Diamonds are in limbo as owner closes down team
NEWCASTLE Diamonds’ future is again in limbo after the club’s owner pulled the plug on the season after just nine league races.
Club supremo and co-promoter Rob Grant said the situation facing the 93-year-old Brough Park team was ‘critical’ and hopes new investors will step forward to take the club over.
The news comes just nine months after the Diamonds were on the brink of folding as financial problems took their toll on the club.
Ex-Newcastle racer Grant then performed a U-turn and decided to keep the club going as a tribute to his friend and former copromoter Dave Tattum, who died suddenly just hours before what was thought to be the team’s final race last September.
Yesterday, however, the struggling team announced the shock news in a statement just hours before they were set to compete in an SGB Championship fixture at Plymouth Gladiators.
Newcastle were rock bottom of the league standings with one win from their first nine meetings and had made a number of changes to their squad in recent weeks, including signing one rider just last week.
Grant, who was a third-generation rider, said in a statement: “I have had no option but to close the Diamonds down now.
“I have to point out this is my decision only, as my fellow co-promoters and anyone else who had a keen interest in keeping Newcastle Speedway going, wanted to help things run until the end of the season.
“There really is no other option and in the longer term it is for the good of Newcastle Speedway.
“The situation has taken a massive toll on the finances of the club, a massive hit on my own mental health
The situation was critical, and it had to be shut down now before it became too late e Rob Grant
and also a substantial toll on my other businesses and I cannot allow this to take me down.”
He added: “The situation was critical and it had to be shut down now before it became too late for prospective new people to look at taking the club into 2023.
“Had we continued like we were I’d have ended up running Newcastle Speedway so deep into the ground it would have been impossible to bring back to life or clear its financial commitments successfully, all of which will be in due course.
“Now at least there is an option for someone to get in touch and see if new blood can fully take over the club for the future.
“Closing now, before that terminal point in time, means the company will continue until we have all the finances in order.”
The club have suffered a number of heavy defeats on the track, including losing their last two home races by 34 points each.
Those results were the joint-heaviest margin of defeat at Brough Park in the club’s history.
Grant believes the club’s lack of ability to compete on the track has exacerbated things behind the sences.
Newcastle signed Kyle Bickley on Friday as a replacement for Jack Smith, who had only joined the club a fortnight earlier.
Grant added: “Crowds have naturally dwindled to an unworkable level and with results like our matches at home against Redcar and Leicester trying to encourage folk back into the stadium was never going to work - but again that’s all down to me making poor decisions.
“The team needed changes but the fact was clear, as many other promoters will tell you, there simply are no top guys available to come in at the moment and that crippled our efforts to bring in top-end new blood despite massive efforts to do so.”
Grant also said he will provide further details of how fans with season tickets will be refunded in a future statement and confirmed those with tickets for this weekend’s home fixture with Poole Pirates would receive refunds imminently.
He said: “I want to apologise to our fans for how things have ended up.
“I want to thank my staff and sponsors for striving on through a dark season and wish the club and everyone connected with it the very best moving forward.
“The club has run out of steam, the finances, run out of steam and I am running on fumes. It is a sad day but a day which had to happenw.
“If anyone wants to talk about taking the club forward, contact info@newcastle-speedway.co.uk so we can start talks.”