Defunct speedway tracks - and their resurrection

[hammer1969]

Don't know how to post a link but there's an article on Facebook under BMR Flat Track, looks like we've permanently lost Rye House as well.

[norbold]

7 minutes ago, hammer1969 said:

Don't know how to post a link but there's an article on Facebook under BMR Flat Track, looks like we've permanently lost Rye House as well.

https://www.facebook.com/BMRFlatTrack

[marko]

Annoys the hell out of me that Arena has stood still all this time, we could have continued for another season or two whilst fighting for a new venue, kept the name alive etc Although 2020 would have been a write off with the pandemic.

I don’t blame the Woodrolf family for selling though, they were likely asset rich but cash poor, all their money was tied up in the land and the only way to release that was to sell it.

[noaksey]

23 minutes ago, marko said:

Annoys the hell out of me that Arena has stood still all this time, we could have continued for another season or two whilst fighting for a new venue, kept the name alive etc Although 2020 would have been a write off with the pandemic.

I don’t blame the Woodrolf family for selling though, they were likely asset rich but cash poor, all their money was tied up in the land and the only way to release that was to sell it.

Carrying on would have incurred more losses. Who would have been picking up those?

[marko]

No idea but most clubs lose money to some degree, Stuart Douglas effectively went bankrupt, but that was mainly because the club were forced to finish the 2018 season at Rye House and it was a bigger disaster than when the London Lions attempted to run in 1996.

[E I Addio]

35 minutes ago, marko said:

No idea but most clubs lose money to some degree, Stuart Douglas effectively went bankrupt, but that was mainly because the club were forced to finish the 2018 season at Rye House and it was a bigger disaster than when the London Lions attempted to run in 1996.

I think Noaksey was meaning who would pick up the losses the owners were incurring if they didn’t sell. I used to talk to the people who ran the cafe and they were saying most stock car meetings were badly attended except for a few big meetings each year which kept them afloat. 

I was looking some DVD’s the other day of meetings around 2009/10 and the Speedway crowds were still pretty decent at that time. 2009 was the year Jonas Davidson went through the whole season without a single last place or e.f. and Kauko Neminen was going up a gear and beaten some big names. Things like that keep the crowd support up. Even in 2016 the crowds weren’t bad . 
 

With sponsorship I think the club were breaking even in 2018 until Rob Godfrey , then vice chairman of the BSPA pulled the plug on Friday meetings    that had already been put in the fixture list months before . Coupled with that the BSPA wouldn’t Lakeside run some meetings at Arena and some at Rye House, it had to be one or the other , and that’s what ruined the crowds. So a decent promoter , Stuart Douglas , and a load more fans lost to to the sport, thanks to the intransigence of Godfrey, and Bluster Chapman. 

 

[geoff100]

38 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

I think Noaksey was meaning who would pick up the losses the owners were incurring if they didn’t sell. I used to talk to the people who ran the cafe and they were saying most stock car meetings were badly attended except for a few big meetings each year which kept them afloat. 

I was looking some DVD’s the other day of meetings around 2009/10 and the Speedway crowds were still pretty decent at that time. 2009 was the year Jonas Davidson went through the whole season without a single last place or e.f. and Kauko Neminen was going up a gear and beaten some big names. Things like that keep the crowd support up. Even in 2016 the crowds weren’t bad . 
 

With sponsorship I think the club were breaking even in 2018 until Rob Godfrey , then vice chairman of the BSPA pulled the plug on Friday meetings    that had already been put in the fixture list months before . Coupled with that the BSPA wouldn’t Lakeside run some meetings at Arena and some at Rye House, it had to be one or the other , and that’s what ruined the crowds. So a decent promoter , Stuart Douglas , and a load more fans lost to to the sport, thanks to the intransigence of Godfrey, and Bluster Chapman. 

 

Dont forget the damage done to workington as well fine sunny evenings u cant ride, dark october nights left to win everthing.

[Pieman72]

On 8/27/2020 at 1:46 PM, Chewbacca said:

Whilst not speedway, this does show that an even more antisocial motorsport than speedway can be resurrected 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/aug/10/burning-rubber-racing-returns-to-melbourne-raceway-photo-essay

Unfortunately Long Marston has gone can't believe they are building houses on it. God knows what's buried underneath the site it used to reek of Naphthalene. Saw Shockwave do 270mph that was a bare knuckle run !!

[customhouseregular]

I forget when they closed but my dad and I were part of the crew preparing the stadium and track for Rayleigh’s re-opening in the early 60’s.

[jenga]

On 9/3/2020 at 6:33 PM, geoff100 said:

Dont forget the damage done to workington as well fine sunny evenings u cant ride, dark october nights left to win everthing.

be car full whot you write me marra . otherwise you will feel the wrath of the scunt hope fans sticking up fot their leader .   merry Christmas for 2020 and stick with the lockdown !