King's Lynn Stars' chief says it was time to step down from BSPA role
'It was time to step down,’ said King’s Lynn Stars chief Keith Chapman whose four-year term as British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA) chairman has come to an end.
During that spell the BSPA have found another television contract with Eurosport following the withdrawal of sponsor Sky Sports and Chapman bought a stake in Peterborough and Ipswich while keeping both East Anglian clubs in the top flight Premiership.
Lynn owner ‘Buster’ Chapman said: “It was time to step down. To be honest I stepped down because I wanted more family time and more time for ourselves. It’s quite time-consuming. We’re busy at work, and everything else.
“It’s quite demanding and I need to be putting more time into the stadium as well.
“And the problem is, when you’re chairman I think it is hard, because I didn’t want to be accused of putting King’s Lynn first, you know. You’ve always got to be thinking about what you’re doing; and the amount of stick you get from people, all that sort of stuff.
“At the end you think: I’ve done my stint and it’s time to move on.”
He agreed it was an honour to have served in the role, adding: “Of course, and hopefully I’ve made a difference, which is nice as well.
“When we took over, with losing the TV contract, we had to work hard to get one of those back, which we achieved – and a very good one.
“Also, we put in a lot of work to keep Belle Vue alive and then obviously Leicester alive and put in good hands, and Peterborough and pushing for the job of the England team to be separate from us.
“And then to get the new TV contract was brilliant. It’s going to be a massive platform for us to be in, yes.
“We’ve not had a bad stint and obviously the sport is in a better place than what it was, which was good. I came out feeling okay.”
It will free Chapman up to devote more time to projects at the Adrian Flux Arena, as he commented: “There’s a massive improvement we’re hopefully going to start on this year which I won’t say at this moment until we’ve got it all finalised.”
Perhaps on face value the news at the sport’s AGM that perennial title contenders Poole moving down to the Championship was a shock, but Pirates boss Matt Ford has hinted about this on the record for a while.
Chapman added on Poole’s move: “It’s a Wednesday race-day there and us being on a Monday and Thursday was affecting his crowds. But we’ve got a very good side in Sheffield – that’s great for us in Sheffield coming up and a real bonus to see them back in the top flight.”
