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I think the point Laura was trying to make is she had just sat round the AGM table where all clubs were agreed the importance of cost cutting, now it appears clubs are throwing money at the riders. No problem for me as there has always been the have and the have nots, and Workington proved to be the best out there last season so they have proved to others it can be done on limited budgets.

Who’s been offered inflated wages?! Who have Glasgow signed?! What counts as inflated? If it’s more than Workington are prepared to offer does that count as “inflated”? Glasgow made significant losses last year primarily due to investment in the club - track work, TV screen etc. All to enhance the spectators experience. What’s been said now is basically we’ve invested and have some top class facilities let’s fill the stadium for us all to benefit. It’s not rocket science really. Well maybe it is to some people

Those hoping the Aussies in their team also qualify for the reduction are just perpetuating the attitude of self interest and manipulation that has been one the main problems on the sport for too long

Is that the same solid businessmen who highlighted their losses the day the AGM started and asked for volunteers to help the club out during the new season :S Laura Morgan has always been honest and open about how difficult the last couple of seasons have been for her she has always said that she wont pay silly money to attract riders to her club but there is one thing for sure she has always had and will continue to have Workington Comets best interests at heart and that is probably why we are running this coming season, she most certainly does not have a chip on her shoulder !

If you're right, maybe those clubs need to pay more to encourage some riders to travel regularly to the geographical outposts of the Championship, especially Glasgow given the dearth of Scottish-based riders?

I predict this will be at least a 50 pager . Having just looked at some of the post's make it an 80 pager.

Got to love some of the Rumours, various sources ,heard from a reliable source my mate says, people in the know, even I can show you there wage slips lol what a load of bullsh1t unless a rider comes on here and tells you what they earn which I can’t see people should state facts not fairy tales not hear say it’s went from £100 to £200 a point to £1000 a meeting to £1200 now £2000 a meeting to the whole team on a guarantee lol lol by the time the season starts they will be all millionaire with secret offshore bank accounts and pretty sure if it was that pay scale every single rider would be queuing outside Allied head quarters the day after the season finishes begging for a team spot for the following year and before they agree to ride for any other team but not happened yet

Laura appears to have a chip on her shoulder, as do a few Workington fans on here. If you’re putting a team together on a budget that’s lower than previous years and lower than other clubs then you won’t get the same level or number of riders to choose from. Get on with it and stop whinging and moaning about other clubs!

Lets hope so - isnt that what we all want for every club? Of course regardless of anything else a club attracting more fans will be able to offer better terms than one only pulling in 3 or 400

Fear not , by page 10 on this thread it will be up to £400 a point and a 5k guarantee

This place is going into meltdown when we name our team.

Poole did not have a hissy fit. Where do you get all this crap from, storyland of make believe!! Poole said they couldn't do anything about KL using Ellis. KL realising what a laughing stock they were going to make the final, thought you know what how about we both keep the same guest for both legs. Pity they chose the wrong guest.

Can't go far wrong on a 4.96.

That is absolute rubbish, he was on £20,000 a meeting allowing him to get some decent machinery which resulted in him starting to become competitive in the Grand prix and just failing in a run-off in the GP qualifier

If you are going to attempt smugness at least do it with facts , it is the POSSIL Man City Tigers.

Did it? Amending the rule so an illegible rider could ride for a team.? What ever the reason. It was good in terms of non farcical. But it was bad because it was yet another thing to go against lynn. At the end of the day rr and a number 8 would have been the least farcical and most integral thing. No rules needed to be amended for that. It’s history but it’s still sour. As was the toft injury and exclusion. It was a great season and everything but I’m left feeling like an Irishman has tarmacked my driveway at a “good price”. I hope that common sense prevails in future and the rr option is taken/forced

Who said they have to be cheap? If they are within Somerset's budget, what's the problem??

Not sure but I read it on a post where the promoter said that the 2.5% only applies to British riders, which makes sense if they are trying to promote more home talent.

Correct but it was more the exception rather than the norm Parker and Stancl stayed with the Tigers for years and in Stancl case he was based in Newcastle and rode for several Northern based clubs. It was and to a certain extent still is difficult for Edinburgh & Glasgow to attract riders so far north and you could probably include Berwick in that as well. Whilst I acknowledge they are all probably working to different budgets which this has ultimately made attracting bigger names if you like up north.

Location has been a big issue at Glasgow for years, people don't want to travel so far North, it was only after the Facenna's took over and offered more money that riders then wanted to come. If we were to have a fixed pay rate and no extra money from sponsors etc then we would find it difficult to attract riders to the team

if a club wants to pay that's there choice but it has knock on effects for all involved in the sport like wise its up to that club which league they race in its not all about money sometimes location plays a big part in things and then theres competitive entertainment

That should get them going again

Not this again.... You do like a dig at Lynn. Poole booked Morris at home and Eliis away, so Lynn booked Eliis at Poole away would of had Morris at home... Poole went nuts as the complained , despite it being perfectly legal at the time. That's what started all this off.. Lynn did nothing wrong. Everything was within the rules at the time that Poole had the "hissy fit".

With harris going to somerset its now official he has had more clubs than tiger woods !

While I would be disappointed not to have Rasmus in the team next year we have to be realistic,. If you had a job and then another employer offered you a substantial amount more for doing the same job but at a different venue then surely its not unlikley that you would accept the other offer. Its a job at the end of the day that has to generate money in order to cover both his racing costsAND provide him with a living wage, like I said I would love him back but no one can really blame him for taking the bigger money.

I don’t hate you because of who you support or sign I despise your irrelevant posting it’s crap

I've never ever in my life heard a rider utter these very words before..........DISGRACEFUL !!!...........LOL

They will mean he loves himself and his family more then Workington

Rasmus will really upset a lot of Comets fans if he has succumbed to what are tantamount to BRIBES by a certain other club ! He stated publicly at the End of Season do that he LOVED WORKINGTON and wants to ride here in 2019 for us if at all possible. What will all those words actually mean if he doesnt ?

...best place for it!

Nothing wrong with the Poole team going away , if thats what the club wants to do so be it. No idea why Nick Morris has gone not even a Poole rider..................what about those riders that were actually Poole riders that contributed to the season a heck of a lot more than Morris..........Kildemand, Sundstrom, Shanes, Nielsen...........surely these guys should have gone and not Morris

I heard sarj was invoiced every time he demolished the tapes. He ended up paying us £30 per point once it was offset. Came from someone at the bingo on Friday.

Somewhere between red wine and paint thinner.

I think you are right although if they really wanted to limit doubling more quickly then the new conversion would apply It does seem rather silly for example that Chris Harris will have a lower average in the Championship than the Premiership

This explains a few things from the Rebels web site Garry May delighted the gathering of over 100 supporters at the Oaktree Arena on Tuesday night when he confirmed the return of Nico Covatti and the addition of Cornishmen Chris Harris to the Rebels fold.Earlier the assembly had heard that the Rebels management found themselves in a no-win situation at the AGM conference as they were keen to continue in the Premiership but a combination of costs and the need to change race nights again made it impractical to maintain their membership at the top flight.Debbie Hancock said "I am sat here this evening still gutted and feeling a sense of failure that we can't bring you the top level speedway, but our ultimate aim has to be the long-term future of Somerset speedway, something that Garry and Dad Bill, share my passion for, so I can only hope that our supporters will continue to support us. We do struggle with footfall here at Somerset because we are not a big town club like many of the Premiership rivals so we have to manage our costs carefully and we could not afford the high costs associated in that league."With a team limit of 38 points to work with for the Championship, Garry May admitted "it has been devilishly hard to work within such a limit but I promise Rebels fans I will put together the best possible team I can that will not break us as a club. I can confirm that Nico Covatti will be returning after his excellent time here last season when he came on board mid-season and I can also reveal that a deal has been done with Chris Harris who is very keen to ride for us and I believe will do a great job.

Howarth.

Makes you wonder why they bother with some of the losses these promoters are left with.

The Springburn Man City Tigers will be splashing the cash again this season in order keep their trophy run going.... hud on.....

If I am not mistaken, our team at the beginning of 2018 was built to some degree of a "Budget"....but look how we ended the season !

Yeah, Schlein, Harris and Covatti will all be cheap and WELL within budget...…….lol

Exactly,that has always been the case,just have to get on with it.

This will always be the case unless there is strict pay guidelines, even then sponsorship comes in to play, location of nearest airport and race night can influence a riders choice of where he wants to ride, there is the real point “ where he wants to ride”.

Maybe its more about looking forward than looking back?!

Not quite sure how the 38 point team average is going to pan out going forward. It doesn't appear to make complete sense and could ulimately water down the very good product that has been the Championship in recent seasons. With 46 points needed to win a meeting then on the face of it there appears to be quite a disparity which will probably do nothing for the better riders willingness to increase their average beyond a certain point especially if they are on guaranteed start money because ulyimately they could be riding themselves out of a job.

Most of the teams listed already would give Berwick a good opportunity to be competitive in 2019. I'm perplexed by the now confirmed 38 point limit I do fondly remember the abundance a 45 point limit brought. Does the 38 point limit really encourage riders to maximise their point scoring over the season? Top riders at our level were a savoured thought/memory. What even is a top rider in today's PL? Nicholls and Harris have dropped down and achieved an average of eight. Certainly a good way of getting excess meetings. Bar Britain's big two, British riders participation was pretty minimal in the bigger leagues for 2018. Also sad to see Scott go thought he did a good job and had found a model that works for Berwick. Being competitive without splashing the cash like Glasgow continue to do. To conclude 2019 isn't really filling me with huge optimism. Maybe some good signings will change that. But it looks to me like another year of mediocrity and similar press releases to the ones I read, over the last few weeks and come to think of it years.

Hopefully Redcar or Newcastle will take him

That team looks pretty bad, not going to lie, but I understand the strength in depth approach you're looking for

Why the Hell can't they just call it division 1 & 2? It isn't a premier league & it isn't a champion league. Don't try to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear.

I couldn't agree more Jason. Looking at the decisions made over a number of years it's quite understandable why speedway is in a dire situation. I would say a radical overhaul of the sport is the only answer. Long term I would say the riders will have to become amateur or semi professional as the financial rewards for the sport are just not there.

I guess when you have to explain a joke it's not funny