Bees dead (2 Viewers)

[Captain Dart]

Looks like this situation has passed the point of no return
Coventry Bees 'unlikely' to agree stadium deal ahead of season

 

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[Covstu]

Shite news, not my type of sport but never good to see a Coventry Team go down like this....

 

[chiefdave]

If Brandon is a no go is a track share with Leicester possible? Failing that weren't there plans for a new stadium, is that in the same realm as Fishers new stadium or something that is actually going to happen. Could they skip a season and come back in?

Not a fan of motorsports but it would be sad to see a Coventry team go.

 

[chiefdave]

 

[Otis]

Demise of the wrong insect.

 

[Joy Division]

What are average attendances like for Speedway events at Brandon?

 

[Nick]

Was it the bee's owner who said they had found somewhere for a stadium? Surely they could groundshare at the next closest in an emergency situation?

 

[SkyBlueScottie]

Not completely dead yet, theres loads of stuff going on in the background and the BSPA ( as of today) are still confident of the the Bees being on track this year. It does however look like a new owner is required...

As for track sharing, usually its a financial disaster, as finances are already desperately tight in the sport I cant see it working.

Despite the fact the towel has not been thrown in yet I have been of the opinion this was going to happen since the rumours of who owned / part owned Brandon Estates.

 

[Nick]

Not completely dead yet, theres loads of stuff going on in the background and the BSPA ( as of today) are still confident of the the Bees being on track this year. It does however look like a new owner is required...

As for track sharing, usually its a financial disaster, as finances are already desperately tight in the sport I cant see it working.

Despite the fact the towel has not been thrown in yet I have been of the opinion this was going to happen since the rumours of who owned / part owned Brandon Estates.

I heard somewhere that people think the Brandon Estates might be linked with the Bees owners still and they think it might be a way to force houses to be built?

 

[SkyBlueScottie]

Not quite, people are suggesting that the previous owner of the Bees is something to do with Brandon Estates... The same person is the current owner of the Stock promotion. Now it all may be rumours, but there has long been rumours of the ownership of the land including investigations from HMRC before Brandon Estates became involved...

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Bloody irritating that it all comes down to cash at the end of the day. Houses all very well, but if there's nothing for people to actually *do* once they're living there, it all unravels.

Any idea why the lease wasn't signed, mind you?

 

[CJ_covblaze]

Belle Vue awaits?

 

[Captain Dart]

Couple of comments to CT story which may shed more light on these shenanigans.

AlwyneBates
I see Belle Vue are about to reveal who the new promoter is at Belle Vue, don't be surprised if it isn't Horton and the Cov team. The Belle Vue saga has been held with the Manchester council and BSPA, over the last few weeks, in secret talks, and both had input to who was going to be the preferred candidate(s), so if Horton was in the running or well on the way to getting the nod, there is no way he was going to worry about Brandon, he wants to run a team, but doesn't need the stuff that's been going on at Cov. Yes it's a very sad day, but we won't be the first or last top side to go out of business, Lakeside or only in the bottom tier this year, due to not being able to get a contract for next season in time to enable them to get a top team, Leicester lost their Blackbird road ground many years ago, and eventually came back into existence, lets hope Coventry can do the same one day.

Sara
Speedway is dead in Coventry and I doubt it will ever be back. All those responsible should be thoroughly ashamed, but I expect they'll be too busy counting their fortune to be worried about that. As far as the stadium is concerned, looking into the not-too-distant future, I predict more unexplained vandalism, with maybe a couple of fires along the way. Demolition is seen as the safest option, allowing the house building to commence in earnest. The relationship between Sandhu and (the Jersey Based) Brandon Estates needs to be investigated.

 

[wingy]

I thought Brandon estates directors/owners were brummies?

 

[skybluetony176]

If Brandon is a no go is a track share with Leicester possible? Failing that weren't there plans for a new stadium, is that in the same realm as Fishers new stadium or something that is actually going to happen. Could they skip a season and come back in?

Not a fan of motorsports but it would be sad to see a Coventry team go.

I understood that a Leicester ground share was always on the cards at some point while a replacement for Brandon is being sorted. However, I was told a couple of weeks ago that Leicester is now also under threat from developers. A common theme unfortunately for short circuit motorsport sport at the moment. Other tracks currently under threat from developers include Birmingham wheels and Foxhall stadium in Ipswich. Not to mention Wimbledon.

 

[rob9872]

Such a shame. My bro has sponsored the Bees last couple of years and been something we did as a family for years. I've never been mad into motor sports but for my dad who has seen this and of course ccfc being destroyed it's heartbreaking.

 

[aloisiwouldhavescored]

We used to go to the Bees regularly, CCFC match in the afternoon, race home for a quick bite then off to Brandon at night. Then they changed
the race night and we couldn't always go, and now we don't go at all as seems to have happened to a lot of Coventry people.
Still a very great shame if Bees go out of existence as we remember our years of supporting them with great affection.

 

[Nick]

I've only been twice years ago, I can remember the small of fumes and a random batchbar type thing that sold drinks etc.

I don't think anybody fell off so not sure I paid too much attention.

 

[chiefdave]

Is the problem that its not high profile enough to stop owners pulling this kind of thing? Even at L1 / L2 level if owners started smashing grounds up and things like that it would be big news but this all seems to happen without most people even knowing.

 

[Nick]

According to this:

Sky Sports SPEEDWAY viewing figures 2015 (to date)

On Sky they sometimes get a fair few watching. (74,000 is still not to be sniffed at).

 

[lifeskyblue]

Followed the bees everywhere back in the 70s and early 80s before moving to Leicester. Then only came back for the city and only saw the bees a couple of times a year. Very sad to see their demise...I'm sure back in the 70s speedway was the second most popular spectator sport in the U.K... whatever went wrong?


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[SkyBlueScottie]

As ever when something is popular and there is money to be made things often go downhill. At that time the UK was the place to be when it came to Speedway, however other nations ( mainly Poland / Sweden) in terms of League speedway have caught us up and surpassed us in terms of organisation, professionalism and most importantly for riders, pay levels. Where as the only thing that's gone up in the UK is the admission cost.

 

[no_loyalty]

Very sad if they fold, I was a regular at Brandon in their treble winning season when Scotty Nichols was the captain and we had the likes of Bomber Harris, Rory Schlein and Billy Janeiro. We were pretty much the Man City of speedway

 

[trevelfarandwide]

Last time I went to Brandon was '91 I think, I started going aged 8 in '87. Some great memories of Speedway (including Mad Roman's outbursts), and I still follow the Bees progress most of the time.

Well, like anything, we're going to be seeing a lot of sorting clubs folding and going under...it's ridiculous and saddening.

 

[Otis]

I went once many, many years ago. I could only last 20 mins before I got incredibly bored.

Just not for me at all.

 

[Captain Dart]

I used to go regularly when I was a teenager till I was about 16. That was in the early 70's with Boocock, Owen, Mountford.

Because the next door neighbour was keen I even went to a number of away meetings, she would take her 2 sons, me & my brother, I vaguely remember going to Leicester, Oxford, Cradely Heath & Bell Vue.

It is sad if it dies.

 

[Gazolba]

I stopped being interested when Rick France quit the Bees. 1972 or 73 I think.

 

[henry the wasp]

Not op related, but did anyone ever see Kenny Carter ride?

 

[wingy]

Not wishing to piss on anyone's chips or be inflammatory here, but is it not the simple truth that it has become a marginal sport in terms of following in this country?
The world spins and peoples choices /tastes change.
It takes a lot of hardware in comparison to say a Darts /Snooker tournament that survive on lowish numbers.
Do the number of fans exist to support that hardware /rider investment?

 

[skybluetony176]

Not wishing to piss on anyone's chips or be inflammatory here, but is it not the simple truth that it has become a marginal sport in terms of following in this country?
The world spins and peoples choices /tastes change.
It takes a lot of hardware in comparison to say a Darts /Snooker tournament that survive on lowish numbers.
Do the number of fans exist to support that hardware /rider investment?

It's not just speedway though wingy. F1 stock car's are a big draw at Brandon as is banger racing and other formulas in four wheeled short circuit racing. The site with everything combined does work. Sadly it has a bigger monetary value as real estate. The decline in TV ratings for speedway doesn't really come come into the decision making here.

 

[chiefdave]

Do the number of fans exist to support that hardware /rider investment?

Thats a dangerous road to go down with sport isn't it? A lot of sports have dips in popularity, doesn't mean their professional leagues should pack up.

If we're only going to keep football clubs going that have a fan base to cover their costs there's not going to be many left!

 

[wingy]

Thats a dangerous road to go down with sport isn't it? A lot of sports have dips in popularity, doesn't mean their professional leagues should pack up.

If we're only going to keep football clubs going that have a fan base to cover their costs there's not going to be many left!

Absolutely, I was thinking and have posted before there is a risk in this league and the one below of becoming part time/semi professional in the future.

 

[Captain Dart]

 

[Captain Dart]

Corpse still warm..

 

[chiefdave]

I guess there must be a realistic hope of something being sorted or they wouldn't be starting the season.

Weren't they supposed to be moving from Brandon in the next couple of years anyway? Do they have a site for a new track, could that be done quicker than planned?