Coventry Bees Speedway - Brandon Stadium

Agree with you 110%, Mr D

I was all set to visit Coventry next week with the intention of going 'up the Bees' next Monday. However, having watched the debacle on Sky tonight I really don't see the point of a 500 mile round trip and about £100 to watch similar rubbish to that served up tonight. I never thought I would have to write the above statement Mr D-Di knows how much I love Coventry Bees as we used to go to home and away meetings regularly in the 1970's.

Further to my previous post, the biggest mistake I consider the Coventry Speedway management to have made is the 'sacking' of Alun Rossiter before the start of last season. He now manages Swindon Robins (2012 Elite League Champions and currently lying 2nd this season) who contain no less the FIVE ex-Coventry riders. Rossiter is a man that riders respect and he has great influence in persuading riders to sign for his club. He proved that in his brief spell at Coventry. So what do the Bees do? Show him the door. Brilliant! I understand running a speedway team has to be a commercial success, but it's a vicious circle, if a team loses regularly, especially at home, fans will vote with their feet and stay away. Coventry has a tremendous fan base, that was proved in the 2010 play-offs against Poole, but something needs to be done quickly before this great club sinks into oblivion. We need riders who are proud to wear the famous 'fighting bee' race jacket.

I couldn't agree more, Beesman. Whilst watching last night's debacle I actually said to MrsD-Di that this would never have happened under Rossiter. This was while they were interviewing the hapless current manager, Gary Havelock, who hadn't got a clue how to improve anything. What I find especially frustrating is many former riders, at places like Birmingham as well as Swindon, are said to be 'Bees assets'. I know we are constrained by averages, but those currently in the team have no spirit or desire, and sadly they seem to have no leadership either. So why have they not invoked some control over their assets and used the best they can instead of allowing them to go elsewhere and inflict defeats on their parent team? There is a feeling at present that the club is being run into the ground.

Part of the problem seems to MONEY! Charles Ochiltree built up Coventry Speedway and Brandon (Coventry) Stadium to be amongst the top echelons of British speedway Albeit, this was partly financed by the decision to sell Blackbird Road (Leicester Stadium) to the developers, but also he gained income from a flourishing monthly stock-car meeting, often culminating in the World Championship Final After his death and the subsequent departure of Martin Ochiltree, the stadium and the businesses were sold to Avtar Sandhu (and his associates), who, having realised that they could not sell the site for development (as they originally intended) took over the running of the speedway, stock-cars and greyhounds They were not short of a few bob, and thus Alun Rossiter was able to bring in expensive signings such as Emil Sayfutdinov and the Pawlicki brothers to strengthen the side Sadly, Sandhu fell out with the BSPA (and who could blame him) over the apparent twisting of the rules or disregard for the rulebook over a period of time, and decided he'd had enough of speedway, and leased, then sold, the "speedway club" to Mick Horton, who apparently doesn't have the financial clout of his predecessors - he doesn't gain any income from stocks and bangers, for example So, the speedway appears to being run on the cheap - it was reported than Andreas Jonsson wished to return to British Speedway and contacted Mr Horton, but could not be afforded The "asset base" which you mention still exists, although Horton has seen fit to sell some riders on in order to finance the running of the club One cannot help but get the impression that some riders don't want to ride for him - I don't believe that Chris Harris would have left the club had another owner been in place (admittedly he was well financed by Sandhu when he first came to Brandon) Sadly, there probably isn't a queue of reasonably wealthy men willing to risk their finances to buy Coventry Speedway - there wasn't when Sandhu sold the club to Horton - so the future does look bleak The sport as a whole is not is a good state, so it is unlikely that things are going to improve in the short term, which is so worrying It maybe that, at the end of 2013, when the Sky Sports contract comes to an end, there will be some kind of reorganisation of the sport in this country, along the lines of the 1965 formation of one British League But that could only really happen by somehow reducing riders' costs, promoters' costs and admission prices, in order to entice spectators back to what is a fabulous sport, and installing an independent body to govern the promotions Stability in team line-ups, and more encouragement for British riders, needs to be addressed, and it may be that we lose the expensive "super-stars" so that the rider strengths become more level (yes, a lowering of standards, maybe, but four riders of more equal ability, turning left, is more desirable than watching a "GP rider" rocket away into the distance from the other three) For the sake of the sport, and Coventry Speedway in particular, I hope this isn't a pipe-dream PS Notice I didn't put any of the blame on Ole Olsen and the GP series he created - I would probably be banned from this forum if I said what I really feel about that man PPS Stock Car Racing is promoted at Coventry Stadium by Jeremy Heaver, and Greyhound Racing by Harry Findlay

Good post Midland Red. I cannot disagree with any of your points, however disagreeable they may be!! Stability in team line-ups is vital. Young supporters love to have a hero to worship, these days he's unlikely to remain at a club for more than one season. Riders of more equal ability would certainly make for a better standard of racing. Let's face it, would anyone notice, or care, if a race was say, two seconds slower?? Racing is faster these days than in the 1960's when I started going, but I certainly wouldn't say that speedway is more exciting today than it was then. I agree, let's hope these aren't all pipe-dreams.

Congratulations to former Bee Tony Gillias on becoming Mayor of Rugby LINK

From today's Coventry Telegraph Sky Blues agree deal to buy Brandon speedway site - but keep options open 25 Jul 2013 06:45 Club strikes provisional deal for Brandon while becoming preferred buyer for mystery site just outside Coventry Coventry City FC have secured a provisional deal to buy the Brandon speedway site to build a new stadium. The site has been sold to the Sky Blues subject to contract. The club has also become the preferred buyer for a second mystery site just outside the Coventry boundary - which could become their chosen stadium site. A formal announcement confirming the Sky Blues have entered exclusive negotiations on the unnamed site is expected tomorrow from Birmingham-based property consultants CBRE. More news is also anticipated next week of the controversial sale of the 26-acre Brandon Stadium site - home of the Coventry Bees and a venue for greyhound racing. Bees owner Mick Horton has stated he recently signed a four-year deal to use Brandon for speedway . Others claim there would be major problems with road infrastructure to support a football stadium around the site in Rugby Road, Brandon. Any potential sale of Brandon stadium by owner Avtar Sandhu might also be affected by a legal wrangle with HM Revenue and Customs. Andrew Moss, of Birmingham-based GVA property agents, refused to confirm the provisional sale agreed was with Coventry City. But he told the Telegraph: "A sale has now been agreed subject to legals with a single party. "The vendor has accepted a bid subject to contract, and the site is under offer to a party." He said a heads of terms agreement was being finalised, and the sale could be completed by the end of September. The club has also entered exclusive "due diligence" talks with the owner of the second site - as it wants to keep its options open. The Telegraph understands Sky Blues directors and owners Sisu/Otium intend to give fans a say in a consultation exercise about the new stadium. Many fans, and anti-Sisu Coventry MP Bob Ainsworth, have questioned whether the club have any genuine intention of building a new stadium , accusing them of playing hard-ball to obtain control of the part-council-owned Ricoh Arena. Those allegations are denied by the club. It comes a day after we revealed the club's owners Sisu/Otium had agreed to last-ditch talks with Arena Coventry Limited over staying at the Ricoh Arena , rather than playing 'home' matches at Northampton Town until the new stadium is built. While any potential agreement for a return to the Ricoh a long way off, CBRE is expected to release further details confirming movement of the unnamed site, and the appointment of a team of architects, highway consultants and planning consultants. However, any sale of the Brandon site could also face problems. HMRC said in November that the Brandon Stadium was a frozen asset and could not be sold following the conviction for money laundering by gambler Jatinder Singh Batth - also known as Micky Singh - who it claims owns half of the £1million venue. However, Avtar Sandhu insists he is the legal and rightful owner. Brandon's sellers expect the HMRC issues to be resolved during a two-month "due diligence" period. The club would hope to secure planning permission from the relevant district council in Warwickshire for the eventual site it would pick. The government could also have the final say if secretary of state Eric Pickles calls in the application, or calls a public inquiry. The second site remains a mystery, although many fans have speculated over the former Peugeot factory site at the A45 Ryton, which is close to the Sky Blues training ground. But Chris Hall, director of Trenport Investments, said yesterday there had been no approach by the club. Neither has there been any club approach for Ansty Park, said Steve Holland, of the Homes and Communities Agency - the former Advantage West Midlands site which has long been earmarked for up to 10,000 advanced manufacturing jobs.

If (and it's a big IF) they really are planning to buy it, I genuinely doubt that SISU have any intention of building a stadium on the site, more likely to be a few hundred houses! Look out Brandon!

I believe Sandhu has been turned down in the past for housing development as Rugby have other areas for such building which there are prioritising over the stadium site

I would say there's more chance of Hell freezing over than permission being granted for housing development on the Brandon Stadium site. As for Coventry City Football Club, everybody involved need their heads knocking together and resolving the situation so that the Sky Blues play at the Ricoh Arena. Leave Brandon alone for speedway.

Another angle from the Coventry Telegraph Coventry Bees insist speedway will remain at Brandon for at least a decade 25 Jul 2013 12:30 Speedway, greyhounds and stock cars 'will all continue to operate at the Brandon site until 2023' Coventry Bees has insisted speedway will continue at Brandon Stadium for at least another 10 years. The Bees responded to our exclusive today that Coventry City has secured a sale of the site subject to contract by issuing the following statement on its website. "Further to our previous announcement regarding the sale of the freehold for the Coventry Stadium site and continued press speculation we would like to make the following statement. "The freehold remains available for sale and, whilst we have had several parties show interest in securing the freehold for the site, only one has continued to show interest given the existing leases for speedway, greyhounds and stock cars. "The confidential nature of negotiations needs to be maintained. As such, we will not confirm or release the details of the potential buyer. "However, to stop further speculation from fans of the various sports which take place in the stadium these will all continue to operate at the Brandon site until 2023 and hopefully well beyond that date. "When we have further news regarding the land deal to release we will do so. Until then, we hope the above statement will reassure the public of our intentions to see the anchor tenants at the stadium continue for years to come."

As someone who is not really a football fan but disagrees with the present "Ricoh" argument I would agree with Tony. I don't think Sisu are in the slightest bit bothered about retaining The Sky Blues and houses would make much more money for them.

If it was possible to build houses on the Brandon stadium site don't you think Mr Sandhu would have done it already? Rugby Council (quite rightly) will not grant permission.

For anyone who is interested this was the press release from HMRC last November which includes the reference to Brandon Stadium. A professional gambler, who staked substantial sums of 'dirty' cash at casinos in Birmingham and London and at top horse racing meetings, has been ordered to repay criminal profits of nearly £2 million within six months or return to jail for ten years. Birmingham man, Jatinder Singh Batth, also known as Micky Singh, was jailed for 18 months in March 2009 for money laundering offences following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Singh was convicted after it was proved that he had laundered cash from organised crime gangs, including money from a £1.8m 'missing trader' VAT fraud (codenamed Op Elemi). Richard Meadows, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said: "Batth's activities ensured he was able to fund a luxurious lifestyle and further increase his wealth using funds derived from criminality. We will not stop in our pursuit to bring those involved in this type of criminal activity before the courts and reclaim their criminal profits for public funds." Assets belonging to Batth currently restrained and frozen by HMRC include: A 50 per cent share of the Coventry Stadium in Brandon, worth around £500,000 A flat in St John's Wood, London, worth over £1million A house in north London, worth over £120,000 Various bank accounts Background HMRC investigators uncovered the sophisticated money laundering plot during an investigation into a missing trader VAT fraud, Operation Elemi, which resulted in a total of eight men being jailed for nearly 34 years. Their trials showed the defendants received the proceeds of crime in the UK and had acted as couriers to launder hundreds of thousands of pounds by exploiting the gambling industry. During the trials the court heard that money would be placed on deposit at casinos and withdrawn a day or so later. Other sums would be gambled. Thousands of pounds would be passed over the tables in order to disguise the original source of the banknotes. Monies gambled or exchanged at the casino provided the defendants with an apparently legitimate explanation as to their source. In raids carried out across the West Midlands by HMRC investigation officers over £700,000 was seized. Around £200,000 was found in a residential property stashed in two holdalls. Additionally a further £150,000 was found stuffed in a Harrods carrier bag in a vehicle; Micky Singh claimed that this cash was his. All of the cash was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and has been reclaimed for the public purse. Some of the money was about or in the process of being laundered and some had just been laundered. Forensic testing of some of the bank notes seized showed they were highly contaminated with heroin and cannabis. The results indicated such large amounts of cash could only become so polluted if they had been in contact with items or people significantly contaminated with drugs shortly before their seizure. The cash was in fact drugs money. It has since been returned to the issuing banks, including the Bank of England and Bank of Scotland, for destruction due to the high level of drugs contamination. Notes to Editors 1. A photograph of the defendant is available on request or via HMRC's flickr channel www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk 2. Details of the defendant's confiscation order today, 3 August 2012, at Birmingham Crown Court and sentencing on Friday, 6 March 2009 at the same court include: Jatinder Singh Batth (also known as Micky Singh) (DOB 15.05.69) formerly of Billy Lane, Barnt Green, Birmingham, and currently of Flat 13, Templar Court, 43 St Johns Wood Road, London, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was charged and found guilty of Money Laundering offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 amounting to £150,000. Confiscation Order - £1,984,805 to be paid within six months return to jail for ten years. He would still owe the money. 3. Details of the defendants sentenced on Monday, 16 February 2009 at Birmingham Crown Court include: Zulfiqar Ali (DOB 10.09.53) of 9 Cockthorpe Close, Harbourne, Birmingham, was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Ali's role was as a cash courier and occasional gambler to aid and launder money. Confiscation Order - £260,610 to be paid within 12 months. Paid: £3,250 to date. Harbinder Singh Sandhu. (DOB 14.06.75) of 8 Jubilee Park, Woodville, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Sandhu's role was as a cash courier to aid the money laundering operation. They were charged and found guilty with Money Laundering offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. 4. Details of the defendants sentenced in June 2008 at Birmingham Crown Court and confiscation orders secured on 7 October 2010 at the same court include: £ Harvinder Singh Batth (DOB 6.11.75), of 67 Roman Lane, Little Aston, Staffordshire, was sentenced to a total of nine years in prison. Six years for conspiracy to Cheat and three years for Conspiracy to Launder Money to run consecutively. He was disqualified from being a company director for 15 years. Confiscation Order: £500,000 to be paid within six months or serve a further 3.5 years in prison. Assets restrained: a property at 67 Roman Lane, Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, and designer jewellery. Batth was a principal player in the VAT fraud and money laundering racket. He was the Chairman of a company, Anisha Brokers, which was used to divert the proceeds of the VAT fraud. Paid: £296,000 to date. Jasbinder Singh Bedesha (DOB 26.07.61) Al Seef Tower, Dubai Marina, Dubai, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Bedesha was granted a re-trial and was again sentenced to seven and a half years on 4 February 2011. He was a principal player in the VAT fraud and money laundering racket. He named a company of which he was President, after his daughter, Anisha Brokers and used it to divert the proceeds of the VAT fraud. Sukhjinder Singh Shergill (DOB 29.11.75) of 3 Snapdragon Drive, Walsall, was sentenced to a total of seven and a half years in prison. Four and half years for Conspiracy to Cheat and three years for Conspiracy to Launder Money to run consecutively. He was disqualified from being a company director for 15 years. Confiscation Order: £55,292 to be paid within six months or serve a further 18 months in prison. Assets restrained: Designer jewellery and Cartier watches, £9,000 in cash, a Vauxhall Corsa and a cherished number plate - S11 ERG Shergill was involved in the VAT fraud and acted as a 'banker' by administering the cash deposit scheme. Paid: £17,500 to date. Suckjit Singh Birring (DOB 12.04.72) of 15 Weeford Drive, Sutton Coldfield, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for Conspiracy to Launder Money. Confiscation Order: £200,000 to be paid within six months or return to prison for 2.5 years. Assets restrained: a property at 15 Weeford Dell, Sutton Coldfield, a BMW X5 Sports Automatic, a VW Golf GT TDI, and £20,000 in cash. Birring acted as a gambler and courier and for the money laundering activities. Paid: £49,900 to date. Jatinder Singh Salh (DOB 15.04.73) of 6 Harvestfields Lane, Sutton Coldfield, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for Conspiracy to Launder Money. Confiscation Order: £136,637 - £10,162 to be paid within two months and the remainder within six months or return to prison for 30 months. Assets restrained: a property at 6 Harvestfield Way, Sutton Coldfield and a property in Spain and £59,000 in cash. Salh acted as a gambler and courier and for the money laundering activities. Paid: £88,096 to date. 5. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk 6. Images are available on HMRC's flickr channel www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk