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Its a bit unfair to single out individuals when there are so many interesting and knowledgeable contributors to this section of the forum . Yes there are also a few numpties who's sole purpose is to wind folk up and also one or two of the nasty variety . But thankfully they are in the minority and the rest of us love the sport and i enjoy the quiet moments reading the various threads . I remember the days when i went to the speedway ; went home and didnt have anyone to talk to about it until the following week , so this forum has been a godsend in that respect . Long may it continue to flourish .

Your Workington bias is understandable , it"s not every season one feels the euphoria a treble brings . Just make it a four timer by coming to the tapes next March to defend your titles .

Wow. I expected far more reaction to the news about Stuart Douglas. Just goes to show how jaded the fans of the club are, I suppose, and who can blame them? Whilst I think that is the final nail in the coffin, he is right that a Lakeside out of Essex isn't Lakeside at all. I've always had a lot of time for Stuart Douglas. I think when someone stays in the background so much it's easy to forget the input they have in keeping the club going. That he is still talking about pouring heart, soul, and money into getting a new track in Essex after all the trials and tribulations over the years, that his heart is still set on not only chasing, but catching that dream, shows the total dedication and commitment of the man. The class and humility in his statement speak volumes. There aren't enough good words I can say about him, but "gentleman" is one that will suffice for now. Thank you for everything you did for Arena, Stuart.

Hi to all Workington Fans. Here is the rub, running in 2019 will be very difficult and honestly it still is in doubt as to whether we will be coming to the tapes next year, however I am proposing something different and developing a business plan (with others) to save the club and to ensure it runs at least for the next three years whilst Derwent Park is still available, what happens after this period we can worry about then. What I am looking for is some commitment from fans; local businesses or anyone who has contact details of anyone who can offer support who I can talk to, the proposal is to form a new partnership (LLP) to run the club. For obvious reasons I can not go into much detail on here however, I do have the bit between my teeth; but I can not do this all on my own. I am working with the promotion to formulate a plan to take the club forward and continue with the sport in Workington. The Club "end of season bash" is at the Workington Railway Club this Friday and I will be open for any discussions then where the plan can be discussed or if anyone would like to PM me I can provide details. The Speedway Trust who have provided invaluable support over the last two seasons and will be heavily involved along with all of the fan base. It is an open secret that the club isn't financially viable and has had cash flow problems, hopefully my proposal will go a long way to correcting this. As the BSPA General Meeting is coming up fast this proposal is time limited unfortunately as certain assurances and guarantees have to be met at the BSPA AGM. So come on Workington how much do you want Speedway, its your call. Once its gone I very much doubt you will ever get it back Regards THJ

I dread to think just how much money Stuart has pumped into Lakeside. He makes light, in his comments, of the 'battles' he has encountered during his spell of ownership (in fact he is quite restrained) and it comes as no surprise that he is calling it a day. Thank you, Stuart, for giving it go at least and best wishes for the future.

Just read the article from Stuart Douglas, one word comes to mind CLASSY

Just for the record, in my line of work I have come across many addicts. It is an illness no matter how it started. The reality is that addicts come from all waulks of life, some have decent upbringings, many don’t. Reality is very few succesfully overcome their addiction. For the minority that do, I respect them rather than refer back to what they were when their addiction had hold as they have fought and won a battle few can. Remember addiction can come about from legit sources as well as illegal drugs. This case as it stands, it’s his family my heart goes out to. For their sake, I hope he proves to be in the strong minority

Can I ask why you have a picture of Roy Clarke as your avatar?

Stuart used to post on here when he was just a sponsor before he took over the club, so if he does still look on here I want to tell him thank you for giving me a team to support for all these years and thanks for the memories.

There must now be several speedway licences "on ice" Hope the BSPA have a big freezer and dont suffer a power cut in the winter. Seems to a be a stampede of "promoters" wishing to leave or have left the sinking ship that is British Speedway. Ford, Jolly, May, Douglas, Martin Dugard, BMR racing at Rye , the Plymouth promotion. Probably time for the resurrection of the Black and White helmet colour at the AGM ??? As for the departure of Stuart Douglas, would just like to say thank you for hte memories Stuart you certainly cannot be faulted for having a go at promoting in the "Premiership" Lets just remember that the "promoters" are not to blame for this mess it's all caused by "the Fans" who have let the club down by not turning up . (No comment for reasons of public decency)

Halifaxtiger and Paulco

i predict Kings Lynn will top the team vote but Poole will win on a technicality

................Totally Honest John......best read, witty, sensible, fearless, adding to a wonderful Workington season.......roll on 2019 marra....

Oh is that how it works? Right, how about the Celtic supporters singing "you can shove your f....ing poppy up you a,,,e" at the football?

I doubt that very much Whisperer, it would be too far for him to travel.

Stuart is/was the money man, Jon was just a paid employee who was named as a promoter, most promoters do not put money into the club, their title is for administration purposes only, without an owner it really is goodbye to any thoughts of even a track share.

His ride in heat 15 against Somerset at Poole was worth his inclusion on its own and he affect on the team in the pits is definitely worth a few extra points .

RUMOUR has it that one of the qualifiers will be held at the NSS.

My thoughts on 2018 have not changed from the previous years. The NL to break away from the BSPA and register themselves with the SCB independently . Then a straight 42 point limit every season. Still British passport holders only. No doubling up, if a rider wants to ride in a different league having signed for a NL team then he leaves the NL and cannot come back for 2 seasons and gets an enhanced average subsequently. Handicap system so 'weaker brethren' one season gets 43/44 limit the next season. Not too bothered about Guests and r/r within reason. There have been some terrific NL races this season and with a 42 point limit the best can be retained with no real 'wobblers' Sell a highlights package to a TV company showing all the races and cutting out all the between inter heats delay and rubbish spouted by presenters like Pearson. This could be screened the following evening. After a few years the NL would become Britains foremost league if they do it right and some of the other clubs will be anxious to join. Drastic maybe but that is just what we need. I have no doubt it wont happen but I can dream.

It is thought - by some - that an extremely low average will force some of those in the NL who are content to stay there and score big points on reasonable pay up. My own view is that there are very few like that, any rider with ambitions will want to go up anyway and that the higher leagues have a disastrous record of dumping a young rider within a short period of time if he doesn't score well. The latter will mean at least potentially that they can't ride anywhere. From what I have heard, almost all NL promotions are against it and that suggests a very low team building average won't happen. It would be utterly ludicrous to force most of the league to do something that they don't want and I can see a number of tracks closing if they do. The NL can see that people won't be shelling out for something little more than a training session and while wages will reduce, the cost of stadiums, insurance, medical cover. shale etc will remain exactly the same. Frankly - and even allowing for the point about disparity of strengths - I believe that the NL just about hits the balance between developing riders and being a business spot on. It should therefore be left very much alone and allowed to go its own way without interference by outsiders who, lets face it, aren't exactly in a position to tell others how to run their league.

With respect, I struggle to see what good - for the rider and the team - having Kyle Bickley in a Premiership team would be. He has failed to reach his 2 point Championship starting average and really needs to substantially exceed that before moving up. I’m not knocking him in any way - in my view, he arrived with too much hype and needs to gain more experience, and points, before thinking about moving up. The bravest thing for him to do would be to say no to the top league until he has become a Championship top scorer.

If it was a fishing match there can only be one winner, the mighty JCF ....

always says things as they are good or bad lot of respect for paulco even though I don't think ive every met him

Paulco.

For balance my vote goes to Crump99 for his lighted hearted positive outlook on everything

Jesus.... don’t make that ego any bigger Was almost finished putting flags out after he got banned... when he made his return post three cheers to totallyridiculousjohn

Posting on here can be classed as an addiction

Rider of the year: James Sarjent, for single handedly doubling the length of time it takes to run a meeting, what great value for money Most impressive team: Poole for managing to cheat their way to a title yet again Team rider of the season: Chris Holder One to watch: Matt Fraud Bulldog award (Best British rider): Rory Schlein Meeting of the season: Eastbourne vs Mildenhall 26/10/18 Surprise of the season: That the sport managed to survive it Underperformers (Team): BSPA Unluckiest rider: James Sargent, the refs keep picking on him Newcomer of the season: Martin Vaculik

The problem with the promoters in my opinion is not that they deliberately want to run the sport into the ground, it makes no sense for them to purposely lose their money, but the system that has been created makes it impossible for the sport to function properly. There are too many conflicts of interest and pulling in opposing directions. What the sport needs is for decisions to be made in the best interests of speedway as a whole but unless someone independent is elected to make these decisions things will just carry on as they are, leading to a slow and painful death. The argument that it’s the promoter’s money doesn’t stand up for me. What other sport operates in this way? You wouldn’t get Malcolm Glazer and Roman Abramovic making up the rules of football so why do we have to put up with it. Tsunami clearly had the best interests of Newcastle at heart and anyone who puts their cash into speedway has my respect but the sport needs an independent, honest, respected leader. And to your rival moxey63, get well soon.

Dalle showed massive potential when he rode for 'The Cheetahs' in 1995 and had a style reminiscent of Per Jonsson. Made the mistake joining the Cradley/Stoke promotion (who owned his contract apparently) in my opinion in 1996 and was never the same rider. He turned out at Edinburgh some years later in the Premier League but the star that had shone bright when at Cowley had dimmed and he eventually disappeared from the British scene. If I recall he did suffer with a back injury that slowed his progress but I'm convinced that if he had remained at Cowley he would have potentially become a very big star.

Wishing you the very best with your efforts, the town deserves for the Sport to continue especially after the successes of this season, it would be a crying shame for the Sport to be lost in Mara land.. when its gone its gone..

Same here mate. I can’t see it happening personally but I’d love to be wrong.

I would advise any rider starting out to ride a tight technical track, it will teach them so much. Look at Jack Holder,Plymouth there's an example. But it will do Luke no harm to start at poole. He will be well looked after, that i can say.

Thorssell hasn't been poor, he did exactly what realistically could have been expected, actually slightly better in my opinion. He doesn't have an inflated average from riding at No 4 as he did the previous year, or as Schlein and Masters do from this season. As for Howarth, he had an injury blighted season that sees him on a much lower average. Basically, Thorssell and Howarth have to be the first two names on the sheet along with Morris if he wishes to join.

What would you expect him to score? He got 30+6 over the 4 meetings so matched his average

Go Workington!!

Jon Cook has been sniffing around Oxford for some time now and still hasn't been able to crack it.

If anyone can get money or help from anyone it "thj" have met him and hand still sore after shaking his but he comes across as someone who could make things happen together wiiyb laura and the town board !!

Yes, but not for the reason you have stated. Word I have had is that the stadium is seriously dilapidated, with the developers doing all they can to make sure that sooner or later it will become an eyesore and they can knock it down and build houses. Apparently, its not much better than Coventry and will require serious investment to bring it up to scratch. I am saddened but not surprised at Stuart Douglas' announcement. I don't think its much of a secret that he has poured a huge amount of money into Lakeside over the years and losing the stadium, and the manner of it, has probably persuaded him that now is the time to go.

So everyone starts the season with a "losing" team (one wheree the total of the averages don't meet the total needed to win a meeting) What a great selling point to the public, isn't it? But that's just a short term problem. The long term problem is that if you pack the team with low-average riders who then go on to score the points that they will, over the course of the season, then they will all massively improve their averages, making them unemployable the following year. THEN where do you get the next crop of wobblers from? And how bad do they have to be to get under the average limit? And you are still expecting the public to pay to watch this?

And many thousands have to rent there homes and will NEVER be in a position to buy.

As a Plymouth supporter I would disagree with your choice there, we had as many injuries as Birmingham but being as far west as we are and riding on a Friday it seemed difficult to get replacements. We were still in with a shot until the last few meetings :-)

If you attended matches at Rye House on a regular basis then you would have noticed: 1) crowds last year were mostly over 1,000 and sometimes 2,000, granted it was a higher standard of racing, the team was clearly motivated, mildly successful and it was also probably swollen with Lakeside fans rejecting NL. 2) crowds this year 700 to about 1,200 team atmosphere and lack of effort from some riders was noticeably different and Fixed Race Nights were a disaster and Lakeside (a very good Lakeside) back in the Championship and certain riders hugely overpaid (naïve by the management but everybody moans that they want some top riders back in English Speedway but boy are they costly) 3) First Lakeside match at Rye House the crowd was quite good and I saw a lot of Rye House fans there, steadily those fans have stopped going, from people I have spoken to it was partly due to unappreciative comments aimed at their club from certain Lakeside fans. The point I tried to make was "there are NOT enough Lakeside fans going to Rye House to make it viable" (what ever the reason is it doesn't matter, its just a fact) so they need some Rye House fans (points 1 or 2) to attend the Lakeside matches. Rye House did not go bust allegedly, if some riders were paid late (I don't know but lets presume so) look at Workington this year admitting the same, There have been rumours many times in the past that other teams have had a late payment history Finally each club are meant to pay a bond to the BSPA for their licence so surely if any club does not pay its riders then the money can come from the bond.

Don’t be silly I was far too busy filling my programme in , we were on our way to picking up our 3rd Trophy of the weekend

I thought I'd watch this on catch-up after seeing this here. Good luck to Blair. I hope he gets himself sorted out in the rehab that they sent him to. I wonder if this is one of those cases of someone involved in sport desperate to regain the adrenaline rush that they have lost after finishing their careers. I felt very sad for him watching this. He wasn't your typical "Jeremy Kyle" type guest who comes on screaming and shouting, and his family were clearly a bit embarrassed to have to resort to putting him on the show. He looked emotional throughout and seemed to genuinely want help. No way did he come across as a "scum bag". I think he is lucky in that his family clearly care about him. I hope they do some sort of catch-up programme in the future and he is doing well.

Swedes are not allowed in the NL

If Poland only use a few Fridays you would think that with a well thought out fixture list (for once) clubs could avoid any Fridays when their riders are involved in a meeting in Poland.I am sure my club Belle vue would love to go back to Fridays.A big ask but with a little cooperation from Poland to stick to Fridays that are on the fixture list at the start of the season and I think this could be possible. You would think that it is in Polands own interest to keep speedway running in Britain as over the years we have produced/helped bring on a lot of quality riders who now grace the Polish leagues without us a good few of these riders could never have been given the chance/meetings needed to improve to the level they have. Same with Sweden there are not that many meetings run in Sweden only 1 home and 1 away meeting shared between Tue and Thur with good fixture planning I would think these fixtures could be avoided.It just needs a lot of though and countries for once to work together(ie any Thurs rain off rearrange for a Tuesday) like a professional sport. Otherwise we have no bloody days left to run speedway other than Mondays if this is the case I m o speedway here is as good as over.

Huge Congratulations to the Comets,to win one piece of Silverware in this league is a tough ask,two win 3 is a hell of a performance i can remember thinking when the team was released earlier in the year that the 7 riders selected would take some beating but never thought it would dominate like it has a huge and well deserved Treble!!

Costs would increase because currently the points money paid by Championship clubs are subsidised by riders doubling-up at Premiership level. Therefore with one league, Championship clubs would have to compete with Premiership clubs for the signature of the same rider. For example, take Nick Morris. He rode for Swindon in the Premiership and let's say he received £100 a point. He also rode in the Championship for Lakeside and received £75 a point. Who would Nick Morris ride for in one big league? The answer is simple, the team who pays him the most. Therefore, Swindon already have a business model allowing them to pay a rider like Nick Morris £100 a point. If Lakeside want to secure the services of Nick Morris they will have to pay 25% more in 2019 than they did in 2018 in order to compete with Swindon for his signature. Couple this with the fact that one big league means there are potentially 19 clubs chasing the signatures of heatleaders and a reduction in the number of riders firstly due to the removal of doubling-up and secondly riders who can't commit to Friday, Saturday and Sunday racing in Britain dropping out. Whether more variety would boost attendances remains to be seen. What we know for a fact, as we have seen it happen over the last decade, is that if you reduce the strength of the league fewer people attend.

Before the agm the sport needs to head down to the Houses of Parliament and have it’s anual pat on the back ceromony, really only the Isle of Wight should get any sort of medal/ recognition for its seasons work but I’m sure there is some self congratulations to be handed out somewhere, after all it’s takes some sort of special to make your own rules and then not be able to stick to them