BIRMINGHAM Brummies chief executive Nigel Tolley fears this may be the team’s last season.
The Perry Barr-based speedway squad are set to begin their season at home to Leicester next Monday (March 24) in the Premiership KO Cup quarter-final first leg.
But Tolley says it has been touch and go all through the winter months as to whether the Brummies would make it this far.
At the end of last season, an appeal went out for backing with the club’s future in doubt.
But then it was announced that a team was being assembled for this year.
However, Tolley says that the club’s financial situation is still fragile and that, if this is their last season, he wants them to ‘go out with a bang’.
The situation is complicated by the lease on greyhound racing at Perry Barr running out next year.
And the racing track operator plans to move to new premises at Monmore Green in Wolverhampton.
That would leave the Brummies having to maintain the track on a permanent basis if they carry on.
But there are already plans to turn the site into a new development of 400 homes.
For now though, Tolley is doing his best to keep speedway alive in the West Midlands.
He told M6 Sport: “It’s been bleak all the way through the winter.
“Only last week, I had to put in £15,000 last week, it’s always a problem.
“But Speedway’s in my blood. If it were just being done with business sense, we’d have finished a long time ago.
“If you look at it, my accountant came up to me before the start of last season and said, ‘Do you realise, Nigel, you’ve put a third of a million in over the last three years?’
“And that was before last season. We couldn’t carry on doing that, but it’s very difficult to drop it.
“There’s a very, very good chance this will be our last season with the stadium and all the rest of it.
“So we’re determined to see a team that’s capable of going places and go out with a bang. And I think we’ve, we’ve got that.
“I’m absolutely sure this is the best team that Birmingham has had for decades, and the enthusiasm of all the riders is absolutely amazing.”
But Tolley hopes that speedway fans can unite behind the team – as well as newcomers to the sport.
“I’m sure we can go places, but we need to see more people coming in through the gates. We want to pack the stadium.
“Last year, I don’t think we put on exciting displays for much of the time.
“I know some of the meetings, I wouldn’t have watched
“But this season, I’m sure everybody’s going to be leaving this stadium tingling with excitement.”
Tolley says this year’s squad features a mix of experience and youth.
He added: “As long as everything bonds and we can avoid the dreaded injuries, I’m quietly confident,
“But you’ve got to remember that the greyhound racing is moving out, and if we take the stadium on, we shall have it for seven days a week.
“Right now, coming out with a viable plan for that is very, very difficult – so we’ll see how things go. If we’re not here, we will always be looking for alternative accommodation.
“It’s going to be diffcult.”
