hour ago, A ORLOV said:

I cannot see many wanting to pay much, if anything, let alone Matts valuation when he wanted Somerset to buy  C Holder for £20,000, for Poole Speedway.  To start with the riders are not financial assets of any value, as they can just walk away and refuse to ride for any new owner, so Matt has a couple of tractors and other equipment and an agreement to hire the track when he needs it.  Add to this the state of speedway in this country and the way it is run.

The riders are financial assets, Poole will have quite a number of riders that they own and then they "loan" them out to other clubs, they will get a cut from each rider.

[A ORLOV]

4 minutes ago, Odds On said:

The riders are financial assets, Poole will have quite a number of riders that they own and then they "loan" them out to other clubs, they will get a cut from each rider.

What the same as C Holder, they are not assets of any value if they decide to go off and ride elsewhere in Poland etc.