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Post by benbulben on Jan 7, 2020 22:30:29 GMT 1
Sedgo not doing great in the Aussie title race. Scores of 4 and 5 in the first two rounds leave him in ninth place.
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Post by coombes on Jan 8, 2020 10:04:01 GMT 1
A bit hard to know what to make of Justin's form in Oz. All the guys above him in the scorecard for the first two rounds would be above him based on British averages. He has beaten Jordan Stewart in both rounds and possibly he's at his level.
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Post by benbulben on Jan 8, 2020 22:02:34 GMT 1
Oh, oh. Planning permission in principle from W.Lothian council for residential development on site of...Armadale Greyhound Stadium. I wonder how long the Monarchs will be there and what steps they have taken to mitigate this. Bad news all round if inevitable.
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Post by drosser on Jan 9, 2020 1:19:14 GMT 1
Oh, oh. Planning permission in principle from W.Lothian council for residential development on site of...Armadale Greyhound Stadium. I wonder how long the Monarchs will be there and what steps they have taken to mitigate this. Bad news all round if inevitable. They are, unfortunately, dependent on the local property market. As soon as there is enough local demand to make development financially viable, the stadium is likely to be history. There is no sentiment in the development game! As far as mitigation is concerned, there is little that they can do. They seem to have been looking for a new home forever - with no success. Let's face it, there are very few stadia that could be easily converted to speedway - most football and rugby stadia have a fairly tight, rectangular area to enable maximum seating. Greyhound stadia were sort of o.k. shape-wise but there are few left. There is not enough money in modern speedway to warrant expensive transformations of existing stadia or building new ones - unless they can find a very generous benefactor. Noise levels add to the list of potential planning objections, as does airborne dust (as Glasgow have experienced). I would not like to be trying to find a venue in Central Scotland to introduce the sport for the first time. Edinburgh have a great tradition of having dedicated supporters, particularly the original ones from Old Meadowbank and Powderhall. Unfortunately, these people are becoming fewer due to old age, affordability etc. Lets hope that my gloomy appraisal of the situation is proved wrong and they find a home that merits their efforts.
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Post by coombes on Jan 9, 2020 9:47:13 GMT 1
Sadly I don't think Drossers assessment is likely to be wrong. Edinburgh have been on the look out for a a site for years with no success. There is no alternative.
With Doug Templeton passing away, the history of the 50s and Scottish speedway's " nuclear winter" has been remembered. Are the 50s going to be repeated? Tigers 1953 season seemed quite buoyant...until they did their sums and found the made a huge loss. The stadium authorities had a go at running the sport with a weakened team but quickly saw it was never going to pay and pulled the plug. Could this happen again in Glasgow? By 2024 will there be any speedway in Scotland. Indeed will there be any speedway in the UK - see the thread on tracks 2018 losses. Entertainment Tax got the blame for the sports national implosion in the 50s but in the coming years will it be our inability to curtail our expenditure and get riders to go part time which will be the parallel. The sport can survive if we accept that it has to come down a notch or two. There is little alternative.
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Post by dirtywhensecond on Jan 9, 2020 12:21:08 GMT 1
Sadly I don't think Drossers assessment is likely to be wrong. Edinburgh have been on the look out for a a site for years with no success. There is no alternative. With Doug Templeton passing away, the history of the 50s and Scottish speedway's " nuclear winter" has been remembered. Are the 50s going to be repeated? Tigers 1953 season seemed quite buoyant...until they did their sums and found the made a huge loss. The stadium authorities had a go at running the sport with a weakened team but quickly saw it was never going to pay and pulled the plug. Could this happen again in Glasgow? By 2024 will there be any speedway in Scotland. Indeed will there be any speedway in the UK - see the thread on tracks 2018 losses. Entertainment Tax got the blame for the sports national implosion in the 50s but in the coming years will it be our inability to curtail our expenditure and get riders to go part time which will be the parallel. The sport can survive if we accept that it has to come down a notch or two. There is little alternative. Was the trotting track at Stirling Corbiewood not pencilled in as a Scottish speedway development track some time ago or am I talking rubbish? Presumably it's kinda speedway oval shape and good road access too. Edit - I knew I wasn't talking total rubbish - as attached - it was in fact created for speedway but clearly a long long time ago. Some quite interesting old photos and clippings here: greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/2019/01/20/corbiewood/
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Post by coombes on Jan 9, 2020 20:24:54 GMT 1
Justin beats Sam Masters for third place in a heat, something we'd be delighted with in this coming season but his other four rides bring four points including a third in a three man race. Still hard to guage how he is going.
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Post by benbulben on Jan 10, 2020 21:11:11 GMT 1
Should we have a free date how about jazzing up and restoring the Ken Le Breton Memorial Trophy meeting ? The White Ghost was the first real Ashfield star. Just a thought.
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Post by coombes on Jan 10, 2020 21:47:03 GMT 1
I would think we have enough free dates if we really want one. The big problem seems to be the cost of staging a 20 heat - no Semi Final and finals please! - 16 rider event. Next year is the Le Breton 70th anniversary which would seem an appropriate time to run the event. Not sure that the current regime attaches much importance to our history. Not impressed by their lack of coverage over Doug Templetons passing.
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Post by benbulben on Jan 10, 2020 22:03:00 GMT 1
Absolutely but ironically the brothers or at least their dad would have known of and possibly seen the great man. As my pal said, speedway only began in 2015.
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Post by tyretrax on Jan 10, 2020 23:10:55 GMT 1
We didn't give Jimmy Beaton much of a tribute either.
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Post by dirtywhensecond on Jan 12, 2020 20:02:11 GMT 1
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Post by coombes on Jan 15, 2020 9:53:39 GMT 1
Changes to the transfer window for the Premiership www.speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.37841No changes until you have ridden 6 meetings and none after you have raced 18. Not sure how the Harris and Cook moves BEFORE the season started woukd be looked on. Only two changes allowed. Curiously the exclusion for "Proven injury" has now disappeared from the release. Just glad it doesn't apply to the Championship.
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Post by md on Jan 15, 2020 23:50:32 GMT 1
Birmingham would of run out of options in May last year if we had a window in our league.
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Post by coombes on Jan 16, 2020 10:08:46 GMT 1
Should we have a free date how about jazzing up and restoring the Ken Le Breton Memorial Trophy meeting ? The White Ghost was the first real Ashfield star. Just a thought. Sadly memorial trophies are few and far between now. We continue to remember Sven Kaasa and possibly other tracks do likewise, dedicating a race close to the anniversary. I believe Alan Hunt and Ivor Hughes are remembered at Cradley while Exeter's Tony Sandford's trophy is still presented at Plymouth. Anyone know of any others? May be there should be a Memorial page in the annual Ben Fund programme as it seems an appropriate time for remembrance, particularly for those whose tracks are long closed.
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