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I couldnt care less where we finish as long as the club and the sport survive but thats the difference in your mentality. You would rather win the league and watch clubs disappear. If we come bottom i dont mind as long as we get value for money in the racing and the club doesnt go under

Wrong, it maintains continuity of media interest through the close season and then they don't abandon your club or relegate you to the village fete page when the season starts.

Whatever the rights and wrongs , its such a shame Cookies 8 yrs as a BV rider as ended this way

Reading that statement again, I think another part of the wording is key. The club said he was informed he was out of ‘initial’ team plans. That would suggest they had potentially left the door open but I’m absolutely certain Craig would have had some sort of inclination. It it sounds like sour grapes to me and both parties could share some blame here. He shouldn’t be running his mouth on social media. Keep it in house, if your going to say something in public then do it like Tungate did. He’s now completely burnt his bridges and that is just silly. An 8 year relationship should never end that way.

He who laughs last doesn’t get the joke.

Doubt it think your barkerin at the wrong tree

Agree totally about the differences and wasnt really suggesting a Hearn type figure could run speedway It was more the reference to player control causing issues and a more centrally controlled set up being able to regenerate the sport

If you don't know who the riders, then are they are bound to be surprises.

He can't do breakfast, puzzles, quizzes or most things and says he is bloody useless at most things. over qualified then

A hope the tell wi,,, they say he left under a big black cloud, maybe he stole an umbrella ?

Outdated system then!

Which is why the riders are daft to sign such contracts, if they all stood together and refused to sign the present contracts they would have a bit more clout. If they are happy to be "owned" by a promoter and told what they can and cannot do then that is up to them.

As far as I am aware, Jake Allen is a Somerset asset. After signing for us at the tail end of 2017, he was approached by a club to sign for them in '18 but he said that Scunthorpe gave him a chance in the PL so wanted to stay in 2018. After a great season in '18, he was, again, approached to sign for a club in '19 on which he again said no to stay at Scunthorpe. The dates of when he was approached, I do not know, but he was approached as will most riders. As regarding the asset system, I have seen it here & in the SS where a riders parent club, ie the one owning his registration, has 1st choice. It then goes to his last club he rode for & if they don't need him he then becomes open to offers but a club approaching him has to ask his parent club & last club before directly talking to the rider. But, as have known before, not just last year but previous years, rules are broken or manipulated.

For me he was the best rider in the league 2nd half of last season. Will be a huge miss that is for sure.

THEY didn't have to. Been banging this drum for decades. Assets are illegal. Cook didn't have a valid contract with Edinburgh so could do as he pleased. If BV paid Edinburgh money then more fool them.

Is it not all just all a bit pathetic to introduce this rule,just opens a can of worms.Woffy will be looking for Team now.If that’s the best they can can up with it show how pathetic the sport is run IMO.Your are negating the benefit it is meant to help young riders but letting riders who have been riding for 20 + years have a reduction NOW.

Heeps is a seriously overrated Aussie. Would be a poor signing for anyone in the Premiership.

When you consider some of the other teams so far, going with 1 heatleader will be a disaster

Very pleased to see Luke Ruddick get a chance. I have been a fan since his early days at Mildenhall and he's improved season on season in the NL, with a near 1.5 jump last year. Its a massive leap from the NL to the Championship but there's no doubt he'll give it everything he's got.

Its difficult to see where the sport is going in term of finance,as it doesn’t seem much has been addressed and there is no way that crowd levels will dramatically increase in the sport by charging to much for children and families.Kids have to go free to inticed the fans of the future and hope some stick with it.

Whatever Buster wants

Just caught the last couple of minutes during the mid session break of the snooker where players were asked what they wanted to change and Barry Hearn responded Hearn was very candid and his final answer....(paraphrased) "Snooker was in the doldrums until I took it on and why - the players had control. It isnt that way now because they dont control it now" Anyone see any parralells?

It's has not been publicly announced, I think the announcement about that and other various "tweeks" to the rules is due in January. But I have had it from the horses mouth, ie Promoters and Managers of 3 different clubs that the rule is in effect.

OMG I hope not

Or his not so big brother

I’ll start a new thread for 2019 once it’s close to the start of the season.

Which if correct makes a new rider (or any other rider for that matter) not being allowed to illegal surely......

luckily there's usually plenty of room on the terraces. plus you could always trip one up "accidentally"!

Ah, you mean the half a season you were here, desperately trolling Poole fans, rather than the half season where Swindon were a laughing stock and you hid.

I agree AO Would only work if they all did it - a few on their own would simply be frozen out

Could be that or could be they are trying to get a reduction on Josh Bates average after missing a year.

Have not seen any comments from the club about the failure to get Saturdays. Cannot understand why it did not get automatic approval, After all, what is the difference between one day or another ?

That has been obvious, and not news, since the end of the season, it was just when that was in question.

Sorry for the delay, who’s idea was it to go Xmas shopping in Paris this weekend! Buzz and Jack

We were rubbish but still won it, says a lot for the rest then

They are. Welcome to the BSF.

Tell that to an accountant and you will be laughed out of his office, riders and sponsors are not assets, therefore have no value. The riders, just like is seems that C Holder might, can just walk away and sponsors, as some have done, stop sponsoring. "without him (Ford), would anyone else be able to raise as much", the likely answer is no.

With Rye House’s results being expunged mid-season, Chris Harris’s average should have reverted to his starting average, which would have been too high for Poole to sign him. Should the BSPA remove Chris’s points from Poole’s results and award the 2018 title to Kings Lynn?

The problem with no adult, is they run around all over the place making a pest of themselves

He has said he will walk away if no buyer at the end of next season I believe .anyway who would pay that sort of money in a sport that is nearly on its last legs to be honest ?

I would think so. I’d love him at bv though. On that type of track he’s such an aggressive rider. Was really impressed with his visits last season.

Loyalty cuts both ways. Belle Vue stood by Cook as well. From many posts, it seems that this was a matter of terms. As much as I would have wanted him to stay with the Aces, if he was asking for more than they were prepared to pay I totally agree with the decision to show him the door. Its about time other promotions had a sense of financial responsibility - we have seen Glasgow banging on about continual 6 figure losses but word is that they are again throwing serious money about to get who they want for this season. Its anything but the first time we have had a situation where a rider says one thing about his departure, the club says another and I suspect we'll never know the truth of the matter(Acef's point above, however, is a very fair one). It has all the appearance of a childish slanging match but if someone was being untruthful about me I'd almost certainly respond.

Armo, Bowen, Hurry, Clifton all ruled out as only 1 rider who has obtained a 2nd tier average of 4 at some point in their career (even if that rider obtained that average 1/4 of a century ago when there was no third tier). With Monday's looking most likely now JT cones back into the frame. I d like to see Kemp Ablitt Spooner plus one other personally.

To quote Mandy Rice-Davies............

It said they spoken to him on November 19 to inform him he wasn’t part of the team planning. The club then informed the BSPA so they could put him on the availability list. Now that’s a bold statement, which is why I believe it. Every club could verify that statement as either true or false, so if it was false, then it’s a bit risky putting it out in the public domain. I had heard that he was on his way, and there were whispers on here in fact at the back end of November too. I’m pretty certain Craig would have had some inclination. Rohan Tungate posted his update on the 29th, so he was clearly told fair and square. Why would they treat Craig any different?

Cook owns Wells?

Dunno about TaylorJ but I am How's that for honesty Regards THJ

Private Club or now a Limited Company, whatever we still wont get to know the ins and outs..

Remember in previous years in play off meetings against Poole. He had BV blood running through his veins and was totally commited. He was gutted more than anyone when they just missed out winning. If I had been a BV supporter I could not have wished for a more commited rider. Full of raw emotion for BV to do well. It was not just another European Club for him as part of global track riding around Europe. In some ways I kind of hated the guy, but maybe it was part envy as that's the kind of commitment and sense of elation/grief I want to see from more riders when they are trying their best for the team and are GENUINELY gutted when they lose out. For many of the top riders its almost a sense of just another meeting and off to POL/SWE/DK tomorrow so doesn't mean too much. Maybe also being British he has also felt a real connection to the team over the years he has been with BV.

I remember a few years back our team in the 2nd division was Doyle, Nick Morris and Josh Graz' so what's changed, have the riders costs gone way up and why? as a result are riders asking for more money? are the owners of some stadium's charging more rent? Is the financial situation so bad Somerset cannot reduce admission for OAP's? If people are going to pay more for less something needs to be done to make an evening at speedway more than 15 minutes of racing. There is now plenty of speedway on TV, you have Swedish and Polish speedway with top stars. So why would you want to go and stand in the cold to watch it live. If it was football, or Darts or many other sports the answer would be, Well it not the same on TV you don't get the atmosphere. and there's the problem, speedway at many tracks has no atmosphere, love them or hate them air horns added to the excitement, the jingles like you have 2 minutes, or music specific to each rider or wipe out when you got a 5-1, or perhaps even one firework at the end of a meeting, or not doing interviews when the tractor grade obliterates the riders reply, or a club mascot for the kids, (used to think Wolverhampton's Mr Wolf was great). I remember the old Bristol flag man dressed up in his flashy suit, dancing around when he waved the flag. It's difficult if you don't have a grandstand as people are spread around, but there is no excuse not to play up to date mood and uplifting music to create excitement, or an announcer who sounds enthusiastic. Why in boxing do the competitors get such an over the top introductions, it's not to make the match boring is it. Speedway does nothing to attract new young customers, and the old boys, who make up a large percentage of the fans, will drift away because of it's no longer value for money and they will sit in front of the fire in the warm with a glass of wine and remember the old days when you could smell the methanol and the bikes were louder and your favourite rider ( for whom you had his coffee cup and rosette and badge) stayed for more than one season.