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Chapman only did what he did because he hasn't the wit or wisdom to carry out the root and branch restructuring the sport desperately needed, instead he's enabled the many times failed premiership model to carry on for a little longer until it goes t!ts up again. Have said before I think this will put the long term future of Ipswich (and Peterborough) in serious jeopardy. No one was looking long term when this ridiculous deal was made.

"Ben also needs to realise that he has the potential to be a professional speedway rider and that's a very different animal to being a star in a League where half your opponents struggle to stay on, get their bikes to do four laps and in some cases can barely skid a bike. I've seen him have some terrific rides at this and Elite level so the talent is there. I don't think the NL comfort zone is doing him any good" The above is a quote by Eastbourne's Jon Cook. Delightful to see what he really thinks of the National League, a league that Eastbourne have just moved out of and that featured a lakeside team not so long ago. Nobody claims that NL riders are the finished article but i personally find the above comments incredibly rude towards everyone who competes in and follows the NL. Here's my quote back "You can stick your opinions and any club you have anything to do with now or in the future where it doesn't shine as you won't be getting one penny from me."

As I’ve said before he’s in it to make money and therefore home defeats and struggling teams won’t work. Wins and Play Off qualification will. To that end I’m not sure why he wouldn’t treat all three the same. Agree about him being incapable of reforming our sport but it’s the same for pretty much all of the current promoters. It needs a completely fresh approach but anyone who has tried that in recent times has been forced out by the old boys club.

A sensible rule book, properly policed and fairly applied would be a start and would give the sport credibility. For those who don't remember it was one of Chapman's promises when he took office. Many might think it is an easily achievable objective that wouldn't cost very much, if anything. For reasons I can't fathom, we are still waiting.

Dropping himself can be nothing other than withdrawing his services. What else can withdrawing services be?

IMO Chapman is a clueless numpty. He couldn’t run a bath! He’s been chairman of the BSPA and overseen the biggest decline in British Speedway in recent years. Chapman and his useless sidekick are arrogant and don’t listen or understand the fans and are totally incapable of improving the sport. If you ignore your customers, they will eventually ignore you. Speedway and loyal fans deserves better!

Good meeting tonight, close throughout. Ben Wilson was in a class of his own including a superb win off 15 metres. Luckily the island avoided the monsoons on the mainland.

How many fishing rods to you go through in a season , just asking like.

Distraction from the poor state of the track.

I didnt go, but so good to read good reports from the meeting. Two evenly matched sides going for it, makes for a good night out. Well done both teams.

As said many times before Speedway isn't comparable to most sports. The action time vs cost is getting out of hand in some places. Sister sports like grasstrack are usually under £15 and for 40+ races, Stocks and bangers again far more races for the entry fee's. The fact is that the sport currently is competing with other amateur ventures but attempting to charge professional prices.

I know there are still those who long for the "good old days" of the World Finals, but I'm pleased to see so many of you making several trips a year around Europe for the GP's. Of course, a lot of you make the most of it, and take in other meetings while you are there, which is fantastic. I am jealous of you all, and I really wish I'd had those opportunities while I was still in the UK. Of course, Eastern Europe opening up was a great thing - particularly for speedway fans - and travel is so much easier and cheaper now. Just wish I could join you, but maybe someday... Steve

More exciting racing might save the sport imo (real or contrived). Every fan loves close racing/passing/team riding, it's what gets fans excited and talking about the sport away from the track. It's also something no fan can make happen, it's down to the promoters and riders ....

Cook has always been an unpleasant character. So it's never surprising whenever it inevitably surfaces in public. Pity that he is garnering such bad PR for Eastbourne now, though.

if anyone knew Morleys ability and limitations it should be Cook, had him for years after all at Lakeside. Not sure what his gripe with National League is either he did manage Lakeside in National League didn't he?, must think its beneath him.

Where does he think riders like Morley,Wood, etc get enough money to keep their machines in tip top condition? I think that type of statement brings the sport into disrepute. I hope some sort of apology is issued or some punishment dished out to him. Disgraceful.

Not at all bud i know you have well balanced opinions the majority of the time.

I don't often agree with Sings, but on this subject he is 100% right. Jon Cook should be ashamed of himself for this insult.

This might come as a surprise but i agree with you i places. However its not just the NL where the standard is too spread out, the Championship also has 2 point riders out on track with 8/9/10 point averaged riders. The whole system needs a shake up to make an actual race to include all 4 riders and not two races in one. Im sure there will be a statto somewhere who can compare number of fallers? Yes there is the element of learning in the NL which can cause crashes by misadventure but that also adds to the unpredictable nature of it and is more entertaining than from the gate racing that can often pepper the updates of the higher leagues. My big issue is the slating of the league rather than the riders. A promoter can have his opinion on performances just like any other poster on here but to make broad sweeping unjustified statements is nothing short of Jon Cooks ignorance and rudeness.

100% correct. I've made a similar case on the forum before for a festival-style model offering much better value to the whole family. Sadly, sensible voices like this get drowned out by a dying generation of hard core followers who get their knickers in a twist over trivialities like doubling up. The sport in Britain needs revolution not evolution.

My only disappointment is that i can only like the above once. Ive thought very similar for a long time and buried somewhere is an equivalent post. Qualifying rounds, differing levels, handicap races, sidecars whatever it takes make it razzle dazzle. Look at the X games and arena cross. They pack huge stadia and in reality is no more thrilling than speedway. 4 riders could go round a 100 meter circular track and make it entertaining if the abilities and bikes were matched. Bring back the pantomime villains, arm waving and just entertainment. If newbies go and think its alright they won't come back, if they attend and leave thinking its amazing they will return and will bring others.

Spot on... Should just sell the spectacle... Which currently gets completely diluted by trying to shoe horn it into a team concept... (A very, very inadequate, and nowhere near fit for purpose team concept which does the actual spectacle absolutely no favours).. Running once a month at the NSS for example, at weekends, with circa 40 races on show of differing levels eg kids to juniors to experts, (maybe a 'Festival Of Speedway' over two days?), in competitions with some authenticity, would generate pretty decent crowds I would think.. Ran once a month, with credibility, and properly marketed in the weeks leading up to it, with circa four thousand in attendance, would deliver a much better impression of the sport and enhance its brand far more to help it's long term sustainability than running contrived meetings, four times a month on a Monday or a Thursday, with a thousand at each meeting.. Run one 'biggie' individual during the season, and bang in a couple of Test Matches, and maybe it could kick start a renaissance of the sport in this country.. There definitely is still a fairly large following out there for Speedway, its just not being engaged by the current way it is ran.. So find an operating model that does..

enjoyable match but got v cold and dusty later on. Couple of unforced errors did for the warriors in 12 and 14, wood well clear in 13 and Stoneman fell, Wilson won re run too. Plymouths team are well suited to smallbrook tho, they rode well

Wake up you've drifted off again!

Make sure you don`t tell them that the race last`s a minute.

Good win for plymouth 42-48!

100%... If it wasn't, more people would go.. People often come on here and compare prices to football and say that speedways prices are on a par with the lower leagues.. The huge difference of course is that football has a brand identity and is recognised by the wider public.. Speedway has no sutch brand recognition so any non speedway aware man my age, with a 16 yr old son like I have, is hardly likely to see a £25 admission for them both as something that would entice him to give it a go.. Those who run the sport may see their pricing structure as reasonable, justified and value for money, and have a million perfectly valid reasons why it is what it is, however, that is irrelevant, as its the amount of customers who purchase your product which validates the pricing structure.. Or not as it would appear in the case of speedway,. NB it was cheaper for me and my lad to watch the SoN on a Saturday night at the NSS than an Aces match on a Thursday there.. The SoN was a sell out.... "Quelle surprise!" as Dimitri Berge may say...

I think that's owhat would please the current hardcore fans but it's the whole experience which could attract new followers. At present, between races its dull, the environment is poor with few seats/liitle rain cover at many tracks, presentation tired and no alternative entertainment in the downtime (and I don't mean on the centre green)

Totally agree. It needs a level playing field with fixed points money which then drives costs and if all riders participated using standard equipment and were then forced to hone their riding skills instead of being gate and go merchants on bikes that many if not most fail to control across a wide range of track conditions then the sport might get back to close racing, team riding and entertaining the punter. Until they bite the bullet and do what is right for speedway and not their own insular but contrived business arrangement where they operate on outdated business models with no idea of what the punter is crying out for, speedway will not even register on the sports radar of any potential new follower. SGP and many of the other televised European meetings as well as the overseas leagues have been given carte blanche to crap on U.K. speedway from a great height and this has been condoned by the BSPA headed by two cronies who the sport would be better off without. Sacrifice is needed for the greater good and the sooner that some of those running clubs realise this the better.

Like all "leaders", politicians and dictators Chapman began with all kinds of honeyed ideas for bringing about a UK revival if things were done HIS way. Empty pointless hot air - shouted from the outside while he was a noisy looker-on, not sitting at the top table. The other promoters who had exhausted all their ideas gave him the green light and we have ended up going much, much faster down the slippery slope to non-viability.

Nothing against it in the rules so I suggest you chill

Scotland ?

Think John cooks comments are just ridiculous. The NL is a great product. Let’s be honest John cook knows nothing about speedway as he couldn’t keep up with paying his NL riders last when they was in the NL, so god knows how he keeps up with paying the Eastbourne riders. As for the opponents staying on there bikes well stop lowering the points limit so much and forcing riders to ride above there means. Speedway is a progression sport, so if you dropping the team limit so much there is not point in haveing an MDL/SDL. I find NL good racing. But my personal opinion is that unfortunately this year the NL is a glorified MDL and it’s hard to sell a product like that and get the punters in. But that’s just my opinion. Id like to find out what everyone’s else’s opinion is...........

A rider failing to bridge the gap between the NL and the Championship (or PL as was) is nothing new. They can be nigh on unbeatable at the lower level yet still struggle when they step up - Barrie Evans and Jay Herne spring to mind. Personally speaking, I think your view of the NL is nonsense. The gap between riders in the NL is comparable to the higher leagues and may even be less. Is there anything in the NL that compares to the difference between Craig Cook and Danny Phillips, for example ? How about Jason Doyle and Simon Lambert ? As someone who regularly attends the NSS, the Premiership racing there is better than the NL. There is no doubt in my mind about that, but to suggest the NL is 'pretty boring' is rubbish. The meeting with Plymouth, for example, was to use my own words 'splendid'. If riders like Morley and Wood can't - or shouldn't - ride in the NL, what happens when Eastbourne drop them - as seems entirely possible ? Cook seems to have his own agenda here - Bowtell has 'fire in his belly' despite the fact that of the three his present average is the lowest and around half of Morley's. I wonder if the comments are motivated by the fact that of the three Bowtell is the only one not riding NL speedway. I think what makes me most annoyed is Cook's stupid and entirely inaccurate view of NL - 'where half your opponents struggle to stay on, get their bikes to do four laps and in some cases can barely skid a bike'. That, as anyone who watches the NL speedway regularly, is utterly ridiculous and an unwarranted insult against the riders in that league. Not only that, it has the power to damage the huge effort that NL promotions are making across the country to attract paying spectators and stay in business. They deserve better.

Not sure why anyone would be surprised at this kind of stuff coming out of Mr Cook’s gob.

Just adhering to what the 28 day rule allows....opportunity to try potential replacements out or just maybe someone in particular becomes available/viable by the end of June

It's a shame Cook has spoilt the very impressive reputation the new Promotion were building with a silly and unnecessary throw away line but that's his style. The project seems to be driven more by the new bloke Jordan, who as someone has pointed out seems very un-speedway like e.g transparent and good in print and on the mike.

Indeed, any two day event or even a 2 or 3 hour event with the name "Speedwinks~ or "Tiddlyway" would incur the wrath of the Top of the Toppermost ( Mssrs Chapman & Godfrey ). Never mind filming it or broadcasting it in any shape or form. I suspect all participating riders would also get banned.

Riders can (and have been) banned for making derogatory remarks on social media. It'll be interesting to see what action the SCB take against Mr Cook for these disgraceful comments. Perhaps Mr Cook should concentrate his time more on the Eastbourne track and see if he can sort the dangerous surface where the Championship riders struggle to stay on, do four laps, and in some case can barely skid a bike.

Looking at the quote over a few times, it was as you say a harsh but fair point aimed at the rider's mentioned, and a stupid and unnecessary line about the NL standard, which we know over the last 4/5 years hasn't generally been the case. It does look to me it may have been part of the 'rant' to give Wood and Morley a kick up the a***, but in what seems to be his usual way, not well thought out, be nice if he clarified it was that in the next programme but unlikely to happen, especially if he really believes that. I do think him being there is part of the long term project, be a shame if you don't attend whilst he's they're, especially if our ex NL riders do turn it around.

It’s called the Poole way

Beating the dreadful weather was a bonus as well.

Wilson and Wood were both very quick last night, but ben's excellent use of the wide dirt line gave him the edge. It was an excellent hard fought match with both sides giving their all.

This is the article...quickly typed so sorry for any typos...personally I think take out the bits in italics (my italics not programmes) and it's "too the point" but not OTT...the bits in italics are OTT imho....for the record both had excellent nights!!!! "Going forward we are very concerned about the form,particularly away of Ben and George and this needs to improve if either of them are to establish themselves at this level. Whilst the same is also true of Alfie, he has the fire in his belly that all can see and has made the step up without the comfort of NL racing" "Ben also needs to realise that he has the potential to be a professional speedway rider and that's a very different animal to being a star in a League where half your opponents struggle to stay on, get their bikes to do four laps and in some cases can barely skid a bike. I've seen him have some terrific rides at this and Elite level so the talent is there. I don't think the NL comfort zone is doing him any good" "As for George this is his third attempt to crack professional racing and with the comfort of doing it at "his" track he should be cracking on now and it's a concern we are only having brief glimpses of his full potential" "He has incredible financial support from many fans and businesses and that needs to manifest itself in less engine failures and better preparation. This is his best chance; he must not blow it and he needs to give those backers and you fans value for money; too many excuses can become a default position and he's better than that". "Speedway riders do their talking on the track with points, not off it with reasons to explain a bad day. Suffice to say we are as a management team in a review position of those two spots so let's hope for an immediate positive reaction tonight"

Time for a Bomber maximum, resulting in an easy win! Then I woke up.

£10 for 15 heats - that often means 3 real races ( especially to the newbie ) sounds about right. The horse has bolted and cannot be pulled back whatever we do ( unless what we do is very radical regarding the on-track excitement part of the equation ).

Supposed to be riding on Sunday against Berwick?

You tube link for Wednesday afternoon

I find it odd that Witches fans are moaning about Bomber yet are flying high in the league. You should be very happy!

Surprised your's isn't David Speight x20