Paulco

That happens in sports like Rugby League . It's a nice idea in theory , but in reality someone will find a way round it , much like the financial fair play in football . Trouble with speedway is , there havent been many rules implemented that havent been bent in some way .

Someone offers you a job at £x and you verbally agree terms . You go home and someone else phones you and offers you £x amount more . So you call the first one and say " sorry i've changed my mind " . I've done that in the past and so has thousands of other people , it happens , it's life . But to blame Glasgow for threatening the future existance of clubs and dangering the future of speedway as a whole is hysteria bordering on paranoia . If a club offers to pay a rider more money than another club will , then deal with it . The only future Glasgow is threatening is possibly it's own for the gamble of being a good payer .

They are and they put forward their opinions very well and i do get where they are coming from . But i just feel such a drastic cut in the points limit is going to make life difficult for some riders and also short changing the paying public . For a sport that seems permanently on life support , i dont see how watering down the product is the way to achieve an upturn in it's fortunes . I hope i'm wrong , but i fear a downturn in the level of performers in our league will eventually have a further negative impact on crowd levels . I mean no disrespect to the riders i mention , but are people not more likely to make an effort to go to the track to watch Craig Cook or Nick Morris or Steve and Richie Worrall or Danny King rather than Kevin Doolan or Ludvig Lindgren or Simon Lambert . I've no doubt that the admission prices wont reflect the dropping of the level the riders on show , so i have my doubts about dropping to 38 points will help the sport in any way . Yes in the short term it will save promotions money , but long term do we keep watering down and watering down . It's going to be a make or break year for league speedway at a few venues .

If it meant seeing a better standard of riders racing against each other , then yes . Wasnt too many years ago the points limit was 45 .

How did we cope in the 70's with about 25 teams in our league ?

Yes it was ludicrous having riders riding at number 1 in the Premiership and the Championship at the same time . But watering down the Championship when most of the clubs are struggling to just keep going is a gamble .

We shall see . I just hope watering the product down even further doesnt become a stadium emptier . In the long term you could have 5 pointers becoming 7 or 8 pointers in an easier league , when theyre not really 7 or 8 point men and suddenly unemployable .

38 is 38 last time i checked The only saving grace is that an extra team means the 38 point limit wont put 7 riders out of a job

Much head scratching with most promotions about how to fit 7 riders into this ridiculous points limit . Think it will take more time than usual to find out who is riding where next year

He'll be Leicester bound i would have thought

Thats an interesting point , what would Woffinden come in on ? Haha . The 38 point limit should rule Cook out of the equation , sad but he'd take too large a chunk out of the points limit . Personally i'd have Vissing , Kerr and Starke back . That would be roughly 21 points . I'd take Pickering in a heartbeat if Edinburgh could be persuaded to part with him , but riders on his sort of average will be like gold dust . Especially him , who'd put 2 points on his average on a proper speedway track . Kemp and Thomas at reserve would be a major coup and throw in a Coty Garcia and that should be umder the limit .

Maybe so Dot , but if you dont ask you dont get

They made a big song and dance about running on a Friday night ( remember the famous letter ) so it would be a bit embarrassing to return to a Sunday afternoon after just one season running on a Friday night . I'm surprised at Somerset dropping back down , but glad too as i love the place and if we also get Birmingham and Kent , then we might get some Southern Tours again too . With Ipswich moving up to the top flight , we should be enquiring after Drew Kemp . I know every club in the Championship will be after him , but surely we must ask the question .

38 points is a big drop . Will the admission price reflect the difference now between the top two leagues ? Or will we be paying as much , and in some cases more , than the top flight ?

Yeah i enjoyed my trips to Ipswich , your club and fans were a great asset to our league . All the best back in the top flight

We already have volunteers doing that kind of stuff

Is it co-incidence that this statement came out on the opening day of the promoter's conference ?

Probably a bit of both . The owners have been pushing for Friday nights ever since they took over the club . But to be honest i dont see any significant increase in crowd levels compared to a Sunday afternoon . We have probably hit the ceiling of what size of crowd speedway in Glasgow can attract now , regardless of which day we have our meetings .

I preferred the Sunday meetings , but the amount of speedway abroad , long track and grass track , makes attracting riders to Glasgow all the more difficult for a Sunday these days

Mr " can i get a concession ? " . Could he afford to get the round in ?

No that was Bill , he doesnt go anymore as he goes to a lot of rock gigs round about Glasgow and theyre mostly on a Friday and Saturday night . Aye him and i and Alan McFarlane have had a few boozy away trips , especially to Somerset .

Your Workington bias is understandable , it"s not every season one feels the euphoria a treble brings . Just make it a four timer by coming to the tapes next March to defend your titles .

Its a bit unfair to single out individuals when there are so many interesting and knowledgeable contributors to this section of the forum . Yes there are also a few numpties who's sole purpose is to wind folk up and also one or two of the nasty variety . But thankfully they are in the minority and the rest of us love the sport and i enjoy the quiet moments reading the various threads . I remember the days when i went to the speedway ; went home and didnt have anyone to talk to about it until the following week , so this forum has been a godsend in that respect . Long may it continue to flourish .

Rider of the year - got to be Craig Cook , it's a pleasure watching him every home meeting . Impressive team - only one candidate here - Workington Team rider - Paul Starke , racked up the bonus points in the Glasgow engine room . One to watch - Josh Pickering . The confines of his home track isnt suited to his all action style . Watch his progress rocket if he moves away to somewhere like Scunthorpe Bulldog award - again Craig Cook Meeting of the season - Scunthorpe v Glasgow the day after Cardiff Surprise of the season - Berwick's dads army looked basement dwellers , They were anything but that . Underperformers - Ipswich's season was blighted by injury which was the main reason they finished mid table Unluckiest rider - youmg Dan Bewley . Hope this bad injury doesnt halt his progress Newcomer - the young laddie at Ipswich - Drew Kemp - what a prospect he is

Since the days of Lou Sansom and Mal Mackay the Comets faithful have been waiting on a seven man team success . Now they're like buses . Well done to the 2018 Comets , a wonderful and well deserved achievement.