Leaderboard

Today's bad news that Workington have withdrawn from the 2019 Championship (second tier), despite winning the treble last season, should provoke the BSPA into a crisis meeting. In our last issue of Backtrack (No.89) we listed 56 British league venues that have closed since 1970. Since the edition came out, the loss of Rye House, Buxton and now Workington has seen the death toll rise to 59. It is doubtful if any will ever resume league status. If the Comets, a track that opened in 1970, cannot sustain second division speedway after winning three trophies, what chance does the sport in this country have of survival? Glasgow have arguably the best PR machine in the sport behind them right now, earning lots of national coverage in Scotland and beyond. They have invested heavily in riders. But where has it got them? Their owner's recent statement should be taken as another warning shot. No-one can be surprised if the Tigers' management don't decide to cut their losses and come to the conclusion that they've given it their best shot but enough is enough. The odds on them coming to the tapes for 2020 must already be slim, or lengthening. Leicester, Rye House in recent times have found to their cost that chucking good money at top riders is no recipe for success and, more likely, a quick path to financial disaster. I was especially alarmed by the recent announcement that Buxton, the archetypal third division venue where many a young Brit was discovered, has pulled out of the National league due to unsustainable rising costs. They have been around for years but, sadly, have been betrayed by their own peers - the third division glory-hunters who ignored the ethos of what was meant to be a training, development league for young British riders in pursuit of silverware. Buxton's withdrawal should have served as a neon warning sign to the sport's governing body but their story seems to have been glossed over, ignored, outside Derbyshire. What are experienced 'old hands' doing nicking a living from a league meant for novices trying to learn the game? If there isn't already an age or experience limit, the Nl should impose one so that only one rider per team is over, say, 25. And NO-ONE who has any real experience of top flight or Div 2 racing should be occupying a team place. So what should happen to stem the tide? BRITISH SPEEDWAY has to become amateur, riders must go part-time and return to the days of the old BL1 and BL2/NL of the 60s, 70s & 80s, when many racers had a day job to supplement their speedway earnings, or vice-versa. If today's riders are performing in front of mere hundreds of spectators, rather than thousands, then they are really operating in an amateur sport and should not be paid as professionals. Speedway needs to take a long, hard look at itself and reality must finally kick in. Most non-league football teams are part-time. Players train Tuesdays and Thursdays and play Saturdays and midweek. They fit it in around their 9-to-5 job. Speedway riders must accept how small what they do really is in terms of spectator sports. As former Ellesmere Port middle order rider Duncan Meredith says: "Most of us back in my day had a job and my job subsidised my racing. We loved racing - the money was just a bonus." It's time to go back to those days. A backward step? Not if it stabilises the sport in the immediate short-term and enables it to survive and weather the current UK economic storm. Promoters need protecting from themselves and stop burying their heads in the sand. They must stop 'thinking big' - look where that got Leicester, Rye House and Glasgow, among others, in recent times and by propping up the Premiership Buster Chapman is merely applying a tiny sticking plaster to a large, gaping wound requiring major surgery. The BSPA has to start thinking SMALL and apply self-imposed reality checks that are long overdue. Scale down budgets to realistic levels and don't pay out more than you take at the turnstiles and sponsorship. It's simple economics of life. There is a chronic rider shortage across the board, the use of guests and R/R has escalated out of all proportion. I'd love to see a study of how many DIFFERENT riders appeared in each of the 3 divisions last season, and another list showing how many appeared for multiple clubs. The result would be eye-bulgingly horrific. So come up with a revised race format for six or even five-men teams. Six-men teams were used in the 60s and in the top flight in 1998. If there aren't enough riders to fill 7-men teams, then change the format. Doubling-up is killing what little credibility British speedway has left. If, in 10 years, British speedway has unearthed a new wave of young talent, then a return to 7-men teams can be considered. Until then, the BSPA must immediately go into crisis-survival mode, cut its cloth accordingly and stop paying out money to riders that it simply cannot afford, before more tracks are lost forever. Of course, reducing team members and changing race formats won't bring many, if any, new fans through the turnstiles. But what it will definitely help to do is RETAIN the current, rapidly declining fan base. Promoters should stop thinking of ways to try and lure a new, younger supporters (if any do), because 98% of teenagers will never be interested in speedway, and focus fully on keeping their existing customers.

The day we all expected but hoped would never come. Extremely heartbroken, not just for fans and riders, but for Laura and family who as a fellow fan, put everything into the club for the last 6 years. Along with THJ and everyone that contributed to keeping the comets alive. Comets fans will forever be grateful. Memories of all the trips away, that feeling of winning the treble, the friends made and love we have for Workington speedway will last a lifetime. Up the Comets

Arguing with yourself now Geoff!!

Nah I'm sorry. I don't buy the whole "use it or lose it" speedway is way beyond point now. The diehards don't cut it anymore. Promoters need to work on the sport and make it worth the admission and the only way they're going to do that is working on the overall presentation and quality. If it's not there, the sport will die regardless. The sport is absolutely on its arse and scaremongering has never saved a club and it never will.

Been on this forum a long time over 5 years..............took plenty of abuse , flack call it what you like But ive never felt the need to either delete my account and start again or change my name which makes people look a bit sad, needy and a tad pathetic Never had more than the one account.....if people dont like me or what i post then it doesnt affect me that i feel the need to be someone else. To be fair even people like Starman and Shovlar with the amount of stuff they get thrown at them have only ever had the 1 account

Workington was probably one of the best race tracks in the country as well.

back to the day of riders using one bike and the sport being run like grasstrack here i think. too many think the sport can sustain paying extortionate wages. it's not all about the GP riders, as the leagues become weakened then riders of a certain average become the sought after ones and their demands get higher which defeats the object of weakening

That’s the attitude that closes clubs down your called a supporter to support the club through good and bad times how many worky fans are now thinking wish I had supported my team now they don’t have a one

The question is how many more have to go to the wall before Chapman and co realise they have little left to manage. He has patched up one league for his own benefit but seems to forget that if the paying punter does not like it they simply will not turn up. Nothing has changed and Ipswich nearly closed once before. History has a habit of repeating itself. Could it happen again at Ipswich? Possibly because like so many club supporters that have drifted away, all the majority wanted was a weekly fix with riders who would race for their team and not a ‘team select’ but this not going to happen. Rider costs are out of control and punters have a view re the value they are prepared to pay. The gap is too wide and cannot be made up by sponsors any longer. They could have one professional league and two amateur leagues with part time riders. To expect three leagues to be sustainable on a professional or semi professional basis is living in cloud cuckoo land. The BSPA need to get a grip and take a long hard look at what they have done to the sport, bite the bullet and deal with costs and look at whether the sport can survive the next five years and how many teams they are prepared to lose on the way. Alternatively relax the rules and let clubs operate open licences and try a stop the decline in track closures. Once lost rarely do they return within a reasonable time frame.

Costs have not been cut sufficiently, that's the trouble. Riders, performing in front of only hundreds of fans, raking in money that cannot be sustained. So here we are.

Sad day for the Speedway community and I can't see an upturn in it's fortunes anytime soon , despite the resentment shown towards my club by some on here I really have sympathy for all concerned at Workington especially the supporters like Taylor j , Scarramanga and Jenga to name a few who were basking in Glory not so long ago after a magnificent season only to have this bombshell dropped on them. The riders who would have spent in preparation now need another gig somewhere no easy task and will be relying on openings arising elsewhere, I really hope the Comets can rise again and I am really saddened by this news. Best of luck in trying to resurrect the club, while there is life there is always the hope they will return.

have to says am absolutely gutted for all you comets supporters out there and secondly for laura and her team.to have owned a club for six years at a great personal cost only to lose it must be soul destroying at best.i will genuinely miss my visits to derwent park and the banter with you supporters.another sad sad loss to our once great sport.how much longer with this set of w......... running the sport will it be before domestic speedway is no more.i now fear for the future existence of the comets what with all the issues surrounding the stadium.championship speedway without workington..........unthinkable!

I am surprised the chosen few didn't announce it on the Glasgow thread.

IF Zagar was offered a good deal worth his while he would ride wherever that was....gullible to think otherwise

No one should believe anything they're told by Mick Horton. He's a man devoid of any principles /morals.

Maybe bluster can buy every track in the country, to ensure the sport limps along for another couple of years.

Not a very smart move, at least you know you will get paid at Somerset, looking at Comets financial situation, the alarm bells should have been ringing, at least there will be some Riders going cheap now, looking for a Team place.

Not difficult to work out those who have multiple accounts mate, they drop there guard sooner or later.

When debating the future of speedway, we must also recognise that the sport's current plight is not just the result of BSPA failings and riders' costs. Like other sports, leisure entertainments and especially the dwindling high streets of cities and towns all over GB, it has been affected by the UK economy. Many regular speedway fans will have had been made redundant or seen their social benefits cut in recent years, so their already limited disposable incomes have seriously diminished. Many others are hanging onto their jobs by a thread and fearing the worst, so they too are tightening the purse strings. We at Retro Speedway have felt the effects of this first-hand. I'll be honest. Our revenue from sales in the 8-week pre-Christmas period for 2018 was 30% (THIRTY) down on the same period of the previous year, even though we had more products available to purchase. I think our regular followers on the BSF, Facebook and Twitter would agree that we hardly lack marketing thrust, and push all our products with as much zeal as possible. In the run up to Xmas, we placed regular, prominent full-page adverts in Speedway Star, who are also being hit by issues beyond our control. It would be understandable if Speedway Star's readership decreased in line with shrinking attendances. But it's not as if what we produce has anything to do with modern speedway. What we do is pretty timeless. But clearly not immune to the financial reality of the world. You might argue that our 2018 products were not good, or didn't represent good value. But I don't believe that is the case and feedback from customers would suggest this is not so. The reason is one of simple economics. And obviously, Brexit has only added to people's growing insecurities and uncertainty. Speedway will no doubt feel these continuing adverse effects in ever-dwindling season ticket and admission receipts when the new season starts in March.

Have you not read the post from Phil multi alias?? Stop trolling and stick to topic. Reported too. One sick individual.

Fans through the gates aren't enough to pay the riders, who in turn want to take their money out of the sport by spending on tuners etc. Time to cut costs and at the same time restructuring the whole league set-up. It is speedway's lifeblood.

Deeply deeply saddened indeed by this announcement. Has enough been done to try and raise enough to mitigate against the expected losses that would be incurred next season? well there has certainly been no figures produced about the sums that may be needed and the possibility of an appeal to fans and the wider public such as what helped save the Monarchs. To the parties that pledged financial backing all I can say is where is your integrity, words are indeed cheap. Speedway is in deep trouble, currently it's a mickey mouse setup which is a huge shame because it is deserving of so much better. What other supposedly professional sport would have no prize money for winning the league/major trophies, with the clubs having to pay for their own medals. Then to add insult to injury fine the winning club £3000 for not completing its final fixture at the 3rd legitimate attempt thereby compounding the losses already incurred. The AGM instigated nothing that will reduce the costs of the sport to the riders or increase the entertainment/value for money to fans. I love speedway but it is in serious need of a blood transfusion if it is to stay alive. Up the Comets.

50k was the figure. Isn't it ironic, that 50k would probably kept us going for another season

Gavan is by far not the worst disliked poster on here at all. There are way more candidates that fill that role with much more ease. Gavan makes many reasonable and sensible posts. Some posters do have serious issues with some others on here! Still, each to their own!

This demise of once a great family sport in Great Britain is now on its last legs thanks mainly to the BSPA. You ran the sport your way for years and years. When speedway was on a high, as it was in my opinion up until probably the mid-eighties, you took the fans and riders for granted. Now you’ve ruined the sport and you have got the nerve to ask now for a National Supporters Group to meet 3 times a year at various venues around the country. “To provide a structured platform for supporters (each representing one of the sport's tracks/clubs) to meet with the BSPA to air their views (however critical!) and provide ideas. The BSPA see supporter engagement as critical to the future of the sport - seeing the formation of this new Group which it believes will add significant value to the sport's continued development.” I love this part ‘will add significant value to the sports continued development’! Poppy cock!!!! When emails have been sent to BSPAHQ asking questions and making suggestions they the BSPA have not even had the decency to reply! What great public relations that is! My speedway fix will probably be at Lydd/Rye House when they have a meeting or training school, both of course black listed by the SCB and at Iwade, not black listed. Perhaps that’s where speedway’s future lies, away from the BSPA? Somebody from the BSPA must read the forums and wouldn’t it be nice if just for once they had the decency to actually reply…….

Yes that's correct and the loan fees will go into the pot but this is a cash flow situation that will be resolved but not in time to start the season. The members who refused fixtures last season, withdrew Friday fixtures and allowed the finals all to be run in just over a week need to take a long hard look at themselves. Plenty of clubs owe money but this isn't the first hiccup at Workington that has taken a while to sort, if the BSPA want to try and retain a shred of respect they will allow them to put the licence on ice until the cash flow situation is resolved. It didn't help matters that the rest of the league met last week to agree fixtures and Workington was excluded from that meeting so even if they did come to the tapes in 2019 they'd get the rse end of the fixtures. In my opinion the responsibility for the decision not to run lies with the sport as a whole and not just Laura, "There by the grace of God go I" should have been on every Promoter's lips this morning just like "chuck her under a bus" was last week! (allegedly of course)

Just to add about Northside. When the Bickley's ceased to run Northside, it was taken on by a junior rider's father Malcolm McCoy. During his time Laura has been extremely helpful to Malcom giving him her old shale and lending him a good tractor. With some considerable work Malcolm, has transformed the track, which he probably could not have done without her help. When Northside stopped riding official NJL meetings, Laura allowed the Northside Stars to ride at Derwent Park.

Brings back memories of an old Weslake on a bike rack, perched on the back of a Cortina, flip the bonnet up and charge the magic box

Trouble is TWK, this subject has been discussed on here for years now. And, in the past, when it has been discussed, people got accused of being negative or being a troll etc. However, it does appear the brown stuff is hitting the fan. Not being negative, but perhaps being realistic, I don't think the situation can be easily reversed, which is perhaps stating the obvious and is also perhaps, the 'elephant in the room'?

I think the guy is mentally asleep even when he's wide awake

It would make more sense to pay the riders first and then hold on to whatever is left to pay the fine with any balance needing to be paid before another promoting licence is issued.

Every team needs a character or two Makes such a difference in generating atmosphere

Nice to see its pleased someone anyway like eh... less said the better The fixtures have been sorted at a BSPA meeting last Tuesday and I doubt they will be changing them anytime soon Totally correct Regards THJ

Think it shows up the BSPA for what they are,how can they fine Workington for not competing their fixture given their circumstances at the end of the season.You cannot say they didn’t try.Total Joke.

I personally have no confidence in the BSPA. Too many people looking after their own territory rather than the benefit of the Sport.

not sure there is no money about at all,go to most places on a weekend and they are rammed with folk spending folk just dont go to speedway these days,why? ,im not sure

Apparently a Glasgow fan is reported as breaking the news before the official Worky announcement.

At the expense of who? We have all our team!

Didn't Laura help out Edinburgh with a rather large cheque once?? If so maybe she could ask for some help back Gutted for the comets,, may favourite place to visit.

It shows the seriousness in the decline of speedway in the UK in general. The powers that be, have hindered the product rather than improved it, again this year they have tinkered around the edges, rather than taking " the bull by the horns" and drastically changing the product. Sarah I admire your unstinting support for your team, but fans will no longer blindly follow their local team for the sake of it. Speedway is a relatively ex;pensive sport especially for a family, more so in a cash strapped area in which Berwick Bandits rely on, Berwick & The Borders. So, unless the product is massively improved I fear the worst for speedway in general, and more so for a club that is cash strapped. AS you know, for the first time in over 20 years I missed a lot of meetings last season, in large very much to do with the level of entertainment on track, which apart from just a few meetings was poor. The Promotion must do a lot better than 2018 as I fear the demise will be even greater. Nobody wants to lose speedway in Berwick, but unless the product drastically improves, I fear for it's demise.

Statement this morning that the Comets will not run in 2019. I am deeply saddened by this news. Although I did not attend every week I loved coming up on Saturdays - a terrific run, some tea and a couple in the Henry Bessemer, some great company and almost always a good meeting. A real shame, but I am not totally surprised as attendances simply weren't good enough.

....or a night with SCB.

Doesn't every Newcastle fan secretly wish they supported Berwick.

Think worky will have a bigger announcement before the season starts ;-)

That sounds terrible imagine regular speedway on regular nights during the summer, even worse if it was first week of May until end of August, all those dreadful nice warm evenings with reduced threat of rain and the whole of September reserved for Play Offs, Cup finals etc. Thankfully everyone will see sense and run erratically, enjoy the Easter weekend washout and embrace the rush of fixtures before the cut off dates / freezing their toes off watching the season wimper out in late October.

No chance we will drop Cook

Hey,I am ok with the title It is like a work mate once said to someone who told him he was the slowest person working at the firm.He said ‘I am quite comfortable with that.The trouble is,if I speed up,someone else will be the slowest and that might put them under stress.Keep it as it is,eh?’

Real shame about Workington , I’m sure they were about when Canterbury were going , but think, they won three trophies, if they had scored less points, wouldn’t have won anything, but paid out a lot less on points money, == more money in the pot , Just saying, !

I'm sure nick Morris moved to re light his career. Too much pressure in 2018

I am in no doubt the winner will be Poole …. …. ... again. Fairly , or other wise, the Ref will make another monumental judgement , the rules will be changed to suite and averages will be forgotten in the quest to guarantee them success. If that's not enough, some of the opposing riders will ( fall ) down . Someone said its written in the rules somewhere...….