topsoil

This forum in a nutshell

You can tell it must be a decent deal because there isn't pages of whinging. Supporters of any other club would be shouting about this, but with Berwick it's met with silence. Speedway for less than £13, nobody else in the league can compete with that. Good offer for the kids as well, making the night out affordable for families as well.

I've got no inside knowledge on who the club may have tried to sign, but maybe there is a difficulty in attracting riders to Berwick? Maybe riders don't want to travel? Maybe they don't like the track? Just my opinion, but moving down to the National League could be a risk as well, just because I wonder how many fans would think 'I'm not watching that level'? It may be the future of the club, who knows? I think that they will hope that Jye Etheridge continues to improve like he did last season and take the 2nd heat leader position, Leon and Kyle Bickley both continue to improve and Dany Gappmaier to continue to score well at home.

Economic reality. The club could go out and put together an expensive team, but then be out of business within a couple of months. I would love nothing more than the club to be in a position where they could attract "big name" riders, but that simply isn't the case. Look no further than Berwick Rangers if you want an example of how sporting clubs in the town are struggling to find investment and sponsorship. Lets see what the season brings before we judge them.

Must be moving up in the world now that I'm getting called by my Sunday name. What happened to the Muppets and Chuckle Brothers? See you in March for some happy clapping.

Scotland did win the referendum. Not everybody wanted independence.

I makes as much sense as a bjcol post

I'm going to buck the trend and I say I enjoyed the 2019 season. Berwick were predicted to finish bottom or second bottom and for the second year running punched above their weight and narrowly missed out on the playoffs. The promotion at Berwick worked hard with different offers throughout the season. If you bought a season ticket early, it worked out at £13 a meeting. Several meetings were discounted during the season. The riders did their bit at the end of the meetings by going into the crowd and they were swarmed by kids wanting photos and speaking to riders. Racing at Berwick comes in for criticism and the track is not ideally shaped. The speed of the modern bikes doesn't help IMO. But there were some good meetings there last year, the final meeting of the season, the double header with Edinburgh and especially Glasgow, was the best atmosphere I have seen at Berwick for a long, long time. Anyway, I still enjoy my Saturday nights. There is a group of friends who meet every week, we laugh and watch the speedway. Roll on March 2020.

You suppose wrong

Careful, criticism is not accepted. The "experts" will be onto you.

One of the most valid points made on here. Rained off meetings are an absolute killer for promotions. It's what speedway fans do best. They moan when there are not fixtures every week from March to October. They moan it's too wet or cold in March and October. They moan that the big meetings are held at the end of the season. They moan when there are "meaningless" meetings at the end of the season. They moan when meetings are called off that riders didn't give it a go. They moan when meetings go ahead that the racing isn't up to standard. They moan about meetings being on TV. They moan that TV doesn't get as much TV exposure as other sports.

I bow to your expertise.

Apologies, in future I will tow the party line. Your opinion will also be mine.

Another thrilling match by the sounds of things. They just keep coming.

it's totally up to the riders themselves, but the speedway world outside Poland will continue without them. Coincidence or not, but the leagues in Sweden and Britain have been more competitive than Poland this season. Plus it opens the way up for teams in other countries to fill their places with home grown riders.

He's no as daft as he looks

Well, the Polish League playoffs have been right nail biters this year

Good luck with that. This is a Berwick thread. Moaning is a default setting. I agree with both of your points on social media and online shopping. I have seen at first hand how a good online shop can bring in money to a club. As usual, however, both of these would probably rely on volunteers, people who both the time and necessary skills, to run the social media accounts and look after the online shop. Getting people to volunteer their spare time is a hard job these days.

I would have thought any potential sponsors / speedway image links would have concentrated more on speed, power, noise, danger, thrills etc rather than guests, r/r, averages, double points, t/s which, really only speedway anoraks are interested in. I doubt if any potential sponsors of football tournaments are put off by VAR.

And the logic behind this theory is?

Craig Cook should take it as a compliment. Lets face it, all the sportsmen fans "love to hate" is basically because they are successful and a threat to their own team. How many mediocre sportsmen fit into the "love to hate" group? Craig Cook is probably the best rider in the league, the average shows it and as such every rider will see him as a scalp, that's probably why a lot of riders go daft when they beat him, they see it as a major scalp. Personally I love to see him at Berwick (and I would reckon most fans are the same, they boo him, but love to see him race), because he is bloody good. I also like to see him miss the gate, because you know there is going to be some great racing. I've seen fantastic races with him there in the past, Bellego, Doolan and Jye in heat 11 on Saturday.

To be honest I can't see what all the fuss was about. Craig Cook went for a gap, he's a racer, it's probably instinct. The gap closed, there was contact, Jye was brought down, Cook was excluded. All the bravado that followed was good theatre, but it amounted to a great deal of not much. The crowd got wound up and it just added to what was already a great atmosphere. Cook apologised, the riders probably talked it through and the world goes on turning. He may have had hid troubles lately but I can't see hiw the race on Saturday night had anything to do with that. He wanted to win the race and saw an opportunity to do so. Brilliant meeting, the crowd got something to talk about and speedway for me was the winner. I would love if every meeting had the atmosphere Saturday night had. A big crowd, fans giving each other friendly banter and making a load of noise. It was great to be a part of.

That would be something special

Heat 15, he went for a gap to overtake Jye Etheridge, there was contact, Jye came off, Cook was excluded. Nothing wrong with the move, it was hard, there was a gap, he went for it. The decision was right. There was bravado afterwards, finger pointing, threats, pantomime stuff. It all added to the atmosphere. The noise generated by both sets of fans in the second meeting was brilliant and this just ramped it up a bit. Glasgow meetings are always special, because they bring a load of fans. The more fans create a better atmosphere. There is a good bond between the two clubs as well. Cook is the rider Berwick fans love to hate, mainly because of his time as an Edinburgh rider and the fact he is so bloody good around the place. I reckon if you asked Berwick fans they would say that they love booing him but they also admire him because he is damn good to watch around Shielfield.

Same old nonsense. I could mention Barker third to first in heat 6, Gappmaier third to first in heat 8, Doolan passing Heeps in heat 9, Pickering passing Barker in heat 10, Etheridge third to first in heat 13 and Barker passing Heeps in heat 13 but I must have dreamt it. Take your frustration out on your own riders.