Swindon Stadium

[steve roberts]

5 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Come on folks stop banging on about all these spurious reasons for Swindon speedway closing.

Would you rather sell your land to a housing developer for millions of pounds  or invest money building a speedway stadium which even when the team won the league made a loss ? 

If the GI gang and their many hangers on ( I include Messrs. Russell and Rossiter)  are guilty of anything it is perpetuating the myth that once the stadium was slated for housing development on that site that speedway racing would ever take place again.

 

 

 

Trouble is the good folk of Swindon have been fobbed off with lies and inaccuracies for years now...a public relations disaster!

[orion]

6 hours ago, Technik said:

GI have a long history of closing sporting venues, GI (Gaming International) Stadia UK or Clarke Osbourne have Milton Keynes, Reading & Torquay on their list that now includes Swindon.

To Blame Terry Russell is harsh he was only a tennant of the owners & his decision to cease trading as Swindon speedway is purely business.

Its not thou .. Terry Russell has closed Swindon down without even asking anybody for help or asking if anyone wanted a go . Terry Russell should not  decide if Swindon time as  a club is over .

The thing your right about is that its purely business . As most  people know he took a bung to flush Swindon history and hope down the drain 

Edited October 9, 2022 by orion

[orion]

On 10/6/2022 at 7:13 PM, Racin Jason 72 said:

What I don’t understand is how Terry Russell has the right to close down the speedway.  
if he says he can’t make it pay then at least give someone else the chance to take it on. 
the situation stinks and definitely looks like a big brown envelope has changed hands somewhere. 
 

Spot on Jason . what ive been  talking about  .. 

Edited October 9, 2022 by orion

[Sidney the robin]

On 10/6/2022 at 7:04 PM, auntie doris said:

Good feature on BBC Points West about the Robins. Some good old racing footage, packed terraces, and interview with Mike Broadbank, Rosco, a Robins fan, and an MP? called Justin Tomlinson, saying Swindon are the Man City /Liverpool of speedway. Just need a millionaire farmer to buy the land from GI then.

A little mega dramatic  from Tomlinson that Doris, about us being the Man City of speedway., We have also had some very poor teams over the years which makes the success even more special.The results were not the be all and end all for me generally the racing was decent  the track sometimes was not prepared in the good old days as well but overall  was very good.The England v USA test matches were special and the reshaped Abbey in the last year produced excellent entertainment. That really surprised me that track it had a few different lines on it  and Doyley and Razzer were my two favourites great days.

[Toady]

10 hours ago, orion said:

Its not thou .. Terry Russell has closed Swindon down without even asking anybody for help or asking if anyone wanted a go . Terry Russell should not  decide if Swindon time as  a club is over .

The thing your right about is that its purely business . As most  people know he took a bung to flush Swindon history and hope down the drain 

Conditions of bung require Swindon speedway 2013 to hold on to reins(Swindon motorsports) for a enough time for Gi to realise

their asset and then there nothing left when promoter hands back club

[Technik]

19 hours ago, orion said:

Its not thou .. Terry Russell has closed Swindon down without even asking anybody for help or asking if anyone wanted a go . Terry Russell should not  decide if Swindon time as  a club is over .

The thing your right about is that its purely business . As most  people know he took a bung to flush Swindon history and hope down the drain 

I'm not Terry Russell's biggest fan but he is in business & it suprises me that he has continued to keep faith in the hope that GI will come up with the new stadium given their history, I suspect he may feel that he has been strung along for long enough by GI & their empty promises. Swindons time as a club may not be over look at Oxford, Only Terry Russells time at the club is over

I don't believe he has flushed Swindons history I believe he has tried to keep the speedway going, I havent seen or heard of any promotion wanting to come in & take over from Mr Russell in the time that there has been no racing at Blunsdon. I'm sure he has taken a good sum from speedway over the years but also put a fair bit in

[orion]

39 minutes ago, Technik said:

I'm not Terry Russell's biggest fan but he is in business & it suprises me that he has continued to keep faith in the hope that GI will come up with the new stadium given their history, I suspect he may feel that he has been strung along for long enough by GI & their empty promises. Swindons time as a club may not be over look at Oxford, Only Terry Russells time at the club is over

I don't believe he has flushed Swindons history I believe he has tried to keep the speedway going, I havent seen or heard of any promotion wanting to come in & take over from Mr Russell in the time that there has been no racing at Blunsdon. I'm sure he has taken a good sum from speedway over the years but also put a fair bit in

As i said before .. when has he asked in public for help  or explain in detail what is going on ? saying Swindon Speedway is over at the Abbey is not for him   to  decide .or say  He only went public after the leaked memo from the speedway meeting . That said the dogs was closing and  that has  since been said to be untrue  He made zero effort to keep  speedway going at the Abbey as  has now waved the white flag .  .

No one and more so someone like Terry Russell does not just give up on a asset like Swindon Speedway  and set up a  new company with the person who has put him out of Business unless he been given money to do so .

If you can show  me any links when Russell has said the club is up for sale or asked for help money wise are be most  greatful but  ive not seen them myself .. but of course we know why that is .

Edited October 10, 2022 by orion

[Toady]

1 hour ago, Technik said:

I'm not Terry Russell's biggest fan but he is in business & it suprises me that he has continued to keep faith in the hope that GI will come up with the new stadium given their history, I suspect he may feel that he has been strung along for long enough by GI & their empty promises. Swindons time as a club may not be over look at Oxford, Only Terry Russells time at the club is over

I don't believe he has flushed Swindons history I believe he has tried to keep the speedway going, I havent seen or heard of any promotion wanting to come in & take over from Mr Russell in the time that there has been no racing at Blunsdon. I'm sure he has taken a good sum from speedway over the years but also put a fair bit in

Of course he tried to keep it going he has been a good promoter for swindon but he’s got fed up as you say and now sold the club down the river with no future 

[Odds On]

if some think it is Terry Russell's fault/doing, if there were others willing to put their money in and save the stadium/speedway where are they?

[Racin Jason 72]

57 minutes ago, Odds On said:

if some think it is Terry Russell's fault/doing, if there were others willing to put their money in and save the stadium/speedway where are they?

 No one got the chance as it wasn’t offered for sale. Just closed down with absolutely no consultation with immediate effect. 

[Ray Stadia]

As the greyhounds are still running, maybe another promoter may 'step up'? Maybe in the bottom league to begin with? The trouble is, a new promoter may have to get fresh council permission to run a motorsport and with all that local housing, could be unlikely.  

[orion]

2 hours ago, Odds On said:

if some think it is Terry Russell's fault/doing, if there were others willing to put their money in and save the stadium/speedway where are they?

No one been asked that's the point.  He just closed it down ..this is the point its not  up to him to say make they call..If he don't want to  run he should have gone public and let people be given the chance...as has been said a go fund me page etc would have made up any shortfall on running costs for the season.. Terry Russell never wanted any of that and just close the club down .Quite clearly he got a good deal for doing so.

[wealdstone]

Not many when given the choice would invest in a Speedway Stadium rather than a housing development , however it is still difficult to take the lies deceit and duplicity of some. One of such if  reports  are to be believed benefited personally  from Sky Sports involvement .

[skydog]

The bit that I really dont understand is that TR says dogs are stopping... CO says they arent... but they are both named as directors of the new company so the remedy should be simple... "Hey Tel, it's not true that the dogs are stopping, I dunno what people are talking about." "Oh ok Clark in that case there is no reason to stop running Speedway at The Abbey, I'll carry on". "Yeah you do that Tel, cos we love Speedway, you silly billy". " Ok cheers Clark. Just one thing, why have we set up a new company to find somewhere to run Speedway when there is apparently no reason to stop at The Abbey?" "Come on Tel, that's just to keep the fans guessing, you dont think we're going to be honest with them after all this time do you?"

[frigbo]

4 hours ago, skydog said:

The bit that I really dont understand is that TR says dogs are stopping... CO says they arent... but they are both named as directors of the new company so the remedy should be simple... "Hey Tel, it's not true that the dogs are stopping, I dunno what people are talking about." "Oh ok Clark in that case there is no reason to stop running Speedway at The Abbey, I'll carry on". "Yeah you do that Tel, cos we love Speedway, you silly billy". " Ok cheers Clark. Just one thing, why have we set up a new company to find somewhere to run Speedway when there is apparently no reason to stop at The Abbey?" "Come on Tel, that's just to keep the fans guessing, you dont think we're going to be honest with them after all this time do you?"

Precisely!

This is how ridiculous these shi-sters stories are.

[1 valve]

Isn't it the case that GI as a business buy and run stadiums until they have the opportunity of selling the land the stadium is situated on for housing or similar building development. 
During the intervening years they charge rent to users i.e. speedway/ Greyhound racing / football clubs and in some cases even play a part in promoting a particular sport. This latter involvement provides some sort of credence to them being interested in finding a new stadium where the displaced sport(s) can move to.
But of course, this never happens because when condensed down, GI business plan is to buy sites that in time will be ripe for development - Period.
Put simply, once GI get hold of a stadium, the closure clock has started to tick.

[Ray Stadia]

2 hours ago, 1 valve said:

Isn't it the case that GI as a business buy and run stadiums until they have the opportunity of selling the land the stadium is situated on for housing or similar building development. 
During the intervening years they charge rent to users i.e. speedway/ Greyhound racing / football clubs and in some cases even play a part in promoting a particular sport. This latter involvement provides some sort of credence to them being interested in finding a new stadium where the displaced sport(s) can move to.
But of course, this never happens because when condensed down, GI business plan is to buy sites that in time will be ripe for development - Period.
Put simply, once GI get hold of a stadium, the closure clock has started to tick.

I think the 'closure clock' starts to tick for any stadium, unless it is in an area where there is absolutely no feasible chance of property development or industrial development. In the main, football and rugby stadiums seem safer. 

[arnieg]

2 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said:

I think the 'closure clock' starts to tick for any stadium, unless it is in an area where there is absolutely no feasible chance of property development or industrial development. In the main, football and rugby stadiums seem safer. 

I think the wide boys are now moving in on football and rugby stadia. Show up as 'knights in shining armour', separate the ground ownership from the operating company. Use the club to launder money for a few years, run it into the ground, declare insolvency, sell ground for property development.

Bury FC and now Worcester RFC spring to mind, but there will be several others at risk 

[skydog]

On 10/12/2022 at 11:16 AM, 1 valve said:

Isn't it the case that GI as a business buy and run stadiums until they have the opportunity of selling the land the stadium is situated on for housing or similar building development. 
During the intervening years they charge rent to users i.e. speedway/ Greyhound racing / football clubs and in some cases even play a part in promoting a particular sport. This latter involvement provides some sort of credence to them being interested in finding a new stadium where the displaced sport(s) can move to.
But of course, this never happens because when condensed down, GI business plan is to buy sites that in time will be ripe for development - Period.
Put simply, once GI get hold of a stadium, the closure clock has started to tick.

I would have said you were right, except... they never owned the land that Reading stood on. I have never worked out what they gained when it closed, apart from cutting their losses on a business/lease they maybe shouldnt have ever bought!

Considering the council wanted it gone, why all the GI BS about a new stadium? All they actually had to say was "oh dear the council wont extend the lease any more, we'll be off then"

And dont they actually run the greyhound racing, rather than someone else pay them rent to do it? That was how I always understood it.

[steve roberts]

4 hours ago, skydog said:

I would have said you were right, except... they never owned the land that Reading stood on. I have never worked out what they gained when it closed, apart from cutting their losses on a business/lease they maybe shouldnt have ever bought!

Considering the council wanted it gone, why all the GI BS about a new stadium? All they actually had to say was "oh dear the council wont extend the lease any more, we'll be off then"

And dont they actually run the greyhound racing, rather than someone else pay them rent to do it? That was how I always understood it.

Didn't the then promotion father and daughter (Dore & Bliss) "re-negotiate" the lease thereby substancially reducing Reading's tenure much to Reg Fearman's dismay?