Brummies_Ste Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 BIRMINGHAM Speedway have put their season on hold with immediate effect.Club owners Peter and David Mason have revealed ‘things have to change’ with numbers at Perry Barr for the club to become viable.Like other venues, the Brummies are restricted to the amount of fans they can allow in the stadium and as a consequence they are suffering heavy losses.The situation has not been helped by the pay on the door option being temporarily suspended due to Covid regulations.They are holding out hope for an increase in audience numbers after June 21 to enable them to continue with their Wednesday night action – but for the time being the Brummies won’t race again until July 1 at the earliest.Peter Mason said: “The constraints with which we are working in are making it impossible to run as a sustainable business right now.“We are desperately trying to make it work and we are determined to keep this club afloat, a club with such a rich heritage and a focal point of the city, carrying the Birmingham name.“A lot of people fought over many years to bring the sport back to Birmingham and we don’t want to be the ones who oversee its demise. On the contrary, we are determined to make this work and provide a bright future for this wonderful sport and wonderful club with a very loyal fan base.“But right now we are working with our hands tied behind our back. I must thank everyone who has worked with us to get us this far and we don’t want to let all the hard work go to waste.“That said, things have to change for us to continue at Perry Barr throughout the rest of this season.”David Mason added: “A large part of our following is from the older generation, some of which are in their 70s and 80s and do not shop online. Many don’t even have access to a computer and this has badly affected our crowd levels.“We were advertising pay on the gate until this was blocked 24-hours before the meeting and this decision alone cost us valuable revenue and we drove away from the stadium knowing we had lost thousands of pounds.“That quite simply cannot continue and we are taking this decision to protect the long term future of the sport at Perry Barr Stadium.“We would like to thank our fans and we need them more than ever before if and when we can restart from July 1. It’s absolutely vital they stay with us and as summer holidays approach we will be actively looking at encouraging more youngsters to the sport.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Doubt very much Birmingham will be the last in making such an announcement. Better to suspend than go bust. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TotallyHonestJohn Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 8 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said: Doubt very much Birmingham will be the last in making such an announcement. Better to suspend than go bust. Aye Steve and your lot may be next unfortunately.... Regards THJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuxtonTiger Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 And if you have a ticket for next Wednesday??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 After over a year of preparation during enforced lockdowns , and all the positive messages in the speedway press stating everyone was ready to go for 2021 in May, sadly for the fans this has been proven once again to be just propaganda . Birmingham couldn’t have opened in a more disastrous fashion, failing to have a rideable track prepared for their opening meeting, failing to complete a fixture in front of a reduced capacity sell out crowd. Poole beset by problems with their landlords, “discovered “ their grandstand was being used as a covid 19 test site! and their car park was being used to run a profitable business. Wolves seem to have just got their calculators out yesterday and discovered that they are either paying their riders too much or not charging enough for admission into what must be a very small stadium. All the BS about stadium capacity , ( and we still aren’t told what the stadium max capacities are) and surprise surprise one by one tracks are now finding their sums just don’t add up. Where was all the planning that they made when deciding to re open? All the talk of being prepared to reopen and raring to go...... sadly preparation and planning has been shown to be inadequate. Should restrictions not be lifted on 21 June the entire season will likely be suspended. Even if they are lifted - withe the current product being offered I can see a few clubs still struggling to complete 2021. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 A very well written statement summing up the issues that are impacting all tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkypotter Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 i would think they are absolutely pig sick seing the huge crowds going into edgbaston for the cricket yesterday and the crowds due at wembley for the football. where is the justice there. hope the masons can weather the storm and get back on track asap. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinny Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 No sympathy I am afraid - it was a daft idea to launch the season without being able to have maximum capacity and they wont be the first to stop. Its an absolute farce. Should of forgot about 2021 and planned ahead for 2022 - looks like Somerset made the right call. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sings4Speedway Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 5 minutes ago, porkypotter said: i would think they are absolutely pig sick seing the huge crowds going into edgbaston for the cricket yesterday and the crowds due at wembley for the football. where is the justice there. hope the masons can weather the storm and get back on track asap. Pig sick that Cricket draws such a crowd and creates such an atmosphere with such a basic fundamental game. Restrictions lifted or not crowds will remain lower this season due to unease of some, out of habit for others and what is actually being served up. I dont want to see Brum or any club close but anyone who thought things would pick up where they left off are painfully naive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noaksey Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 The decision to start the season will prove an expensive mistake for most and potentially terminal for some. Looks like it should have been left well alone until all restrictions are lifted 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brummie Kev Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Whilst its disappointing news, I wouldn't say its unexpected if I'm honest. Hopefully this action helps to preserve the club long term so I don't disagree with what they have done. If the government delay freedom day then I would think the season would have to be suspended anyway. I do think there are a number of additional issues affecting the club at the minute. Obviously the vandalism was huge and costly for the management, in that regard its remarkable we even came to the tapes. The road works around the stadium are awful, apart from speedway I avoid Perry Barr all together. It can take 30-60 mins if your come from the city centre in evening rush hour, thats from Aston six ways island to the stadium, probably about a 1/2 miles. In addition there's the sprint bus works being done the A34 from Great Barr. I don't know how bad they are but the ones on the Coventry Road are a disgrace. Then we have the train station situation with no trains stopping at Perry Barr till 2022 due to major work. As bad as these issues are, come 2022 it will be much better if they are completed on time. However currently its bound to impact at the minute of course completely out of the clubs control. The issues around the first meeting with track and the whole experience were really damaging. It was one of the worst nights for me at PB in 14 years of going. I wasn't sure whether to go to the Glasgow match but you cant turn your back to your club in their hour of need. I'm glad I went because the track staff worked their socks off to get it rideable and even raceable given what happened. Fingers crossed we are able to come back whether that's this season or next but sadly i don't feel the Brummies will be the last club to announce this. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sommelier Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 11 minutes ago, Pinny said: No sympathy I am afraid - it was a daft idea to launch the season without being able to have maximum capacity and they wont be the first to stop. Its an absolute farce. Should of forgot about 2021 and planned ahead for 2022 - looks like Somerset made the right call. Totally agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HGould Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Sad news for the Club but I have faith in Peter and David and hopefully a short cessation. Some sanctimonious gloating from the usual suspects does not help. They tried, they have temporarily failed, far more respect for that than for keyboard warriors from the hatespeedway.com brigade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinny Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 2 minutes ago, HGould said: Sad news for the Club but I have faith in Peter and David and hopefully a short cessation. Some sanctimonious gloating from the usual suspects does not help. They tried, they have temporarily failed, far more respect for that than for keyboard warriors from the hatespeedway.com brigade. Keyboard warriors? Hate speedway? Get a grip. I would say anything I post on here to someones face and if they want my full name I would happily give it out. its caused realism - many said this season was a waste of time starting and will cause more damage to the sport. It was a complete waste of time launching this season and the worst chaos is yet to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 20 minutes ago, Pinny said: No sympathy I am afraid - it was a daft idea to launch the season without being able to have maximum capacity and they wont be the first to stop. Its an absolute farce. Should of forgot about 2021 and planned ahead for 2022 - looks like Somerset made the right call. Haven't Somerset closed down completely, so hardly looking ahead to 2022. If any team made the right call it could turn out to be Swindon - providing, of course, that they do run in 2022 as they say they will. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 6 minutes ago, HGould said: Some sanctimonious gloating from the usual suspects does not help. They tried, they have temporarily failed, far more respect for that than for keyboard warriors from the hatespeedway.com brigade. I don't think comments like that are very helpful, I don't think there's anybody on here that wants to see the death of Speedway or hate Speedway. We're all on here because we love Speedway and want it desperately to succeed, we just have different opinions on how to get there. Admittedly we don't have skin in the game other than tipping up our admission fee with an expectation to be entertained for the evening. Has anybody said this is the wrong decision? All I'm reading are a lot of people asking why several clubs haven't done their sums. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grachan Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Just now, Richard Weston said: Swindon decided not to run to get their new stadium built. “The economics of the sport which relies so much on the paying spectator are not robust enough to take any downturn in revenue particularly after the cancelation of the 2020 season. Our government is not able to provide any indication of the timing or the steps of lifting the restrictions, which is not a criticism, just a fact. With this in front of us, it is impossible to plan and commit for racing at the Abbey in 2021." Swindon Robins Speedway Official Website: NO SPEEDWAY RACING AT SWINDON THIS YEAR (swindon-speedway.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehone Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 22 minutes ago, Grachan said: “The economics of the sport which relies so much on the paying spectator are not robust enough to take any downturn in revenue particularly after the cancelation of the 2020 season. Our government is not able to provide any indication of the timing or the steps of lifting the restrictions, which is not a criticism, just a fact. With this in front of us, it is impossible to plan and commit for racing at the Abbey in 2021." Swindon Robins Speedway Official Website: NO SPEEDWAY RACING AT SWINDON THIS YEAR (swindon-speedway.com) shows Swindon made a good business call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) Like has been said by me and many others,no way can Speedway be run with crowd restrictions and survive.That’s the bottom line.Can only hope things return to normal soon. Edited June 11, 2021 by Fromafar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Poole announcement today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.