SharpenRake

And it looks as if Glasgow couldn't afford him for another year

Perhaps THJ should spend more time clinching deals rather than posting on the BSF; wouldn't be surprised if worky have lost a second rider in the last few days, not to Glasgow of course

And I would guess they will be all on £1000 a point

Well Ive been enjoying a well earned rest , not had internet connection, and anyway there has been nothing to talk about recently. Sadly you are wrong, I didn't congratulate you for winning the treble but I will congratulate the riders of Workington who rode extremely well and covered for the sad injury to young Dan. I hope there loyalty to the fans and the club has been suitably rewarded. Despite what you and THJ might think I am totally against cheque book speedway and that's what Ive been trying to say. The old guard suggest one thing prior to the conference and then change there mind at the conference resulting in deals getting torn up cos they move the goal posts - 7 instead of 6 man teams and 38 rather than 36 average. This then results in gazumping as riders with 5 point averages can hold out for more or as ive said on another post in the somerset thread riders can say they've been approached by Glasgow, even if they haven't, and suggest theyve been offered a better deal. The original club then either offers more or the rider accepts what was first offered by saying I've always wanted to stay, I love the track, I love the fans, etc etc. But feel free to ignore all of this as no doubt youll think I'm having a dig at you and all the others with chips on there shoulders

I think when you talk to riders you will find that all of them have been approached by Glasgow and offered unbelievable money. This results in the team offering more money to try and get them or the rider eventually saying despite being offered a lot more by Glasgow I'll ride for you because I love the fans, love the track, its a lot closer to home, always wanted to ride for the team manger, its something my parents would have wanted me to do ………………..

Well that's ok then and clearly this approach of being caught out by believing what others have said followed by gazumping works. Still think clubs could try and work together and try and keep costs down. Interesting that you could match the terms of the rich club so obviously you must be rich as well Think the whole scenario you mention is a bit rich.

I'm not even sure it will save money as the 5 point guys will now be able to ask for more £s per point. They will also score more cause of the lower standard and probably increase their average meaning next year they will be unemployable and the sorry cycle starts again. Can't help thinking that some promoters are still being conned by those in the know. I have heard that some owners believed that 6 man teams had been agreed with a 36 point average and they had started working towards that. But at the AGM some clubs changed there mind and we end up with 7 man teams and a 38 point average. This has meant tear up all the deals you had drafted or run with two 2 point men at reserve which would be suicide. Remarkably at least one club seems to have anticipated the 7 man/38 point limit and has signed 4 riders already. No doubt others will start gazumping other clubs in order to now get a team that fits. A nice example of all clubs working together and keeping costs down!

In the interests of harmony I'm out of here. Thanks for calling some of us Dick heads its really appreciated especially coming from someone with such mastery of the English language and worth a few bob - give my regards to steve.

I see someone's hacked 'her' account

Free tickets were a controlled marketing initiative to try and attract new fans and even if they didn't come back they spent money on food and drink, raffle tickets. Not been used this year, try and keep up

have shortened these pieces of bilious nonsense to save boredom but also to make it clear who I am responding to. lets do a bit of compare and contrast. 2 successful business men with money invest in land/stadium and speedway team. Crowds treble at a time when other clubs are down to the hard core. This is described as bank rolling the club as if that is bad. meanwhile an unfortunate lady who suffers shocking injuries uses her money to try and save a team. in this case investing money is obviously good. The business men surround themselves with people who have ran the club in the past, welcome other business men as sponsors, make fans welcome and encourage them to get involved in a positive manner. these fans end up developing the best social media service in UK speedway, undertake post match interviews for broadcast on facebook, help establish a weekly local radio show about speedway(!) and get national publicity for speedway on the BBCs Eggheads quiz show to name just some of the initiatives. Meanwhile Laura does her best with Jacko and another chap (probably THJ). They have fans like taylorj and jenga. Laura and her partners pour money that she can probably ill afford down the drain that is Workington speedway. Presumably jacko and co are well respected but for some reason other teams are not willing to try and help (apparently). What has Laura or Jacko done to upset the BSPA, apart from apparently calling fellow clubs 'bar stewards'? What did the SCB say about this, what was Workys Plan B, are your fans getting together and forming a trust? Come on THJ you know all the answers! Meanwhile poor laura and her partners are leaking money as opposed to bankrolling the club and the most constructive thing I've read on here by a fan was make the food better! But never mind remember bankrolling is 'bad', pouring good money after bad is 'good'. You couldn't make it up

After the recent thrashings handed out to teams like Workington wasn't too hopeful particularly with Cookie missing. So to take them to a run off was was even more frustrating. Now if Carl hadn't come off when in a scoring position.....

Surprised, very surprised

wasn't making a cheap dig about crowd levels was making a cheap dig at the reasons behind them. And sorry have to disagree with you about teams folding. And this is not about Workington and I really do mean it, this time. But if a speedway club cant provide the basics in terms of a raceable track, safe stadium, paying there way, offering reasonable entertainment and fulfilling a minimum of fixtures then they should be asked to leave the organisation (hopefully on a temporary basis) just like the Tigers team that relocated to Workington when they lost there Blantyre stadium, ironic eh. it is wrong for teams to turn up and say at BSPA meetings if we have to race home and away twice like last year we shall have to close down - this was NOT Workington as they weren't present. All that this form of blackmail has done is drag everyone down to there level and all clubs have struggled due to a stop start season with weeks going by without any meetings - again not a dig at Workington. BUT if riders are given a fixture list at start of the season you can't blame them for trying to get other meetings to make up the shortfall caused by only having one home and away and that's a key reason why teams wouldn't ride in matches needing rearranging as there riders were riding abroad or in long track or grass track or on holiday with the missus!

Such a well spoken young lady with fans like you I can't understand why workington's crowds are so low Whilst not wanting to criticise you just to mention its the Scottish Cup not the Spring Trophy and we only took this booking once all other matches had been agreed. We thought it was only fair to our fans who had bought lots of tickets from our promotion for this second leg which was sadly rained off at the start of the year. These tickets were only valid for the 2nd leg but Edinburgh couldn't fit us in until they got knocked out of all the other competitions. so better late than never .

It's a shame that some clubs are unable or unwilling to sign lease agreements that guarantees the availability of a stadium to race meetings. Surely this should be a standard necessity if a club wants to participate in a particular league otherwise the whole competition could become a bit of a circus and we wouldn't want that to happen regarding Glasgow claiming precedence, not at all. Firstly they cannot possibly beat any team that has such honest fans as Worky. And even if we did I'm sure everyone would want to wait until all the cups are completed after all they are more important than a league championship. These cup matches are obviously the most important as they have been deliberately left until the last minute to emphasise there importance. Theres nothing like standing in the cold and drizzle cheering on your team standing next to one man and his imaginary dog. Why would you race in the summer when the weather is good and fans are just itching to attend a meeting - even more so at Workington where itching I've been told is a common complaint. And everyone remembers the cup and shield champions but who on here can remember who won the league the last few years. so yes, no complaints from Glasgow and I really honestly mean that

I blame Sellafield

Hello anytime

Come on Wonky fans where's your loyalty

Apart from Taylorj name one

We offered numerous dates and times to suit Workington but funnily enough you didn't want to come without Klindt. we also thought it would be nice to have a few fans present . we realise you don't understand what a crowd looks like, although some people in worky think 3's a crowd. So we can now promote this semi in the manner required, something like we look forward to a nice match between the comets and their friendly likeable fans and the tigers. Regarding the day, we thought about Thursdays or even a Monday morning but that could have been a problem for a few of the danes as they celebrated on the Wednesday and Sunday nights having received wages, 'Wages' ? look it up in the dictionary.

Sarj will do well especially cos of the stick he got last year from the wonky fans

So why the hell do the promoters persist with play offs. This years are already a farce with all 4 teams having to use guests and/or rr meaning the league title will be determined by the choice of guests rather than the best team

Hopefully this match will help with Workingtons inability to arrange matches as they will be totally humped and knocked out. Help I've just realised what I've said

The thing is, the play offs are meant to be the financial saviour for some teams and meant to be looked forward to by fans. One way to ensure a big crowd for both legs is to give advance notice of the dates so fans can plan ahead and promoters promote, I realise this is a alien concept for most worky fans who obviously have spent time working in or close to Sellafield. Fans also in the past have welcomed fixtures that are back to back rather than spread out. The suggested 6 and 7th would have done that. Some worky fans are upset that Glasgow suggested Sunday 7th for there home leg as it isn't there raceday although forgetting its our alternative day. Other worky fans think we should hold it when it suits worky as we can race anytime we like. So no thought for what might be the best day to promote the match and get a good crowd. It is that type of thinking that has got Workington in to a mess from which it will be difficult to recover. This thread alone and the lack of dates will cost worky c250 Glasgow fans that will no longer travel.