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Post by speedway_history on Aug 29, 2008 10:57:15 GMT 1
Here's what Neil Middleditch had to say, although he is keen to point out that nothing should be read into his comments, and that they are just his personal opinions. Thanks to Middlo for allowing me to use this:
1..Terry Russell has expressed his thoughts on promotion and relegation. Do you think this would work? I really don't know what good that would do the sport. I know in Poland and Sweden it works but I feel it is a different scenario over here. If premier teams want to be in the elite they can apply but not many are forthcoming on that front, are they? How would they feel if they were forced to move up? I think that any club that moved up would have to be very financially sound to afford to pay the money that some top riders command.
2..Speaking from Poole's perspective, what changes, if any, would you like to see come from the AGM with regards to the points limit? The points limit is always a tricky one. We are one of the few sports where you get penalised for being successful - look at Coventry. Built a fantastic team only to have the heart torn out of it (subject to new points limit) next season. Promoters who build successful teams must think why do we bother? You will always have better teams in any sport and people love to see them get beaten (look how much stick Poole got and we didn't win anything!!!) I know when Coventry or Swindon came to Poole the crowds were awesome and when Poole were doing well people came to see us get beaten. If it puts bums on seats it's got to be good. Don't try and drag other clubs down a level - get them to raise theirs to the higher club's level. Move forward not back.
3..There have been interviews with riders who would like to see us race on one night only in the UK. What do you think about that, and is it workable? It works in Sweden and Poland. Over here? Who knows? It would ease the work load from the top boys and may entice some riders to try their hand in the UK if they didn't have to ride so many meetings. The schedule some of the guys keep is truly mind boggling, which is fine when things are going well, but have a couple of knocks - engines blow and things start to build up, then things get really hard for them. But the ones who may suffer would be the lower order riders who don't have Sweden or Poland to ride in and effectively would be taking a pay cut. A tricky one really.
4..What do you think (or hope) the future of British speedway is? Would you like to see sweeping changes, or do you think things are fine as they are? I don't think there is a magic wand we can wave to make British speedway better. AMBITION is a key word and not just monetary gain. I have said it many times - riders just don't want to move up to the Elite for money reasons. Why would you if you were earning £400 a night in the premier scoring 12 or 13 points want to move to the elite and score 3 or 4 and earn £100 (not actual figures just an example)? I feel that we need to take the best riders from the elite and subsidise their wage to make it financially viable for them. I don't know if that money is readily available, just my personal take on the matter. Unless the Brits have the ambition we are going nowhere.
5..You must be keeping an eye on the young Brits to see who's coming through. Are there any in particular you think are showing something special? Plenty of good riders about, but they must have the ambition (that word again!) I really don't want to name names as I will no doubt get slammed for missing someone out. But I feel thanks to the conference and premier leagues, which are a great training ground for them, that British speedway does have a future. We are a few years from being the force we once were, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
6..What's your opinion of the tactical rules? Should they stay or go? Great when you're losing and it turns the match around, rubbish when you have built up a lead only to see it wiped out in one fell swoop (ask Reading last year!) Something brought in to help keep matches closer and I think it works.
7..What does a typical day at the WTC involve for you? Normally the first thing I do is check the weather! Most of the work has been done on practise day - making sure the boys are all happy with set-ups, any problems they may have, or if they need anything.
We normally meet up mid morning (the boys sleep late,) have a stroll round town. Then we all have lunch together and talk about the track conditions, gearings, anything to try and get a little extra knowledge for them for during the meeting. In the afternoon most of them will go to the Hotel to just chill out. I normally go to the track mid afternoon to check with the mechanics if they have any problems or need anything and ask them how they felt practise went and how their particular rider felt after practise.
The guys turn up normally a couple of hours before the meeting just to run through things with the mechanics. We then normally have a chat about any last minute things they may have on their minds. We have the team manager's briefing to explain any rules and meet the referee, then it's track walk just to see how the track looks, and if they feel they have the right gearings on for the meeting.
I normally stand back while they warm up the bikes and chat with mechanics - that is there zone. After that just to wish them luck and as always ask them to give me their best shot. which they always do.
8..Is there a facility for the lads to practise, either before the WTC, or through the year in general in any country, and if there were would they take up the chance? There are no actual facilities to practise as such, and particularly on the track where the WTC would be run, as I said: imagine if I asked Ole to practise at Vojens for the day!!
It would be possible in England but the riders all know the tracks inside out and have all the settings for gears, jets, timing, etc, and unless you really have something new to test you can often end up confusing yourself.
Same in Poland most of the boys ride over there so know all the set ups - or should! The practise sessions for the WTC are a joke. If you added up the total time the boys can actually be on the track it would be less than 5 minutes per rider. And 9 times out of 10 the track is completely different from practise than in the actual meeting.
I have suggested and been offered practise in England but its just a nightmare trying to get all the boys together all riding for different teams and in different countries, and going back to what I said they know all the set ups in the UK, which is the most crucial factor.
People criticised the boys in Poland. Put the Poles round Eastbourne, Lakeside, etc they would be pretty average, I can assure you.
9..What about riders just coming into the sport - there are training tracks, but I understand they have to book and pay for that themselves? It is getting better with the conference but it is not a cheap sport to do, so unless you have good sponsors it is hard, as in any professional sport. Training tracks are not so abundant due to the geography of Great Britain, whereas in Scandinavia, Poland etc, they have such vast spaces and are able to have facilities available to them much easier. To train you always have had to pay. Training tracks have expenses to cover - it's a fact of life. It has always been the same. One of the most crucial factors in Speedway is the first 30 metres. We know the boys can ride the bikes. I feel that if any practise was necessary it would be a gating school. Imagine if Bomber could gate he would be untouchable!!
10..Would you like to continue in your role of manager of GB, and would having an assistant appeal to you? Will pass on the last one at the moment!
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Post by speedway_history on Aug 29, 2008 10:57:43 GMT 1
Interview with Mick Bratley, with our thanks to him.
1..In terms of the AGM, how difficult is it, as a promoter, to balance the needs of your club with what’s best for the sport as a whole? It’s very difficult and definitely something I had not given much thought to before I became a promoter. Every club has different needs. For example, at Peterborough, in reality. we would prefer less fixtures and more quality of fixture. But then other clubs want more fixtures because they have a tenancy agreement that says they have to hold so many meetings or they have to pay penalties. In the end though everything is democratically decided and compromises are made. This was more than evident to me at the AGM, as there were clubs who had to embrace a change that they probably didn’t want. And I am sure they will embrace that change and make it work, let’s face it, it really has to work.
2..What was the reasoning behind the 38.85 points limit? Well there had to be a reduction in the points limit, it can’t be right that the difference in points between top and bottom was 51. And to be fair, and no disrespect to Belle Vue and Ipswich, our supporters would not come out and watch them, so it was hurting us as well. The mean average for a Speedway meeting is 84 points, half that is 42 and 7.5% off 42 = 38.85 So, some thought went into it and we didn’t just pull the numbers out of hat, as many supporters seemed to think!
3..With the reduced points limit it was speculated that there would be more of a reduction for British riders. Was it discussed, and if so, why didn’t it happen? It was discussed and I think it will have to come and I would support it. The rationale for not bringing it in this year was that it was thought it was too much change at one time and we did not want to make another change just for changes sake.
4..Can you confirm that riding order remains the same, with the top 2 averaged riders at 1 and 3? Yes, it stays the same.
5..Promotion and relegation has now been re-introduced. It didn’t work last time, but now there are financial incentives for premier league teams. Will that be enough to cover any additional expenses of moving up, and do you think it will encourage more teams to aspire to being in the elite league? Yes, I’m pretty certain the financial incentive will be enough. It was encouraging that almost all Premier League clubs voted for this. I’ve spoken with a PL Promoter this week and he tells me he has given his supporters club a target to buy an air fence by the end of next year which they can use when they get promoted. He’s going for it in 2008 and I think several others will really, really, desperately want that and that is great because to the outside world, promotion and relegation gives us credibility.
6..And following on from that – in an ideal world, how many teams would you like to see in the elite league? In an ideal world I would like to see 14 teams of equal strength in the Elite League, with one home fixture and one away.
7..What do you think of the British asset system? It works. When Colin bought Peterborough he sought advice from me and I told him he had to buy assets, if you have a good asset base you can call a lot more shot’s than those who don’t. I do think there should be a formula for valuation of riders though when we come to transfers, because some fees really are plucked out of the air.
8..Imagine you’re Chairman of the BSPA, and anything you say gets implemented immediately. What changes would we be seeing within the rules? • Every EL club shall race on a Wednesday or Thursday night • Introduction of another tactical ride (he he) • No club is allowed to beat Peterborough ;-)
9..Can you tell us which premier league team almost took the step up to elite? No, sorry.
10..It was stated on the Panther’s forum that plans for the Peterborough team had been made before the AGM regardless of points limit. Are you confident of fielding a competitive team that can put you back up there at the top of the league? Plans for the Peterborough team were made back in June! I am more excited about the class of 2008 than any previous season. It will be the youngest side in our history, the potential within the team is phenomenal, I am sure our supporters are going to be very pleased.
11..Can you tell us when the next signing will be announced? Next Tuesday. We announce our signings when it is best for us within the local press, because we need to keep the Panthers brand ticking over in the minds of people locally, all year long.
12..And finally, the play-off match between Peterborough and Reading to win the title in 2006 had to be one of the most exciting meetings I’ve ever seen on Sky. What was the atmosphere like down in the pits that night? Surreal. After heat 15 I was speechless. No that’s not just a turn of phrase, I really was speechless, I tried to speak, but I couldn’t, it was very strange. I’ve looked at the video many times and I see myself, and I just cringe, I look such a twonk, but if you get chance to look at Sky’s closing credits, watch it carefully and you will actually see Trevor Swales faint when we win it! I have never seen the place so full, I would love it to be like that every week and that is our aim. Year on year we have increased the average attendance at Peterborough, but it is going to take an effort to get that amount of people every week, but we’ll stick at it!
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Post by speedway_history on Aug 29, 2008 10:58:22 GMT 1
Interview with Alun Rossiter, with thanks to him..
1..The Swindon team is now complete. With the new points limit in place, did you ever consider dropping Leigh Adams in favour of a more balanced team, or was that never on the cards? I won't say it was never on the cards, we did discuss it, but we had to consider everything and Leigh brings so much more to the team than points. He's always willing to help the riders if they want advice or to borrow equipment. We had a conversation about it, we had to think about it, but in the end we're happy with having Leigh.
2..It's been reported that Swindon were against the new points limit. Would would it have been for you, ideally? Ideally, we'd have liked a 42.5 limit, but realistically the imbalance last year had to be addressed. We understood that something needed to be done. There was a lot of discussion and a 41.5 limit was discussed. That would've been cool. Or even a 40.0 limit would've been okay.
3..Do you agree that costs in the elite league need to be cut for the good of the sport, and do you think getting rid of the GP riders is the most sensible way to do this, or do you have other ideas? The money is getting out of hand. The costs are escalating ridiculously. There's so much money going out it's unbelievable and not covered by takings through the turnstiles. Being on the other side of the fence these last couple of years has been a real eye-opener. But why ban GP riders? They're the riders that are attracting the fans to the sport, so you could argue that they aren't expensive, since they're the ones bringing the fans in. For me, banning GP riders is a no go. People are always asking how we get back to the crowds of the past and point to the crowds in Poland, but crowds are down in Poland and as Poland becomes more Westernised, with more things to do, will they continue to drift? It's going to be hard, if not impossible. All those years ago there wasn't much to do, but now there's so many other distractions for people and their money. But we'll keep trying.
4..With the new limit it was hoped that there would be a greater reduction for British riders. Would you have supported that if it had been tabled? I don't know if a reduction is required now. It was introduced a few years ago to help British riders get work, but now there's no British riders struggling to find rides. Matt Ford said a while ago that it was no longer relevant and the more I think about it the more I agree. You look at Eastbourne and they've got a two point head start on everyone. That's not a whinge, it's a fact and fair play to Eastbourne.
5..There doesn't seem to have been much reported from the AGM, although we were led to believe the team GB manager's job was on the agenda. Do you think Middlo's the right man for the job, or would you like to see someone else step in? I'll tell you now, people who slate Middlo off are bang out of order and well off the mark. Middlo's the right man for the job. He has the backing of the riders and they respect him. He can only work with what's available and I don't think he's done anything wrong in the last few years, except replacing Stead with Louis for the final at Reading, which I don't think was the right move for the future. I'd like to be considered for the job one day in the future, but I know I've a lot to learn. I've learnt so much in these last few years at Swindon and appreciate how hard it is. It's easy for people to just slag Middlo off on the BSF, without understanding how hard it is. Middlo is the right man for the job.
6..Not so many years ago there seemed to be a wealth of British talent in the leagues. What happened? A lot of them stick in their comfort zone in the Premier League. There's a lack of desire, hunger and ambition among a lot of them. You look at Carl Stonehewer; he was happy in the Premier League when he was in the GPs. But you look at Lewis Bridger at Eastbourne - he made the jump straight from the Conference to the Elite and is doing okay. We've got some good riders coming through, Edward Kennett has made huge steps forward last year and Danny King. But too many of the riders are happy in the Premier League. There aren't enough meetings for them in the Elite League, especially if they haven't got contracts in Sweden and Poland - Andrew Moore really struggled last season, but he kept going and did a job for us.
7..It must have been disappointing to lose three lots of silverware to the same team at the end of last year. Do you think Coventry were the better side, or should you have won? I don't think Coventry were the better side. If anything they were the better team. Now, I took a lot of criticism for things I've said about the final, people saying that it's down to me to instill team spirit and motivate. Have you any idea how hard it is to motivate the East Europeans? You just had to look in the pits, Coventry were a team, while we had individuals and Leigh Adams running around like a madman. I can only do so much and at the end of the day once they're out on the other side of the fence it's down to the riders. I can't turn the throttle for them, or ride the track for them. I don't think Coventry were a better side, but they were a better team.
8..Any chance of getting Damian Balinski back in the country next year? I think Damian would help us out again if we get into trouble. But I'm fairly sure he'd only ride for Swindon; we have a great relationship with Leszno, what with Leigh and everything else. And we looked after him well when he was with us. But I don't think he'll ever be looking to be full time over here, since he seems to be in a comfort zone, happy riding for Leszno and in Sweden. But if we're in a bit of trouble I think Damian would help us out again.
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Post by speedway_history on Aug 29, 2008 10:58:56 GMT 1
Interview with Matt Ford, with many thanks to him for his honesty, and thanks also to rabbit at the BSF.
1..As a member of the 'working party' set up during 2007 to map out a blueprint for the future of the EL, you must have been aware that a large reduction in the points' limit was going to be suggested. However, prior to the BSPA meeting at the end of November you stated publically that you would vote for a higher limit unless you could be convinced otherwise. We now know that you were 'convinced' at that meeting, but can we assume from this that originally the findings of the 'working party' weren't unanimous? They weren’t, and I spoke to the other members and told them I wasn’t happy with the low points limit. I was happy with 42.5, I’d have been even happier with an even higher limit, but the fact is 4 clubs refused to run in the league at all at 42.5. A fifth promoter admitted he lost money for the first time in his promoting career so he wanted lower as well. That left four of us. We discussed our options certainly and whether we could do something. But the main reasons these clubs didn’t want a high average was cost and rider availability so when it came to voting on 41.5 and 40 I voted against - lowering to those levels would not address the issues that were causing these teams problems - we certainly wouldn‘t have let either of Crump or Bjarne go at that level, I‘m sure Coventry wouldn’t have let Scott go - you can see the problem . It wouldn’t have released riders that these clubs claimed they needed in order to be competitive - a number 1 rider - I know fans have talked of one rider over a certain average per team, but the fact we have team building averages should be restriction enough without introducing even more and complicating matters. At the final 38.85 it was drastic but seems to have had, so far, the effect those clubs needed. We wouldn’t have had an EL any other way - without a decision we could have thrown it over to the SCB and let them fix a points limit, but then that could‘ve been even lower. One team did even want 36 points as it was. Will it work? I don’t know - I hope so. If it does and we get to next year, then there has to be a higher limit. This was done to stabilise the league, and after my stint on the Mgmt Committee you have to think beyond your own club and I think that‘s stayed with me, but I’m finally coming to the opinion, that every year certain clubs want to keep the league to the lowest common denominator on so many levels, and that for the future of top flight speedway perhaps, just perhaps we should let them go and leave the rest to try and build back up. If an extra team(s) want to come up then yes, there’s a case for keeping the limit low again, but otherwise I don’t think I’d be for it again.
2..There has been much discussion about the newly introduced promotion and relegation rule in speedway. As you know the idea has been tried before and for various reasons didn't work out. Assuming for a moment that now is the right time to introduce it again and it's a success, does it not restrict the number of EL teams to the current nine, or is there room for expansion if the opportunity arose? It was going to be that way - promotion/relegation would be the only way in. But I tabled a motion, which was passed, that will allow any club who wants to come up to do so. There are 2 clubs who at this point in time have ambitions to come up from the PL. We need to be able to allow them to do that and increase the size of the league if we can, if and when they want to do it.
3..There have been suggestions that speedway would be improved if an independent body took over control of the sport. As a promoter, what is your perspective on this? Absolutely for it. Most promoters are. The stumbling block is one, how many people are on that independent body, one, two, three, or more? One and you stand the risk that person isn’t around at a point in time through sickness/holiday etc, have more and you bump the cost up. That person might also have their own agenda. That’s the second issue - cost. The money just isn’t there in the sports coffers at the moment. The Sky money is eaten and isn’t that great an amount at the end of it anyway, some clubs are struggling to keep going financially as it is in all the leagues and they would all have to chip in from top to bottom to make this body work. Some clubs are even now are still paying off insurance bills two months after the end of the season. A further cost of say £60-80k for a couple of people and the admin costs etc associated with a new body - it’s just not feasible right now. We have discussed it though - Tony Steele is one name often mentioned who is well respected throughout the sport so it’s an idea that is still out there. Another thing I’d not be adverse to is for a panel of promoters to meet with a panel of fans from each club - it might not be an easy exercise for both sets of parties at times, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.
4..Poole have often received criticisim for not including many Brits in their teams under your promotion. Geographically, both Weymouth and Plymouth are within reasonable distance of Poole, so have you considered forming an official partnership with either club with an eye to developing young British riders for the future? Plymouth is still 120 miles away so I think that’s realistically too far, but we do already have a bit of a tie-up with the IOW and recently with Weymouth. Ok, so no Brits so far have come through, but that’s not through design, only that no-one as yet has fitted the profile. It could happen at any point in time though. We currently have Jay Herne going through the ranks at Weymouth in the CL (although still technically an Aussie), and Brendan Johnson is one we’re keeping an eye on too - his comments about wanting to ride with Bjarne for Poole one day are encouraging and what we want to see. We’ll be watching his progress closely.
5..Many promoters claim they dislike internet forums, although recently a small number have actually joined and participate in them. Do you feel these forums have a positive or negative effect on your business at Poole? I’m still to be convinced to be honest. Whilst the vast majority of people are fine, there is a small minority, who are damaging both to my business, other club’s business and the sport as a whole. There’s a couple on the Poole site certainly. Couple of examples - one I even read today. A fan on basically, for want of a better description, my site, for my club is advocating that fans should all join together, to boycott a meeting in order to protest about the recent changes, for fans to stay away. Now how is that anything other than damaging, especially at a time when so many clubs are not making money as it is? Then I get a call from CVS a couple of days ago, saying that the hot gossip doing the rounds was that we were dropping Adam, and was this true? Where does this come from? How is it positive? But you know 95% of fans are fine, and I have no problem with constructive criticism. It’s something we should all take on board however much we might not want to hear it. But that minority, they’re the problem. People seem to forget that what they put has consequences, and whilst yes, they are entitled to an opinion, there are times when that is detrimental to the businesses that we all as promoters, have put money into running.
6..Can you tell us any more about the Craig Watson situation? Why was the mistake not noticed sooner, and does he still feature in your plans? What a mess! As I’ve said in the press this was just one of those things that slipped through. All the promoters were given a sheet of final averages to review and then ratify at the AGM. These averages were then voted on as being a true reflection and as being final. Craig was given a 3.00 on that sheet and that was voted through. Not one promoter out of all of us noticed it. It was actually via the internet and a fan emailing Dave Pavitt who then contacted me that it came to light. Should I, or someone else have picked it up? The problem with the rule book is that there are so many inclusions, clauses and the like that mistakes do happen - every time we make a rule we have to add some many provisos to stop abuse it‘s just made it a nightmare. Fair play to the people that picked it up - they’re perfectly right. We weren’t trying to pull a fast one, despite some of the comments. We announced Craig on Christmas Eve and not one other promoter had any issue with the signing, I heard nothing for 4 or so days, until the comments from the fans started to make their way through. Having to tell Craig we couldn’t use him was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. But I’ve spoken to every PL promoter since then to try and get him a place for 2008 - some still need top line riders and heat leaders so I’m hopeful.
7..Were there any changes implemented at the AGM that we haven't yet heard about? Many people believed the team GB manager's job was discussed, but nothing was released, for instance. Note: having read my question again it sounds like I was advocating a change specifically regarding the manager of GB. This isn't the case - it was a general question - my apologies. I’m not sure about the outcome of the GB manager discussions to be honest. You’d have to ask Neil. Yes, there were some comments at the conference that perhaps a change was needed. But then who do you have instead? Rosco? Havvy? They don’t want the job. You ask the riders who they want and every one of them wants Middlo. No question. They love him.
8..Zabik and Holder - the two unknown quantities in the Poole team. Personally speaking I think they could be trump cards, but there's a lot of pressure on them to live up to their reputation. Do you have any worries, first about Zabik's availability, and second about the pressure on Holder? Karol Zabik - I can understand the comments about availability. But let me say this - this lad is as keen as mustard to come over. He has spent a vast sum of money on new bikes - well over 5 figures to get at least 3 new engines from Craig Boyce, plus several more thousand on other equipment and that’s just for the EL alone. He phones me every few days ‘ hello boss’ full of news and enthusiasm, how he’s not put an ounce on over Christmas and is now back in training was the latest. Dead keen. As for Holder, this guy is so full on self belief and confidence, he won’t care about pressure. He believes he’s better than everyone and can beat anyone and fears no-one. I’ve no worries with him in the league.
9..Following on from that, Chris is doing well in the Australian Championships and currently leads the field. Do you think he'll go all the way? Quite possibly. Troy is a great rider and in that line-up too, but it would be great if we could welcome Chris to Poole as Aussie Champion.
10..How did you feel about having to let Jason go after signing him on a full transfer the previous season, both financially and personally? Very disappointed of course. We’d never have spent out that money if we’d have even thought we couldn’t have used him this year. When all the noise about the lower points limits was going on and clubs were being touted as taking certain riders, including ours to sort themselves out, our initial comments were that we didn’t buy him to let someone have him for virtually nothing and they’d have to buy him to use him. But I spoke to Jason and he asked me to let him out on loan so he could get a team place this year - he was worried about being frozen out, so that’s what happened. He’s certainly not out of our plans, we just don’t know what’s down the line next year for me to say now he‘ll be back or anything else.
11..I think it's fair to say the Skornicki signing surprised a fair few people. Was he always in your plans, or was it a case of a late reshuffle due to the points limit? It may surprise people, but Adam was always in my plans. I spoke to CVS very early on about his availability for this season - the thing is Adam revels in a successful team, and I think he will do that this year. He wasn’t happy last year; he was struggling, had little or no sponsorship, no accommodation over here - things just weren’t right for him. He’s a lovely guy and again wants to do so well - we announced him at a sponsors meeting and he picked up three sponsors that night straight away - several thousand pounds worth. He stayed at my place and first thing the next morning was onto Sean Wilson to order a new engine with that. I know the fans reaction was mixed but I think that’s because it was such an unexpected move, but I truly believe he’s a snip on that average. He’ll be lodging with Zibi in the same accommodation we had for Doyley and a couple of the lads last season, so hopefully it’ll work out well.
12..And finally, most teams are pretty much complete now, with one or two exceptions. Realistically, do you think you'll have a fair chance of being in the play-offs again, and who's your tip for the top? Lakeside look good I have to say, they’ve two reserves who are exceptionally strong in comparison to other teams. I think when you compare our final team against the others…I’ve pleased with what we have and I’m quietly confident we can have a good season.
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Post by speedway_history on Aug 29, 2008 10:59:33 GMT 1
So, we've heard from dear old Rosco, now let's here from Swindon co-owner Gary Patchett:
1..Let's start with basics, when and how did you first become interested in speedway and what is it about the sport that attracts you? My grandparents used to live within a stone's throw of Blunsdon and our family home was within earshot of Dudley Wood. My father took me to speedway for the first time at Blunsdon when we were visiting grandparents and to perpetuate my interest at Cradley afterwards. Initially, I think the attraction for a youngster was the short attention span that speedway required rather than, say, football or cricket. More recently I see my co-ownership of Swindon as the achievement of an ambition. Most boys aspire to become a professional sportsman in some shape or form and while I enjoyed most sports and was moderately successful at some I was never close to being able to make a living out of it. Being involved in the ownership of a professional club is the next best thing!
2..As a follow on, can you tell us some of your favourite riders past and present and why they were special to you? I was brought up on a diet of Barry Briggs, Martin Ashby et al. My father was and still is all things Swindon, speedway and football. More locally I remember visiting Cradley and to a lesser extent Birmingham and Wolves but it always seemed to be when Swindon were in town. Up to date I used to be in awe of the mastery of Tony Rickardsson but in terms of pure riding skill you need look no further than our own Leigh Adams.
3..Your increased involvement in speedway started a few years ago, before you bought into Swindon, when your company became a sponsor; was this sponsorship beneficial to your company and what can speedway offer to potential sponsors and investors? When I decided that I wanted to increase the profile of my Company I looked at several alternatives. However, our decision to get involved with sponsorship at Swindon was a marriage of heart and brain, if you like. It made sense. For the relatively moderate investment that we made, in what other sport can you rub shoulders with the best in the world on a regular basis? Moreover, our transport business had a resource that every rider requires and we were able to loan vans to the club/riders as part of our renewal policy. I think it is naive to expect that, because you sponsor any team in whatever sport, that the phone is automatically going to start ringing as a result. True, you can use sponsorship as a marketing tool for a retail brand but a company involved in a service industry, such as ours, has to use sponsorship as a focus and centre of attention for it's existing client base.
4..Last season saw Swindon finish as runners-up in the three major competitions (Elite League, K O Cup and Craven Shield); do you regard 2007 as a successful season or not and why? It was a successful season. No mistake there. Every other club in the league, bar one, would have swapped positions with us just to be in with a shout of winning some silverware. Make no mistake though, it was extremely disappointing to end up hitting the crossbar three times.
5..As a follow on question, why do you think that, ultimately, Swindon couldn't match up to Coventry when it came to the crunch? The team spirit that Colin Pratt and Peter Oakes instilled in that Coventry team was phenomenal. That was something that was brought about by continuity, as much as anything. As many riders as possible being retained from the previous season. That togetherness was worth 5 points a meeting to them.
6..Turning to the BSPA AGM, in a post at the BSF you stated that Swindon had voted for a limit higher than 38.85 and against a limit lower than 38.85, but didn't state Swindon's vote regarding 38.85; was there a vote on 38.85, did Swindon vote for or against and why? There were 4 different points limits proposed at the AGM. The first was to ratify the previously agreed limit of 38.46 Despite having been agreed by a majority, at a previous BSPA meeting, this was defeated and we voted against this limit. The next proposal, by Coventry, was for a limit of 41.5 and it was demonstrated, by them, to the other teams that this would create sufficient rider movement for all teams to be competitive. This proposal was defeated although we voted for it. The next proposal was for a limit of 39.9 (42 less 5%) and we voted for it, not because we were supportive of it but because I could see that the only way the limit would go if wasn't adopted was downwards. The proposal was again defeated. The final proposal was for 38.85 (42 less 7.5%) and this was passed by 6 votes to 3. We voted against it, along with Coventry and Peterborough.
7..In view of certain statements you made ahead of the BSPA AGM, are you heading into the 2008 season a little disillusioned, or full of enthusiasm? Honestly, a bit of both. I am excited as a supporter that the new season is upon us and looking forward to it very much. I am frustrated that we weren't able to retain more of the team that came so close to achieving honours last season. Not that I expect us to be in that position but the price of failure is potentially much greater this season, with the adoption of relegation from the Elite League. That said I fully expect even the weakest team in the Elite League to be too strong over two legs for the best that the Premier League has to offer.
8..We asked your colleague Alun Rossiter if Swindon contemplated a team without Leigh Adams for 2007 and he disclosed that it was considered, but rejected, what are your thoughts on Leigh Adams and having a rider that takes over a quarter of your points allocation in the team? The owners of all teams are responsible, not only for tracking a competitive team, but for the financial well being of the club as a business. Leigh takes a tremendous chunk out of any points limit, be it 38.85 or 42.5. We would have been shirking our responsibilities if we hadn't considered building a more balanced team from the top with, for instance, Lee Richardson, Charlie Gjedde and Travis McGowan as our top 3. However, all things considered we reckon on having Leigh Adams at #1 and team captain as being better for the team and club as a whole.
9..Turning to the future of Swindon, in 2006 concerns were raised regarding the future of Swindon speedway due to development plans for the existing site, what is the current state of play in regard to the development and speedway's part in it? This is more Terry's brief than mine, although of course I have a vested interest. I understand the full planning application is due to be submitted this month. Effectively, the new stadium will be built at right-angles to the existing one, on the car-park so disruption will be kept to a minimum. We expect to be in our new home for the beginning of the 2009 season.
10..And finally, your hopes and perhaps even fears for the 2008 season? Personally, I hope that the team we have built delivers its potential on the track. Broadly speaking, I hope that the league is more competitive throughout the season. Certainly, the prospect of relegation play-offs will bring much more meaning to those basement battles at the end of season. I hope we're not involved!! Locally, I hope that the planning application to restore Speedway at Cradley is successful.
Our thanks go to young Mr Patchett for his courtesy and for taking the time and trouble to answer our questions - we hope you enjoy the interview.
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Post by speedway_history on Aug 29, 2008 11:00:10 GMT 1
Many, many thanks to Stuart Douglas for the following, and our sincere best wishes to him, and all at Lakeside, for a very happy, successful 2008 campaign. Thanks also to Subedei and kevh for providing some of the questions.
1..Towards the end of last season, you told me that you believed Lakeside were well placed for the 2008 season, regardless of what emerged from the BSPA AGM, with this in mind, what was your preferred points limit and why? We were in the fortunate, but unenviable, position of being in a situation where we felt we could put together a competitive team irrespective of the points limit discussions. We knew that there were several clubs that could not financially support top flight speedway, and those that could would refuse to compete unless there was a degree of levelling of team strengths. We knew at the reduced level, with the likes of Ricky Kling and Lubos Tomicek now as Hammers assets, we would be able to compete well. We also knew that a handful of teams wished to create a ‘superleague’, where the strengths of the teams could be raised. We had enough approaches from sufficient outrageously talented riders to know that we could compete there also. We were also happy to remain as we were, ie 42.5. Personally, I do not like the lower limit, but I understand why the decision had to be made, and to be perfectly honest, there would not have been a top flight league if Swindon, Poole and Coventry had not made substantial sacrifices to ensure there was a league. I made a choice that this route was better than no route.
2..As a follow on, again towards the end of last season we discussed what we both believed was the unacceptability of experienced riders such as Gjedde, Janniro and Johnston being allowed to drop to the reserve position; you mentioned an "achieved average" idea that you would be proposing at the BSPA AGM, did you and what was the response? We proposed an idea that would prevent riders that had achieved an average of 6 or over in their recent careers being allowed to drop to reserve. It was discussed favourably but was deemed unnecessary with all the other factors taking place this season. I believe it was agreed it would be looked at again. I think it is a very good idea, and I will be working to implement it.
3..You were infamously fined for wearing flip-flops at a Lakeside meeting last season; what on earth possessed you to wear such things and what is the required dress code for Elite League promoters? Very funny. I’m fortunate enough to live in the real world where sartorial elegance is a choice, not a requisite. On a warm, balmy evening I will naturally look like a surfer or bum or something. However, the agm managed to re-enforce it’s policy that all promoters are required to wear ties at all meetings. Even though I choose to dress in a certain way does not discount my sartorial sense, so whilst I may embrace the new ruling, I have not spent this amount of money to keep speedway going at the Arena to look like a coach driver, as Jon Cook quite rightly points out. And that with all due deference to coach drivers.
4..You'd expect me to ask you about Andreas Jonsson and I'm not going to disappoint, an outrageously gifted rider to be sure, but for me there's always a but when it comes to young Jonsson; can you be sure that he's as commited to the Lakeside cause as you need him to be? I have AJ’s 100% word on his commitment to riding with us this season. I gave him the opportunity to reconsider, but his response was categorical. I don’t know why he enjoyed himself with us at so much the end of last season, but he did, and he wants to do the whole campaign. Of course our friendship has a lot to do with it, but, in spite of his previous encounters with the Elite League, I have no reason to doubt his honest opinion and his integrity. He is one of the most special speedway riders on the planet and he wants to ride for us – how brilliant is that!
5..Following on from that, young talent Lubos Tomicek has missed a fair few meetings with other commitments. Is his schedule going to be lighter this year, or should we expect to see more of Chris Mills? Lubos is a rising star, we feel. His season was well and truly messed up last year by the debacle at Oxford. In order to recoup his potential lost earnings , he booked extra meetings across Europe. This year is totally different for him however, and we always kept him part of our plans. He knew he was included this year when we reshuffled the team last season to take into account his pre arranged schedule. In his secure environment he will be a top performer this year.
6..You went on record as saying you had a three year plan when you took over at Lakeside. In year one you said the asset base needed to be increased, and in year two you hoped to be serious challengers for the play-offs with year three seeing a serious attempt at the Championship. The plan seems to be on track so far, so how do you see the future after the initial three years? I’m not looking past the three years just yet, though I would like to achieve my goal of winning something for the long suffering Hammers fans. We have some fantastic riders now, and the opportunity to be a play off team this year, as planned. Cookie is also doing a fantastic job in stabilising the finances of the club and building a team of bright, professional people who all wish to take the club forward. Speedway is like an addiction – a fact openly admitted to by many promoters – but I hope that if I ever wanted, or needed, to walk away that I wouldn’t be in the position of not being able to. I still have much to achieve yet, however.
7..And as a follow up, there seems to be talk of a three year plan, from the BSPA, with reference to the points limit, though there seems to be some confusion over how it’s going to work. Can you tell us more about that? I wish I could, but I believe there was a feeling that there needed to be a flexibility involved to be able to judge this year realistically. The simple part of the notion is that all the clubs can grow evenly with incremental increases in points limits, in an attempt to let clubs stabilise financially, and allow the realistic possibility of promotion and relegation.
8..It was stated that you were hoping to make some changes with regards to the facilities at Lakeside, with the stadium owner’s permission. Are you able to expand on that yet? Jon and I would really like to install some kind of seating facility at the stadium, as well as develop the viewing potential of the stock car track itself. Whilst the stadium have been interested in our ideas, the combination of stock cars and speedway is not ergonomically ideal, so we are continuing to work on solutions to the problems. I would like to improve the viewing experience for our fans, and I still believe that being closer to the action is important in attracting new fans.
9..There has been some speculation that Arena Essex could be at risk of redevelopment in the next few years because of The Thames Gateway Project. Can you shed any light on those plans and do you have contingency plans for the future of The Hammers if they were to lose their home? The Arena will undoubtedly be redeveloped at some time in the future, of that there is no doubt. Whether it is as a result of a Compulsory Purchase Order remains to be seen. The land is very clearly designated as leisure and recreational usage, so, not allowing for Governmental shenanigans, housing cannot be built on it. We want to establish ourselves as an important part of leisure for the local community and we are planning to be involved in any redevelopment process. However, these things move slower than the melting ice caps, so we will be watching speedway at Arena for a while yet. Through our fan base and through professional connections we also have people working to further our interests, both within the Gateway project, but also looking at alternative viable sites, should the worst scenario become apparent.
10..Many people, including Jon Cook, have suggested that British Speedway should be run by an independent body. What are your views on this? I’ve always been very public on my view – we appear to be incapable of governing and furthering our own sport in an effective manner. I believe an independent governing body would allow us to get on with what we are supposed to do, which is PROMOTE.
11..During the latter part of the 2007 season you said that you'd like to reduce admission prices at Lakeside if sufficient sponsorship could be found to allow it. Are early indications suggesting this could still be possible? Commercially we have made some fantastic progress, moving the club on significantly from last year, but it is a very hard slog, and progress can be painstaking. I still believe that £15 is an absolute maximum price for speedway, and I would love to make it cheaper. The sums won’t add up this season, but we will be working on it all year, and maybe I will be able to achieve this at some point. I know some clubs are talking about a ceiling of £20 in the forseeable, but I fundamentally believe that it would not be value for money in it’s current form.
12..Would you consider undertaking a role similar to the one Terry Russell currently holds in the future, or are you content with running your own club and not getting involved in the 'bigger picture'? I have no desire to be involved in the running of the sport, but I’m happy to come up with ideas if that would help.
13..In an ideal world, how many teams would you like to see in the Elite League, and why? I would like to see an Elite League of say, 12-14 clubs. I am not a fan of A and B fixtures, and I would like to race home and away only once, not including cup competitions. I would like to see the likes of Birmingham, Kings Lynn, Somerset and Sheffield in an Elite League. I would like to see Len Silver’s Rye House there, too, but understand his Saturday night GP dilemma. It would be great to have a successful Oxford Cheetahs back, too.
14..The enigma that is Jonas Davidsson. He’s put in some fantastic scores at home in Sweden, yet that form seems to disappear when he comes to the UK. Poole are going with Karol Zabik and Chris Holder, Ipswich have brought back Hampel, and Wolves have signed Nicolai Klindt. Do you think there’s a bit of a gamble being played in the Elite League this year, and who do you think will make that pay off? Yes, I don’t fully understand why Jonas has not delivered his full potential in the UK. Peter Karlsson had a number of suggestions which he felt would help Jonas settle, and his recommendation was a major factor in the signing – that and Jonas’ absolute enthusiasm at the invite. I have a feeling that every one of the riders you have mentioned will do very well this year.
15..I could be wrong, but it seems to me that when you put the team together for the coming season you’ve tried to please everyone. Lanham is a home favourite, and a Brit to boot, Andreas is the number one some have been asking for, Joonas Kylmakorpi is a decent points scorer, and it seems you’ve tried to keep some of the continuity there, which others have said is vital. Obviously the fans are important to you, but how big an influence does what they say have on your team building decisions? I value the fans opinion. They are a lot more knowledgeable than me about speedway in general. Jon and I have also shown that we can be business minded also, and won’t be held ransom to favouritism. I understand some fans growing concern that teams should be mainly British, but there are not anywhere near enough good British riders, as a result of years of under development. We will be putting our support of British riders this season at grass roots level, not shouting about a Brit based team that ‘fell’ into our laps. Until we can develop our own Brit riders we will simply employ the best team of riders we can. We were very open with Leigh – we had two potential teams, one included him, one didn’t. We built the one with him in because we felt it had the best chance this season. However, I’m very pleased that the fans’ favourite rider is getting another go riding with the only club he truly wants to ride for.
16..The “singing from the same songsheet” piece on Hammers website was mightily impressive for a number of reasons – praising the competition, keeping the fans informed, and looking to the future. Do you take professional advice when writing such pieces, or do you do them yourself? Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. Part of my job is writing – I need to write my proposals or interpretations of scripts and ideas in order to win commissions – so it was a natural progression to just start writing my views for the club. I really enjoy writing for the fans, and I really enjoy doing my programme column each week. I also used to be a PR officer in my junior life at Olympus Cameras back in the 80’s.
17..There seem to be more riders leaving British shores every year, and the points limit seems to have played a small part in that this time around. Do you think that’s a bad thing, and do you think the likes of Ulamek, Pedersen, Sulllivan, etc have gone for good? Sometimes the riders have felt the need to take themselves away from the gruelling schedule that British Speedway gives them, so the new points limit is not entirely to blame, though partly as you have suggested. I believe Seb Ulamek was offered a number of rides. I sincerely hope that all those riders would express a desire to come back at some point. I will miss Nicki Pedersen, not because he is World Champion, but because he is a great speedway rider and a fabulous character. I will also miss Kris Kasprzak, who I know did want to ride here this season – and I hope he will be part of our plans in the future.
18..And to follow on, how do you think the World Champion not riding in the domestic leagues will affect how the sport is viewed to outsiders. I don’t think people outside the sport will know the difference between Nicki Pedersen and Nicky Clarke (different hairstyle obviously) such is the ignorance of speedway currently. I think it matters more to the people within the sport, but we’ll have to live with that this year.
19..With regards to promotion, do you think more could be done on the whole to get the sport “out there,” and how can we go about that? I think a lot more could be done, both at National level, and at local club level. The sport needs an influx of new support. This means the image of speedway needs to be worked on at a National level. Perhaps if someone else governed the sport we would not have people wearing so many different hats, and we could get on with working on that. The sport is too introspective, too wrapped up in it’s own cosiness. Unfortunately the circle is vicious – to get out there the sport needs money, but it can’t get the money because it can’t afford to get out there. There is no doubt that it could be done a lot better, and breaking the domination and monopoly of factions within the sport would be a major step forward.
20..And finally, it’s been said the Sky money is shared out according to television appearances, yet the clubs seem to have little say on whether their meetings are televised. Do you think it could be divided more fairly? In general the distribution is reasonably even. The frequency of appearances will then be in addition to the general distribution. Tv is about viewing figures and advertising revenue. Show rubbish meetings and viewers are not going to watch and there will be less money to give to the sport. That’s another reason why the teams had to be starting from a more even playing field. What speedway on Sky needs is great, close racing. Sky love that, the fans love that, the viewers love that. Get the teams providing that and then balance is achieved and all the teams will get their share of television time. It is ironic that the strongest built side in the league last year was also the team that provided the biggest thrashings which was the epitome of bad speedway on tv – an occasional good race won’t do it.
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