A lack of spectators has led to a decision to place Newcastle Diamonds speedway team into liquidation.
The club, which has been running since 1929, faced financial difficulties which threatened its closure in 2021 and owner and promoter Rob Grant said he had taken the action to avoid further losses. Season ticket holders are expected to be contacted in relation to the news, and those owed money by the club are being encouraged to contact insolvency specialists Northpoint with claims against the company.
The move is a serious blow to the sport in the North East and Mr Grant has appealed to potential buyers that may want to rescue the club, which still had 11 Championship league matches outstanding. Updates from Newcastle Speedway indicate there had been interested parties without any progress.
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In an earlier Facebook post announcing the club's closure, Mr Grant said: "I've 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, but 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 and also a substantial toll on my other businesses and I cannot allow this to take me down. Crowds have, naturally, dwindled to an unworkable level, and with results like our matches at home against Redcar and Leicester, and 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, yes, 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.
"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 that it would have been impossible to bring back to life or clear its financial commitments successfully, all of which will be in due course, but 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 get all the finances in order. A future release will detail how we will compensate and part-refund our season ticket holders, so they won't be paying for matches they won't be seeing. The tickets sold online for the Poole match scheduled for this weekend have already been set for refunding and people who bought them will receive their money back in full over the next few days.
"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. Sadly, the club has run out of steam, the finances have run out of steam and I'm running on fumes. It's a sad day, but it's a day which had to happen now."
Greg Whitehead of Northpoint said: "I have been asked by the director of the company to assist with putting the company (Newcastle Diamonds Limited) into liquidation and wind up its affairs. The company ran the Newcastle Diamonds team from the Newcastle Greyhound Stadium, taking part in the Championship League. The speedway team will not take part in any more events.
"The main reasons put forward for the situation are reducing crowds leading to losses and the need to cease activities to avoid further losses. British Speedway has been advised of the situation."
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