Workington 2019

[jenga]

18 minutes ago, A.N.Other said:

A significant reason that the Comets cannot run this year, is just that...the sheer volume of meetings they were forced to fit in, within such a short space of time !  In other words, they were literally "victims of their own success" !!  Whilst attendances were up on normal for a lot of those meetings, it STILL wasnt enough to pay off debts unfortunately. 

did the club not get any reward from the bspa for winning the league and two cups . were there no cash incentives for winning those 3 trophies given to the comets management at all ?

Edited January 25, 2019 by jenga
wheres me hat ?

[Tsunami]

6 minutes ago, jenga said:

did the club not get any reward from the bspa for winning the league and two cups . were there no cash incentives for winning those 3 trophies given to the comets management at all ?

Nope. The Cup plus 10 little ones usually.

[jenga]

2 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Nope. The Cup plus 10 little ones usually.

what . £10  ?    so thats £30 . 

[Neila]

In all the cup competitions I believe the comets management provided the medels to give the riders, the beloved Bspa did not provide any !! And I was told the shield for the shield final was not the official one, this was lost by the Bspa, it was on loan from a collector of speedway items, 

[jenga]

6 minutes ago, Neila said:

In all the cup competitions I believe the comets management provided the medels to give the riders, the beloved Bspa did not provide any !! And I was told the shield for the shield final was not the official one, this was lost by the Bspa, it was on loan from a collector of speedway items, 

so the collector stole the official shield and then loaned it back for the final .. or is that fake news ?

Edited January 25, 2019 by jenga
rat a tat hat !

[shazza13]

I was informed there wasn't a shield as it was a new revised comp Jacko had to buy it and the BSPA reimbursed him....

 

[Halifaxtiger]

On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 1:06 PM, Liz !!! said:

I think people should think twice about looking for someone to blame and remember the support that local businesses have given to the club over the years, and the fact that when we are looking to return in 2020 we will be looking to them again to help get us up and running again. Never bite the hand that feeds you

What you say is true, but if someone promised to help and then reneged on it I don't think that should merely be swept under the carpet. Based upon what BB has said - and he is usually right - the entire scenario of Workington coming to the tapes in 2019 and riders being signed could have been avoided. That's no small matter and broken promises regarding sponsorship have hit speedway hard over the years.

Having said that, the criticism should be kept in context and with 2020 in mind. 

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 9:17 PM, spin king junior said:

You try reading Mason Campton article and tell me again that it's harder on the fans than the riders. I have full sympathy for the workington loyals. But I'm sorry, nothing compares to losing a job or in Campton case, a career.

When a track closes, riders generally move on to another club. Of the Lakeside team from 2018, all are competing in 2019.  

Lets face it, riders losing their team place - often through no fault of their own - is hardly unusual. 

In this case, it is the timing of Workington's closure that has hit hard. I must admit I haven't read any article, but I find it most surprising that one team folding means that a riding career is finished. I can't recall another rider like that. 

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that should the Comets not come to the tapes in 2020 or for years after, many of those who attended in 2018 will never go to speedway again. 

The overwhelming majority of fans simply do not switch from one club to another - some of the Workington faithful will having been going for 20 years -  and that's why a track closure hits them harder.

[SteelShoe]

Without the offer(s) of financial support it's fair to say Worky's position at the AGM would have been one of not coming to tapes in 2019. The fact that the support wasn't subsequently forthcoming  ultimately resulted in the very untimely withdrawal and the putting of the licence on 'ice'.

[SteelShoe]

6 hours ago, shazza13 said:

I was informed there wasn't a shield as it was a new revised comp Jacko had to buy it and the BSPA reimbursed him....

 

I believe this to be correct. Very mickey mouse for professional sport and yet another indication of how relatively poorly the sport is run in the uk compounded by the continuing inability to attract major sponsorship.

[spin king junior]

8 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

What you say is true, but if someone promised to help and then reneged on it I don't think that should merely be swept under the carpet. Based upon what BB has said - and he is usually right - the entire scenario of Workington coming to the tapes in 2019 and riders being signed could have been avoided. That's no small matter and broken promises regarding sponsorship have hit speedway hard over the years.

Having said that, the criticism should be kept in context and with 2020 in mind. 

When a track closes, riders generally move on to another club. Of the Lakeside team from 2018, all are competing in 2019.  

Lets face it, riders losing their team place - often through no fault of their own - is hardly unusual. 

In this case, it is the timing of Workington's closure that has hit hard. I must admit I haven't read any article, but I find it most surprising that one team folding means that a riding career is finished. I can't recall another rider like that. 

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that should the Comets not come to the tapes in 2020 or for years after, many of those who attended in 2018 will never go to speedway again. 

The overwhelming majority of fans simply do not switch from one club to another - some of the Workington faithful will having been going for 20 years -  and that's why a track closure hits them harder.

I'd still argue in the case of losing your job I still don't see it as remotely the same. Yeah, riders might pick up places later in the season, but it's not a guarantee and life doesn't stop for these riders. Who are we to know these riders don't rely on these jobs? They live in the here and now, and for the likes of McDonald, Lambert and Campton you have to feel awful for. In Campton case, he's in the absolute worst position because it's looking at 2 years out with how the visas work. 

 

Again, I do feel sympathy and you know I'd be heartbroken if Sheffield closed. I am 100% sympathetic to their case, but you'll never convince me that the riders haven't been hit hardest by this.

[A.N.Other]

17 hours ago, jenga said:

did the club not get any reward from the bspa for winning the league and two cups . were there no cash incentives for winning those 3 trophies given to the comets management at all ?

What Planet do you live on Jenga ?   The words "Reward" and "BSPA" arent in the same dictionary !  Let alone "Cash Incentive" !!  Cant say too much, but lets put it this way..to put into context what "rewards" they got as a club...shall we say that its "highly possible" that not all of the presentations to riders or club were paid for by the BSPA ! (Allegedly)  You can make your own deductions from that.

Edited January 26, 2019 by A.N.Other

[A.N.Other]

16 hours ago, jenga said:

so the collector stole the official shield and then loaned it back for the final .. or is that fake news ?

Where are you Mr Trump ? !!!   Lol Lol.

[A.N.Other]

13 hours ago, shazza13 said:

I was informed there wasn't a shield as it was a new revised comp Jacko had to buy it and the BSPA reimbursed him....

 

Is all of that statement correct Sharon ? 

[A.N.Other]

10 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

 

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that should the Comets not come to the tapes in 2020 or for years after, many of those who attended in 2018 will never go to speedway again. 

 

My fear is that even if they DO come to the tapes in 2020, we will already have lost even more people through the turnstiles. 

[A.N.Other]

6 hours ago, SteelShoe said:

Without the offer(s) of financial support it's fair to say Worky's position at the AGM would have been one of not coming to tapes in 2019. The fact that the support wasn't subsequently forthcoming  ultimately resulted in the very untimely withdrawal and the putting of the licence on 'ice'.

100 per cent CORRECT !

[Halifaxtiger]

4 hours ago, spin king junior said:

I'd still argue in the case of losing your job I still don't see it as remotely the same. Yeah, riders might pick up places later in the season, but it's not a guarantee and life doesn't stop for these riders. Who are we to know these riders don't rely on these jobs? They live in the here and now, and for the likes of McDonald, Lambert and Campton you have to feel awful for. In Campton case, he's in the absolute worst position because it's looking at 2 years out with how the visas work. 

 

Again, I do feel sympathy and you know I'd be heartbroken if Sheffield closed. I am 100% sympathetic to their case, but you'll never convince me that the riders haven't been hit hardest by this.

One of the reasons for my view is precisely because I know how hard you would get hit if anything happened to Sheffield.

[screm]

2 hours ago, A.N.Other said:

My fear is that even if they DO come to the tapes in 2020, we will already have lost even more people through the turnstiles. 

Must admit I have my doubts that Workington will be back in 2020 , hopefully they will, but if they do you highlight their biggest problem. Very easy to get out of the habit of going to the speedway each Saturday.

[Binman]

Workington get a national league team together now keep speedway alive.Northern rider's ready to ride

[mikebv]

Three Comps all ending within a fortnight of each other is crackers....

Spread them out over the season...

Workington should have had several weeks of locally building up the hype of their potential double then subsequent treble..

Not to mention time to celebrate (and make the most publicity wise) of their first trophy won..

Expecting fans to attend every few days, like they had to, will inevitably also effect attendances negatively due to the cost...

Spreading out the trophies will also potentially help teams that might start the season well and then get injuries..

Speedway should do as much as it can to keep itself in the public eye so spread out the Finals...

 

[leander]

15 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

What you say is true, but if someone promised to help and then reneged on it I don't think that should merely be swept under the carpet. Based upon what BB has said - and he is usually right - the entire scenario of Workington coming to the tapes in 2019 and riders being signed could have been avoided. That's no small matter and broken promises regarding sponsorship have hit speedway hard over the years.

Having said that, the criticism should be kept in context and with 2020 in mind. 

When a track closes, riders generally move on to another club. Of the Lakeside team from 2018, all are competing in 2019.  

Lets face it, riders losing their team place - often through no fault of their own - is hardly unusual. 

In this case, it is the timing of Workington's closure that has hit hard. I must admit I haven't read any article, but I find it most surprising that one team folding means that a riding career is finished. I can't recall another rider like that. 

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that should the Comets not come to the tapes in 2020 or for years after, many of those who attended in 2018 will never go to speedway again. 

The overwhelming majority of fans simply do not switch from one club to another - some of the Workington faithful will having been going for 20 years -  and that's why a track closure hits them harder.

In Mason's case he has a work visa which expires towards the end of March 2019. He qualified in an Australian state championship for a new visa this year. However, it is, in effect, an extension to his current one. He needs to be in the UK before his old one expires, and have a job riding speedway (i.e. a work sponsor) for this season in order to actually obtain the visa. If he hasn't got a team place before his current visa expires then he won't get his new one for this year. This means he'll have to sit out this season in it's entirety as he won't be allowed to sign for anybody else mid season. Since most, if not all, clubs are not actually starting to ride until late (very) March or early April the chances of him getting signed up are extremely remote. A similar thing happened to Ty Proctor a few years ago. I suppose he thinks the missing a year at this stage of his career would make it hard to come back.