Fromafar Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 2 hours ago, JamesHarris said: I partly agree with what you say BUT and there are a few of them... Should there be a wage cap - Yes, but not too low. I've always been a believer that clubs should be able to sign who they want. If they can afford it without going **** up then why not. Poole are the prime example. It pulls the crowds in. If Man City or Chelsea are in town for an FA cup tie against your team who are in the lower rungs of the league system chances are you will go to that game. Your team may get stuffed but you'll go because you want to watch the best and who knows your team may even cause an upset. My late step-father once recalled his days of going to Coventry Speedway in the 50's. If you knew Split Waterman, Ronnie Moore, Freddie Williams, Jack Young and Ove Fundin were in town you would go to watch them. The stands would be packed and apparently they used to put extra buses on - how times have changed. All wages paid via the BSPL - so like umbrella payments. And who's pocket will most of that go in? I agree regarding Clubs signing who they want if they can afford,for the same reasons your said. As an example Berwick had a decent crowd on Sat to some extent it was because Crump and Pedersen were in town.IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 Sadly, a very ominous statement :- ( The financial position of Eastbourne Eagles Limited. (Limited liability company of £100 according to Companies House) is clearly more serious and deep rooted than that of Newcastle and Birmingham. Not even a rallying call for fans to get behind the team and show their support in numbers to keep the club running. Something VERY wrong down there with the BSPL clearly not satisfied that Eastbourne Speedway Limited can service their existing debts prior to continuing the season ? The business situation at Arlington seems fairly strightforward in 2021. Spedeworth are tenants for the Stocks and Banger cars, Eastbourne Eagles Ltd are tenants for the speedway. Ian Jordan (unknown business background) and Les Fineing ( programme printer) are directors of the speedway company. Trevor Gear and Lee Kilby are co promoters. Owners of the stadium are Eric and Margaret Dugard (stated elsewhere on this thread) In the last filed accounts for season Dec 2018 - Dec2019 the speedway made a loss of £33k. That was I believe a full season in which Eagles were fairly succesful, although spoilt by Tom Brennan's injury. Company assets were valued at (£28k) ie minus £28k. Surprising then that they lined up in 2021 with 2 teams (NDL and CL) after such financial results given the huge uncertainty over COVID and a delayed opening. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frigbo Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 Just kicking the can down the road... There are too many clubs anyway, although everyone seems to pitch it as "not enough riders" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagrag Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 (edited) My understanding is that Eastbourne owners have until Midnight Tuesday to pay the outstanding debts to the riders for wages and SCB for their fees ,otherwise the SCB & BSPL will terminate their license with riders getting paid at standard BSPL rates out of the bond that is held for each club. In the meantime as there is no guarantee that this demand can be met by the Eastbourne club all riders have been advised that they are free to speak to other clubs if they wish which as they have not been paid for so long and had numerous false promises they may well consider moving on a safer option. Edited August 17, 2021 by flagrag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 If this is as you allege, then re assuring that the riders will get paid something from the BSPL "bond ". Not likely that the stadium owners will ever rent the stadium out for speedway again - given they are no doubt owed rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagrag Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 13 minutes ago, old bob at herne bay said: If this is as you allege, then re assuring that the riders will get paid something from the BSPL "bond ". Not likely that the stadium owners will ever rent the stadium out for speedway again - given they are no doubt owed rent. The riders will still lose out significantly if this was to happen , Although I have heard one of the biggest issues they have had at Eastbourne was paying riders over the odds to get them to ride for them. It seems the promotion took a gamble on 2019 size crowds returning and that they could secure some lucrative commercial sponsorship but unfortunately neither materialised. I do hope that some people can come forward to save the club in the next few days so the club can finish the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple.H. Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 1 hour ago, woofers said: Website statement: https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/eastbourne-eagles-speedway-statement/ Ongoing discussions, Saturday v Redcar off I just get a message saying unsafe website Though reading the following posts the future doesn't look bright. Time for more promotions to follow the lead of Len Silver and the late Colin Hill. A decent day's pay for a decent day's work Pay your employees on time Your employees are happy as being paid and remain loyal I bet many a rider has thought the grass was greener and realised their mistake over the years. Also one of the biggest grumbles in the sport for what seems forever is too many team changes each season. Both the above named promoters tended to keep the basis of the previous seasons squad so fans were happy as continuity in the team makeup. I doubt if the riders would stay loyal to the Promoter/club if they weren't getting paid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted August 17, 2021 Report Share Posted August 17, 2021 9 minutes ago, flagrag said: The riders will still lose out significantly if this was to happen , Although I have heard one of the biggest issues they have had at Eastbourne was paying riders over the odds to get them to ride for them. It seems the promotion took a gamble on 2019 size crowds returning and that they could secure some lucrative commercial sponsorship but unfortunately neither materialised. I do hope that some people can come forward to save the club in the next few days so the club can finish the season. There lies the problem that blights the sport,the Promoters that run the sport and set pay rates pay over the odds causing a lot of the trouble at other Clubs.The chickens are coming home to roost for the overpaid riders. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSL84 Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 What happens if some of the riders go to other clubs, as they have said they are free to do where will that leave eastbourne ? If they can pay off the debts, would it be a team of guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilWatson Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 40 minutes ago, Trackerman48 said: What happens if some of the riders go to other clubs, as they have said they are free to do where will that leave eastbourne ? If they can pay off the debts, would it be a team of guests. A rider can’t appear in two 1-7s. If a rider moved on, Eastbourne would have to put together a declared 1-7 made up of riders who are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaboy279 Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 I d say although speedway is looking a big doubt to finish the season. The long term future of the stadium must be pretty safe. Bangers are still putting 4 figure crowds in on a weekly basis. My best guess would be that Eastbourne will come to the tapes in 2022 but under new management. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.D Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 12 minutes ago, teaboy279 said: I d say although speedway is looking a big doubt to finish the season. The long term future of the stadium must be pretty safe. Bangers are still putting 4 figure crowds in on a weekly basis. My best guess would be that Eastbourne will come to the tapes in 2022 but under new management. I think thats pretty much the only hope at the moment but its a slim one.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 So there are "standard pay rates"...? ie A financial control... A shame then that it isnt followed isnt it? If it was, it could help keep clubs solvent couldn't it? Just a thought... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orion Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) Sometimes to much is made of the state of uk speedway for the problems clubs face .... Should Eastbourne really be in this much trouble due to one or two bad crowds ? Who knows what go's on behind closed doors and if all funds etc have gone back into the club ...sometimes its just down to poor people who run the club Edited August 18, 2021 by orion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 18 minutes ago, mikebv said: So there are "standard pay rates"...? ie A financial control... A shame then that it isnt followed isnt it? If it was, it could help keep clubs solvent couldn't it? Just a thought... I have asked that Question before ,but no one seem to know. So how much do the riders get paid per point from BSPA if Club goes under..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orion Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 20 hours ago, Fromafar said: There lies the problem that blights the sport,the Promoters that run the sport and set pay rates pay over the odds causing a lot of the trouble at other Clubs.The chickens are coming home to roost for the overpaid riders. Not really .. you pay what you can and cut you cloth to that level ...if your going to get 500 fans each week your team should reflect that just like any other sport and if you come near the bottom so be it . Eastbourne quite clearly put a shocking Business plan together based on silly numbers coming to watch Edited August 18, 2021 by orion 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, orion said: Not really .. you paid what you can and cut you cloth to that level ...if your going to get 500 fans each week your team should reflect that just like any other sport and if you come near the bottom so be it . Eastbourne quite clearly put a shocking Business plan together based on silly numbers coming to watch The crowds at Arlington have crashed post lockdown. I would imagine apart from the first 2 meetings, they are probably 300 down. If you multiply this x £18, it's a small fortune to lose on a weekly basis. Add on the payments for away meetings and it's easy to see that the sums don't add up. Edited August 18, 2021 by cityrebel Spelling mistake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dog Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 The whole financial structure needs sorting out, nobody seems to know what riders wages are tho my guess is that collectively they outstrip turnstile clicks. Until recently, there has never seemed to be too many of them working during the winter so they must be earning quite well to compensate this. We all want the best riders and successful teams but not at the cost of clubs going under, hopefully riders realise this too because it's their jobs that are disappearing... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 52 minutes ago, orion said: Sometimes to much is made of the state of uk speedway for the problems clubs face .... Should Eastbourne really be in this much trouble due to one or two bad crowds ? Who knows what go's on behind closed doors and if all funds etc have gone back into the club ...sometimes its just down to poor people who run the club Maybe there should be a"fit and proper person test" done on promoters before they get allowed to take over a track.. Lke football have.. Oh, hang on.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HGould Posted August 18, 2021 Report Share Posted August 18, 2021 A shame to see Brummies, Newcastle and now Eastbourne struggling like this. I don't doubt there are others in very similar situations. Hoping for a decent Crowd at Brummies tonight but it seems "week to week" there too at the moment. Two decent Crowds but what happens after next poor one? We all thought when restrictions eased Crowds would rise, may be the opposite as more things for people to do and spend their money on, especially in Tourist areas. I know football is going to be an issue for Clubs like Brummies now as season has started and a few more have to chose 90 minutes or 15 heats!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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