SteelShoe

Keith Denham made changes to bends 2 and 4 when he took over, this reduced the incident rate markedly especially with regard to bend 2.

Therein lies the question geoff100. The equipment and extent of the operation won't be coming cheap !. Completely relaying the pitch as well no patching up going on. In the current political climate in Allerdale nothing is making too much sense at the minute bit i'm hoping there's a positive outcome for the speedway in there somewhere. We can all come up with suppositions but should we have too ?

not now it ain't !

in amongst all of this i have a strong innate sense that we haven't seen the last of the Comets !. Call it Theresa May Syndrome if you like but she brought it back 3 times !. The machine in the picture was making short work of ripping up the shale in what looked like 6 inch swathes at a time. I know where it was going because i followed a lorry load. Long live the Comets !!

No use setting a rabbit running jenga there's no grass left for it to eat !!

A brilliant speedway track and a stadium right up there with the best in terms of viewing. I'm just so damned angry about all of this. Town have been in the rugby league wilderness for years now while the Reds are further away from the football league than ever. The Council owe it to the Comets to get seriously involved in helping any initiative to make a comeback wherever that maybe and not sit on their hands in resignation of the situation. A visit to Redcar's South Tees Motorsport Park would aptly demonstrate to them just what a bit of support and ambition can achieve at not huge cost ! I wonder if the Reds will have to pay rent to their rugby league landlords and be denied any profit from bar takings like the speedway had to financially endure ?

With the change in the political environment following the local elections I can only imagine the whole situation re the new stadium has to be in a state of deep flux. If as seems likely the Council is to be run by an Independent/Tory alliance many of whom campaigned against the new stadium then surely the likelihood of this happening must be reduced. A spokesman from the 'Reds' was reported in the local press as saying that 'they won't be moving anywhere until the situation is clarified' so why commence work on changing the Derwent Park pitch ?. Its about time some honesty was spoken instead of treating us all like mushrooms.

Following on from this i am in a position to confirm that the Labour led Allerdale Borough Council did indeed meet with Laura. I am led to believe that something could develop re Comets moving to Oldside and that hopefully some sort of press release could follow. My advice to all speedway fans would be to vote Labour because this could well hinge on Labour retaining control of the Council so do the right thing !

Blinkers are great when you don't want to see the light. Take it easy wouldn't want to read about you getting locked up and all !

Be careful who you vote for, at least the Labour council are trying to drag the town into the 21st century regardless of what is happening with the speedway. Mike Heaslip Labour Councillor did at least knock on our door. Unfortunately i wasn't home but the wife raised the issue about the speedway following reports that the council were apparently ignoring approaches from the speedway. Mr Heaslip stated that it was his belief that there was a meeting friday 12th April with 'the lady who runs the speedway' . He was also suggesting that Derwent Park would be available following the move by Town/Reds into any new stadium .

Speedway has its problems, don't really think anyone on a speedway forum needs you to spell it out 1. What do you get out of posting on here anyway ? go wield your inflammatory pen on a forum of the more professional sports you purport to watch.

Attractive looking fixture. Hopefully the Bears will be on it and some great racing results. Looking forward to seeing how Zaine Kennedy and Drew Kemp perform but i'm going for the Bears 49-41.

It's my opinion that THJ is on point re all he has stated about this sorry situation. Derwent Park would have been available to the Comets over say the next 3 to 5 years. Unfortunately the perplexing financial situation precluded that happening. Another home would have to be found eventually but i still live in hope that something may hopefully develop.

Not at the majority of clubs for sure . Most clubs ran at a loss last season. There are otherways to help but i'm not appealing on here.

Like THJ has stated the wounds of no Worky speedway do indeed run deep. I don't believe that the huge majority of Comets fans bear Glasgow any malice whatsoever. Your fans are arguably the best and most welcoming in speedway and I always looked forward to seeing you all at Derwent Park and my visits to Ashfield. The fact is, last years apparent unmanageable debt coupled with the non forthcoming offers of help have resulted in the loss of Workington Speedway which for a lot of Comets fans is akin to losing someone close. The term 'speedway family' is often mooted on here but in my opinion there is no great evidence of this. Speedway is in trouble and there is no better time than now for clubs to work together in order to help each other survive. I'm not advocating repetetive assistance for clubs who have repeatedly demonstrated poor financial management but last season the Comets were very much victims of circumstance the results of which are plain to see. Laura came to the assistance of the Monarchs in their hour of need but where are the offers of help from the speedway family to help Worky to get back on their feet ?. The loss of the Comets and their travelling fans will be felt by the northern clubs especially the likes of Newcastle, Redcar and Berwick who will lose the income generated by the travelling Comets fans, which is unlikely to be replaced by the numbers travelling from the likes of Eastbourne, Somerset and Birmingham. The potential is there for clubs and riders to come together to help in whatever ways possible to ensure that clubs such as the Comets are not lost forever due being tipped over the cliff edge following a crippling season. Speedway family ? nah everyone just looks after themselves and herein lies the problem.

Yeah spot on geoff100. Still annoys greatly that those pushing this facility have inexcusably excluded the Speedway. It too could have attracted more prestigous meetings and on a more regular basis than a World Cup once in a blue moon. The council deserve credit for their ambition but castigation for their exclusion of the Comets. Hypocritical to call it a Community Stadium in such circumstances.

Just subjective perceptions from meetings attended and not always to watch the Comets. Cookie had a good apprenticeship at Edinburgh.

Newcastle is a track that does require more learning than most. For me the entrance to the first turn is too tight which appears to result in many more spills than any other Championship track that I can think of. There is room to alter the shape but obviously this would erode home advantage. The most accomplished away riders who are also slick gaters do alright on it but I've always felt that the excitement struggles to get past a certain level. I've been on many occasion when poor throttle control has been given as the reason for the frequency of falls but this has rarely been entirely true in my experience . The inconsistency of track prep has played its part and has created problems even for the likes of Lambert and Cook.

I'm pretty sure that Laura has more than enough integrity to ensure all monies paid by fans will be returned in full.

Still find myself thinking someone is going to step in to rescue the situation and its all just been a bad dream.

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.

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'.

Got to feel for them all but Mason in particular has been hit really hard by the what has happened at Worky. Hopefully we can return to racing in 2020 on a stronger financial footing. I would like to think that there is a strategy being compiled that can help us achieve this, one that all us fans can contribute to in whatever way and to whatever level we can. Gonna miss my speedway fix at Derwent Park of that there is no doubt.

As far as I know Worky were at the AGM.

If you determine fitness for purpose as not losing money you may only end up with a couple of clubs. Last season it was widely recognised that nearly all clubs with the odd exception lost money, Championship and Premiership. Combined losses mooted to be around £900K.