Ipswich are tops in the Ben Fund table
Latest News Monday 28th November 2022, 4:39pm
TOP of the standings again...that's Ipswich fans as they complete a winning double.
Following on from their late season Premiership Pairs victory, this time it is for raising the largest amount in the annual Speedway Riders' Benevolent Fund track collections.
Generous supporters at Foxhall Heath dug deep again despite the recession and raised a magnificent £2,772, more than £750 more than their nearest challengers Berwick.
The Bandits were the only other club in the county to break through the £2,000 mark (their collection was actually £2,025) and that is totally exceptional considering the population of the Borders' town is only 13,508, the smallest town staging league racing in either of the two top leagues.
And their annual record is remarkable as they have always been in the top three every year since 2010, including four seasons (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014) when they forwarded the largest total of any track.
SRBF chairman Paul Ackroyd said: "The amount that the Bandits raise every year is amazing considering the fact that there are probably only 25,000 people living within 25 miles of the track, there aren't any large towns at all and all there is to the east is the North Sea!
"On behalf of the Ben Fund, I'd like to thank Dick Barrie who arranges the collection every year. I am sure one of the reasons is also the way the riders are driven in the parade truck to the second bend, the furthest point from the pits, and then split into two groups, one group walking back via the first bend and the main stand and the other group walking in the opposite direction on their way back to the pits."
Dick Barrie added: "This year's collection was in July when Glasgow were the visitors in the Jubilee Trophy. I try not to go to the same well every year, I've tried to juggle visiting clubs, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Workington, to avoid always asking the same visiting fans to contribute.
"I also make sure we have proper buckets on hand for the riders, this year I went to B&Q to get a dozen at 80 pence each, and I try to have the collection mentioned at the visitors' tracks the week before as well as plugging it at our own meetings running up to the chosen date.
"We also try to take it up on a warm midsummer evening rather than rushing to honour the obligation on a damp, cold night in October!
"Berwick people maybe also have the sad memories of losing guys like Ricky Ashworth, Adrian Rymel and Carlos Villa to life-changing injuries, who were helped by the Ben Fund."
The track-by-track total this year came to £23,857, a more than welcome contribution to the £50,000 or so that the Ben Fund has already paid out so far this year.
The SRBF is likely to nearly double that figure in the last two months of the year and have budgeted to hand out in the region of £95,000 before the end of December.
Here's a rundown of each collection and a heartfelt thank you to every single fan who contributed: Ipswich £2,772, Berwick £2,025, Belle Vue £1,928, Edinburgh £1,811, Poole £1,550, Glasgow £1,420, Scunthorpe £1,191, Leicester £1,190, Redcar £1,148, Sheffield £1,000, Oxford £983, Kent £688, King's Lynn £675, Plymouth £655, Wolverhampton £617, Mildenhall £580, Peterborough £578 and Birmingham £420.
The four shared events - Championship Pairs (Oxford) £1,083, Championship Riders' Final (Poole) £654, British Final (Belle Vue) £474 and National Development League Pairs Final (Leicester) £406 – also chipped in with a total of £2,617.
Past winners of the trophy have been: 2010 Berwick, 2011 Berwick, 2012 Berwick, 2013 Lakeside, 2014 Berwick, 2015 Swindon, 2016 Swindon, 2017 Swindon, 2018 Swindon, 2019 Ipswich, 2021 Belle Vue.
There were no collections in 2020 because of the suspension of the regular season due to the Covid pandemic.
Ipswich promoter Chris Louis was presented with the Ben Fund Fans' Trophy at the annual World Speedway Riders' Association Awards Night at Leicester.
Paul added: "We are pleased with the amount that has been collected this season, especially considering the economic climate. It is marginally down on last year, around £1,000 below 2021 which is terrific when you consider most of the collections were held towards the end of the season when the recession was beginning to bite.
"We have also lost quite a few tracks over the last few years, including Swindon who had won the trophy four years in a row. I think we could well have surpassed last year's figure had the weather been kind, both Leicester and Wolverhampton for example, had to re-schedule their collections twice after meetings had either been called off or affected by the weather which hit attendances.
"Fans have always been so generous and I'd like to personally congratulate Ipswich for their marvellous achievement and raising close to £3,000."
