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Comets have a fair number of what I would call occasional supporters ie will come sometimes but don't need their speedway fix or love it as much as the hardcore fans. By hardcore I mean fiercely loyal and will turn up whatever the weather or circumstances. If Speedway country wide continues to decline it is partly because it is not attracting enough people to cover the current costs. Those running the sport have to acknowledge this as a matter of urgency and take action to lower the cost base while making the sport more attractive to supporters. Current fan numbers at many clubs generally struggle to cover costs such as rider demands, travel expenses, medical costs ( around £1200 per meeting) Insurance costs, Stewards costs etc etc. I wouldn't be surprised if Workington would have liked to build a stronger team but were very mindful of the losses incurred at the back end of last season when crowds dipped. It is a catch 22, fans want a competetive team , the management have a certain budget probably based on expected break even numbers through the gates. If the fans don't turn up in these expected numbers on a regular basis then not as much money is available for team building. Offers to more capable riders are more likely to be bettered by lets say richer clubs. If the signed up team turns out uncompetetive or underachieves then this affects the numbers through the gate as the fickle won't come to watch a losing team. This increases financial loss even further putting a clubs ability to afford to race at a certain level in doubt. In my opinion the sport does not attract the attendances to call itself a professional sport any longer. It is increasingly questionable whether rider demands are sustainable on current attendances. The days when many riders had a job outside of speedway may well have to return. For me the way forward is one British League, let the riders who say they can't make one league pay make the choice.

Ridiculous reffing there. A 6 point swing as a pirate 5-1 turns into a 4-2 Plymouth. Crazy

1st semi result- 8 qualifiers for Prague Rushden Cerjak Landon Generick Jensen Nejezchleba Konzack Smith

Luke is only 17 and very impressive on the bike as he showed in the U/21’s.No point in rushing him in his career. I’m sure he will be good rider in the future.

Well we managed to score more than 24 so ok I reckon

Oh dear the wheels have come off the pilots bus 😁

Dunno what I was looking at last night, can't see it now! I blame the wine ...

Lynn need championship racing next season not premiership

Yes I like him, has a good future in my opinion but needs to take time not rush things.

From his posts i think Luke's father has his head screwed on properly, from any interviews i've heard with Luke it seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I cannot see him going to RS at any PL team unless they both think the time is right and Luke can do himself justice. He's a very talented young rider, if he moves up i doubt he wants to be slagged off like just about every other RS. I'd say pretty much the same about Jody Scott too, though i think a PL RS position would be a step too far at the moment, needs to establish himself at CL level.

Glasgow had no control over this meeting. If they had, I'm fairly sure it would've been off in the morning.

It’s just poor refereeing in Uk.If you watch Polish Speedway starts are very fair,slightest movement from any rider and it’s a restart with a warning.(there are not many restarts though), the riders sit still.

KK certainly was a tosser at times 😜

Lawson goes to no. 1 in June. Kvech drops to reserve. Ben is still 5th in averages, worst place he could be as limits r/r options

... and even that coin toss for the world title was then won by a Pole (Kasprzak)

And their lies the problem. When riders did work and ride, the crowds were far bigger than today. Riders in this day and age have got to have 2/3 bikes. The big van and full time mechanics. In the 70s/80s. Riders in the second division would mainly have one bike, The top riders would maybe have two. A mate would dope and oil and get paid a fish supper. How can you expect to be a full time rider. Riding in a front of less than a thousand people? If the second division does not go part time then its curtains in my opinion.

The rules say if a rider moves before the tapes go up then it's all 4 back,this applies to poole aswell sorry the ref didn't make a special exception for you.

If Debrecen round is completed then just give the four riders on 6 points in this round places in the finals. They all had a win, second and third.

Why are we moaning at riders for struggling if track was awful? If they struggle on Weds then might have a point.

We've currently got a 30 minute delay while we wait for the rain to pass. If it's been 30 minutes, read this message again.

Cook Kerr Starke continue to struggle but much improved from Toby which helps keep the scores close enough, that Gate 4 was horrible for anyone who had to use it. Should be fine to over turn the deficit, Cook usually rides Poole like a heat leader and Starke should be less rubbish at Poole. Lewi still struggling but not for the lack of trying.

It was off a total dead gate though - don't reckon it would have made any difference

2nd Semi qualifiers top 8 Bailey Levishyn Zorko Pedersen Kostera Ziman Prusa Hohlbein

Inevitable when there's no pathway in which you can progress sustainably. If you're in a Championship team you've got to invest as if you are riding in the Premiership because you're mostly up against riders who are riding in the Premiership and so on.

I was speaking to one top Championship level rider that was doubling up about 9 or 10 years ago and I remember him saying in a busy season the previous year he had earned just under £120k. But, when his machinery, tuning, mechanic costs etc were all taken into account they had cost him £109k. So, basically he had risked his life racing speedway all over the country for around 7 months to be left with £11k. When you see it like that nothing makes sense, which is what I said to him. With a wry smile his reply was; "Yeah, you are right, but at this stage in my life it's better than having a real job!" I think that sums up how costly it is and why they do it. Although, I bet the amount of money that ends up with engine tuners over a year is quite eye watering!

Delighted to see Pollestad on top😃👍

Lambert out

Yes, McDiarmid was excellent, perhaps you would consider a straight swap with him and Lambert 😂😂😂

I'd like to think if this was a league match, McDiarmid would be getting 6 rides. Looks like a very good rider in the making. With the aggregate tie all over from early on, no problem giving everyone their full quota.

Thanks - I totally forgot last night was KO Cup! Yes, It's 8.85.

Not today mate

Question. How can a picture show if people were using the outside line? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve seen for a while… I was there and Ellis and howarth used the outside pretty well to pass people I’d say! But then again, I might be wrong because you can see a photo of one corner so who knows ?

Think having VP taking 7 rides and scoring most of the team points in every meeting helped with these results going to be harder once he moves to number one

A dry inside line, ONE line, develops very early because they’re all using it and follow each other through it. They worked hard sorting the camber through the winter to create more banking, but it’s had the complete opposite effect. I don’t understand it. Riders were going all over the track last year, King frustrated everyone by going nowhere BUT the outside line, but even he now takes the inside route! Something has clearly gone wrong with the alteration. This was from a few weeks ago, explaining how much track they’ve “cut” down. You have to wonder whether in their efforts to create better banking, they’ve cut down too far to the foundations. I’ve never seen a blue groove at Foxhall in all the years I’ve been attending.

After last seasons effort to qualify in a play off berth the current team are nowhere near as solid. It's a well known fact that speedway followers like a winning team (all sports do I guess) - and as I've mentioned in previous posts fans can be fickle and find alternative ways to rid them of their cash. Workington supporters can be very loyal if the product is good - but oh boy they can be equally disloyal if results like tonight's farcical display continue. Twice speedway has folded in Workington because fans disappeared and caused promoters plenty of grief. I'm sure the current owners are well aware of the remedial work now required or Comets will struggle to avoid a hat-trick of the sort we all don't want.

Rotten? We’ve won at Ashfield, ran Berwick and Plymouth close away. Every meeting bar the Glasgow (A) BSN match has been a last heat decider. We gifted Poole the win last week but we are far from rotten. We’ve got the foundation of a great team, if we can get the Oskar and Max replacements right then we will be challenging.

Season is already gone, unfortunately. Only realistic chance of some silverware is the K.O. Cup when facing a weakened Ipswich team in a couple of weeks

Graham dury, once you understood him and the way he was, if you didn’t get him he was an arse, good rider, promoter and team manager who cared deeply for the sport, had many long chats with Graham over the years about the sport and had the privilege of him as team manager at long Eaton, while promoting at Birmingham he offered me the team manager job which I refused and he said he respected me for not taking it just for the sake of taking it

There wasn’t a blue groove, just lions were better full stop. They gated better and we couldn’t cope, Ellis made the pass of the night and howarth did something similar so the outside was working but people were overcooking it and losing speed on the exit of bend 4. Brennan wasn’t on it tonight and Hume could never fill Thompsons void. Thompson is a bigger miss than Doyle as this point in the league IMO. He beats his opposite number by a large margin and can take on some of the big boys, with Thompson we could have covered RR a lot better.

12th with 4 points.

With such a strong reserve in VP whatever Mark scores will have minimal influence on the tie. I'm more concerned about how the Comets perform, we need to step up.

one poster in particular seems very touchy that Ipswich have lost

Is it? Actually think it’s quite embarrassing that Ellis and Harris have both been offered it and accepted it. Always feel track reserve should be young guns okay they might not be competitive but not really there for that, basically to fill a spot in a race if you’re lucky. It’s good experience for them to be in around it and a chance to see what it takes to get to that level. Instead we’ve got Harris looking to relive his youth and Ellis who’s only dreaming he could be good enough.

He wouldn't even be there if he really had flu...🤣

Amazing that Ove is second on that list. BTW Although I am posting as STANBATH now , I am the old BOBBATH- I just couldn't figure out how to keep the old name when they asked me to re-register, it kept bouncing me out - put it down to age and the fact that I am a technopeasant. Anyway it looks like Michanek and Hedge make the top 18.

Here is what I think is latest list (From Chunky) 01 - Arthur Payne - 28/08/23 02 - 03 - 04 - Ove Fundin - 23/05/33 05 - Dan Forsberg - 25/03/34 06 - Josef Hofmeister - 17/06/34 07 - Brian Crutcher - 23/08/34 08 - Mike Broadbank - 25/09/34 09 - Barry Briggs - 30/12/34 10 - Bob Andrews - 27/10/1935 11 - Reg Luckhurst - 11/11/1935 12 - Sverre Harrfeldt - 23/11/1937 13 - Leif Larsson - 16/02/1938 14 - Bjorn Knutson - 27/04/38 15 - Gunnar Malmqvist - 25/12/1940 16 - Andrzej Wyglenda 04/05/1941 17 - Jim Airey - 19/08/1941 18 - Bengt Jansson - 09/01/1943 19 - Anders Michanek - 30/05/1943 20 - Trevor Hedge - 30/08/1943 21 - Terry Betts - 15/09/1943 22 - Howard Cole 29/12/1943 23 - Martin Ashby - 05/02/1944 24 - Jan Simensen - 26/07/1944 25 - Zygfryd Friedek - 19/10/1944 26 - Jerzy Trzeszkowski - 10/01/1945 27 - Eric Boocock - 02/02/1945 28 - John Boulger - 18/06/1945 29 - Hasse Holmqvist - 18/06/1945 30 - Jim McMillan - 03/12/1945 31 - Soren Karlsson - 23/10/1946 (Not a Finalist) 32 - Ole Olsen - 16/11/1946 33 - Ray Wilson - 12/03/1947  34 - Doug Wyer - 16/08/1947 35 - Grigori Khlinovsky - 11/11/47 36 - Egon Muller - 26/11/1948 37 - Christoph Betzl - 13/02/1949 38 - Jiri Stancl - 18/11/1949 39 - Viktor Kuznetsov - 27/11/1949 40 - Georg Hack - 20/02/1950 41 - Marek Cieslak - 28/06/1950 42 - Alois Wiesbock - 31/07/1950 43 - Tommy Johansson - 21/10/1950 44 - Vladimir Gordeev - 30/11/1950 45 - John Titman - 26/01/1951 46 - Dag Lovaas - 25/02/1951 47 - Jan Verner - 03/03/1951 48 - Petr Ondrasik - 08/10/1951 49 - Phil Crump - 09/02/1952 50 - Henny Kroeze - 11/03/1952 51 - Valery Gordeev - 28/08/1952 52 - Dave Jessup - 07/03/1953 53 - Ales Dryml - 10/06/1953 54 - Scott Autrey - 09/07/1953 55 - Robert Slabon - 15/09/1953 56 - Peter Collins - 24/03/1954 57 - Larry Ross - 15/06/1954 58 - John Davis - 10/11/1954 59 - Finn Thomsen - 16/02/1955 60 - Mikhail Starostin - 24/02/1955 61 - Tommy Nilsson - 10/03/1955 62 - Jan Andersson - 07/05/1955 63 - Kai Niemi - 15/09/1955 64 - Jerzy Rembas - 18/04/1956 65 - Chris Morton - 22/07/1956 66 - Steve Bastable - 16/09/1956 67- Bruce Penhall - 10/05/1957 68 - Karl Maier - 24/08/1957 69 - Roman Jankowski - 05/10/1957 70 - Bo Petersen - 21/02/1958 71 - Les Collins - 24/05/1958 72 - Mitch Shirra - 27/09/1958 73 - Michael Lee - 11/12/1958 74 - John Cook - 18/12/1958 75 - Richard Knight - 26/05/1959 76 - Dennis Sigalos - 16/08/1959 77 - Erik Gundersen - 08/10/1959 78 - Hans Nielsen - 26/12/1959 79 - Olli Tyrvainen - 11/01/1960 80 - Phil Collins - 02/06/1960 81 - Sam Ermolenko - 23/11/1960 82 - Rick Miller - 12/01/1961 83 - Jeremy Doncaster - 16/06/1961 84 - Tommy Knudsen - 09/11/1961 85 - Zoltan Adorjan - 15/11/1961 86 - Shawn Moran - 19/11/1961 87 - Peter Ravn - 16/03/1962 88 - Zenon Kasprzak - 10/05/1962 89 - John Jorgensen - 18/07/1962 90 - Antal Kocso - 22/12/1962 91 - Sandor Tihanyi - 28/04/1963 92 - Lance King - 13/08/1963 93 - Armando Castagna - 22/09/1963 94 - Kelvin Tatum - 08/02/1964 95 - Marvyn Cox - 11/07/1964 96 - Zdenek Tesar - 30/07/1964 97 - Mikael Blixt - 08/08/1964 98 - Paul Thorp - 09/09/1964 99 - Tony Olsson - 13/03/1965 100 Gerd Riss - 17/03/1965 101 - Conny Ivarsson - 15/04/1965 102 - Simon Cross - 31/05/1965 103 - Bohumil Brhel - 10/06/1965 104 - Slawomir Drabik - 06/02/1966 105 - Per Jonsson - 21/03/1966 106 - Andy Smith - 25/05/1966 107 - Jan Staechmann - 05/06/1966 108 - Ronnie Correy - 08/11/1966 109 - Jimmy Nilsen - 16/11/1966 110 - Brian Karger - 09/02/1967 111 - Jan O. Pedersen - 27/07/1967 112 - Craig Boyce - 02/08/1967 113 - Troy Butler - 22/09/1967 114 - Piotr Swist - 20/06/1968 115 - Todd Wiltshire - 26/09/1968 116 - Gary Havelock - 04/11/1968 117 - Stefan Danno - 10/02/1969 118 - Martin Dugard - 18/05/1969 119 - Gert Handberg - 30/05/1969 120 - Chris Louis - 09/07/1969 121 - Billy Hamill - 23/05/1970 122 - Greg Hancock - 03/06/1970 123 - Henrik Gustafsson - 14/08/1970 124 - Tony Rickardsson - 17/08/1970 125 - Mark Loram - 12/01/1971 126 - Tomasz Gollob - 11/04/1971 127 - Leigh Adams - 28/04/1971 128 - Josh Larsen - 12/05/1972 129 - Joe Screen - 27/11/1972 130 - Jason Crump - 06/08/1975

The idea is all well & good but we all know that a weaker product won’t reflect in lower admission prices. At best they will be held at 2025 levels for a couple of years. Has having some top riders back in the uk improved the attendance levels I can’t comment to much as I don’t travel to away fixtures. the crowds at Ipswich certainly appear higher since the Jason/Emil double act have been in town they have certainly brought myself & a few others that I know back to regular attendees not missing a meeting from attending the odd one or two a year. The radical overhaul should have happen after Covid, the promoters had an entire season written off where they could have used the time to come up with a blue print. The sport has been on a steady decline since the late 80s. The Stewksbury plan of the early 90s to revive the sport failed because of infighting. One big league failed because of infighting in 95/96. The last chance salon of the elite league with sky tv money failed again due to in fighting & lack of vision. I’m not sure the majority of promoters want radical change that might stop the rot & improve things.

Had a go at doing this. Just copied the previous list, and removed the names of those who have passed on. Names now missing are Taylor, Bales, Williams, France, Louis, and Kennett. Hope I got it right, let me know if there are any errors. 01 - Arthur Payne - 28/08/23 02- Per Tage Svensson - 16/10/31 03- Peo Soderman - 29/10/32 04- Ove Fundin - 23/05/33 05 - Dan Forsberg - 25/03/34 06 - Josef Hofmeister - 17/06/34 07 Brian Crutcher - 23/08/34 8 Mike Broadbank - 25/09/34 9- Barry Briggs - 30/12/34 10 - Aage Hansen - 13/04/35 11 - Gote Nordin - 02/07/35 12 - Bob Andrews - 27/10/1935 13- Reg Luckhurst - 11/11/1935 14 - Doug Davies - 06/08/1936 15 - Sverre Harrfeldt - 23/11/1937 16- Leif Larsson - 16/02/1938 17- Leif Enecrona - 05/03/1940 18- Andrzej Wyglenda 04/05/1941 19- Jim Airey - 19/08/1941 20 - Bengt Jansson - 09/01/1943 21 - Anders Michanek - 30/05/1943 22 - Trevor Hedge - 30/08/1943 23- Terry Betts - 15/09/1943 24 - Howard Cole 29/12/1943 25 - Martin Ashby - 05/02/1944 26 - Jan Simensen - 26/07/1944 27 - Zygfryd Friedek - 19/10/1944 28 - Jerzy Trzeszkowski - 10/01/1945 29- Eric Boocock - 02/02/1945 30- John Boulger - 18/06/1945 31 - Hasse Holmqvist - 18/06/1945 32 - Jim McMillan - 03/12/1945 33 - Soren Karlsson - 23/10/1946 34- Ole Olsen - 16/11/1946 35 - Ray Wilson - 12/03/1947 36 - Doug Wyer - 16/08/1947 37 - Grigori Khlinovsky - 11/11/47 38 - Egon Muller - 26/11/1948 39 - Christoph Betzl - 13/02/1949 40- Jiri Stancl - 18/11/1949 41 - Viktor Kuznetsov - 27/11/1949 42 - Georg Hack - 20/02/1950 43- Marek Cieslak - 28/06/1950 44- Alois Wiesbock - 31/07/1950 45 Tommy Johansson - 21/10/1950 46 - Vladimir Gordeev - 30/11/1950 47- John Titman - 26/01/1951 48- Dag Lovaas - 25/02/1951 48- Jan Verner - 03/03/1951 50 - Petr Ondrasik - 08/10/1951 51- Phil Crump - 09/02/1952 52- Henny Kroeze - 11/03/1952 53 - Valery Gordeev - 28/08/1952 54 - Dave Jessup - 07/03/1953 55- Ales Dryml - 10/06/1953 56 - Scott Autrey - 09/07/1953 57 - Robert Slabon - 15/09/1953 58- Peter Collins - 24/03/1954 59- Larry Ross - 15/06/1954 60- John Davis - 10/11/1954 61- Finn Thomsen - 16/02/1955 62- Mikhail Starostin - 24/02/1955 63 - Tommy Nilsson - 10/03/1955 64 - Jan Andersson - 07/05/1955 65 Kai Niemi - 15/09/1955 66- Jerzy Rembas - 18/04/1956 67- Chris Morton - 22/07/1956 68- Steve Bastable - 16/09/1956 69- Bruce Penhall - 10/05/1957 70- Karl Maier - 24/08/1957 71- Roman Jankowski - 05/10/1957 72 - Bo Petersen - 21/02/1958 73- Les Collins - 24/05/1958 74 - Mitch Shirra - 27/09/1958 75 - Michael Lee - 11/12/1958 76- John Cook - 18/12/1958 77 - Dennis Sigalos - 16/08/1959 78 - Erik Gundersen - 08/10/1959 79- Hans Nielsen - 26/12/1959

I hope this works.... https://www.facebook.com/reel/545248225124876/?s=single_unit&__cft__[0]=AZXNB_GZCRss0SvbkZkFOocWF01FE-sf4LEq35EfTum7EtnGxo0HvdahsdLG_jiLjd_9ax7zvaRHbKjChfvgUUxLNJsJPBb5FilNXw7ZDN5H8E1hlevjsXp2nlodoomvAX2NuEePc8SZIzmenBlyJy982dkZ7Ig519GSuaZE-2oZ5UgUBH0fjgGiZOh6hniAnb0&__tn__=H-R

A completely different outlook then, from now... Big crowds provided "working men" with additional income, who, often several evenings a week, earned, on each evening, more then they earned in a whole week of doing their "day job"... Only the very top riders had the sponsorship and salary band to make Speedway their profession... Nowaday much smaller crowds (maybe a tenth of 40 years ago?), are funding even juniors as full time professionals for at least 6 months of a year, (and for some all year!)... With the ultimate irony being of course that promoters expect their riders to spend tens of thousands on kit, so they pay them even more tens of thousands in salaries... And then collectively get together and devise an operating model that pretty much devalues hugely every single competition they "desperately" all want to win!!! Unsustainable madness and a true race to the bottom, as has been seen over the past 30 years or so, with absolutely nothing changing.... (Other than we had a green helmet cover for a while, which, very surprisingly for me, didn't bring tens of thousands of fans flocking back)....