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The NL IS developing riders whilst also being a competitive league that people want to pay money for to watch. Look at Bewley, Bickley, Kemp, Edwards, Jenkins, Atkins, Mountain, Hume, Shanes, Bacon, Bowtell, Thomas, Stoneman, Brennan, Wood etc and all these riders have successfully made the step up or are very close to it. Ripping apart this league and making it full of sides like that Scunthorpe Stags team recently is not going to get fans to turn up and watch them and not going to prepare these riders for the step up!

There is the problem . The BSPA should be telling the clubs the dates the meetings have to be held , not leaving it to the clubs humming and hawing and squabbling over it . Why bother with play offs when you get this kind of nonsense .

Absolutely pointless, everyone's contract will say 20 quid per point. But not everyone will only receive that. The stories I am hearing from people in the know is a) essentially what Mark Phillips has said b) 5 man teams being the alternative. The strongest suggestions are that either scenario will force clubs like Brum, Eastbourne,Iow, Kent,and Mildenhall up a league. Whatever the outcome The National League as we know it (the strongest league of all, mainly due to the BSPA totally ignoring it) looks set to be ripped apart to prop up the mess of the top 2 flights,that the BSPA have let go down the drain. I can see positives in this if the 2nd tier can run mainly on British riders, one current promoter suggested to me that next year's championship 2nd strings would be NL number 1s and Championship reserves would be NL heat leader and better 2nd strings level. I believe from piecing together various bits of info, rumour, gossip, and speculation that by running 2 bigger top flight leagues, and then a pure development league it may make it easier to step up a level. And make the steps more achievable. Other forms of motorcycle racing have levels of ability. For example Club racing- national series- moto 3- moto 2 - moto gp. To get more lads (and lasses) riding speedway their has to be a clearer path to progress along. As it stands a top national league rider can earn more then a championship reserve, but if he stepped up to championship he would earn less then the original reserve as he won't be of the standard. So one is riding (and struggling) away at CL level, and a slightly lesser rider can almost earn a living out of maxing out at NL. Which rider is better of in the long run though? If we want a string of World Beaters which eventually attract main stream tv media, and then more sponsorships. There has to be some incentive to jump up through the leagues. Question to Mark Phillips if the upper leagues are expanded and using most of the competent National League riders in the teams, would this significantly lower costs and make it more viable. And I have read various comments from Plymouth/Stoke/Brum and even Eastbourne fans say they would only return when higher league racing returned. Do you think these people would add significant numbers to the gate, and in turn make it more viable still? Plymouth is a great venue, despite the pig of a journey and the match day entertainment is up there with market leading IOW, so would be an awful loss to the sport. I totally see the rumoured national league proposals making it totally unviable for many clubs, I d suggest the limit of 32 would take gates at my club down by at least half. These things need sorting out now, the powers that be need to be having meetings on a weekly basis and at least get the skeleton of a proposal together, and then consult us last few mugs prepared to do 500 mile round trips to support our team to gauge our opinions. Every time the BSPA lock themselves in a room, someone or something seems to get screwed up, stupidity must be summed up by the saying "you can keep doing the same things and expecting different results" Someone independent needs to get involved in the process and stop the year on year decline in every aspect of the sport, whilst the BSPA think they the best interests at heart, this will always be tainted with their own personal interests. So the committee essentially needs a dictator. Personally I d get Barry Bishop in as the chairman, if he can't breath life into the sport I can't think of many that could. Don't take any of this post as statement of fact, it is purely the ramblings of a frustrated and passionate fan, and a picture painted in my head by the snippets of info and mainly rumours I 've heard along the way.

This seems to be dragging on so much that I’ve no idea why there was a cut off date at 16th September , Workington could have raced there final home fixture by now and finished 2nd in the table thus giving them choice of either the first leg or second. Its obvious both clubs will only race when it suits them, unfortunately if they can’t sort it out between them the Bspa will have to intervene and force a deadline, which I’m surprised hasn’t already been forced. Regardless of who is right or wrong, reading this thread it’s pissing people off already , it just wouldn’t happen in any other sport!

Breaking News The play off dates have been announced for the Glasgow Tigers Vs Workington Comets meetings Friday the 23rd at Glasgow and Saturday the 24th at Workington These two dates in November suit both clubs as it will mean they both race on their chosen race nights and it will give Craig Cook time for his injury to fully heal and for Glasgow to put James Sarjeant on the Atkins Diet and get a stone off him as he has been looking a bit chunky lately, both should be fighting fit and raring to go... Cant beat a bit of clout eh! Regards THJ Oops sorry just been advised "Fake News"

Hope 'the word' does influence larger crowds - somehow it needs shouted from the proverbial rooftops ??? ....like I said there's only the diehards on here. Regarding £75k............that was the figure a renowned local 'sports person' told me the night of the Diamonds match (mis-match actually).. I still recall the Workington guru Ian Thomas telling us - approx 10 yrs ago- that "the honeymoon isn't over yet"..given that Comets were still attracting 1,200 folk to Derwent Park. And the blind optimist in me still thinks that the sport is capable of another honeymoon at Workington...maybe the upcoming re-structuring during the winter can be the saviour? Meanwhile let's all Comets fans on here get behind the best team in blue and white, Workington style, for years.

We are waiting till you go bust then we'll get a bye to the final! Just banter didn't really mean it

The way things are going it might not be that"fake".its hard to see the fixtures getting complete in time unless they run them all in the last week.

Honestly The figures I have quoted are pretty near to; if not spot on; the mark (and I do know your man) Even the late great Ian Thomas (a man I liked immensely although not everyone's cup of tea) would struggle with the dilemmas that this promotion are facing, he went through it at Newcastle when he took them up and regretted the actions he took forever and a day. Honestly I am a positive "pot half full" guy but I fear it has gone I can not see a resurgence in any way shape or form I have crunched the numbers for 2019 and it will take a very brave individual to take it on which saddens me greatly. On you last paragraph "Here Here" it is the best team the Comets have had for years and lets see if they can go out with a bang, not just for the fans of Workington but for Laura, Jacko and the whole promotion, including the back room staff, When its gone its gone and it will be dam hard to bring back Regards THJ

Wouldn't know anything about that. What's Brexit?

As does the rider (points money) the promotion and his team mates. Pretty sure if it could have been changed it would have been

Who decides whether the National League should be a development league and nothing else ? Clearly JCookie does not support or go to watch N.L. racing. At ANY level there will always be teams at the top and teams at the bottom. Every N.L. club is a business just like those at a higher level. Does Jcookie think that all the investment made and work done will be worth it to see very low standards ? He is deluded...in fact, the higher the standard of the 3rd tier, the better class of rider will be produced. THAT is a FACT and it is ignored by the BSPA who seem not to understand the sport they operate. Way back in history ( can't quite remember the actual date) the 2nd league broke away from the Control Board and ran, I think, very successfully. I can see the same thing happening again with the N.L. breaking away from the BSPA. And who could blame them ?

Oooh, you bitch!!!!

No need to be apologetic at all. You have got the point well and used a good hypothetical analogy to express it. I offer no hope that this will be understood by the same old faces who have been spouting their nonsense for years.

The NL should be a development league and nothing else. The fact that there's around 50 points between top and bottom just says it all. The likes of Mildenhall, Kent & Birmingham have no place in what should be a development league

Stars 40-50 Aces

It would actually cost a few thousand ...

I’d always rather go into a meeting with seven riders rather than six, especially one in the Play Offs.

I need something to make me stronger after reading all the crap posted by Shovlar & Starman tonight

And so it rumbles on with still no word on when the Glasgow v Workington semi final takes place . It really should be this weekend as the league title should take precedence over cup competitions , but since the Edinburgh v Worky cup semi is already penciled in for then , then it should be the same as the Peterborough v Lakeside semi which is the 6th and 7th of October . And yes i know we wont have our best rider , but so what ? If you sign a rider with all sorts of other commitments, then you have to expect and be prepared for fixture clashes . No wonder the sport in this country is in such a mess when the governing body allow the clubs to decide when they want to race . The four clubs should be told both semi finals are on the weekend of the 5th , 6th and 7th of October with the final the following weekend , deal with it .

Ronnie Russell said it will be similar to the Melbourne GP track. As I said previously I believe it was almost a “D” shape...recall it to allow for good racing. As many have said, the track can be changed even without any improvements to the “stadium”. A change to the Abbey track will only be a good thing IMO, a smaller track with wider straights will make for better racing.

I'm not sure if you're deliberately trying to be provocative, but no way would Martin Ashby be a 7.5 man. He was out and out number one for many years. He'd easily get above 8 using the current format, which is where number ones are mainly. Whatever the format, he'd still have been the number one.

Bloody hell, I realise that Danny has struggled this season, but some of the personal things said about him on this thread is a bit too much don't you think? Danny was chosen to ride in Scunthorpe's 1-7 this season and there was plenty of opportunity to replace him BEFORE the cut off... But he wasn't and still has a contract to fulfil... He's doing the professional thing, even if he is struggling to do it well... Poor lad probably feels like sh*t after every meeting, not scoring point and losing money and comments on here will just be adding to it all... Please for the love of god, I hope Danny does not read this forum, or if he does, he realises how little the comments on here should matter to him, as long as he's having fun and making a living

In recent separate conversations with a referee and someone working for Bt Sport... one said Belle Vue is the best track in the UK by a long way and the other described it as the best track in the world. Yes we are so lucky to have the NSS track. one point aside , when Ivan Mauger attended the Gorton Monastery meeting re the possibility of a new track, he spoke eloquently as expected but the one thing that stuck out was that he said” Whatever happens make sure you use good quality shale on the track” some British promoters could do with heeding that advice