Wolves Closure

[mikebv]

7 hours ago, marko said:

I recall a time I would go to Hackney one night (now closed) Arena Essex another night (now closed) and sometimes Rye House on a Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon (closed too)

Is your real name Jonah?? 

No offence mate, but stay away from the NSS will you?... 

[Red Flag]

8 hours ago, marko said:

I recall a time I would go to Hackney one night (now closed) Arena Essex another night (now closed) and sometimes Rye House on a Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon (closed too)

Didn’t realise that Hackney and Arena ran at the same time

[Pieman72]

I attended Birmingham Speedway 2 years ago and quite honestly I was made to feel like a second class citizen. To be fair the Greyhound Track control the venue but the restrictions on the paying public was disgusting. It was made clear not to drink or consume you own food which we ignored  or you could purchase anything as long as it was chips washed down with a £4 + pint of Lager from a hole in the wall. It was a freezing cold night and no admission was allowed in the main building unless you were someone important. Sorry but speedway is 'dead in the water'. Supporters need to be attracted to a venue also on a day or night that is normal i.e. Friday or Saturday oh sorry our wonderful foreign riders have European commitments. In a nutshell what a mess of our own making. Reading the posts on here there is a lot of denial but the truth is unless something very radical is undertaken then there is little chance of speedway surviving in it's present form.

[heathen52]

Not being wise after the event, Most Teams agreed to start the season without knowing what attendance limits there local councils would impose on them, the main issue being they have to put out a fixture list, Clubs/Teams found it difficult if not impossible to sell season tickets due to the Covid situation, now we find that the opening up is more than likely going to be put back which will probably put the completion of the season into doubt, or at the very least force some clubs to curtail the season.

 Some fans are still in denial about Covid but stop and think, the Pandemic has already cost this country billions upon billions of lost revenue, billions of pounds paid out in furlough payments and other schemes, all of which will we will be paying for over many years ahead, yes maybe things could have been done differently but the fact remains Covid is still with us and will be for the forseeable future, until the World gets a grip on this pandemic the uncertainty will remain and the future of our Sport needs strong leadership with difficult decisions needing to be made, but one thing is for sure Clubs/Teams cannot carry on sustaining losses week in week out..

[cityrebel]

10 hours ago, Red Flag said:

Didn’t realise that Hackney and Arena ran at the same time

1984 to 91 and 1996.

[Skodaman]

15 hours ago, prodons said:

The sad fact is that all the tracks mentioned have closed because not enough people are/have been interested in the sport arguably since the early 1980’s. You must have very deep pockets to consider being a speedway promoter in the UK and that was before the current restrictions.

Not necessary, some such as Blackbird Road closed because the stadium owners sold the club down the river.

[Midland Red]

51 minutes ago, Skodaman said:

Not necessary, some such as Blackbird Road closed because the stadium owners sold the club down the river.

The stadium owners sold their stadium 

[Pieman72]

3 hours ago, heathen52 said:

Not being wise after the event, Most Teams agreed to start the season without knowing what attendance limits there local councils would impose on them, the main issue being they have to put out a fixture list, Clubs/Teams found it difficult if not impossible to sell season tickets due to the Covid situation, now we find that the opening up is more than likely going to be put back which will probably put the completion of the season into doubt, or at the very least force some clubs to curtail the season.

 Some fans are still in denial about Covid but stop and think, the Pandemic has already cost this country billions upon billions of lost revenue, billions of pounds paid out in furlough payments and other schemes, all of which will we will be paying for over many years ahead, yes maybe things could have been done differently but the fact remains Covid is still with us and will be for the forseeable future, until the World gets a grip on this pandemic the uncertainty will remain and the future of our Sport needs strong leadership with difficult decisions needing to be made, but one thing is for sure Clubs/Teams cannot carry on sustaining losses week in week out..

Very good point. Leadership seems to be the problem. There had always been a disconnect between the promoters and the fans and riders. It's historical they have always been slippery customers who exploit the good will of supporters and enthusiastic riders. Dan McCormick at Cradley was a prime example who sold everyone down the road and his model of speedway is still being played out now. The are a lot of British riders both speedway and grass who would relish to chance to race but the opportunities have been blocked. Try riding on a weekday night then hold down a full time job while competing with imported riders that's the real world.

[steve roberts]

7 minutes ago, Pieman72 said:

Very good point. Leadership seems to be the problem. There had always been a disconnect between the promoters and the fans and riders. It's historical they have always been slippery customers who exploit the good will of supporters and enthusiastic riders. Dan McCormick at Cradley was a prime example who sold everyone down the road and his model of speedway is still being played out now. The are a lot of British riders both speedway and grass who would relish to chance to race but the opportunities have been blocked. Try riding on a weekday night then hold down a full time job while competing with imported riders that's the real world.

Of course that was often the common practice years ago but things have changed fundamentally now as speedway slips its way down the slippery slope.

I recall that George Hunter used to drive a HGV wagon from his midlands base to Immingham Docks and then returning home before then venturing up to Edinburgh to ride that same evening.

Edited June 13, 2021 by steve roberts

[Pieman72]

Unfortunately the 'slippery guys' are still there. Somehow a semi professional version of speedway may be the only long term option but financially that would be difficult. There have been many instances where tracks have closed under a 'cloud' unfortunately many are brownfield sites perfect for prime residential housing. Government policy and potential profits rule the day. To name a few Cradley, Coventry, Leicester, Rye House, Perry Barr, Belle View.

Oh George what character he was very slippery at the tapes.

[steve roberts]

7 hours ago, Pieman72 said:

Unfortunately the 'slippery guys' are still there. Somehow a semi professional version of speedway may be the only long term option but financially that would be difficult. There have been many instances where tracks have closed under a 'cloud' unfortunately many are brownfield sites perfect for prime residential housing. Government policy and potential profits rule the day. To name a few Cradley, Coventry, Leicester, Rye House, Perry Barr, Belle View.

Oh George what character he was very slippery at the tapes.

Enjoyed his exploits as a "Cheetah" for two seasons at Cowley...one of the best exponents of that long lost art of 'team riiding' as well as his lightning reflexes at the gate!

[Lefty]

7 hours ago, Pieman72 said:

......Oh George what character he was very slippery at the tapes.

I recall the once being in the pits at King's Lynn with Spike spannering for George Hunter. George had incurred a tape infringement (rolling at the start) and was excluded. George could be heard balling down the phone to the Referee saying, "It's my job to beat you, not your job to beat me!" + a few expletives!!! 

Sure miss him. 

[1 valve]

11 hours ago, Midland Red said:

The stadium owners sold their stadium 

The Stadium owners were not the Leicester promoters. The owners were strongly linked to Coventry speedway. 

[steve roberts]

7 hours ago, 1 valve said:

The Stadium owners were not the Leicester promoters. The owners were strongly linked to Coventry speedway. 

...much to the disgust of Leicester Promoter at the time Martin Rogers!

[marko]

On 6/12/2021 at 9:03 PM, mikebv said:

Is your real name Jonah?? 

No offence mate, but stay away from the NSS will you?... 

To be fair though, if someone had told me in 1990 that Arena would still be running in 2000 I would not have believed them yet alone 2018, they had a good run given the often uncertainty about their future, and may at some point come back, time will tell.

[Midland Red]

10 hours ago, 1 valve said:

The Stadium owners were not the Leicester promoters. The owners were strongly linked to Coventry speedway. 

So? 

[IainB]

20 hours ago, Pieman72 said:

Very good point. Leadership seems to be the problem. There had always been a disconnect between the promoters and the fans and riders. It's historical they have always been slippery customers who exploit the good will of supporters and enthusiastic riders. Dan McCormick at Cradley was a prime example who sold everyone down the road and his model of speedway is still being played out now. The are a lot of British riders both speedway and grass who would relish to chance to race but the opportunities have been blocked. Try riding on a weekday night then hold down a full time job while competing with imported riders that's the real world.

It's surprising that some of these "slippery customers" haven't had one of the government Covid loans with no intention of paying it back and declaring bankruptcy, as no doubt many many businesses will do up and down the country. I suppose we'll have to wait and see on that score 

[old bob at herne bay]

1 hour ago, marko said:

To be fair though, if someone had told me in 1990 that Arena would still be running in 2000 I would not have believed them yet alone 2018, they had a good run given the often uncertainty about their future, and may at some point come back, time will tell.

Agree with you Marko …. Never thought a track so close to Lakeside shopping centre would last long……. Especially a temporary track with sticks marking the outside and just a tin shack for spectators … in the end housing not shops finished it off . 

[Humphrey Appleby]

On 6/12/2021 at 9:03 PM, mikebv said:

Is your real name Jonah?? 

No offence mate, but stay away from the NSS will you?... 

It's just the law of averages though. 

I've visited about 80 permanent (i.e. not temporary or one-off) tracks in various countries over the years, and by my reckoning just 30 of those are still operational. 

[tyretrax]

22 hours ago, Lefty said:

I recall the once being in the pits at King's Lynn with Spike spannering for George Hunter. George had incurred a tape infringement (rolling at the start) and was excluded. George could be heard balling down the phone to the Referee saying, "It's my job to beat you, not your job to beat me!" + a few expletives!!! 

Sure miss him. 

George said much the same to me, that he had four people to beat, three riders and the ref.