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Somerset 2019


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Weather forecast looking ok so far for Wednesday (10th). Let's hope no rain-off again.

Pity we haven't got Charles Wright this year. Anyone else notice how well he's performing of late? The season's barely begun but he's scored 82+2 points already!

11 for Redcar on 5th April
11+1 for Peterborough on 1st April
13 for Redcar on 31st March
13 for Redcar on 30th March
13+1 for Redcar on 29th March
9 for Redcar on 23rd March
12 at the Ben Fun Bonanza on 17th March

 

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On 4/6/2019 at 10:34 AM, Harry The Goat said:

Weather forecast looking ok so far for Wednesday (10th). Let's hope no rain-off again.

Pity we haven't got Charles Wright this year. Anyone else notice how well he's performing of late? The season's barely begun but he's scored 82+2 points already!

11 for Redcar on 5th April
11+1 for Peterborough on 1st April
13 for Redcar on 31st March
13 for Redcar on 30th March
13+1 for Redcar on 29th March
9 for Redcar on 23rd March
12 at the Ben Fun Bonanza on 17th March

 

Had an opportunity to ride for us but turned it down apparently. Good luck to him but I’m not bothered he’s not with us. I’m only interested in our guys, not anyone who fancied going elsewhere. He was one of my favourites over the years and I always keep an eye out for all our previous guys, but not bothered he isn’t with us. Redcar looking like they may be thereabouts at the end of the season already .

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31 minutes ago, Cliffeboy said:

Had an opportunity to ride for us but turned it down apparently. Good luck to him but I’m not bothered he’s not with us. I’m only interested in our guys, not anyone who fancied going elsewhere. He was one of my favourites over the years and I always keep an eye out for all our previous guys, but not bothered he isn’t with us. Redcar looking like they may be thereabouts at the end of the season already .

Really Cliff? He’s going to be one of the top riders in the league come the end of the year. We should of bent over backwards to make sure he signed for us.

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18 hours ago, Najjer said:

Really Cliff? He’s going to be one of the top riders in the league come the end of the year. We should of bent over backwards to make sure he signed for us.

Maybe Naj, but you can only go so far. Wrighty was goin no where until we took him on , he has been in our side regularly now and has rebuilt his career and has reached a good level in a watered down league. The tear up with Gary didn’t help, and we thought it had all been sorted , but obviously not. Will Wrighty out score Bomber and Rory, cos that will be the target. Don’t get me wrong I’ve always liked Charles and I am sorry to see him leave, but I’m also not going to dwell on it. Charles has started well but so has Bomber, let see how good Chris is once he gets properly dialled into the OTA. 

Ps , the little one looks a smasher.

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On 3/27/2019 at 4:44 PM, Najjer said:

No team suits and just racejackets that look like they made in the 1980s again this year :(

 

On 3/27/2019 at 10:27 PM, Najjer said:

Does it really matter - in my opinion, yes. Top division or not, they look like a bunch of amateurs from the 80s at the moment. Hardly appealing to new sponsors.

Money could actually be made from aside from other sponsors on them. Other clubs like I think Leicester and Glasgow to name two have ordinary seen the chance of getting fans to pay for them and then keep them at the end of the year. A silent auction could be held which could generate profit to put back into the club. Can’t do that to the same extent with race jackets from the antiques roadshow.

 

It's not as easy as you think Naj, I know, as I try every year and getting small businesses to sponsor/advertise with the club is getting harder by the year. Whilst getting supporters to fund the suits sounds great, and might work in Glasgow or Leicester where you have a much larger conurbations to gather support from, it's a lot more difficult in somewhere like Somerset, you only have to look at the kind of support you get when asking supporters to support events at the arena, away from normal race night, even when the cost is negligible, it's the same old small hard core of people who attend & spend the money.

As to your point about it not being appealing to sponsors, the club attracted several new sponsors last season and that was without race suits, as they were more interested in the hospitality side to entertain their clients and staff. One of those sponsors have increased there spend on sponsoring with us this season and the lack of race suits never entered the equation with them, they just wanted more visibility at trackside and around the arena, in addition to the hospitality side of things. If you speak to new sponsors coming into the sport, in my experience, it's more to do with networking & hospitality, somewhere to bring clients or potential clients as a way to tie up their business.

If you and others want to come forwards and offer to buy the race suits for the team, and to keep for yourself at the end of the season, then I'm sure the promotion would be very happy to talk it through with you and anyone wishing to do that.

If you look at the reasons the promotion took the decision to take the club back into the Championship, you'll realise that it was done to safeguard the long term future of the club, and not to take a huge financial hit that would see us in the top league, only to have a limited life span. It was also a decision that was taken at the actual AGM, and not beforehand, as the intention was to run in the Premiership again, but decisions made at that AGM  made it financially impossible for that to happen and for the club to continue into the foreseeable future. The promotion's ethos is to ensure they don't do anything that puts the club in danger of big financial losses, so if that means that we run in the Championship for now, and no race suits, that fine by me, as I would rather the club survive, than join the likes of Rye House, Workington & Lakeside on the proverbial speedway scrapheap.

Next year is another year, and if the terms are right, I'm sure that the promotion would look at moving back to the Premiership (If there is one to move back to that is), and if they can be funded, I'm sure race suits would be on the agenda, but until that happens, we are where we are.    

On 4/6/2019 at 10:34 AM, Harry The Goat said:

Pity we haven't got Charles Wright this year.

 

21 hours ago, Cliffeboy said:

Had an opportunity to ride for us but turned it down apparently. Good luck to him but I’m not bothered he’s not with us. I’m only interested in our guys, not anyone who fancied going elsewhere. He was one of my favourites over the years and I always keep an eye out for all our previous guys, but not bothered he isn’t with us. Redcar looking like they may be thereabouts at the end of the season already .

 

20 hours ago, Najjer said:

Really Cliff? He’s going to be one of the top riders in the league come the end of the year. We should of bent over backwards to make sure he signed for us.

I know for a fact, because I've talked to him at length about it, that Garry sorted out a really good deal for Wrighty, and I know how it was going to be funded. Wrighty stated at events he attended at the Oaktree, before the season, that he wanted to come back, he virtually told the fans he was coming back and had accepted the deal Garry put together. He agreed to rejoin the team, and it was the best deal he could have got from us. However, a team that came to the AGM, and pleaded abject poverty, saying that they couldn't run if they didn't get a 36pt team building average agreed by the rest of the promoters, then went and offered him far more than we had offered or could afford.

So despite the fact that you feel he will be a top rider in the league this season, which I don't disagree with, he is not at Somerset, and that isn't the clubs fault. I'm not saying it's Wrighty's fault either, as riders will go where the money is, but when a team tells you it can't run unless you dumb down the product to something that is totally unrecognisable, and then acts like that, something's very wrong with this game.  

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5 hours ago, womble53 said:

 

 

It's not as easy as you think Naj, I know, as I try every year and getting small businesses to sponsor/advertise with the club is getting harder by the year. Whilst getting supporters to fund the suits sounds great, and might work in Glasgow or Leicester where you have a much larger conurbations to gather support from, it's a lot more difficult in somewhere like Somerset, you only have to look at the kind of support you get when asking supporters to support events at the arena, away from normal race night, even when the cost is negligible, it's the same old small hard core of people who attend & spend the money.

As to your point about it not being appealing to sponsors, the club attracted several new sponsors last season and that was without race suits, as they were more interested in the hospitality side to entertain their clients and staff. One of those sponsors have increased there spend on sponsoring with us this season and the lack of race suits never entered the equation with them, they just wanted more visibility at trackside and around the arena, in addition to the hospitality side of things. If you speak to new sponsors coming into the sport, in my experience, it's more to do with networking & hospitality, somewhere to bring clients or potential clients as a way to tie up their business.

If you and others want to come forwards and offer to buy the race suits for the team, and to keep for yourself at the end of the season, then I'm sure the promotion would be very happy to talk it through with you and anyone wishing to do that.

If you look at the reasons the promotion took the decision to take the club back into the Championship, you'll realise that it was done to safeguard the long term future of the club, and not to take a huge financial hit that would see us in the top league, only to have a limited life span. It was also a decision that was taken at the actual AGM, and not beforehand, as the intention was to run in the Premiership again, but decisions made at that AGM  made it financially impossible for that to happen and for the club to continue into the foreseeable future. The promotion's ethos is to ensure they don't do anything that puts the club in danger of big financial losses, so if that means that we run in the Championship for now, and no race suits, that fine by me, as I would rather the club survive, than join the likes of Rye House, Workington & Lakeside on the proverbial speedway scrapheap.

Next year is another year, and if the terms are right, I'm sure that the promotion would look at moving back to the Premiership (If there is one to move back to that is), and if they can be funded, I'm sure race suits would be on the agenda, but until that happens, we are where we are.    

 

 

I know for a fact, because I've talked to him at length about it, that Garry sorted out a really good deal for Wrighty, and I know how it was going to be funded. Wrighty stated at events he attended at the Oaktree, before the season, that he wanted to come back, he virtually told the fans he was coming back and had accepted the deal Garry put together. He agreed to rejoin the team, and it was the best deal he could have got from us. However, a team that came to the AGM, and pleaded abject poverty, saying that they couldn't run if they didn't get a 36pt team building average agreed by the rest of the promoters, then went and offered him far more than we had offered or could afford.

So despite the fact that you feel he will be a top rider in the league this season, which I don't disagree with, he is not at Somerset, and that isn't the clubs fault. I'm not saying it's Wrighty's fault either, as riders will go where the money is, but when a team tells you it can't run unless you dumb down the product to something that is totally unrecognisable, and then acts like that, something's very wrong with this game.  

With regards the race suits, no I won’t be offering to buy one as that is far from being near the top or even close on my priority list. If I had my own business that was making a tidy profit then it would be a different ball game altogether. Regardless of what current sponsors enquire about or are happy with, there is no doubt if the oppertunity to have further exposure, keep a race suit and the countless number of photos that come with it, I have no doubt they would be happy to part with an extra £500. There is always scope for more and more.

I’m also aware and don’t doubt the Premiership and Charles Wright conundrum for one minute. Redcar’s attitude at the AGM is exactly why the sport is in the mess it is with continued self interest instead of trying to better the sport.

However - the how, when and whys whilst they are understandable, but doesn’t stop the fact I have little to no desire to watch Championship speedway. The blow would of been softened by watching Wright, Allen, Wilson-Dean etc but our team is anything but inspiring. After watching speedway for 19 years and following Somerset up and down the country it’s sad to feel that way and current situation. I hope I’m the only one who thinks like that otherwise the drop to the 2nd tier will be financial suicide. I hope Somerset have a great season and will continue to follow them albeit from at home more often than not and return to the top division where they belong.

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Najjer sorry you feel that way but i followed a team that folded .. Exeter   and since then have followed Somerset for my speedway fix ... any speedway is better than none and you miss it when its not there.  

The OTA is top racing whatever league you are in and the management do a good job unlike others.

hope to see you there sometime all the best to you and your family 

Edited by idh
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15 hours ago, Najjer said:

With regards the race suits, no I won’t be offering to buy one as that is far from being near the top or even close on my priority list. If I had my own business that was making a tidy profit then it would be a different ball game altogether. Regardless of what current sponsors enquire about or are happy with, there is no doubt if the oppertunity to have further exposure, keep a race suit and the countless number of photos that come with it, I have no doubt they would be happy to part with an extra £500. There is always scope for more and more.

I’m also aware and don’t doubt the Premiership and Charles Wright conundrum for one minute. Redcar’s attitude at the AGM is exactly why the sport is in the mess it is with continued self interest instead of trying to better the sport.

However - the how, when and whys whilst they are understandable, but doesn’t stop the fact I have little to no desire to watch Championship speedway. The blow would of been softened by watching Wright, Allen, Wilson-Dean etc but our team is anything but inspiring. After watching speedway for 19 years and following Somerset up and down the country it’s sad to feel that way and current situation. I hope I’m the only one who thinks like that otherwise the drop to the 2nd tier will be financial suicide. I hope Somerset have a great season and will continue to follow them albeit from at home more often than not and return to the top division where they belong.

Before you open your mouth about charles wright and reacar go and get all the true FACTS first

 

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17 minutes ago, Trackerman48 said:

Before you open your mouth about charles wright and reacar go and get all the true FACTS first

 

I don't know the numbers involved but the basics are that Wight likes both tracks, Wright will be one of the top performers in the league this year and had Wright been offered a deal on terms with that offered to Harris or Schlein i don't doubt he would be at Somerset right now (even with the poor way he was treated previously). Redcar could put him a deal forward as one of the top 2 in the side and thats where he ended up. I feel the Rebels loss is definitely the Bears gain this year.

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I agree with you Najjer ,but with me being a pensioner and no concessions either add car-park and programme and  I am paying more to go and watch top flight speedway WHY WHY they have done this is beyond me like you I will pick my meetings and even may go and watch Wolves Swindon and Poole

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1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

I don't know the numbers involved but the basics are that Wight likes both tracks, Wright will be one of the top performers in the league this year and had Wright been offered a deal on terms with that offered to Harris or Schlein i don't doubt he would be at Somerset right now (even with the poor way he was treated previously). Redcar could put him a deal forward as one of the top 2 in the side and thats where he ended up. I feel the Rebels loss is definitely the Bears gain this year.

I think given the choice between Schlein, Harris or Wright most Somerset fans would of taken Wright over the other two. Regardless of the ins and outs it’s Somerset fans lose for sure and very much Redcar’s gain.

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1 hour ago, Najjer said:

I think given the choice between Schlein, Harris or Wright most Somerset fans would of taken Wright over the other two. Regardless of the ins and outs it’s Somerset fans lose for sure and very much Redcar’s gain.

Am I missing something here , Wrighty was offered a deal which he agreed to and then changed his mind and decided to go to Redcar for better money. At no time did our promotion discard him or say they didn’t want him to ride for us. So to all intents and purposes he was going to be Rebel in 2019. His choice to go to Redcar. How does anyone know if his decision will be Redcars gain ! What a nice greeting to our new guys who lets face it , are pretty decent themselves, to the club. Stop going on about coulda shoulda, no Wrighty this season , his choice. He’s been a real entertainer and crowd favourite, but he’s gone now, new team, new division. At least give these guys a chance.

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