Fortythirtyeight

Workington closed after wining just about everything available that season, having run double headers at a massive loss. The previous two clubs are still running and won leagues ( both premiership and championship ) cup , and fours trophies over the seasons. Higher admission prices put some regulars off. See Neil Watsons wise words, double headers lose money.

Are you completely devoid of any common sense.? Having worked behind the scenes at a number of tracks I have experience of how tracks finances work. You clearly have no understanding of incomings versus outgoings. If one meeting brings in , say £8,000 and the cost of that meeting including wages is £6,000 then you have a small profit. Do you understand this so far? Now run the same meeting with your income of £8,000 but double your wage bill and say that cost now comes to £10,000. Youve just lost £2,000. get it???

Can't believe any fan thinks a double header is a good idea. Same income , double wages. How does that make any sense to anybody??? Then add any possible injuries in the first match, or delays or any incidents whatsoever....No, running it as a double header is a ridiculous idea. We at Workington were forced into running them and look where we are now!

Must be one them same rules that stopped Bears signing Wallinger or having a guest or R/R for Riss riding in a German League fixture? If you're not in the BSPA mafia, then don't expect any favours. Congratulations to the Bears , will be great to have two north east teams in a cup final. Saw the first leg at Redcar and thought this would be a tight affair. For me the difference was Nathan Greaves who scores , strangely, well away from home and his points made the difference when the pressure was on. Eagles performed well but the heat leaders appear to be a little too inconsistent at times. That will always hinder you with weak second strings/ reserves.

Simple. The quality of the racing at most of the championship tracks. More overtaking, better prepared tracks ( I exempt Belle Vue and Swindon who have very good tracks now), variety of opposition and general presentation. I also take into account that the majority of these tracks charge less than the premiership yet you see, 90% of the time , the same riders . Even the Isle of Wight, in the NL, put on a better show than most premiership clubs.

Make your mind up. Either they haven't changed or there up. When I have visited they appear around the same as the previous two seasons ( not the Havelock sparse crowd era) Very healthy compared to Newcastle, Berwick and Edinburgh but with more youngsters attending than previous Thursday racing ( kids ) who get free entry.

Yet you list your team as Berwick???

I said these teams dropped a division , not necessarily to the NL, to save closing altogether, which is what we were discussing. Theres is a difference between Premiership and Championship. The Championship is much better.

Why? You're a Berwick fan so it shouldn't affect you. Sounds like more space is available than normal so that's a good thing isn't it? Doubt the current promotion will want to return to Thursday's with a reported increase in yougsters attending on Fridays meaning takings are up , especially in the bar! But it's all speculation till the Mafia decide their next cunning move to save speedway.

You don't have to agree,thats fine. But owners make the decisions not the fans. If the owners want to reduce their losses and still run , then they'll drop down . Ipswich, Eastbourne, Somerset, Plymouth , Birmingham, all have done it and Lakeside dropped two divisions. If they don't want any more losses, they'll close altogether. So the examples are there.

Redcar look considerably weaker without Wright and possibly MPT so this match is in the balance. Eastbourne doing themselves no favours by having Phillips guest at Redcar, obviously a financial decision which shows the state of the sport. I think Redcar will need at least a fifteen point advantage from the home leg and I don't see that happening without those two but I do hope it's an all north east final. Then I'll get to see it.

Supporters don't own the clubs and therefore don't pay the bills. If a club can't afford a league but still wants to run then they will consider dropping down a standard. You seem to forget Eastbourne have already done it and Somerset. Better NL standard than no speedway at all.

At this stage that's as good a guess on the 2020 outcome as I can see. Whilst I can't guarantee you have all the right teams in the right divisions I don't think your far off.

I take it you haven't understood anything I've written? No Premiership. Just two divisions.. Division one would be the equivalent of the current championship.( The One Big Division) Division two would be equivilant to the current NL therefore those that don't want to play in the ' one league ' go into division 2 ( i.e. Berwick, Birmingham etc)

Yes...but with two divisions not three!

So things staying as they are.....with changes!

Having seen around six NL matches and eight Premiership, I'd much rather watch NL. The Championship has by far the better standard of ' racing ' not gate and follow, but the NL can produce good racing even if it tends to be two battling at the front and two a way back battling for a point.

Look at the lack of crowds at certain clubs and do the maths yourself. At least one Premiership club is on its knees right now. Having travelled extensively this season to see speedway a number of tracks are struggling and there's a few unhappy northern promoters wondering how long they can last with crowds of less than 400 at most meetings. Buster Chapman can't buy every club and I think he bit off more than he could chew this year. Id be pleasantly surprised if there are still 20 clubs still open in 2020.

The ' One League' option has been discussed at length and will keep raising its head until it actually gets confirmed. Previous discussions at the top table had neither Edinburgh, Newcastle ,Scunthorpe or Redcar wishing to go into that scenario but how many of those clubs would want to drop to a NL standard league? Sheffields future is still uncertain so maybe looking at two divisions of ten teams with a championship standard division and a NL standard division.

Not sure how long since you looked at a map but Birmingham is more central as Manchester is still in the North.

Too far north? That surely depends where you reside? The other thing to consider is who travels to these meetings? . Glasgow and Berwick always send bus loads, Redcar have a large travelling support but perhaps you just meant it was too far north for you?

You have more chance of winning the lottery than the diamonds winning anything this season, but you can dream.

Think it was time that we all accepted it. As painful as it is, Workington is no longer a speedway venue and I doubt it ever will be again. Speedway is no longer the attraction it once was and whilst it can still survive at several other venues around the country the sport will never be as popular as it was in the 70's / 80's and a few other tracks , unfortunetley , will go the same way as the beloved Comets very soon. lets just hope the whole sport doesn't disappear down the big hole the B.S.P.A. seem to be digging for it.

The day after transfer deadline day for the championship, putting him out of a job altogether, like Drew Kemp. isnt speedway wonderful.

Wrong. An employer has to be the' sponsor ' for his visa. Club only has to provide a 'reasonable salary' for the individual . Whilst there has to be a ' suitable address' to satisfy the immigration authority that can be provided by the rider, a sponsor or the club. The only true expense to the club is the ' visa ' which is less than a week's wage to a decent championship rider.