Stoke closing down

[adonis]

59 minutes ago, bellevueace said:

Listening to a programme on Talksport after the Loss of Bury FC and the on going problems with Bolton Wanderers it was stated the combined total of money owed by all EFL clubs, thats every club outside the Premier league comes to a total of around one billion, Macclesfield are widely regarded as the next club that could fold through financial problems, so its not just a Speedway problem, and the clubs mentioned get crowds that Speedway promoters would give their right arm for. In Bury,s case they went bust after a promotion season, obviously the money is in football it just doesn't filter down to the lower leagues, in the case of Speedway there is no money at all in the sport.

Difference is Bury and Oldham will both be back .  bailed out by the gov't or local council as football always is .

[adonis]

1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Ive been harsh on Stoke in the past mostly at times rightly because it has been a dump at times over the years with a terrible track and horrible people however.....it has been staging a revival of late and the whole product had started to smarten up its act, sadly too late perhaps although it sounds much like the sale was when rather than if. Stoke was my mega lottery win track and i ca safely say i will miss the old girl with all her rustic (rough and ready) charms.

At least one person will be over the moon at the announcement . Mark Robinson , that idiot has been wishing it to close for years ,

[porkypotter]

15 hours ago, Richard Weston said:

Speedway tracks falling faster than snow in Sussex. 

Feel for the fans and in particular Porky Potter who has done his best to publicise the club on here.

Also worried that another respected forum member suggests Stoke will not be the last.

hi Richard. thanks for your comments. we are all gutted in the potteries to lose the team. I really thought this was going to be the turn around season for the potters and to be fair the promoters have done a great deal of good in improving the old place. alas the team did not quite live up to the hopes and the crowds fell to an alarming level. last Saturday in particular was the smallest crowd I have ever seen there. lets just hope that this Saturday we get a good crowd to send the potters into oblivion with a rousing cheer. whatever the gripes with the management in the past nobody can deny that dave tattum and all his team have done their best but when you are only a tenant you are going to be on a sticky wicket and all of this is beyond his control. so come on everyone lets go out with our heads held high and trounce the lion cubs. come on the  potters give it some welly..

[TheCookster]

3 minutes ago, porkypotter said:

 nobody can deny that dave tattum and all his team have done their best

It is certainly true that you have less free rein as a tenant rather than as the landowner, but I would suggest that there are plenty of people who would contest whether Dave Tattum and all his team had done their best.

[adonis]

21 minutes ago, porkypotter said:

hi Richard. thanks for your comments. we are all gutted in the potteries to lose the team. I really thought this was going to be the turn around season for the potters and to be fair the promoters have done a great deal of good in improving the old place. alas the team did not quite live up to the hopes and the crowds fell to an alarming level. last Saturday in particular was the smallest crowd I have ever seen there. lets just hope that this Saturday we get a good crowd to send the potters into oblivion with a rousing cheer. whatever the gripes with the management in the past nobody can deny that dave tattum and all his team have done their best but when you are only a tenant you are going to be on a sticky wicket and all of this is beyond his control. so come on everyone lets go out with our heads held high and trounce the lion cubs. come on the  potters give it some welly..

I know it's of little comfort ,as you are about to lose your team . but at least you will know it's the last hurrah  .and anyone who wants a last look at speedway in the old place can come along on Saturday . Something that we never got the chance to do  at Coventry , thanks to Sandhu and his double dealing and game playing ..

[porkypotter]

24 minutes ago, adonis said:

I know it's of little comfort ,as you are about to lose your team . but at least you will know it's the last hurrah  .and anyone who wants a last look at speedway in the old place can come along on Saturday . Something that we never got the chance to do  at Coventry , thanks to Sandhu and his double dealing and game playing ..

hi Adonis. yes lets hope we get a good crowd for one last match. funnily enough Coventry was my home town club for years and the way that the closure was handled was nothing short of criminal and all those involved should hang their heads in shame. to see the place now in a state of dereliction is heart breaking

[montie]

17 hours ago, mikebv said:

"What in earth is happening?"

Years and years of promoters ignoring the feedback from disenfranchised and disillusioned fans is 'happening' so British Speedway continues to reap what it has sowed..

Be interesting to see if those left finally change a wholly unfit for purpose operating model before any more tracks close...?

Somehow I doubt it as surely they would have done so over the last decade or so, when it was clear year on year it wasn't working...

to be fair with the money involved in development these days far out weighs anything a promotor can do

 

if 5000 folk turned up you still wont match the cash available from developers

[Andy Downes]

13 hours ago, chunky said:

A lot of speedway fans don't think about things like that, but I have said repeatedly that a lot of speedway's major issues aren't actually speedway related.

It's been 27 years since I moved across the Atlantic. In the overall scheme of things, it doesn't seem like that long a period, but looking back, it isn't the Britain I left. People have changed, and the culture has changed.

Yes, a lot of speedway tracks have disappeared in that time, but is it just because of speedway? Sadly, there are other factors; things like health and safety, the "need" for more housing, the desire for industrial and other business parks, and of course, the great British NIMBY...

Look at the great football stadia that have gone, impressive and atmospheric places that have been destroyed, simply because they were outdated and "uncool". Of course, most have been been replaced, because of the greater finances in footy.

Steve

I was just thinking the same - there is  a football web site where you can put all the grounds you have been to (both old and current) and it produces a map showing you where you've been and other stats such as how many grounds have been knocked down.

When i completed it, it turned out 38/80 footie teams i had seen at their home ground had moved to a new stadium, almost 50%. Compare that with the number of Speedway Tracks who are still operating/have defunct stadia ; in my first season (1980) there were 37 league sides; 17 teams are now defunct, 8 are still racing but in a different stadium and only 12 are still at the same track as 40 years ago. 

So in summary, just over 2/3 of supporters have lost their 'home' although around 1/5 have a new home track. The point (yes there is one) is that this is close to the football average so enclosed/semi enclosed stadia it appears do have a natural shelf life before redevelopment looms.

Maybe any Rugby/Speedway fans could comment if the same is true of their other favourite sport

 

[cityrebel]

39 minutes ago, Andy Downes said:

I was just thinking the same - there is  a football web site where you can put all the grounds you have been to (both old and current) and it produces a map showing you where you've been and other stats such as how many grounds have been knocked down.

When i completed it, it turned out 38/80 footie teams i had seen at their home ground had moved to a new stadium, almost 50%. Compare that with the number of Speedway Tracks who are still operating/have defunct stadia ; in my first season (1980) there were 37 league sides; 17 teams are now defunct, 8 are still racing but in a different stadium and only 12 are still at the same track as 40 years ago. 

So in summary, just over 2/3 of supporters have lost their 'home' although around 1/5 have a new home track. The point (yes there is one) is that this is close to the football average so enclosed/semi enclosed stadia it appears do have a natural shelf life before redevelopment looms.

Maybe any Rugby/Speedway fans could comment if the same is true of their other favourite sport

 

I've lost 20 tracks within a 70 mile radius of my south east base since i first started going. Romford was the first to go in 1971. Luckily Eastbourne, Kent and the IOW seem to be in reasonably good health.

[iris123]

2 hours ago, cityrebel said:

I've lost 20 tracks within a 70 mile radius of my south east base since i first started going. Romford was the first to go in 1971. Luckily Eastbourne, Kent and the IOW seem to be in reasonably good health.

But of football grounds I have visited in London , Millwall, Wimbledon, Dulwich, Kingstonians, Tooting and Mitcham, Arsenal, Fisher Athletic just off the top of my head have all moved. Although Dulwich has a new ground built on the same site

[gregory peck]

Sad day for the potters, from a worky fan always enjoyable meetings v Stoke, with the pickering, moggo and staechmann spearhead always memorable, and now like us it's all in the memory bank

[steve roberts]

Strewth! Yet another track closing down!

Edited September 11, 2019 by steve roberts

[griffo]

10 hours ago, gustix said:

The loss of speedway in Stoke is devastating news. But one thing in regard to its closure puzzles me. As soon as the end of speedway there was announced the promotion advised that this Saturday (September 14) would be the last meeting.

On the other hand, the stadium's other tenants stock car racing come up with a series of 'farewell meetings' that will take them through to the first week of November.

Why this difference in attitude in regard to Stoke's demise?

The meeting on the 14th was Our last Home meeting and the other dates in the programme were there in case meetings were cancelled  and had to be run later that's why they are said to be Reserved so no Puzzle as the sale came as a shock to all concerned. I believe Mr Reese has been on to the owners to ask to run the stock car meetings as things were in motion  arranging them.Stoke have one remaining Meeting to Run and that is KOC 2nd leg against Leicester at Leicester that was cancelled a  few Weeks ago. In My opinion the site will become a Warehouse for a Clothing Firm. So ends a 46 Year  Association with Stoke Speedway.

[Longsufferingpotter]

9 hours ago, bellevueace said:

Listening to a programme on Talksport after the Loss of Bury FC and the on going problems with Bolton Wanderers it was stated the combined total of money owed by all EFL clubs, thats every club outside the Premier league comes to a total of around one billion, Macclesfield are widely regarded as the next club that could fold through financial problems, so its not just a Speedway problem, and the clubs mentioned get crowds that Speedway promoters would give their right arm for. In Bury,s case they went bust after a promotion season, obviously the money is in football it just doesn't filter down to the lower leagues, in the case of Speedway there is no money at all in the sport.

Correct. Macc have been tipped as the next EFL club to fold.

That would be a personal double whammy. I'm not only a Potters supporter but also a Silkmen fan.

[mikebv]

6 hours ago, montie said:

to be fair with the money involved in development these days far out weighs anything a promotor can do

 

if 5000 folk turned up you still wont match the cash available from developers

But having a fan base like that would help any application for being allowed to move elsewhere within the same area...

Sadly as it stands now, it would be difficult at most venues to make out to the local councils that the loss of them would have a huge impact on too many people...

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by mikebv

[Moranboys]

words fail me.so so sorry for all of the stoke fans and management.yet another club that brought me many memories as mentioned down the years is soon set to join the list of defunct tracks.it is not just because of the sport itself, there are many other factors contributing to the sports demise.i am part way through an excellent book at the moment ,that being dave mortons autobiography and he mentions that crewe folded with crowds around 2000 so it brings things into perspective.estimated crowd at sheffield for the c.l.r.c around 1500.not good.times and things have also changed.apart from the old stalwarts like us who aren't getting any younger there are not enough youngsters watching the sport because of other interests.i feel for the stoke fans and truly believe that you won't be the last.the powers that be that show the sport on t.v only seem to be interested in the top league and g.p,s with no lower league racing shown so the championship and d.league don't get any coverage,yes angel pearson does sometimes mention where to watch the championship but its not like actually seeing the sport at the venues.i hope that no more clubs fold but am not holding my breath.

[Moranboys]

nigel

1 minute ago, Moranboys said:

words fail me.so so sorry for all of the stoke fans and management.yet another club that brought me many memories as mentioned down the years is soon set to join the list of defunct tracks.it is not just because of the sport itself, there are many other factors contributing to the sports demise.i am part way through an excellent book at the moment ,that being dave mortons autobiography and he mentions that crewe folded with crowds around 2000 so it brings things into perspective.estimated crowd at sheffield for the c.l.r.c around 1500.not good.times and things have also changed.apart from the old stalwarts like us who aren't getting any younger there are not enough youngsters watching the sport because of other interests.i feel for the stoke fans and truly believe that you won't be the last.the powers that be that show the sport on t.v only seem to be interested in the top league and g.p,s with no lower league racing shown so the championship and d.league don't get any coverage,yes angel pearson does sometimes mention where to watch the championship but its not like actually seeing the sport at the venues.i hope that no more clubs fold but am not holding my breath.

nigel lol.don,t think he's any angel!

[teaboy279]

4 hours ago, iris123 said:

But of football grounds I have visited in London , Millwall, Wimbledon, Dulwich, Kingstonians, Tooting and Mitcham, Arsenal, Fisher Athletic just off the top of my head have all moved. Although Dulwich has a new ground built on the same site

Blimey done all those myself. Plus Upton park and rubbishe hart lane,If you want to stretch the london boundaries a bit Erith and Beleverdere as well. Just off the top of my head.

[teaboy279]

7 hours ago, Andy Downes said:

I was just thinking the same - there is  a football web site where you can put all the grounds you have been to (both old and current) and it produces a map showing you where you've been and other stats such as how many grounds have been knocked down.

When i completed it, it turned out 38/80 footie teams i had seen at their home ground had moved to a new stadium, almost 50%. Compare that with the number of Speedway Tracks who are still operating/have defunct stadia ; in my first season (1980) there were 37 league sides; 17 teams are now defunct, 8 are still racing but in a different stadium and only 12 are still at the same track as 40 years ago. 

So in summary, just over 2/3 of supporters have lost their 'home' although around 1/5 have a new home track. The point (yes there is one) is that this is close to the football average so enclosed/semi enclosed stadia it appears do have a natural shelf life before redevelopment looms.

Maybe any Rugby/Speedway fans could comment if the same is true of their other favourite sport

 

Do you have a link, would love to have a go myself, some awesome little grounds I ve done following non league football over the years.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, mikebv said:

But having a fan base like that would help any application for being allowed to move elsewhere within the same area...

Sadly as it stands now, it would be difficult at most venues to make out to the local councils that the loss of them would have a huge impact on too many people...

Even more  difficult to explain to a council the actual local fan base and how many attending a stadium were away supporters. That from a probable basic average 1,000 for a meeting.