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The above is spot on, its been long overdue that the clubs should be dictating the deals on offer and if riders choose to accept what is offered or not that is their prerogative. Riders are not bigger than clubs and Craig was clearly trying to get the club to change the policy just for him. Should he have been announced prior to a contract being signed no which is wrong from both sides but Cook has effectively allowed himself to be left out as he didn't secure a deal a P'bora have to find a late replacement. Its just another in the long line of saga's that follow CC around and will likely continue until he has upset every club or drastically re-evaluates how much he thinks he is worth.

We might not be the best 3 teams in the league but boy we are all pretty damn well turned out. Ipswich Witches, K L stars and Peterborough Panthers

All riders are self employed so, just like anyone else self employed, they should really be allowed to dictate their own terms when they take on 'a job'.. If the person booking them doesn't agree with those terms requested then they are then at liberty to look elsewhere and offer the work to someone else who is OK with the package on offer.. Likewise, if the person seeking the contract isn't happy with the T's and C's of what is expected of him, then he is free to walk away without signing the contract and taking the job.. This just once again shows how difficult it is to shoe horn an individual sport into a team framework.. It costs a lot of money to set yourself up for a season of Speedway so personal sponsorship is paramount.. But it also costs a lot of money to run a Speedway Team, so team sponsorship is also paramount.. Maybe this is a way of wrestling some of the perceived control away from the riders to help facilitate further changes and cost reductions....? "Unfortunately we cannot reach an agreement, thanks for your time, NEXT PLEASE".. And as we know, there always seems to be 'someone', from 'somewhere' to gratefully take up the vacated positions... And increasing the supply of riders willing to ride for "take it or leave it" terms can only decrease outgoings to the clubs, which in the long run probably won't be a bad thing for the sport....

In one.... So if Buster had paid Cook more money he would have signed a contract and had the sponsors small in black and white... He is just a mercenary and only interested in himself, This is nothing about sponsors or letting down his team mates and supporters. I hope all his existing sponsors haven't signed a contract with him as they get no exposure now whatsoever so withdraw there commitment and he rides for Glasgow only and has a poor season as his equipment is not up to scratch as he has no sponsors... That would be so funny

If and that's a big IF.… Bomber and Cookie were your 2 fav riders and lets say for example you lived in Coventry and decided to buy a Peterborough Season Ticket, now the team has changed significantly would you have grounds to receive a full refund bearing in mind no matches have taken place yet? To put it into perspective, if you went to a restaurant where you pay upon ordering and order a fillet steak and when you waiter delivers it, it's turned into a vegetarian lasagne, would you not be a little pi$$ed off?

Putting aside the Cook situation, like Ipswich how good do the Peterborough suits and bikes look. Lynn likely to look equally as professional at their P&P later. Would be nice to think the rest of the clubs in the UK will follow suit one day.

When is Poole P & P? So we can see how its really done!

What's the difference... someone is paying their wages... I have tradesmen with 1000 of pounds worth of tools and mechanical gear what they have to buy to carry out their trade.... their day job... on my site... if they want to use that at weekends or other jobs I can't dictate what they have on it but if it's my job my contract and my customers they are branded up to advertise my business not someone else's and if they don't like the well... oh hang on that's just what's happened... Regards THJ

Not sure I agree Mike I employ subcontractors on a self employed basis and they wear my livery on their vans, my logos on their hard hats, my hi vis jackets with my company name on, my uniforms on their backs... they are branded up as my employees whilst they are working for me as I am paying their wages after all... Why should I be dictated to? If I didn't have the work they wouldn't have a job... of course they could always go and work for someone else but you can't have the tail wagging the dog? Or can You? Regards THJ

Then you lose that potential exposure for being an arrogant business owner that can't see the bigger picture. If the racesuit was the same colour as your logo and pale into insignificance what would be your choice? Demand a club changes their suit colours Craig Cook in this situation is massively in the wrong, totally cutting off his nose to spite his face. He was willing to sacrifice his sponsors for more points money, how would you have felt as a sponsor if Cook turned around to you and said I'm earning more now, you're not required anymore?!?

What language is he tweeting in?

Maybe she was eating her love hearts?

Cook admitted that himself in his statement. He wanted his own sponsors on the kevlars and Peterborough wanted their sponsors in colour and on the arms. At £6k for a set and then race jackets too for spares, it's a lot of money to make up. Don't get me wrong I would love to have race suits they do look professional but I don't see anything wrong with race jackets either.

My thoughts too marra.......just hoping a new venue can be found asap.......Derwent Park is to be demolished. Now speedway teams are 'revving up' I miss the Comets even more......especially last years magnificent 7.

maybe THJ aka steve w could drop a line or two or three or four on here and just tell everyone that speedway @ Derwent P ark is only going to return when the reds and town move into the new stadium . so it looks like speedway was never going to start in 2019 anyhow . gonna miss this bitching sport i love . really sad

I don't think either side come out of this too well, but to be fair to Cook there's plenty of suggestions here that he was willing to sacrifice sponsors for more points money when he hasn't said that at all. He wanted that increased when his sponsor pulled out because they couldn't advertise in the area they wanted, I don't see a problem with him asking for that but equally understand why Chapman has said no if that takes him over budget.

so do I understand that in return, all Belle Vue promotion + up to 100 friends will get free wedding cars.

Exactly I made the same comment on another forum.

Cook never said he’d dump his sponsor for more money. if the sponsor couldn’t have the main spots then they weren’t coming on board - their choice not Craig’s. buster wouldn’t compromise on sponsor positioning so basically told Craig you can’t have the revenue from that sponsor - so he returned and said well if I lose that sponsor revenue are you willing to increase my points money to cover some of that loss of revenue I’m not on either side of argument here tbh the whole thing is ridiculous, there’s no reason a comprimise shouldn’t have been able to be reached - I object to the notion cook has lost all integrity because he’d sell out and dump sponsors when at no point did he claim that, it’s the new software sponsor that would drop him if not getting their own way with logo position colour etc.

I can see both sides here. Both are in the right and, up to a point, in the wrong. Having said that, its difficult to see how Cook's decision is in his own best interests. Obtaining a new PL place won't be easy, I think the point about him being willing to dump sponsors for more money is not unreasonable, no-one else has apparently objected, he won't get the sponsors dependent upon BT sport exposure now any way and at a stroke he's halved his speedway income.

Yet another example of why this sport cannot be taken seriously is the introduction of Schlein for this meeting. Nothing against Rory, but why? This is a challenge match supposedly set up for riders to get laps under their belt before the serious business starts, but we bring in a guest (ignore the the No.8 cover up) to try and avoid losing face at the expense of rides for our own team members. Regardless of the incoming rider's ability, how would you feel if you were being replaced in a race at this stage of the season by an outsider? Nice too that the Lions will be paying for Rory to deprive their own riders of laps. Win, lose or draw the outcome will be forgotten by the weekend so what is the point?

If your logo was red, orange pink for example, would you still want it on the the red suits? Craig is a 7.5 rider. There is only so much he can insist on. NKI has rode for Buster for years, so Buster can't be that hard to deal with surely ? Fat twit... That so called "fat twit" has spent into 6 figures including 90 tons of shale and equipment, and was full of praise for what he has done with the track from Hans..

Had it not been that they had to explain his absence from P&P most likely we would not know even now

Remember the days when the colour of the leathers and any sponsors names didnt cause any issues,

Maybe Cook was trying it on.His sponsors would have been happy with what would have been on his race suit looking at those above.But he told the management they wouldn't be happy so needs more points money.He wanted the best of both worlds by the looks of it but has backfired on him.He will now have to wait for a team position to come up and settle for whatever points money he is offered.

I didn't think team suits were even compulsory anymore? I'd be pretty peed off if I'd bought a season ticket expecting to see Harris & Cook and got fobbed off with Tungate and whoever...

Looking at the team picture on webpage Charles Wright either has different kevlars or theres an issue with his as hes got green sections on upper arms and it looks like a race bib hes wearing as Panther and sponsor logo are smaller, also Lasse Bjerre has a white panel on right arm so there was room for some personal preferences. Maybe Cook just didnt want to grow a trendy beard like the other six.

The issue for me is that this should have been sorted out before now. Its an absolutely ridiculous situation and neither party come out of this well...

Get another part time job then? Speedway doesn't owe them a living. Craig Cook also rides in the 2nd division at the highest payers in the League so won't be doing too badly! Your sentence should read something more like.... without team sponsorship, teams like Peterborough wouldn’t be able to make the sport pay

Whilst I feel sorry for you guys didn’t I say this two months ago that ged broke the wage ceiling on two of his heat leaders and they were going to have to ride for busters rate or find somewhere else to ride. I got loads of stick and told I was making it up. I accept your apologies

I totally agree with Craig Cook, being told where to put the clubs sponsors on his racesuit, bikes and even his cap takes the pi$$. And to be told his sponsors have to be in black and white !! Craig was well within his rights to ask Peterborough to make up the shortfall he'd be losing. A Mickey Mouse attitude by what's become a Mickey Mouse sport with one of the smallest followings in the UK.

O.K. I know he was very badly injured, but, now to wish others were as badly hurt as himself comes over, to me, as pretty sick.

I think this would be a good one for Judge Rinder to rule on - and as a side note look at the free publicity the sport would get and on a mainstream TV Channel too! Ok it might well turn out to be bad publicity but according to some there is no such thing - only publicity!

Rowe is riding for Poole with Starke guesting for Somerset

If you think of it along different lines compared to last season you may see it differently. Nick Morris replaces Thorssell Scott Nicolls replaces Heeps / JBA Luke Becker replaces Nathan Greaves Yes Jacob is a big loss but it's only temporary and Nick Morris can be just as good around Monmore and should do well away. IMO this team looks much stronger overall than last year, no way should we finish bottom

Id imagine that fillet steak would be the restaurants signature dish - quite a good comparison then I have the number for a restaurant that will be serving it this year if anyone wants to change their booking

The full line up for Friday night is now: 1 Jimmy Hörnell Sweden 2 Niek Schaap Netherlands 3 Kevin Arzl Austria 4 Jani Koivula Finland 5 David Lizák Czech Rep. 6 Tobias Busch Germany 7 Simon Reitsma Netherlands 8 Robert Irving United Kingdom 9 Bart Schaap Netherlands 10 Josef Kreuzberger Austria 11 Franz Mayerbüchler Germany 12 Jiří Wildt Czech Rep. 13 Pontus Fick Sweden 14 Andreas Lindblom Sweden 15 Philip Lageder Austria 16 Marc Geyer Germany 17 Jimmy Tuinstra Netherlands 18 Matti Isoaho Finland 19 Luca Bauer Germany/Italy 20 Jimmy Olsén Sweden 21 Albin Lindblom Sweden 22 Jasper Iwema Netherlands 23 Markus Jell Germany 24 Konstantin Kolenkin Russia Going to be good to catch up with Rob Irving again, not seen him for a couple of years and really looking forward to seeing Kolenkin ride, after watching him on the internet for a couple of years. Jesper will have live updates here https://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/352/roelof-thijs-bokaal-heerenveen.html

Uhh, it's Leicester with 8 riders not Ipswich!

Cookie and other riders were not happy with the contracts from early December, I saw one and advised the rider not to sign it ( far to restrictive ). As a sponsor for over 10 years I would not be happy with my branding and company logo being in colours other than the ones I always use and endorse.

Looks like somebody is colour blind or has turned up at completely the wrong p&p day!

What I find interesting it’s the same promotors trying to implement this rule on sponsor logos that refused to put Sky Sports logo on team suits and bike covers unless extra money was given yet were quite happy to already take the league sponsorship money and tv rights money.

Nearer 2K. Good turnout of fans for a good cause. Racing got pretty good towards the end, too.

Views are split on the Panthers thread Ray. He must of known about the logo rule, otherwise he would of signed months ago, when he was declared, surely ?

Spot on the most positive optimistic supporter I know and they have managed even to piss him off. When I spoke to Ged the other week he seemed close to tears over what was happening, now we know why

Having read Craig Cook's twitter response, As I see it, the reason he didnt sign a contract(with the previous promotion) was because of the issue with sponsorship logo's...But he seems to contradict himself saying that he had not originally signed a contract because of this, and then saying that he had discussions with the previous promotion and understood that he would be exempt from this....But the "contract" wasn't changed to reflect this......What contract?........He said he never signed one!.....So am I right in thinking that the sponsorship logo issue was implemented BEFORE Buster Chapman took over the club? If so, I think he has tried it on and Buster was having none of it? If the logo rule was put in place by the previous promotion, Surely he can't have a case to argue? Or have I read it wrong??

Grasstrack didn't used to be 'once in a blue moon'. In the 70s, most centres had a meeting every weekend during the summer months. Back in the time, many speedway riders doubled up on grass, Malcolm Simmons, Simon Wigg and many others. Which was good for both sports. Grasstrack was a good feeder for speedway teams and grasstrack benefited by having household name riders at their meetings. This rarely happens any more and the reason for that is many speedway riders ride abroad as well as the UK and can't fit in grasstrack and in any case, wouldn't earn enough money from grasstrack. Grasstrack has always been drawn out, because you do have a lot of classes to get through and many heats. But it is a different attraction, grasstrack is a day out and hopefully enjoy a full afternoons racing in the sun. What has happened recently and it is good in one way, grasstrack pads out the meetings with youth riders, whereas, yesteryear, there were schoolboy meetings. Riders like Jeremy Doncaster started in schoolboy grasstrack. Both grasstrack and speedway need a major overhaul and reboot and perhaps look at what was good and worked in the past. Both sports, in my opinion, worked better when there was little foreign influence, i.e. few foreign riders here and few British riders riding abroad.

Another British Speedway shambles. Doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong it’s yer another example of how the sport here is a laughing stock. Peterborough could well be whipping boys if they don’t get a decent replacement now. At least Buster has two other teams who can go for the title.

Promoters need to stick to a budget. Can’t afford to lose any more clubs. Cookie is obviously expensive to employ but no rider is bigger than the club.

Certainly not the best value for money

I might be down for the Young Lions BYC round. The MDL of course will be using the main track I think. Good little meetings.