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Run it like a proper team sport with credibility? Run it to a budget that makes it sustainable for you rather than reflecting the costs your employees stump up? (Often to assist funding their own individual aspirations) Run it on nights when your customers tell you they can get there, not when your employees tell you they can get there.? Stop sharing employees who see you as the lowest paying employer out of the three they have..? Set an admission fee reflective of what you offer to the public, not one which needs to try and cover ridiculous salary levels which are far in excess of what a sport with such a poor following can ever hope to maintain.. ? A few starters for ten...

The visibility was getting to be the problem tonight, the riders were not having much trouble with track although it was getting quite wet.The entertainment was pretty good even in Ht 10.Think it was sensible to end it there though.

If a guest facility is there it's not a punishment. If they ban him should be a NL rider as a guest.

Maybe those who shout this down would prefer a no league structure over a one league structure? The one positive of all these tracks closing over the past three years is that eventually we will get one league and a supply of riders that exceeds demand as places will be scarce. Meaning salaries will start to reflect the sports' actual level not the fantasy level it seems to try and pretend it is at.. No need for guests either when so many subs are sat waiting for their chance.. Survival of the fittest always includes a cull of the weakest for the species to survive, strengthen, and evolve.. Let's hope there's enough of the fittest left to move it forward..

I loved the sport up until about 2006. Things became kind of fake. It was no longer a case of turning up at a track to follow a team of riders you had a kinship with. It was like turning up to help support some guys to ride bikes and pay their mortgage. They needed three clubs in this country and perhaps one abroad to keep busy. The riders ran the show. Promoters were too weak to resist. Now we have an unrecognizable sport than even 15 years ago. That is where the problem lies. You used to finish the season with near enough the same seven you began with, give or take. If promoters don't see this, there is no future.

If there is no actual rule to confirm that the referee is entitled to make a case for first bend bunching, given this is the 21st century, why not actually introduce one to cover the eventuality and whilst they are at it, introduce one that gives the referee the opportunity to use a bit of common and put all 4 back when e.g. last night with Batchelor, Tungate and Vissing were involved in a 'racing incident'. There was also the incident in the British Final with Charlie Wright that resulted in his exclusion when he didn't actually materially do anything wrong. It's not like it happens in every race, or every meeting, but allows some discretion if the referee feels no one is responsible. I mean, is that too sensible even for the powers that be?

Agree however they tried that the other year with the one rider over 8pt average, can’t remember all the splits but one example is wolves had to choose between Lindgren and thorsell, they chose thorsell, did Freddie then sign elsewhere? Nope just dropped uk and hasn’t been back

Craig Cook should take it as a compliment. Lets face it, all the sportsmen fans "love to hate" is basically because they are successful and a threat to their own team. How many mediocre sportsmen fit into the "love to hate" group? Craig Cook is probably the best rider in the league, the average shows it and as such every rider will see him as a scalp, that's probably why a lot of riders go daft when they beat him, they see it as a major scalp. Personally I love to see him at Berwick (and I would reckon most fans are the same, they boo him, but love to see him race), because he is bloody good. I also like to see him miss the gate, because you know there is going to be some great racing. I've seen fantastic races with him there in the past, Bellego, Doolan and Jye in heat 11 on Saturday.

Speedway, stock car and greyhound racing are all cloth cap sports in the decline. As the crowds fall and the revenue shrinks, more stadiums will become vulnerable to the developers.

As stadiums deteriorate with age it will be cheaper to sell off and profit from the land. The crowd levels cannot demand the continuation of the sport at many venues.

The sport is run for the benefit of the riders, not the fans. What we want does not matter, we are just an irritant to the promoters. In the end there will be no fans left, just empty stadiums.

Poole by 20. Hope Wells is better soon, sounds ever so serious #PrayForRicky

I don’t disagree with any of the above. I would like more home matches but only against a team once. Racing a team twice doesn’t help with crowds IMO

Poole are on a losing home streak so it’s doubtful that they will get any more points at all.

I think you are spot on the money Problem is, Buster will engineer a 10 Team League get the BT dosh and the rest will be left to fend for themselves in a lower level composite league. That might put 5-6 Clubs to the wall but Buster wont be bothered as he'll be raking it in.

Honestly Time for one league; make the second division a true second league rather than a pseudo premiership; make the multiplier 3 for doubling up/down riders and no one in the top league with an average above 4 in the preceding season to be available for doubling up/down the next and reset this each year then you will have enough riders to go around; meaning anyone achieving a top league average of 4.01 or more can not race in the second tier the following season until their average comes back down to 4.00 or lower. Back in the day (sorry to hark back) the likes of Tom Owen and Joe Owen were 6 and 7 at Hull yet top riders in the second tier, then when Joe kicked on he stayed in the top league, Tom came back down. Carl Stonehewer was another who was in this position. Over 40 plus riders used from the 2nd tier this year doubling up and still over 30 in there now and teams with six championship riders and one high profile name in them so for all intents and purposes a championship side. (its a joke really) Especially when there are only 7 teams in the top league meaning they only require 49 riders... The current sides in the Championship should have the option to come up or stay in a reformed league 2 made up from current NDL sides and anyone who does not want to go up in to the top tier with a far stricter rule for doubling up/down. Get the young kids starting out as the key doubling up riders those who are 2nd strings at best but usually starting out in the reserve positions. The gap between the top two leagues is blurred to say the least. We can't compete with the wages in Poland so we struggle to attract the top riders for the top league although we do see some very good competitive racing in both leagues with the guys we have; however we need to concentrate on our own leagues and what will work in this country with what we have available and stuff anyone else; The NDL and junior leagues should be just that for developing junior riders IMHO and the issue is; there isn't currently enough clarity between the top two leagues and riders are driving the terms and conditions (especially the ones doubling up) rather than the promoters and teams setting up the structures that support the sides in the league they are in rather than the riders. Workington gone, Berwick Edinburgh Newcastle Sheffield and Redcar must all be feeling the pinch because having been to all these venues this season the crowds have looked down on previous years visits (although Scunthorpe's crowd looked healthier than I have ever seen it?). Time for radical changes not tinkering around the edges But its always been the same and I cant seeing it changing if I am totally honest Regards THJ

Looks like a superb play offs in store ... Wolves and Swindon bang in form and never write off Poole either who could still top the league . Time for Nicholls to call it a day in the top flight and have a farewell season at lower level. As great a servant he has been over the years.

Without Douglas we would have suffered a bit of a thumping. However in the main some good racing on a damp miserable night. It is clear that many of the one time stars are now well past their best. The poor crowd could be excused because of weather and TV I suppose, but it is still worrying the increasing number of one time Panthers stalwarts that are noticeable by their absence. Some no longer present by their own decision, some it would seem having the decision made for them. It is to be hoped that this season can be put behind us and we can look forward to a return to being competitive in 2020 preferably still in Premier League

Block him. Everyone else has.

Track was great as we never had any rain today and with the star time brought forward by 30 mins it made all the difference was down to visibility that it was called off some great racing tonight Sam jenson just seems to get better every meeting not many riders will pass Steve Worrall twice in the one. Meeting

You deserve all you get after trapping off earlier in the season. Several people told you Belle Vue wouldn’t finish in the top four and so it proved. Might be worth being a little more humble next time.

Glasgow fans, be honest, was that track worse than v Scunthorpe? Because you’s are saying it was an excellent meeting and much better but it was raining and got abandoned at heat 10? But when you’s got beat v Scunthorpe in 15 heats it was awful?

Your lack of knowledge let's you down!! He rode for Crewe in the second division and in that time made guest appearances for various top flight clubs among them Hackney Ipswich Oxford Wolves....do i need to go on? His actual clubs after he moved up a division from Crewe were Newport then Bristol both a couple of seasons due to closure then Swindon .....certainly no journeyman! Suggestion ....don't look at Wikipedia try asking fans that have a modicum of speedway knowledge

yes but the shouters will have to face facts sooner or later

I agree with that but it would mean reverting to one league and initially a lower standard of rider, fine by me but every time anyone suggests it on here they get shouted down.

What would you suggest, you have the best track there's ever been in this country and still it has pathetic crowds?

Looks as if we'll be having the most important Promoters' congress since the last one.

I'm not very good at predicting, but I will go for Cook to do something silly, then all the Poole fans coming on here an moaning about it. 54,,36

It looks ok I enjoy your coverage every week big thanks to freesports

Gotta be in it to win it Still contenders rather than also rans at this point

Could be tight this depending on the fitness of Palm Toft Last time Lambert was imperious but Poole missed Kurtz R/R for Worrall got 7 so Covatti at 2 will need to replicate that Wells got 9 last time but he hurt his shoulder opening a can of coke so is missing for this one but Poole are able to call on Douglas........... Poole to win by 10-12

Absolutely, what I am saying is that even though he may have been frozen out that year, if he really wanted to ride here he surely would have popped up at Wolves since. There aren’t many GP riders nowadays who do three leagues.

Middlo will never leave Poole to manage another club, he is a one club man and at Poole we are all very grateful to have such a nice person to manage our team.

For me Hyabb win or lose, this year it has been a really enjoyable one a breath of fresh air.I would just love to go back to the continuity of fixtures again and get back to having at least 15/20 home meeting's again.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea for the matches to on separate days. Much better than double header meetings which take so long to run & become disjointed.

By the time of our home semi final on the 30th it will be 4 weeks since our last home meeting. Maybe we should re-arrange the home supporters cup Peterborough meeting as a warm up

Sorry to bang on about Hancock, but we are not talking about a guy who is in the same place as Ivan Mauger on his 1985 Farewell Tour - a good five years past being in the world's elite. We are talking about a guy still firmly in the world's top 5 when he last swung his leg over a bike in anger less than 12 months ago. We're all guilty of assuming he is past it because no other rider in the sport's history was performing at his level at his age. I thought he was past it 10 years ago...and he's won three titles since then! Like him or not, he has long ago shattered our pre-conceived illusions of what a rider can and can't do at his age. Would people suggest that Valentino Rossi should not be in the MotoGPs because he is in his 40s and hasn't won a title in 10 years? He's still among the elite riders, so why would you?

Agree don't think there is one but as far as I know there isn't one that says you can only allow 4 back before the exit of the first two corners either? Which surely gives a referee some discretion?? Often refs call all 4 point to save the hassle eve when someone is clearly at fault first bend or the run to it yet exclude someone during the race even if it's a clear racing incident ...quite ridiculous

I firmly believe that no matter what happens in the last 2 rounds that Tai and Hancock will be offered 2 of them Im not Hancocks biggest fan but i want the best riders in there....age is irrelevant ...and after the career he has had then i would think it justified to give him a spot Artem Laguta has shown enough for me to get a pick should he need one It goes without saying that Doyle , if needed, will get one. I think Kolodziej, unless he has 2 magnificent rounds will not get one..... yes he has won a gp but he doesnt do much else in most meetings Lindback to i doubt will get a wildcard All this talk about 'to young' 'to soon' 'will be outclassed' is absolute rubbish............a rider has to come 14th or 15th like Lindback this year. Are you ever going to get 15 riders all capable of being world champion? No So if a place comes for say Lambert or Aspgren then so be it My ideal GP field for next season: Zmarzlik Emil Madsen Lindgren Vaculik Janowski Dudek Zagar Iversen Fricke Doyle Laguta Woffinden Hancock One of Lambert, Aspgren, Thomsen, Smektala, Drabik,

Without Wright's bike failure in heat one could've been a Panthers win

Okay,,, can we play too, it might not be all about only you lot. With Niels now leading the team and how we have heard how Harris comes alive in the play offs, I think we can beat any of you over 2 legs. Allen back at reserve, Heeps back on top form. I don't think it's as clear cut as some of you think it is.

Need to get some aussies like the old days theres not many of them that dont like the showground

He just isn't quick enough on the big tracks anymore. He needs technical tracks to stand a chance. This is a bit out there, but I think hes a little overweight and suffers on larger tracks.

Totally agree! It was a brilliant atmosphere and the banter between all sets of fans was immense. Having been to Berwick a couple of times this season I left a little bit unimpressed with the gate and go racing , but saying that Saturday night was a whole different kettle of fish. With regards to comments being made towards Craig cook on various threads it seems that there is a lot of haters out there, if it had been another rider in heat 15 or 30 , I don't think people would be debating or not as much. Craig is a talent and he is the top rider in the championship by a country mile so it is easy to make him out the villain, let' be honest if he did not ride for Glasgow is their seriously any fan who would not want him in their team. On Saturday night speedway was the winner and I for one would gladly pay £30 every week to be entertained like that. Well done Berwick speedway.!

To be honest I can't see what all the fuss was about. Craig Cook went for a gap, he's a racer, it's probably instinct. The gap closed, there was contact, Jye was brought down, Cook was excluded. All the bravado that followed was good theatre, but it amounted to a great deal of not much. The crowd got wound up and it just added to what was already a great atmosphere. Cook apologised, the riders probably talked it through and the world goes on turning. He may have had hid troubles lately but I can't see hiw the race on Saturday night had anything to do with that. He wanted to win the race and saw an opportunity to do so. Brilliant meeting, the crowd got something to talk about and speedway for me was the winner. I would love if every meeting had the atmosphere Saturday night had. A big crowd, fans giving each other friendly banter and making a load of noise. It was great to be a part of.

Injured or being paid to stay away

Equally, I hope that Berwick close down over the winter due to having a track that's too narrow. Nothing against Berwick team, management or fans, of course.

Good news, live on Eurosport 2 in Uk from 5.30pm for 3 hours.

we got two home meetings if we win both Swindon will have to win at kings lynn to go above us