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It was unfairly disproportionate. He should have received more for getting involved in something that had absolutely nothing to do with him. He wasn't provoked, he wasn't wound up, he just wanted to get involved in some violence.

Track reserves should of been Drew Kemp and Jason Edwards as reward for reaching the U19 final

One problem might be unfortunetly that many people gave there spare money to Ged a few years ago and some would say he never offered any back when he sold the club or allegedly took the Poles cash.

The BSPA make it up as they go along... anything goes if your face fits

The management of both Ipswich and King's Lynn have both said that they were surprised to find out their riders would be under suspension for the events at Eastbourne! Shows how much attention they pay to the rest of the sport. I would have thought knowing what happens elsewhere is important information so that when your riders are unavailable due to injury or suspension you can contact the right replacements as quickly as possible and before others get them to ride against your team. It appears that the BSPA Chairman's team management do not have their fingers on the pulse and they are treated like mushrooms by the Chairman.

Glasgow will never be stronger going into any meeting without Cook and i would hazard a guess that Eastbourne would be the same without Kennett So in reality its the replacement for Vissing that could be the only issue

What a pathetic attempt form Eastbourne to obviously detract from their part in the melee Cant see why Edward got his ban!!! He rides for my club in the top league but you cant run 30 yards and then launch yourself and scrap with people! The funniest bit is where they say that Cook hadnt slowed down at all.........he was doing about 10mph on the video....and the marshalls were 'at the side of the track'....quite clearly they all werent Cook and Glasgow rightly taking a large portion of the blame.........but how about punches thrown from Paul Dugard and a headbutt on Vissing from his brother Ive no allegience to wither side but its farcical from Eastbourne that statement

very balanced and professional statement that puts a perspective we have not heard before.. very much tallies with what we have been told by those present. thought at the time that the Speedway Star interview with Cook was wrong as there was an ongoing Inquiry. time to move on

A statement that should have stopped after two paragraphs.

I could sort of understand the questioning of Tai Woffinden if he was just a gate and go rider. Thing is though, he is a rare rider who has the full toolkit as his disposal...and proves it time and time again. Yes, he can gate. But is brilliant from the back, is uber fast, highly professional, able to consistently perform under the highest pressure and has longevity. And you can't say that for many riders in the sport's history...not even several world champions. What more do you want from a World Champion? I think it boils down to change. People don't like it. So when a rider comes along who challenges their cast-in-stone views over speedway gods of the past, some people find it difficult to accept. Doubly so when he's young, tattooed, opinionated and talks with a funny accent.

I gather he has some top engines and is known to loan them out to team mates.

Poland who might just know a bit about how to run the sport haven’ t ever picked riders such as Protasiewcz and Hampel as track reserves !! They have always picked youngsters to give them an experience of the big stage- just shows the light years difference between the sport in the 2 countries !!!

I think it was 2014 when ben Wilson returned to the sport riding for Stoke I recall, and thier season was ruined when they had to let him go when Sheffield signed wilson in the then Premier league. On a similar note, I feel with the doubling up and indeed in Perks case tripling up. That a rule that should be brought in immediately is which ever club signs a rider first SHOULD HAVE PRIORITY for his availability.

BSPA acting fairly, following a precedent and indeed, sticking up for the little club. Full marks!

Seems everything Eastbourne should be exempt from any punishment, including the Dugards

How was it? They mention the marshals on the inside with red flags but no mention of the have-a-go hero who put himself in real danger? Yet they say the support all staff so obviously feel it’s ok to have a marshal on track putting himself at danger?? Saying that Glasgow didn’t say anything about the track on the track walk. Completely irrelevant. They reported it to the ref who ordered remedial work. So why they felt a need to mention they said nothing before is complete hot air. A mention of Cook weaving in and out of track staff and kids??? Really. I’ve not seen any comments from those there who said that happened. A lot of facts littered with bias. They say Kennett should face anywhere near the same punishment as Cook or others?? Really?? Wading in like a thug proves he deserves no less. Quite a lot of bias and none facts.

Yep. How many Eastbourne staff or associates threw a punch in the melee? Hmmmm ... no mention.

It likely would have been... till Eastbourne posted and opened up the nest again. Besides, why should it be 'put to bed'? If you're no longer interested in the topic you move on.. topics naturally are 'put to bed' when interest in them wanes.

nothing wrong with the meeting .Peterborough were poor. track produced some decent racing I have seen a lot poorer meetings at poole this season

They got security ready because they knew something was about to happen. Says it all for me. They knew what they were doing by making it as hostile as they could

A pathetic and disproportionate reply by an individual or individuals unable to let go.

“As has been our downfall this season, we can't get everyone firing at full power all at once, and if all the lads were we'd be having some great wins to look back on, but again tonight the home side were just too strong for us and deserved their victory.” Away-day frustration continued for Diamonds co-promoter Martin Phillips, as his side fell short in Friday’s local derby at Redcar. If I had a £1 for everytime I've read this about Newcastle I'd be able to buy Mike Ashley out!!!

quite agree all done and dusted right or wrong

All you have done is to attack craig at every opportunity cant blame him can you

Have seen plenty of inferior meetings to that on telly, including from Poole. Yes there were some errors which you’d expect on a tight track which had taken rain but there were genuine overtakes too. Not a classic but not bad either.

How does Wallinger keep getting so many clubs signing him?! When will they learn he’s unreliable and doesn’t even score points. Barely any in the Championship and on a 4pt NL average!

SILENCE(r)!

THE gap in home fixtures is a disaster for many, including Poole and Speedway Star.

Replacing one reserve who Redcar knew would be a sacrificial lamb with another who can't score any points but is pally with the promotion but no other riders whilst hurting the prospects of another struggling UK club. Nope nothing wrong with that. Unless clubs can learn to look after the interests of the sport as a whole rather than short term individual ambition there will be very few teams left to compete against.

He gave his reason, can you not read? It's only track reserve anyway ......

I wonder why he declined? Maybe standing through the whole presentation was an issue??

If people prefer full throttle racing then thats fair enough....but to downright talk utter tripe that the passes were down to rider error is just trolling for the sake of it Wolves were up against the leagues poorest team and most predicted a thrashing........the torrential downpour before the meeting made the track very hard to ride and greasy. The fact remains that despite the poor opposition and the track there was passing in many many races......not rider error I get the fact its not everyones cup of tea...but a Poole and a Stoke fan moaning about another track lol

A boycott is not the answer , it hurts Panthers as a team ,not Buster.

I am no fan of Buster,I do not believe he bought Panthers as a philanthropic gesture , and I do not believe he has any particular interest in Panthers per se. I am also sure however he is not making any money out of Panthers , probably losing a fair bit if truth be known. However boycotting Panthers to get one over Buster is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Well keep supporting the club then, it's the only way it will survive!

Cook has always come across as a bit of a t0sser who throws his dummy out the pram. Quite simply, he's been wound up by Eastbourne & reacted how he usually does. Fell for it hook line and sinker and lost his head. Didn't he assault an official at the fours a couple of years ago? By being a brat & riding off in the middle of the parade when members of the public, mechanics and officials etc are on the track is the actions of a prat. He's then thrown in the head/shoulder to a volunteer and cracked someone with a right hand when they've told him to behave himself. What happened after is irrelevant really and handbags. Nothing to get excited over. Not sure why Vissing and Kennett need to be sanctioned but suppose they didn't want to be seen to be picking on Cook even though he caused it all with his behaviour. You'd expect anyone associated with Eastbourne to be a bit peeved if an away rider cries about a perfectly rideable track, strikes a volunteer and tries to chin a Dugard. Cook needs to be sanctioned for a long period so he starts showing some respect towards officials, fans and other riders.

As expected, easy and well deserved win for The Wolves. I just can’t connect with this track, I have tried. Think it’s all about what you are brought up on. Respect the Supporters that defend, and enjoy it. My preference will alway be full throttle racing.

Track being criticized by a Poole and Stoke fan lol

I think you will find that if the case was we wanted to beat the Gems that bad we would not have put Dave Pye in and instead got a guest of a higher caliber. Dave is not in our declared 3 man 500cc squad but Im very happy to use him as he has shown 100% commitment when asked to ride. We also had young Brandon Woblewski in who unfortunately his points don't count because of hi Polish passport. Would I have give him a ride if winning was everything ? Young Kyran Lyden would have taken the no 1 spot instead of Elliot Kelly but he didn't have a bike and as The Gems had already approached Ben to guest for Joe Alcock if Joe was unfit it seemed logical to get Ben a ride for the Cubs. If you would like me to go in to a few things that you have no idea about please feel free to PM me and I will happily discuss. Best Regards Gavin Parr ( Cubs team manager )

true but the points limit will have changed and Redcar will probably be banned from signing riders called David

Shame, bet a lot of those kids were looking forward to the next meet till they were told that

I don't know what the tv money is worth these days, definitely not the sort of figure it used to be, so can people honestly say it has been worth it this year with the quality of meetings tv shows? Every Monday night after a meeting has been shown (and during) all we hear about is how bad the meeting was, how bad the track was, bad referee decisions, cheating the rules, how poor the crowd is etc etc, surely if this is the case it's neither going to encourage newbies to go, or make the people that stopped going, go again! Is it time to bin the tv coverage and put all efforts into rebuilding the sport from the ground up, away from the cameras so Nigel & Kelvin don't have to explain the "5 year plan" every meeting and as good a job that they do, it would be a task keeping people informed. Keep the tv coverage of the GP's, i love watching them and love attending even more, as i'm sure many do. Have the BSPA strike a deal with the companies that film at all tracks, get out a FREE weekly programme, maybe on a YouTube channel, showing the BEST races from around the country, and build up the excitement so people WANT to come back. There's great racing at ALL tracks, and there's poor racing at all tracks, so let's keep the poor stuff a secret and hope track quality etc to suit the bikes is sorted before even entertaining live meetings again. It's been mentioned so many times about having a highlights package but everyone still prefers live. The recent broadcast from Belle Vue as a delayed 'live' was great, and shows YouTube is a decent host. We need to improve the entertainment before putting it out to the 'masses' on BT Sport or SKY, time to build to save the sport.

Dangerous question to ask on the BSF!!! I think some of the people here have a list of answers on the fridge...

I just think it's simple, if you sign for Buxton first they have priority. Even if Poole then sign the same rider mid season, the original club must get priority. A simple fix that would cost nothing and add some credibility to the doubling up system. For the record it works both ways, if a rider signs for Scunthorpe first, and has a bit of a dip and takes a NL birth at Stoke to regain confidence, then Scunthorpe should always have priority.

Great to see a group of Peterborough fans standing near the starting gate. They gave good humour back to Porky, the centre green announcer and reminded us of the positives of having a team to identify with and support.They might be bottom but are seventh !!! Hope to see them later in the season when the Supporters Cup 2nd leg is run.... probably after Swindon & Belle Vue have staged the final.

Some people on here are laughable To have an opinion you have to back that opinion up with reasoning. My favourite rider ever was Mark Loram, right from the early days of being a mascot when my family helped to sponsor him right until his career ending crash Is Mark Loram better to watch then Tai? In my opinion yes...........was Mark a better rider than Tai......no....more naturally talented...maybe Those saying Lee was a 'better' rider than Tai isnt up for debate....he isnt Was Lee better than Tai to watch? Maybe....Was he more naturally talented? I believe so I think people get there judgement clouded by either being close to one rider or simply disliking the other I couldnt and still cant stand Gary Havelock......but he was a deserving world champion in 1992...it was his year he dominated with only Per Jonsson getting close....you cant take that away

perhaps craig would have preferred up and coming young riders as reserves for the experienced . like most people on this thread would have preferred

In football you wouldn’t have an unattached youth player take the place of your star man would you?! Yes the guest situation isn’t ideal but it does mean fans still see a competitive fixture, unfortunately this country doesn’t have the privilege of having squads where a suspension/injury to one rider means another from that squad take his place. This is not a new rule re suspensions, it has been the case for years in this country.

Think Buster should of allowed Ged & Neil along with the T Balfe sponsorship to run Peterborough in the same manner as Ipswich are being run with Chris Louis and his sponsorship, The rewards would of surely been far better than the existing situation the club is in, its been well documented that Buster has his way or the highway but in this case IMO hes chosen the wrong direction to go in, the rewards could of been so much easier to obtain and financially better for his pocket while someone else did the work for him, He has to be applauded for his investment into UK speedway but the money he could lose for basically a possible one year project must have a knock on effect for others.

There is an excellent interview with Richard Clarke of Speedway Star in the current edition of Backtrack magazine which includes concerns about sales in line with the general decline of speedway. However I believe there may be a way of boosting interest. Given that speedway fans spend almost as much time watching tractors circling the track as they do actually watching racing, wouldn't it be an idea for Speedway Star to merge with one the tractor magazines? 'Speedway Star & Tractor Weekly'. It has a ring to it. This will bring added interest to the evening as Instead of whinging and complaining about the tractor breaks, fans would thumb through the mag and try and identify the tractor type and engage with fellow fans on the terrace. Backtrack magazine could also engage with this idea with vintage features on the tractors we fondly remember going round and round in the 70’s and 80’s. Naturally the mag would be renamed Backtractor. Just an idea.