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Eastbourne Speedway


M.D

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2 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Sounds like decent business sense. Eastbourne have tried and failed to run at CL level and be financially sound whilst running at NDL level put a good team on track and didn't face closure. The team building averages have been increased this season and the NDL teams look closer to those of a few years ago in standard (yes some averages are artificially inflated etc) but i think the addition of Workington/Northside and Eastbourne (and hopefully Plymouth can remain) would further enhance the strengths of the NDL and more importantly be good and sustainable for the Eastbourne promotion. 

CL level is substainable at Eastbourne, one man run it into the ground and I have no idea where that article source came from..

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1 hour ago, M.D said:

CL level is substainable at Eastbourne, one man run it into the ground and I have no idea where that article source came from..

I dont debate that it is sustainable at CL level and obviously the actions of the crook stick most in the mind so apologies for that. 

I still think that an NDL return is a bright and sensible move. Sustainable is one of the big key words at present and several teams in higher tiers are facing yearly struggles which must be constantly draining.

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Cannot understand the comments (mainly from some southern posters, l think) about how the current NDL is "devalued".....

In my eyes it's a great league, if Worky and Easty -- dare l add IoW? -- were to join the existing clubs in 2023, it would add even more sparkle.

IMHO....

 

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11 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

I dont debate that it is sustainable at CL level and obviously the actions of the crook stick most in the mind so apologies for that. 

I still think that an NDL return is a bright and sensible move. Sustainable is one of the big key words at present and several teams in higher tiers are facing yearly struggles which must be constantly draining.

No worries

6 minutes ago, crescent girl said:

Cannot understand the comments (mainly from some southern posters, l think) about how the current NDL is "devalued".....

In my eyes it's a great league, if Worky and Easty -- dare l add IoW? -- were to join the existing clubs in 2023, it would add even more sparkle.

IMHO....

 

I value the NDL as very important for the sport and agree a healthy league at that level is good for British speedway.

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20 hours ago, M.D said:

CL level is substainable at Eastbourne, one man run it into the ground and I have no idea where that article source came from..

I have done some research on the writer of the Speedway Star Plymouth Centurions preview where it was mentioned that Eastbourne and Workington were for the NDL is 2023. He has authored a book on Cradley, it appears, and has worked with Nigel Pearson who leads on PR for the BSPL. Maybe Eagles NDL is just gossip in some circles, or people are making an assumption having seen that Eastbourne failed in 2021 in the Championship.

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13 minutes ago, FromBendThree said:

I have done some research on the writer of the Speedway Star Plymouth Centurions preview where it was mentioned that Eastbourne and Workington were for the NDL is 2023. He has authored a book on Cradley, it appears, and has worked with Nigel Pearson who leads on PR for the BSPL. Maybe Eagles NDL is just gossip in some circles, or people are making an assumption having seen that Eastbourne failed in 2021 in the Championship.

Neil is one of a number of Curtis Sports journalists from around these parts in the West Midlands. 

There seems to be an increasing debate including on these Forums that the current 3 tier model has to change because if it doesn't there aren't enough riders to expand the CL as a middle tier much above 10 Clubs. 

It would seem the fans favourite would nne be a top tier of 8 or 10 clubs and a second tier of 10 clubs. 

If Swindon, Eastbourne, Workington came back and you add Mildenhall and who knows IOW there coukd be a 10 10 Club top tier and a 12 Club second tier. 

A top tier including some second tier rising stars and a second tier possibly the strength of the 2017 and 2018 NDL. 

With the current problems finding enough riders to staff the current CL something has to give. 

Hopefully all Clubs who want to join can join at a level they can make work consistently for their own  budgets. 

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20 hours ago, crescent girl said:

Cannot understand the comments (mainly from some southern posters, l think) about how the current NDL is "devalued".....

In my eyes it's a great league, if Worky and Easty -- dare l add IoW? -- were to join the existing clubs in 2023, it would add even more sparkle.

IMHO....

 

For me, the lack of standalone teams lessens the appeal. 

When Eastbourne were last in the NDL it was a 10 team league with only Belle Vue being a "junior" side.  I have fond memories of watching Eastbourne in the NDL, and seeing Brennan go from the start of his career to representing GB last year has been special.  Now it's a 10 team league that consists almost entirely of "junior" sides, with the exception of Mildenhall and Kent.  It makes it seem like a league that's been cobbled together to give youngsters somewhere to ride, rather than a genuine competition.

That said, if it was a choice between seeing Eastbourne in the current NDL or not seeing Eastbourne at all, I'd take NDL.

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1 hour ago, FromBendThree said:

I have done some research on the writer of the Speedway Star Plymouth Centurions preview where it was mentioned that Eastbourne and Workington were for the NDL is 2023. He has authored a book on Cradley, it appears, and has worked with Nigel Pearson who leads on PR for the BSPL. Maybe Eagles NDL is just gossip in some circles, or people are making an assumption having seen that Eastbourne failed in 2021 in the Championship.

Maybe CL and NL teams as before? If  the cost of running a NL team on fairly frugal gates is thought to cover the cost of it, in addition to a hopefully  successful CL team. Maybe we'll find another Brennen, Abblit, Edward's etc that we lost last season. 

My thoughts are still the best scenario would be similar to H Gould's thoughts,  enter a league somewhere between the current level of both leagues with about 10/12 teams.

 

Edited by gazzac
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We live 90 minutes drive, on a good day, from Eastbourne.  We managed to get to nearly all their Championship home matches, either driving there and back and on many occasions making a weekend of it.  If Eastbourne run only in the NDL I'm afraid we would only be very occasional visitors, it has to be at least Championship to make the long journey worthwhile for us.  Hoping they are back next year as really missing our speedway already and it's only April.

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2 minutes ago, hammer1969 said:

We live 90 minutes drive, on a good day, from Eastbourne.  We managed to get to nearly all their Championship home matches, either driving there and back and on many occasions making a weekend of it.  If Eastbourne run only in the NDL I'm afraid we would only be very occasional visitors, it has to be at least Championship to make the long journey worthwhile for us.  Hoping they are back next year as really missing our speedway already and it's only April.

If the league set up is the same next year, we won't run NDL only..

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22 hours ago, HGould said:

Neil is one of a number of Curtis Sports journalists from around these parts in the West Midlands. 

There seems to be an increasing debate including on these Forums that the current 3 tier model has to change because if it doesn't there aren't enough riders to expand the CL as a middle tier much above 10 Clubs. 

It would seem the fans favourite would nne be a top tier of 8 or 10 clubs and a second tier of 10 clubs. 

If Swindon, Eastbourne, Workington came back and you add Mildenhall and who knows IOW there coukd be a 10 10 Club top tier and a 12 Club second tier. 

A top tier including some second tier rising stars and a second tier possibly the strength of the 2017 and 2018 NDL. 

With the current problems finding enough riders to staff the current CL something has to give. 

Hopefully all Clubs who want to join can join at a level they can make work consistently for their own  budgets. 

Exactly this.

Even if Newcastle drop out and Eastbourne replaced them there aren't enough riders to go around. Demand for riders exceeds supply yet the promoters are figurative turkeys voting for Christmas by not creating a structure in which supply of riders exceeds demand. Saving themselves a couple of quid at the same time.

Equally the current NDL product isn't of a sufficient standard to attract the required crowd levels and based on this years CL line ups hasn't produced any riders worthy of a CL place. So why would any team want to join it, unless they're genuinely youth speedway enthusiasts. The fact that there are only two stand alone teams backs this up.

The conclusion is that the much heralded 3 tier structure doesn't work.  The solution? Reduce the standard of the CL so that young riders have an opportunity and career path to progress by learning from more experienced riders.

For the transition year the team structure could be defined by categories to ensure there are enough riders to go around and to provide a clear progression path for young riders.

Top 4 made up of any combinations of  any rider aged over 24 with a previous CL average over 3.50 (not allowed to double up in the PL), any British rider aged 24 and under with a CL average over 3.50 (allowed to double up in the PL) and any Foreign rider aged under 24.

The 5th rider would be any British rider with a previous CL average under 3.50 or aged over 24.

And the reserves would be any British rider aged 24 and under with no previous CL average.

The categories would be reviewed each season so young riders could spend more than one year at reserve but not indefinitely, i.e. after 50 matches at the level you're no longer eligible for a reserve birth from the start of the following season regardless of average. Other young riders will progress through the categories based on performance. The key point is to provide a career path so each young rider has goals to progress while creating new opportunities for the next generation of young riders.

Based on 2021 averages and ages Eastbourne could have tracked a team like Newman, Brennan, Kemp, Gilkes, Knight, Ablitt and Foord.

Importantly it would be 2nd tier speedway with minimised doubling up so both the PL and CL could operate on their preferred race night with some co-ordination.

There would be enough riders to support a 14 team CL without having rider supply exceeding demand.

The barriers would be the top 2 or 3 clubs in the current CL not wanting to lower the standard but not wanting to move up to the PL either. And of course the lack of doubling up opportunities for the PL riders other than those U25 British riders.

But unless the structure is changed I don't see how the CL can allow new entrants. Without them (or one or more of the existing CL clubs) fielding an under strength team. The buzz of returning to the league will only last so long if the team is constantly being hammered. Plus this should reduce costs which could, dare I say it, be passed on to the paying public in reduced admission at a time when lots of people are struggling with increased costs.

There are no salient arguments for continuing as is but that is exactly what will happen. 

 

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  • 2 months later...
EASTBOURNE EAGLES STATEMENT
17/06/22
SPEEDWAY 2023
As many of you know we are working on getting the Eagles back on track for the 2023 season.
We have spent the last few months working towards this and there are numerous hurdles some of them seemingly insurmountable but we will not give up just yet.
We have spoken to the stadium owners, the speedway authorities, various promotions and others who have been involved in speedway at Arlington and other tracks.
We would like to have a fans forum in the near future but at this stage we would like to speak to anyone who could potentially sponsor and or invest in the club and those that can/will help run speedway.
If we can raise the money and get the help required we can run speedway.
Please come back to us if you can meet with us and a date in the next couple of weeks.
Steve Chantler-  steve@trianglefiresystems.co.uk
David Graveling-  davidgraveling@gmail.com
Michael Gray-  michaelgray155@gmail.com
Mark Horsman-  mghorsman@Hotmail.co.uk
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14 minutes ago, M.D said:
EASTBOURNE EAGLES STATEMENT
17/06/22
SPEEDWAY 2023
As many of you know we are working on getting the Eagles back on track for the 2023 season.
We have spent the last few months working towards this and there are numerous hurdles some of them seemingly insurmountable but we will not give up just yet.
We have spoken to the stadium owners, the speedway authorities, various promotions and others who have been involved in speedway at Arlington and other tracks.
We would like to have a fans forum in the near future but at this stage we would like to speak to anyone who could potentially sponsor and or invest in the club and those that can/will help run speedway.
If we can raise the money and get the help required we can run speedway.
Please come back to us if you can meet with us and a date in the next couple of weeks.
Steve Chantler-  steve@trianglefiresystems.co.uk
David Graveling-  davidgraveling@gmail.com
Michael Gray-  michealgray155@gmail.com
Mark Horsman-  mghorsman@Hotmail.co.uk

Unfortunately it would appear that there is no money so no chance. Unless they can borrow Rob Grants begging bucket.

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7 minutes ago, Diamondboy said:

Unfortunately it would appear that there is no money so no chance. Unless they can borrow Rob Grants begging bucket.

So far wide of the mark mate, but this is looking for sponsors and any investors.

Do you honestly think we would be this far down the road without investment in place already?

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2 minutes ago, M.D said:

So far wide of the mark mate, but this is looking for sponsors and any investors.

Do you honestly think we would be this far down the road without investment in place already?

Obviously not enough then. 

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Chance for those Eastbourne fans who have been so critical of the way things were done at Arlington by the last promotion and its predecessors over 30 years or more to come forward and help run and finance the club in the way they would like. Can’t remember such an opportunity, at least in the south east, where changes in promoting rights have in the past been dealt with in private. Hope those email inboxes have been filling up since the announcement came. Good luck Eagles.

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53 minutes ago, FromBendThree said:

Chance for those Eastbourne fans who have been so critical of the way things were done at Arlington by the last promotion and its predecessors over 30 years or more to come forward and help run and finance the club in the way they would like. Can’t remember such an opportunity, at least in the south east, where changes in promoting rights have in the past been dealt with in private. Hope those email inboxes have been filling up since the announcement came. Good luck Eagles.

Thank you, we are trying to save a great club in the South East of England that has been tarnished by a previous management structure 

We have the support of the stadium owners, the BSPL, investors and sponsors but we are looking for more to get it off the ground, we will work on this...

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