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Just read the Eastbourne "Club Statement" which it seems just intends to rake over the ashes and fan the flames. As previously commented, 2 paragraphs would have been enough to close the matter down. They haven't . What follows is a highly blinkered one sided view of everything that occurred. Lots is made of the Glasgow team waiting until the official referee arived before complaining about track conditions. That is the CORRECT PROCEDURE. Then plenty of "refuting" of pretty much everything. The lady doth protest too much. They can "refute" all they like but the bottom line is that their selected highlights of the events contradicts much of what I saw on the 2 minute video (now conveniently removed). i.e. Craig Cook chose to ignore all Red Flags and Lights, did not reduce his speed before riding in to and around the 1st / 2nd turn towards his teammates, the Eastbourne Team and Mascots and Track Officials at his point of departure. What I saw on the video was Craig Cook slowing up on entry to the first bend and then turning right towards the open pit gates on the 2nd bend where he collided with a marshall standing in the middle of the track with his right arm directing Craig towards he inside of the track towards the exit of the 2nd bend.... and presumably towards where the parade and all the assembled folks were standing ? I will agree that the ban of Eddie (Ed or Edward ?) Kennett was disproportinate. He should have been banned for 24 days for his premeditated sprint towards the second bend from the parade with only one intention ..... to fight with Craig Cook. What is NOT mentioned by the Eastbourne club is the failure of the other Eastbourne rider sprinting from the parade with Ed Kennett in the fist throwing to receive any ban, nor any ban of Paul Dugard for the initial verbal abuse of Craig Cook.

And the Glasgow riders wouldnt have ridden off if they hadnt been goaded by the presenter and the Eastbourne promotion.......end of

Wrong Cook should never have rode off during the presentation.....100% he was wrong If the marshall hadnt have stepped on to the middle of the track and walked into Cook then Cook wouldnt have kicked off........Cook was 100% wrong again to kick of the way he did But was Cook at fault for the fracas? No the marshall was...............granted if Cook hadnt have rode off the marshall wouldnt have been there........but if the marshall stayed in the right position its more than likely Cook would have simply stopped and nothing more would have happened apart from Cook getting a word in his ear which may well have come from his own management. How far back do you want to take things to assess who was to blame? If you believe Cook was at fault for the fracas........then go back to the reason Cook left the parade........the deliberate act of stirring things up on the microphone from the Eastbourne presenter and the Eastbourne management team So those who think Cook was at fault need to then equally apportion blame on the people who dished out the stick on the mic. The reason a scuffle broke out was because of an over zealous marshall getting in the way.......without him no scuffle.................without the Eastbourne promotion deliberately winding up someone who they no is a bit volatile , then Cook wouldnt have left the parade....the marshall wouldnt have needed to be on the track....the scuffle would never have happened As i said if you think Cook caused the fighting ....then go back to why Cook was on the track in the first place

Why would you be interested in a statement from Glasgow. Oh wait you sniff an opportunity out more than a blind Lesbian in a fish factory.

If he was 'slowing down' then he must have been going faster beforehand at a time when he shouldn't have even been riding the track! With the presentation always held on the back straight, Cook rode off into the 3rd/4th bends and then the home straight before entering bends 1 and 2 (where most of the fan video was taken). Red lights were on and marshalls were holding their red flags on the 3rd/4th bends and the home straight at the side of the track before he went into bends 1/2. Whatever the rights and wrongs of what happened in the 'fracas', (not forgetting it was all witnessed first hand by the SCB's Neil Vatcher as well as the ref!), none of it would have happened if all the Glasgow riders had stayed at the presentation line until it had been fully completed! End of.

Blimey is it not about time everyone moved on ? I just watched the video of this meeting on Eagles TV . It was fantastic to see Tom Brennan in such high spirits and looking forward to getting back on his bike towards the end of this year. Delighted for him after all he and his family have been through.

In Cook's version of events - as published in last week's Star - he didn't hear anything of the presentation announcements as he had his helmet on and didn't realise the parade was still going on!!!!!!

Agreed. Cook pushed the marshall away as I think most people would have done in his situation. The marshall exited the scene. at that point the incident was over or at least should have been. But a host of Eastbourne people - the dugards, track staff, security guards and riders - all confronted Cook and Vissing and the fracas ensued.

I'm guessing it doesn't help that a brilliant race track has been turned to junk, are you saying they should keep turning up and watch junk, just in case. My team are having a good season, been at the top or near top all season, but the racing has been junk, so I stopped going.

He was going very slow and was slowing down and would have never caused an issue to anyone on the back straight Eastbournes statement just deflects everything away from them....right up to saying marshalls with the flags were at the edge of the track

Regardless of the wording, Cook was entering the first bend at a fairly leisurely pace, the group of people were on the back straight. It's ridiculous to suggest he would have caused danger to those on the back straight.

Not true, Tom was easily beating all those riders when they fell, deserved and earned every point. TBO I'm glad hr's staying, you cant ask more from a rider than giving their all and watching him improve week after week is what its all about.

Shame, bet a lot of those kids were looking forward to the next meet till they were told that

Can't speak for anybody else but personally I don't have an ounce of respect for somebody that behaves and conducts themselves like that. Its the same type of aggression in the clip that was shown by a poster a few posts ago at the Eastbourne track, whereby Dugard was clearly seen advancing towards a Glasgow rider and thrusting/pushing the Glasgow rider aggressively such that he was caused to suddenly move backwards a few yards. He obviously has a violent conduct and/or temper problem. The guy needs help.

Better off buying this.

No its not,he has been punished for his actions and serve his ban, if he doesn't miss any meetings it is not punishing him.

My view is that the club is more important than the owner . If supporters stop going to punish the current owner then they are effectively closing the club down. If that is what you want that is your affair , but it will be you that closes the club not the owner. Nobody is going to continue to lose money indefinitely. What supporters should be doing IMO is to create a club that another party would like to take over. The above is not in any way an endorsement of Mr Chapman

Live streaming is coming. But not from all clubs sadly Also if what I'm told is right TV coverage of the british league wont be on BT next year. But will be on eurosport

I have only been to the showground once this season and that meeting will go down as one of the best I have been to ever. It seems that has never been repeated which is a great shame. Peterborough racetrack was arguably the best track in the country prior to the NSS being built.

Sorry Gavan, that is just your opinion of the events, you have absolutely no idea whether he would have ridden off or not. Cook is a bit of a precious at the best of times, what he does when the mist descends sometimes results in nothing more than him getting a meeting postponed, to him throwing punches, riding into officials and knocking heaters off walls....I sometimes wonder whether speedway is the right choice for him tbh.

Exactly how far back do you go Cook wasnt 100% responsible for the fight that ensued.....some are just either lacking in intelligence or simply Cook haters to accept what happened

Cook is only going to give his own version which we can choose to believe or not. But no mention of the marshal in the middle of the track who caused the fracas, only mention those who were in the right. Blinkered.

Excellent statement!!

Well let’s face it that official statement isn’t accurate or factual either, selective facts at best. 3 minute video footage of the sorry incident means you don’t have to be there to make an informed opinion. I take it you believe every word of the statement as correct fact because you were there. Which at best makes you comments blinkered. Its pretty clear the statement put out is at best part fact, part ignore the obvious and part fail to mention the part others who were involved played (notably those from the home side).

Don't think 28 even covers the bond. But if it's 28 from each of your alias,, then that's a serious amount of money.

And Jacob Bukhave from Newcastle.. Just saying.

I have around £28k in savings. How much would Buster be willing to sell for?

All you have done is to attack craig at every opportunity cant blame him can you

There is plenty more footage of Martin Dugard involved in far worse incidents I have from his riding days.

Another strong team performance from the Bears. A play-off place looking very likely now. Sheffield the only team anything like in contention in league positions below the Bears. Could this actually be the Bears year after so many barren seasons. I'm starting to dream it could well be. UTB !!

Yes i agree should have been meetings or a fine.It isn't Craig's fault its the powers that be again.

Anyway there is a silver lining to all this kings lynn are at poole in September you will be able to tell craig what you think of him to his face

Take Debbs on holiday with some of it. You'll get a 2 for 1 deal

I went to Championship 4's massive crowd, well organised and track was superb by end of meeting and through most of the 30 + races!

Fans not turning up because their team isn't winning. I understand it. However when your club dies then each one of you are partly to blame. It's your choice but every year some team has to finish last. Your signings to try and strengthen have been decent shouts much of the time. It's just not happened for you though. Go whilst you still can I'd say. I think your days may be numbered

Cook is known to react to being wound up The Eastbourne presenter/management did just that in a deliberate manner. The same way a footballer will wind up an opponent with a short fuse to gain an advantage Cook sulked and rode off But as i said he wouldnt have rode off if not antagonised He wouldnt have thrown any punches if the marshall didnt walk out in front of him Not condoning Cooks actions, but to say he was responsible for the fight is rather blinkered to what made him be in that position in the first place

Seems a lot more factual and accurate than the statement put out by Craig Cook in the Speedway Star which if you read the statement from Eastie properly it seeks it seems to me to make a non confrontational rebuttal to, and makes point they waited for the Hearing and have accepted by the finding of..

The statements made by those that were there have been found to be incorrect so they're a pretty poor judge as they got one look at the time and false impressions can be given. People are giving 'opinions' based upon the video evidence available which is as factual as you can get. Which funnily enough the SCB did. They didn't ban Cook nor even mention any element of endangering those on the back straight. The three were banned for violent behaviour, which is fair given the evidence provided.

a very colourful picture and outlook you paint but all that glitters isn't gold!...a major hurdle amongst many others in this is the loss of secondary spend income to Stadium/Track owners who don't own the speedway teams racing out of the stadium, can't imagine the likes of Wolverhampton(Ladbrokes) etc not increasing rent once crowds dwindle, which obviously they will do.

Thursday`s line-ups Masarna v Piraterna MASARNA 1 Tarasenko 2 lindback- presumably R/R 3 Tungate 4 Berge 5 Nilsson 6 Hellstrom- Bangs 7 Loktayev PIRATERNA 1 Michelsen 2 Huckenbeck 3 Sundstrom 4 Przedpelski 5 NKI 6 D Davidsson 7 J Davidsson Lejonen v Vetlanda- live on Freesports 6pm LEJONEN 1 Drabik- Drabik won`t be riding- Polish U21 championships so R/R or a different rider. If R/R all riders can take a ride 2 Hampel 3 Kasprzak 4 lahti 5 Woryna 6 Klindt 7 Tornblom VETLANDA 1 Wozniak 2 Kurtz 3 Laguta 4 Lyager 5 Zmarzlik 6 Palovaara 7 Hjelmland

He might go well if Poole don't fancy Wolves getting a play off spot

One problem might be unfortunetly that many people gave there spare money to Ged a few years ago and some would say he never offered any back when he sold the club or allegedly took the Poles cash.

Talk to the Supporters Club Committee about Buster .....

Probably no better or no worse but came at at time of relative strength within the sport (compared to now) and when Panthers had the run of the EoES on their terms which made the club an attractive proposition for any new owner/s.

If you keep going to a restaurant what serves up gash food it will inevitably close is it the customers fault for the restaurant closing ??? I can't see how speedways any different and lets face it buster has hardly done anything team wise to improve the menu and is serving up gash

Apologies to all can,t resist this. "Bemused Brattered & Bewildered"

Mike0310: I second what Norfolk Bear said, whatever you may feel about the Wallinger situation, what happened between Redcar and BB has no comparison whatsoever - like NB said , Redcar went above and beyond to help him

It would be if cars didn’t have any brakes!!

Come on Scooby that would be far too sensible lol

Yes, I have followed speedway long enough to have seen both era's , ( from 1972) I have visited tracks at both ends of the country and attend at least two tracks a week, usually three and they are different ones each week. Compare this to your non attendance. Spoke to Martin ( Mad Dig) Dixon recently who rode for over 25 years and he said the standard of racing these days is far superior to when he started in the late 70's. Dont judge every track by your local track experience, there's a few out there producing great racing and entertainment EVERY week. Tv matches are primarily Premiership which is inferior racing to most championship and even some National League matches. Even Sky used to say they saw more competitive meetings when covering championship meetings.