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Perhaps Rob Godfrey dictated that a Worky thread could not be started on a Friday......

I agree..GO OUT AND BUY A NEWS AND STAR NOW.....fantastic coverage !!!! NOT TO BE MISSED ! DO IT !

Just wish the tie was at Arena as it would make for a much more competitive pair of meetings overall.

Good result to set up a great 2nd leg Worky have overcome significantly bigger deficits but I think Lakeside may be a tougher nut to crack Can see it going down to the last heat or two with Worky just nicking it

Hey come on WorkyWorky none of the supposed southern softies have complained about any inhospitable elements.

Some teams in both leagues may not continue next season so wouldn't it be better to join the rest into just the one league and create the variety you desire.

The bike he had there on Monday was a dummy bike that was knitted out with his bike covers. His season has finished and while money isn't everything why should he ride in a meeting for a few hundred quid when he was there to meet the fans after making history as the first three time World Champion from Britain. Riding was was never in consideration and let's face it, it's not exactly a line up to test him or even riders like Fricke, Lambert, Iversen and Doyle who have full bike set ups here but it's not questioned why they were not riding. Yes merchandise sales were part of it but to knock him for turning up and putting a smile on many faces that night is surprising anyone would even question it. At least he did his bit by doubling the gate and never had a holiday booked

You have just confirmed from saying this what an absolute idiot you are

I agree. I'm worried that coming back from so many big deficits will lead to some complacency and this Lakeside team will be up for it and they have a strong top end. We need a 4-2 five times just to draw level and I'm sure they will get some heat advantages. A bad night for a rider (we've had some of them), a tape break, a bike failure, a bad ref decision and things can change quickly. Far far from over in my opinion.

Yes Tero tomorrow in place of Dan Bewley, R/R for Ty

the thread for the return leg has been locked so we cant post on there we will need to start a fresh 1 personlay I think the return leg is far from safe Lawson and morris if on form could easily go unbeaten but the home form recently most will be expecting another easy victory for Workington we can only hope so at this stage

I can see Workington scoring between 55 and 58 points tomorrow night. Lakeside simply don't have a big enough lead. Workington deserve a long-awaited league title. I hope they do it.

Was a shame not to see you there SteelShoe you missed out on doing a rain dance! The meeting could have swung either way in those last two heats, but common sense prevailed, safety comes first. Both teams of riders in agreement on that without doubt. Sad to see a playoff final have such an empty feeling there tonight, not much atmosphere and a poor crowd... not helped by poor viewing and a poor racing track. Bring on tomorrow back at the holy grail full of noise and excitement, can we pull it back? Soon find out!!! Give us a C..

Thank god we got an end to that... my feet and hands are near frozen off

Thankfully we got a result tonight. I don't think i could handle another visit to the house of fun next week.

How would that work - there would be no posts

I pop in from time to time, just to check for anything interesting on Panthers-related threads. I very rarely look at other threads, and post on them even less. I spotted this "Panthers 2019" heading and - silly me! - thought it'd be worth a shufty. But what do I find? Same old inane dross, very little that's actually to do with Panthers, and juvenile posts by people like Jenga and THJ. One thinks his posts are highly amusing and entertaining (they're not) and whenever he's taken to task he hides behind the "it's just banter" excuse. The other comes across as an argumentative **** who mistakenly thinks he's a master of the put-down. No doubt he basks in a self-satisfied glow at his posts, thinking them to be very erudite. Oh dear, if only he knew how unintelligent and inarticulate he sounds At the mo, the only thing anybody can say about Panthers 2019 is that Ged has given us an assurance that Panthers will run next season whether he finds a suitable buyer or not. After the umpteen winters we've had worrying, let's just rejoice in that. The pick-a-team game can wait until after the AGM. In the meantime, I wish the annoying numpties would stay the f*ck out of Panthers' threads - but I guess there's as much chance of that happening as the SCB/BSPA running speedway properly!

Ive put a call in to my mate the big chief for you

Come on rain do your best, Lakeside starting to get a good lead, any comets fans at rye house please do a rain dance

Great News and Star on sale today, front back, page 5 and 59 too.

Would be a very good signing whatever level the league is at.

As you'll appreciate from the first line I didn't realise that I was dealing with Exidor and that THJ was a pseudonym, although it does now make my evaluation correct. Here's one of his classic quotes which shows why knowing when to take your ball home is an acquired skill: Exidor: I realized that my faith had been misplaced and I began my quest for truth. I tried Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, Punch-and-Judy-ism, but nothing worked for me until I found speedway! Oh, and as I just scanned this page for THJ posts: " And a bet ya did read it all... you little tinker... that post... you read it all... at least that's what everyone is thinking anyway." - wrong as usual. Looking at your replies on here or anywhere come to that I don't want to see anymore of your dross and vitriol so I'll stick you in the moron section (ignore list as it's know on the system). Feel free to say shazbot and reply this time Johnboy because you're history

Sad to read all this. However, Mildenhall all but did the same thing last season to Plymouth. They wanted our fixture cancelled as it was 'meaningless' They sent a heavily under strength team to the SBA. No Promoter, no Team manager,(although they did enlist the Weymouth SDL sides management) Unsuitable guests galore. Plymouth riders had a good pay day, 64-26 win,while the Mildenhall contracted riders, Ruddick and Jenkins, conveniently lowered their averages. Therefore costing Plymouth, while the Tigers benefited. Clubs struggle to find sponsors. Part of the deal is,I am sure, we have 'x' amount of minimal exposure for League fixtures. How can you go back to those same sponsors and say 'we have 'x' number of meetings, thats providing the other teams bother to come down'? This is a serious matter. Sorry, but it really is not good enough.

I feel the same and would rather see a slightly lower level of riders but with many more teams that only race once a season home and away rather than the same team and guests week in week out, and racing every one or two weeks without long gaps.

Top post mate, as someone else has said this should be printed off, and given out at the agm, but far to much common sense here for the BSPA to take notice.. enjoy your Pint .

And at least one team, and often more, will end up miles behind the top teams... In March they all are supposed to start 'relatively' equal... Also in March, most contributors on here can spot how poor some of the teams actually are.. By the end of April those teams highlighted are invariably getting hammered each week.. And will continue to do do so unless they have money to replace poor performers with better riders.. And if they had that money, they wouldn't have put that team together in the first place.. Too many teams (or not enough riders) to ever keep the Leagues competitive and with no relegation each team basically decides it's own level, sometimes based on the ego of the Promoter... For me, the top league should have no more than 10 teams with six riders per team.. 60 riders needed and all above a four point average.. No make weights allowed at the bottom end of the teams.. 40 point average per team, meaning you could have one 4/5/6/7/8/9 point plus rider per team if you so wished.. With the top league becoming an aspirational motivator for the other clubs to aspire to. Not "I've got a few quid, I want to race in the Premiership".. No point having the 'flagship league' loaded with uncompetitive teams as this would just be damaging the 'Speedway GB' brand even further...

Thanks for the offer but not needed. My blood line is all Cumbrian, unfortunately, my bloody selfish parwents (The Young Ones or Harry Enfield) work options went south therefore hatched far away. Always enjoy a Cumbrian Shank.

Defo wasn't meant to be for the Scorpions, didn't think 18 was enough but defo didn't expect to be demolished like we was. Congrats to the Comets, I personally hope you do the treble

Been a few seasons since I’ve been to Rye House , so let’s hope the showers are kind and fly over , long way to come for no Speedway ! We are used to jumpers up in arctic Cumbria I would imagine it will feel quite tropical . Our boys need to keep it close if they can ,be chuffed with 10/12 . My nerves are shattered having to pull back 18/28 points Stay safe guys we will be there cheering you on

Yes I would certainly support a championship level team. I get fed up with seeing the same teams week after week. I supported the lions home & away in the second division, but haven't bothered since they went up a league. I find it really hard to get enthusiastic about home meetings these days when it's Poole, Kings Lynn, Swindon etc etc every other bloody week ( that's when we aren't on a three week break from racing).

I really think you need the complete and full story first. As far as I know, you dont really need much of an excuse to miss a meeting as a rider in the NL. After all, it is only semi-proffessional. On the face of it, it does not look great but you need to see full explanation before throwing the barn door at them.

The lad comes across as being on something and its not the first time its been noticed their is passion but hitting walls kicking out at the toilet and swearing at kids is not passion didnt see anyone else do it!mr godfrey got a mouthfull as well just lifted his arms in despair and walked away .and for what its worth i thought rasmas got second place

And there was me thinking people in psychotherapy hospitals never had access to the internet ...

Have you thought of becoming a Jehovah's witness as you are wearing us all down with your constant drivel and enough elongated post's to write your own bible.

I think you have misunderstood what people are saying. Nobody is saying Darcy's injury didn't affect Chris Holder. What people are saying is that the ability to overcome an obstacle such as that is part of determining how great a rider is - such as Peter Collins overcoming his own fears that he had in the immediate aftermath of Tommy Jansson's accident.

Jeez! Couldn't be bothered to read it but the first line set the usual diplomatic tone, and as you're clearly as mad as a box of frogs I'll bid you good day so don't bother replying although I'm sure that you'll not be able to resist.

I like going to the pub and I like going to the speedway. Both of these pastimes have been in serious decline over the past few years and people have stopped going to both in droves. Some of the reasons can be found in both of these pastimes. It's hard to tempt people out of their houses and pay money for beer when they think it's overpriced and the same can apply to speedway. The pubs that just do the same thing that clearly doesn't work time and time again, and just throw their doors open expecting the public to flood in are the one's that die. This is what speedway 'promoters', by and large, tend to do. They offer a product which does not represent value for money and do nothing to keep the fans they have got, never mind attract new ones. Some pubs are thriving because they offer what the customer in their community wants. Some offer live entertainment, some offer food, some offer karaoke nights. My local offers a warm welcome, a nice pint and friendly people and it's busy most nights. The landlord drives around in a Mercedes and has a holiday home in Florida. It works where I live but wouldn't work elsewhere and the promoters have to work hard at getting their product right for the audience they want to keep and attract. To do this they need a product. The product they are offering is potentially one of the most exciting sports in the world and surely, this must be a good starting point. However, what they provide is an overpriced chaotic shambles of a sport with no direction, no identity and no credibility. They need to get back to basics. Offer a full and attractive fixture list with a team of riders that ride for one club. Not the current situation where any seven riders who pull on a race jacket is called a team. It isn't. People will moan on about the 'not enough riders to go round' myth. There are enough riders, they are just riding at the wrong level. Grand Prix riders should not be riding in the second tier, half the third tier riders should be at Championship level and the poor kids stuck in the Development League should be in the National League. If they must charge £17 to get in, at least give the fans £17 worth of entertainment. Unfortunately, 15 races of 55 seconds interspersed with 50 minutes of track grading does not justify parting with £17 in cash. The continual fixture list farce demonstrates absolutely the reasons why the promoters should not be allowed to run things for themselves. I am sure they are all successful businessmen and women in their own right but they have no idea how to work collectively for the benefit of the sport. It is all about vested interests and stabbing each other in the back. I cannot think of any other sport where the owners of the clubs run things themselves. It needs someone with authority and respect to run the sport. There needs to be some way of cutting down on the rained off meetings. Is it any wonder there is hardly any travelling support when riders refuse to turn out if someone spills so much as a cup of tea on the track. I know that if it's tipping it down at start time then there will be little chance of racing but some way of covering tracks cannot beyond the capabilities of the human race. It is also about time we stopped penalising success and rewarding failure. We go on about the lack of riders yet Joe Jacobs, who made massive progress with Belle Vue a couple of seasons ago can't get a team place the following year because his average is too high, whilst another rider who under achieved and threw tantrums was rewarded with two team places the following season because his average fitted!! Finally, the riders have got to come to their senses. If you want to be a full-time rider and are either rich or riding in Poland in front of 15,000 fans, then fair enough and good luck to you. If you are second string in the 'Championship' riding in front of 500 people, surely you cannot expect to be full-time. Look back at the Peter Oakes' Who's Who book in 1974 and the vast majority of the riders had jobs. Now, for some reason, all the riders seem to feel that they are entitled to be full-time, thereby expecting the wages that would enable them to sustain that lifestyle. It cannot continue on current crowd levels. However, having wasted half an hour of my life typing this, I expect that the 2019 season will result in three small leagues, riders riding for multiple clubs, more riders being frozen out of the sport, fixture chaos, declining crowds, arguing promoters and more tractor racing. I'm off to the pub.

i believe lakeside were looking for a heat advantage in ht 12 and got a reversal 1/5 . so heat 13 was always going to run the regain the 10 point lead . . once they had returned to a 10 point lead they looked at the programme and seen the workington line up and thought it was better 10 points than a heat disadvantage to them selves . very strange , but i see the 10 point lead from the hammers being an awful lot harder to overturn than 18 or 28 that we have overturned .

looks like they have called it off as riders were at tapes for ht 14 strange as id of expected a Workington advantage from ht 14

yep 5 - to lake side but still slow track obviously not that good hope no rider gets hurt regardless of team

Hope that will be available online, sometimes live commentaries are only broadcast on conventional radio. Will be good to hear Stockport's finest giving his insight, without swearing

Lakeside have been truly been unlucky with the weather in their short stay at Rye House ... but why oh why are they always running on off nights ? Sunday’s, Saturdays are not traditionally Lakeside speedway nights. Friday is Lakesides night and as luck would have it Fridays have been dry ! Fingers crossed tonight for all the supporters who are travelling from near and far .......

On our way now see you all in about 6 hours, gate and go track we’ll feel right at home! Really hope there’s a big crowd with lots of blue and white for a team that’s struggled as much as we have, every little helps!

Common sense would suggest that moving the track away from the housing as much as possible would be the best approach, but no, they are bringing in the first and second bends.

Josh Bates punched the wall at Leicester during the televised meeting against Eastbourne in 2014 after being excluded when Lahti had wiped him out down the back straight.

I am at a loss to understand how far downhill the sport has gone. Mildenhall cannot find enough riders for a meeting at Eastbourne and one wonders whether this has anything to do with the alleged rumours over financial condition of the club and the fact that it is supposedly up for sale. Perhaps riders are unsure about being properly remunerated. Here we are at the end of October and still unfinished business in two of the three leagues. In the upper echelons of the sport Mr May is whinging in the SS about comments on forums and claiming people don’t know all the facts. Well perhaps if he and his cohorts who run clubs were open, honest and stopped treating fans with such disdain and put the record straight rather than let speculation run riot then they would have no need to ‘blast off’ as he says. The comments on here and elsewhere manifest themselves primarily because none of you at the BSPA know fact from fiction and if it is so frustrating Mr May do something positive about it. You obviously read some of the comments, get some balls and respond. No one really slags off speedway just those that run it and some who participate or don’t as is the case with riders not bothered about meetings. Why don’t you all reflect on what a mess 2018 has been, admit it and then get your own house in order then you would find fans would have little criticism to make on a public forum, but alas for years you collectively have failed miserably. That Mr May is why people ‘blast off ‘ and will continue to do so as long as you treat the punter the way you do. If it is that bad, shut up shop and do something else, but as long as you involve the public you put your head above the parapet and have to be prepared to deal with the flack. Clearly you are having trouble with it. As the topic implies, it is a fixture shambles which is out of control and gets worse year on year and that sums the sport up as well, a shambles.

So???? Tai and the top boys owe British Speedway nothing. So you want Tai to ride in the UK and earn less money than he can make abroad?? its the system here that’s messed up, not Tai or any of the top boys. The BSPA are happy to alienate Tai (making the then British champ and World champion ride in a British semi final) and they will do exactly the same to Robert. They don’t make it easier for them to ride here, so don’t expect Tai to come rushing back.

Loads of pre war motorcycle engines had 4 valve heads. Neil Street told me that prior to leaving home to come to the UK he knew little about engines but during the weeks on board ship he continually stripped and rebuilt his speedway bike to fully grasp how it all worked. Certainly he was a highly skilled engineer if self taught and understood every nuance of a Speedway engine. In the early part of this century he had absolutely no doubt that he could manufacture an engine that would be both faster and more reliable than either the GM or Jawa and having spent many hours talking engines with him I never doubted it. He saw no point in doing it because he said any ideas he had would just be pinched by others and he would get nothing out of it, he never told me how he would go about it though . Max Richards had a Wal Phillips laydown JAP over his place a couple of years ago, can't remember what year it was but either 40's or early 50's I think. I have a photo somewhere I'll look out. For what it's worth I'm pretty sure that Jack Parker, Peter Craven and Co would have been able to ride a modern bike at the highest level and am equally sure that Tai Woffinden, Greg Hancock etc would have been top riders on a Douglas, Rudge, JAP or 2v Jawa. I do think many people massively underestimate the skills needed by modern riders.

Costs would increase because currently the points money paid by Championship clubs are subsidised by riders doubling-up at Premiership level. Therefore with one league, Championship clubs would have to compete with Premiership clubs for the signature of the same rider. For example, take Nick Morris. He rode for Swindon in the Premiership and let's say he received £100 a point. He also rode in the Championship for Lakeside and received £75 a point. Who would Nick Morris ride for in one big league? The answer is simple, the team who pays him the most. Therefore, Swindon already have a business model allowing them to pay a rider like Nick Morris £100 a point. If Lakeside want to secure the services of Nick Morris they will have to pay 25% more in 2019 than they did in 2018 in order to compete with Swindon for his signature. Couple this with the fact that one big league means there are potentially 19 clubs chasing the signatures of heatleaders and a reduction in the number of riders firstly due to the removal of doubling-up and secondly riders who can't commit to Friday, Saturday and Sunday racing in Britain dropping out. Whether more variety would boost attendances remains to be seen. What we know for a fact, as we have seen it happen over the last decade, is that if you reduce the strength of the league fewer people attend.

Why would Championship teams agree to one big league, as it would result in an increase in their costs with no increase in revenues?