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Just read the Eastbourne "Club Statement" which it seems just intends to rake over the ashes and fan the flames. As previously commented, 2 paragraphs would have been enough to close the matter down. They haven't . What follows is a highly blinkered one sided view of everything that occurred. Lots is made of the Glasgow team waiting until the official referee arived before complaining about track conditions. That is the CORRECT PROCEDURE. Then plenty of "refuting" of pretty much everything. The lady doth protest too much. They can "refute" all they like but the bottom line is that their selected highlights of the events contradicts much of what I saw on the 2 minute video (now conveniently removed). i.e. Craig Cook chose to ignore all Red Flags and Lights, did not reduce his speed before riding in to and around the 1st / 2nd turn towards his teammates, the Eastbourne Team and Mascots and Track Officials at his point of departure. What I saw on the video was Craig Cook slowing up on entry to the first bend and then turning right towards the open pit gates on the 2nd bend where he collided with a marshall standing in the middle of the track with his right arm directing Craig towards he inside of the track towards the exit of the 2nd bend.... and presumably towards where the parade and all the assembled folks were standing ? I will agree that the ban of Eddie (Ed or Edward ?) Kennett was disproportinate. He should have been banned for 24 days for his premeditated sprint towards the second bend from the parade with only one intention ..... to fight with Craig Cook. What is NOT mentioned by the Eastbourne club is the failure of the other Eastbourne rider sprinting from the parade with Ed Kennett in the fist throwing to receive any ban, nor any ban of Paul Dugard for the initial verbal abuse of Craig Cook.

And the Glasgow riders wouldnt have ridden off if they hadnt been goaded by the presenter and the Eastbourne promotion.......end of

Wrong Cook should never have rode off during the presentation.....100% he was wrong If the marshall hadnt have stepped on to the middle of the track and walked into Cook then Cook wouldnt have kicked off........Cook was 100% wrong again to kick of the way he did But was Cook at fault for the fracas? No the marshall was...............granted if Cook hadnt have rode off the marshall wouldnt have been there........but if the marshall stayed in the right position its more than likely Cook would have simply stopped and nothing more would have happened apart from Cook getting a word in his ear which may well have come from his own management. How far back do you want to take things to assess who was to blame? If you believe Cook was at fault for the fracas........then go back to the reason Cook left the parade........the deliberate act of stirring things up on the microphone from the Eastbourne presenter and the Eastbourne management team So those who think Cook was at fault need to then equally apportion blame on the people who dished out the stick on the mic. The reason a scuffle broke out was because of an over zealous marshall getting in the way.......without him no scuffle.................without the Eastbourne promotion deliberately winding up someone who they no is a bit volatile , then Cook wouldnt have left the parade....the marshall wouldnt have needed to be on the track....the scuffle would never have happened As i said if you think Cook caused the fighting ....then go back to why Cook was on the track in the first place

Why would you be interested in a statement from Glasgow. Oh wait you sniff an opportunity out more than a blind Lesbian in a fish factory.

If he was 'slowing down' then he must have been going faster beforehand at a time when he shouldn't have even been riding the track! With the presentation always held on the back straight, Cook rode off into the 3rd/4th bends and then the home straight before entering bends 1 and 2 (where most of the fan video was taken). Red lights were on and marshalls were holding their red flags on the 3rd/4th bends and the home straight at the side of the track before he went into bends 1/2. Whatever the rights and wrongs of what happened in the 'fracas', (not forgetting it was all witnessed first hand by the SCB's Neil Vatcher as well as the ref!), none of it would have happened if all the Glasgow riders had stayed at the presentation line until it had been fully completed! End of.

Blimey is it not about time everyone moved on ? I just watched the video of this meeting on Eagles TV . It was fantastic to see Tom Brennan in such high spirits and looking forward to getting back on his bike towards the end of this year. Delighted for him after all he and his family have been through.

In Cook's version of events - as published in last week's Star - he didn't hear anything of the presentation announcements as he had his helmet on and didn't realise the parade was still going on!!!!!!

Agreed. Cook pushed the marshall away as I think most people would have done in his situation. The marshall exited the scene. at that point the incident was over or at least should have been. But a host of Eastbourne people - the dugards, track staff, security guards and riders - all confronted Cook and Vissing and the fracas ensued.

I'm guessing it doesn't help that a brilliant race track has been turned to junk, are you saying they should keep turning up and watch junk, just in case. My team are having a good season, been at the top or near top all season, but the racing has been junk, so I stopped going.

He was going very slow and was slowing down and would have never caused an issue to anyone on the back straight Eastbournes statement just deflects everything away from them....right up to saying marshalls with the flags were at the edge of the track

Regardless of the wording, Cook was entering the first bend at a fairly leisurely pace, the group of people were on the back straight. It's ridiculous to suggest he would have caused danger to those on the back straight.

Not true, Tom was easily beating all those riders when they fell, deserved and earned every point. TBO I'm glad hr's staying, you cant ask more from a rider than giving their all and watching him improve week after week is what its all about.

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

Can't speak for anybody else but personally I don't have an ounce of respect for somebody that behaves and conducts themselves like that. Its the same type of aggression in the clip that was shown by a poster a few posts ago at the Eastbourne track, whereby Dugard was clearly seen advancing towards a Glasgow rider and thrusting/pushing the Glasgow rider aggressively such that he was caused to suddenly move backwards a few yards. He obviously has a violent conduct and/or temper problem. The guy needs help.

Better off buying this.

No its not,he has been punished for his actions and serve his ban, if he doesn't miss any meetings it is not punishing him.

My view is that the club is more important than the owner . If supporters stop going to punish the current owner then they are effectively closing the club down. If that is what you want that is your affair , but it will be you that closes the club not the owner. Nobody is going to continue to lose money indefinitely. What supporters should be doing IMO is to create a club that another party would like to take over. The above is not in any way an endorsement of Mr Chapman

Live streaming is coming. But not from all clubs sadly Also if what I'm told is right TV coverage of the british league wont be on BT next year. But will be on eurosport

I have only been to the showground once this season and that meeting will go down as one of the best I have been to ever. It seems that has never been repeated which is a great shame. Peterborough racetrack was arguably the best track in the country prior to the NSS being built.

Sorry Gavan, that is just your opinion of the events, you have absolutely no idea whether he would have ridden off or not. Cook is a bit of a precious at the best of times, what he does when the mist descends sometimes results in nothing more than him getting a meeting postponed, to him throwing punches, riding into officials and knocking heaters off walls....I sometimes wonder whether speedway is the right choice for him tbh.

Exactly how far back do you go Cook wasnt 100% responsible for the fight that ensued.....some are just either lacking in intelligence or simply Cook haters to accept what happened

Cook is only going to give his own version which we can choose to believe or not. But no mention of the marshal in the middle of the track who caused the fracas, only mention those who were in the right. Blinkered.

Excellent statement!!

Well let’s face it that official statement isn’t accurate or factual either, selective facts at best. 3 minute video footage of the sorry incident means you don’t have to be there to make an informed opinion. I take it you believe every word of the statement as correct fact because you were there. Which at best makes you comments blinkered. Its pretty clear the statement put out is at best part fact, part ignore the obvious and part fail to mention the part others who were involved played (notably those from the home side).

Don't think 28 even covers the bond. But if it's 28 from each of your alias,, then that's a serious amount of money.

And Jacob Bukhave from Newcastle.. Just saying.

I have around £28k in savings. How much would Buster be willing to sell for?

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

It's well known that Tungate is poor at Monmore, nothing to do with 'wobbling', he hasn't got enough skill to get round. Riders who think the throttle only has one position i.e. on, will always suffer at Sutherland avenue. And so it should be.

Hhhhmmmm...... Dugard does seem to have a violent conduct and/or temper problem

Exactly. Some people are so hung on the fact the Cook started it by pushing off from the presentations they seem to be excusing any other behaviour after that. 3 people got punished, rightly so. However Eastbourne got off lightly and there statement seems to indicate they carry no blame. Such a blinkered statement,

interesting you should mention him (Brennan), the guy Craig Cook alleged was nearly killed by the unsafe track his step dad owns, as a reason not to race. and people wonder why the Dugards were angry with Cook?

Should have been meetings then and not days could rain for 12 days thats not craigs fault is it

Still no statement from allied HQ yet? Or just a case of brush it under the carpet and pretend it never happened.

RAINED OFF: http://www.scunthorpe-speedway.com/?p=10343

I would hold fire if I was you? The rain is quite heavy and persistent atm and it's forecast for most of the day.... Hopefully the club will do an early call off, for any travelling fans?

Premier League season of 2003 had 18 teams in it. Sadly, it's all been downhill since then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Premier_League_speedway_season

I agree, I'm staggered by how many can't even handle technology to accept Card payments, even major (relative to Speedway) stadia like Monmore Green.

Whether you regard Buster as devil or angel there can be little doubt that Panthers future is seriously concerning.

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

No I don't. But the decision will make others think about who they take and when. People on here have regularly criticised the casual way that riders are being signed and dismissed, and expecting the BSPA to do something about it. Look at the recent pages for evidence. Do if you do, do if you don't.

I've just checked the records of the various leagues that Newcastle have been in since I started watching in 1964 , in 1965 the First Year of the British League there were 18 teams taking part, increasing to 19 the following year, when we re-opened in 1975 in the New National League there were 20 teams taking part that year. So I don't think I exaggerated too much with my memory of 21 Teams at one time in the distant past.

A statement that should have stopped after two paragraphs.

What are the SCB supposed to have done? They posted a statement on the official SCB website on Monday 5th August - the day after the incident(s)! It said they would investigate, which they did (bearing in mind Neil Vatcher, SCB Co-Ordinator was actually there at Eastbourne) and that there would be no further comment until the investigations were complete. The results of the investigation and the punishments were again published on the official website on Sunday 11th - a mere week after the incident(s). Ipswich and Kings Lynn promoters couldn't add anything to the investigations as they weren't there! Quite speedy and proper in my opinion.

Completely and utterly absurd situation, this is the sort of thing which makes the sport a shambles and laughing stock. Giving these riders bans instead of fining them from earnings was so obviously going to create these issues, I hope the goons who made the decisions realise what they have done, but I doubt it somehow.

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.

They were never gonna sign anybody with only 2 home meetings left with no chance of play offs , this has to be the most embarrassing season I've ever witnessed from start to finish a complete pi55take on paying public

He doesn't help himself I'm afraid.

Can I just point out along with other folk that if this in fact is the case (and only you seem to be aware of it) David Wallinger is currently 5th in Plymouth's averages and as such cannot be the sole reason for Plymouth's impending (as you would have it) demise. To blame the Redcar promotion is desperation personified.

No, just left at the bends.