workington ..

[geoff100]

Nice piece in the "star" about a possible comeback but not sure about national league,tried a while back didnt work,thoughts?

[Ghosty]

12 minutes ago, geoff100 said:

Nice piece in the "star" about a possible comeback but not sure about national league,tried a while back didnt work,thoughts?

I can't see any option but to start in the National League. There is an acute shortage of riders for the championship not to mention their wage demands.

[singy13]

1 hour ago, geoff100 said:

Nice piece in the "star" about a possible comeback but not sure about national league,tried a while back didnt work,thoughts?

The thing is the Comets were initially very well supported (in both eras) - fans followed Comets both home and away-then the west Cumbrians began losing interest, quite rapidly in fact. And it's thinking of how fickle, yes the folk around here can be exactly that - Fickle, it's same with RL... Therefore it's probably a bit risky to serve up such as National League racing and expect large attendances - ok yes for a couple or so meetings. But my lifelong experiences as a faithful Comet make me feel worried if NL is used per se.............just my thoughts guys, I'll be there whatever.

[singy13]

1 hour ago, Ghosty said:

I can't see any option but to start in the National League. There is an acute shortage of riders for the championship not to mention their wage demands.

The riders will bring about the sports downfall via track closures if they are too cash greedy - then they'll have no one to pay them anyway.

[jenga]

28 minutes ago, singy13 said:

The riders will bring about the sports downfall via track closures if they are too cash greedy - then they'll have no one to pay them anyway.

and they cant see what they are doing to the sport and themselves   junior riders are the best entertainment because you dont know what they are going to do next . i can  see good support for the new venture and will support it when its on .

looking forward to going to the field of dreams ..

[Neila]

Think in the present economic climate for fans, riders and promotor, Workington have to start small, conference league and run training schools and track days etc to get some money in, 1 to pay off what has been achieved so far with the track, 2 to provide funds for a possible return to championship racing in 2024, but that's provided they are enough teams and riders to have a League at that time !!

[TotallyHonestJohn]

Here's a thing... just a daft question regardless of what league the comets end up in... (Champ or NDL) 

Power (and floodlights) to the site could be an issue so start 12.00 on the Saturday before the football or 12.00 Sunday before the Rugby?

Then if we get power to the site (mains or genny) what would the prefered day/night be and what start time would best suit the MAJORITY of the supporters?

Regards 

THJ

[mac101]

I think Nl first which is much more affordable to start with walk before you can run comes to mind with practice day, armature meetings hire days  to recoup monies to reinvest to make it even better 

[topaz325]

Yes , NL first, as for day, Sunday afternoon maybe.

[singy13]

12 hours ago, TotallyHonestJohn said:

Here's a thing... just a daft question regardless of what league the comets end up in... (Champ or NDL) 

Power (and floodlights) to the site could be an issue so start 12.00 on the Saturday before the football or 12.00 Sunday before the Rugby?

Then if we get power to the site (mains or genny) what would the prefered day/night be and what start time would best suit the MAJORITY of the supporters?

Regards 

THJ

12:00 might be a tad early for many riders, if they are to travel on the morning, and any away fans might not like it.  Suit us locals though lol.

Maybe such as 5 p.m. more convenient for the majority? Or 6 to encourage keen soccer element?

Guess you'll need power at any time for starting gates and all the various lights, especially red and green?

[Steve Shovlar]

Oxford doing ok straight into Championship. Go NL then Championship won’t get a crowd kick. Should go straight into Championship.

[ch958]

might need another 12 months to get facilites up to CL standard?

[M.D]

57 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Oxford doing ok straight into Championship. Go NL then Championship won’t get a crowd kick. Should go straight into Championship.

The start up costs to go straight into championship level are eye watering..

[HGould]

3 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Oxford doing ok straight into Championship. Go NL then Championship won’t get a crowd kick. Should go straight into Championship.

I think it depends who/how is funding it.

Oxford are doing phenominally well but seem to have a significant budget behind them over a few years and it will be interesting to see how those figues stack up in year 2 if the team sn't delivering better results on the Track. I think too that they are pulling in some support from Swindon, Reading , even Coventry when I was there , that have been starved of Speedway for so long. A far bigger catchment area than Workington as an example.

The scenarios of the last few Clubs to either move up or change hands and be in CL, Brummies / Eastbourne / Newcastle seems to be a case of good intentions on limited budgets and possibly a nievity in terms of the costs involved and the cost to build competitive Teams and of course Covid did no one any favours. Hearts ruling heads and the resultant struggles.

It may be better to have a low budget and lower breakeven in the NDL for a year, and get everything set up and working before making that move up with some proven indication of the level of support and level of sponsorship.

The other plain fact is that it's easier to be a big fish in a small pond especially with a competitive team than it is a little fish in a big pond with a team that's not competitive or good enough to win trophies where fans who mostly want success over the spectacle of the product can quickly drift away and Workington lets not forget WON everything going in 2018 yet still folded as the support had drfted away for whatever reason.

The set up at Workington looks fantastic but as someone has said will need to bed in and be gradually improved. Imagine the foundations they could build with 1000 fans in NDL for a year; as opposed to 1000 in CL and just surviving probably. 

 

[gazzac]

5 minutes ago, HGould said:

I think it depends who/how is funding it.

Oxford are doing phenominally well but seem to have a significant budget behind them over a few years and it will be interesting to see how those figues stack up in year 2 if the team sn't delivering better results on the Track. I think too that they are pulling in some support from Swindon, Reading , even Coventry when I was there , that have been starved of Speedway for so long. A far bigger catchment area than Workington as an example.

The scenarios of the last few Clubs to either move up or change hands and be in CL, Brummies / Eastbourne / Newcastle seems to be a case of good intentions on limited budgets and possibly a nievity in terms of the costs involved and the cost to build competitive Teams and of course Covid did no one any favours. Hearts ruling heads and the resultant struggles.

It may be better to have a low budget and lower breakeven in the NDL for a year, and get everything set up and working before making that move up with some proven indication of the level of support and level of sponsorship.

The other plain fact is that it's easier to be a big fish in a small pond especially with a competitive team than it is a little fish in a big pond with a team that's not competitive or good enough to win trophies where fans who mostly want success over the spectacle of the product can quickly drift away and Workington lets not forget WON everything going in 2018 yet still folded as the support had drfted away for whatever reason.

The set up at Workington looks fantastic but as someone has said will need to bed in and be gradually improved. Imagine the foundations they could build with 1000 fans in NDL for a year; as opposed to 1000 in CL and just surviving probably. 

 

I'll put my old record on again ( sorry for the umpteenth time ) but we had the perfect NL back in 2015/18 and was some where near the true level of middling British speedway, certainly for the likes of Birmingham and Eastbourne, ideal for Newcastle/Workington/ IOW etc as well, need to get back to that level, whether it's current NL+ or Championship lite. 

[HGould]

31 minutes ago, gazzac said:

I'll put my old record on again ( sorry for the umpteenth time ) but we had the perfect NL back in 2015/18 and was some where near the true level of middling British speedway, certainly for the likes of Birmingham and Eastbourne, ideal for Newcastle/Workington/ IOW etc as well, need to get back to that level, whether it's current NL+ or Championship lite. 

I agree 100%

Im certain that teams were effectively forced to move up after 2018 as the NDL was too strong for some in charge of the sport, and the bigger NDL clubs were threatened with a 35 point limit for 2019 so clubs like mine and Eastbourne would have been decimated. 

They then made the entry for us both and others later on  subsequently ridiculously expensive and from memory only approved both in to the League relatively late, certainly Brummies were late to be approved. Like Plymouth in 2021 only after Somerset pulled out and Kent too in 2021.

[gazzac]

28 minutes ago, HGould said:

I agree 100%

Im certain that teams were effectively forced to move up after 2018 as the NDL was too strong for some in charge of the sport, and the bigger NDL clubs were threatened with a 35 point limit for 2019 so clubs like mine and Eastbourne would have been decimated. 

They then made the entry for us both and others later on  subsequently ridiculously expensive and from memory only approved both in to the League relatively late, certainly Brummies were late to be approved. Like Plymouth in 2021 only after Somerset pulled out and Kent too in 2021.

Spot on, bad decisions for speedway. 

[Jaizer]

3 minutes ago, gazzac said:

Spot on, bad decisions for speedway. 

It's stopped the production line of talent too. Eastbourne had 4/5 good kids coming through from one track alone. Now looking at NDL whose a really top prospect? Sam hagon maybe? At that time were 10-15 now riding CL or EL. It felt like a help to CL as they were ready for step up whereas now the jump is huge again 

[gazzac]

5 minutes ago, Jaizer said:

It's stopped the production line of talent too. Eastbourne had 4/5 good kids coming through from one track alone. Now looking at NDL whose a really top prospect? Sam hagon maybe? At that time were 10-15 now riding CL or EL. It felt like a help to CL as they were ready for step up whereas now the jump is huge again 

And we (Eastbourne) have lost them all, always envisaged Brennen and Edward's being heat leaders in a couple of years ( or sooner) bringing back the feeling we had in the Dugard /Norris era ....

Edited July 18, 2022 by gazzac

[Jaizer]

4 minutes ago, gazzac said:

And we (Eastbourne) have lost them all, always envisaged Brennen and Edward's being heat leaders in a couple of years ( or sooner) bringing back the feeling we had in the Dugard /Norris era ....

Never say never. Although our asset now I know Tom still has plenty links to Eastbourne and would love to ride there again.