This in from Bryn, in his own words, Ed
After a winter of immense effort, both on and off the Island, the new management team behind the potential return of speedway to the Isle of Wight’s Smallbrook Stadium are extremely confident about the prospects of submitting an application for the resumption of National League racing in 2016.
Credible business plan
Barry Bishop, who rode for the Wight Wizards in their first season of speedway in 1996, stated that good progress has been made after a credible business plan was presented to Brian Ginders, Chairman of Island Speedway (IOW) Ltd, who in turn has given his full backing to the new venture.
Ginders said,
“I have looked at the business plan submitted by Barry and Martin and it is very realistic.
“Why the Supporters Group could not run before was because there was no real business plan in place but having seen the new business plan put forward by Barry and Martin I must say it looks very realistic with new ideas and that’s why I have given it my full support and backing.
“I urge all Island supporters to forget the past and come to the forthcoming meeting to listen to what is being proposed and look forward to the future.”
New perspective
Barry Bishop, along with business partner Martin Widman, have been working on this project for some time and will bring a new perspective to running speedway on the Island.
Already this new venture, which will run independently of Island Speedway (IOW) Ltd, has attracted interest from potential partners and sponsors who have viewed the new business model with interest and have already shown a desire to be part of the new look team at Smallbrook.
Both Barry and Martin live up in the Midlands but have travelled to the Isle of Wight on a regular basis linking up with Island speedway supporters, which included former Promoter and Team Manager Kevin Shepherd, to progress their case and assess local ideas.
Invitation to get involved
Both Barry and Martin realise however, that without local management support, it will be more challenging to run the speedway remotely so they are now seeking applications from Islanders for a variety of roles to help with the day to day running a successful speedway team.
Barry said,
“For me, putting aside my love of the Island, I believe from a business perspective speedway has the potential to return to the elevated position it had on the Island in previous years.
“The business model that Martin and I have put in place is centered round the team returning to be an integral part of the Island community by working with local companies, youth organisations and community groups.
“We have clear business objectives and possibly the most exciting of these being a stated aim of developing local riders to represent the Isle of Wight speedway team at league level.
“Martin and I would also like to put on public record our thanks to those members of the ISSG and Island Speedway (IOW) Chairman Brian Ginders who have all invested considerable time to get us to our current position.”
Presentation to fans
Our next step in bringing back speedway to Smallbrook will be a meeting for the new management team to present to fans the new look model, our objectives and confirmed sponsors followed by a Q and A session. The date for this will be released soon.
Love speedway? Get in touch
The new management team has an email address and welcome emails from individuals that would like to request more information with a view to applying for specific roles with the new team, and companies that may wish to support or sponsor the new era.
Martin and Barry can be contacted by emailing them at: [email protected]
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Ian Groves
