SteelShoe

We will need something extra special. Vinnie will be looking to do well I'm sure, lookout Starke and Cairns 😅

Birmingham withdrew sponsorship of Antti when they released him, however, his visa continued for 60 days . The issue wasn't financial but a failure to submit records. If one riders visa carries on for 60 days with no sponsor then surely the visas of Jacob Hooks and Fraser Bowes would as well. This is why I questioned whether the BSPL have been harsh in suspending the Comets, could the situation have been resolved without the punitive action ?. To deduct them 2 points after the statement just doesn't feel right. Perhaps the BSPL should give us all an explanation .

The people I know are. Glasgow are a respected and well run club in the eyes of not just Worky fans but Speedway fans in general. 👍

The Comets failed to file accounts and it is on them. Assets can potentially transfer to the crown if the process is initiated, I do not believe it was. I believe you are correct re Visas and this is probably what has happened. With re to accounts filed with Companies House; I have looked at some of these since this has happened and have been surprised by the lack of detail. Speedway teams are small companies or micro entities, as such the accounts are in shortened format (Abridged) with little detail and unaudited.

may have trouble finding anything specific in SCB regs re this, queue supplementary.

I would just like to express my thanks to Glasgow Speedway and the Facenna family for their help and advice given to Andrew and Workington Speedway through what has been a very difficult time.

That may be too sensitive now.

Really tough meeting for the Comets, hoping the team can rise to the challenge and sneak a win. This will be a great opportunity for fans to see a young man who seems destined to have a big future . Will Cairns has done many laps of the GT Tyres arena some under the supervision of Greg Hancock. He is going to be a big threat to all of the Comets while the whole Poole team will likely provide the sternest challenge we will have this season. I'm sure the boys will be up for this and they will need to be. Lets get behind them, it should be an absolute cracker. UTC 👊👍

I'm sure the BSPL know, the exciting fixture Saturday against the Pirates is still on the website.

sorry double post

No it isn't. Birmingham cancelled sponsorship when they released him, his visa with Birmingham expired 60 days after.

Why would he do that when he owns them all. Everything you see at the GT Tyres Arena is the result of one mans vision and his own money. The true personal financial cost to himself has to be a multiple of 6 figures as are the number of hours of physical hands on labour he has invested. Many people wonder why in the current speedway climate would anyone do that and that is a very good question. The answer is simple he loves Speedway. He also takes pride in what he does because that is who he is. He may well tell you himself that paperwork is not his forte but he has taken remedial actioned to make sure this shortcoming does not repeat itself.

Hopefully we will get a statement from the BSPL today.

I can't help but think the BSPL who are supposed to have the interests of British Speedway at heart have been very harsh on Workington Speedway with this suspension and caused a lot of deep upset.. The club is guilty of inactivity in terms of filing necessary records something which is obvious . The club are not in trouble financially and do not owe HMRC anything. The owner of the club owns all the assets all of which are paid for.

Re Antti : Birmingham probably withdrew their sponsorship when they let him go. This will have cancelled his certificate of sponsorship and curtailed his visa to 60 days or however long was left on it whichever was the shorter. The reason he couldn't guest is maybe that the 60 days have lapsed while Worky are suspended and had their sponsor licence revoked. Re Vinnie it may be that lpswich just decided to use a higher average rider.

I'm really hopeful that a solution has been arrived at which at least gets us back racing again this Saturday against the Pirates. There is no doubt it has affected everyone involved with the club.

Almost unbelievably yes

BSPL in all likelihood are in control of statements at this point. The Poole fixture at this moment in time is still on the fixture schedule and has been for a few days. Reading between the lines then I would think the BSPL are confident the situation will be resolved before the Poole fixture .

Most Championship clubs fans want more meetings to reduce weeks of inactivity. If clubs are afraid to run more meetings because of increased losses then the business model ain't working. Don't see anything wrong with sharing TV money among more clubs. The costs of running a speedway team need a reset to something more coverable by level of attendance at most clubs.

Increased awareness can be sorted, lack of it should be viewed as a failure of the club to promote itself.

Facts always appreciated in place of conjecture. Not saying your not wrong but I don't know what corners you are stating he has cut.

I suppose you have never naively made a mistake. Well the only person who doesn't make a mistake is a person who does nothing. I think you should cut Andrew some slack, in particular your post about him being a crook I found very distasteful no doubt he will too. There is no one more emotionally upset about this right now than Andrew believe me. With regards to communication I would imagine the club are taking advice on this from the BSPA for legal reasons. I do not believe the current situation is about money but administrative matters referred to in the BSPA statement. I have my personal view on what the nature of these matters probably are based on the facts on offer on Companies House. The company Northside Speedway Training Track was dissolved on 17/6/25. There may be two reasons for this : either Andrew requested a company strike off for whatever reason or he has fallen foul of not meeting legal requirenents/ obligations. The problem with this dissolvement is that the company no longer exists as a legal entity. Among other implications of this is the fact the promotion will have had their Sponsor Licence revoked which allows the club to sponsor migrant riders under the Sportsmans Visa scheme. The situation is recoverable. The company will need to be reinstated . I expect this is what the club are working on with the help of the BSPL in order to bring about as speedy a resolution as possible.

It is probably so the poorer clubs fans won't be too flabbergasted at what there club was competing against when gazumped on a rider offer by one of the big boys 😃

Some very good points here. Not enough youngsters trying Speedway or having the opportunity to try Speedway.

What exactly are the viewing figures for British Speedway ? . I know WBD have Speedway as part of their Home of Bikes package which also includes the Moto GP and British Superbikes but were can you get viewing figures for the individual sports. It also depends on which channel it is on. TNT Sports 1 for example has around 5.9 million viewers but TNT Sports 4 only commands about 1.6million. To get more people into stadiums is the hard part , certainly Speedway has to be more of an 'experience' so the pull to be there is stronger than sitting on your sofa watching it on tv. It has to appear to be professional, this includes reducing delays to racing waiting on the often only paramedic to assess a potentially injured rider, track grades to correct poorly prepared tracks that make riders look like novices or covering the fans in clouds of dust at evening meetings because of inadequate watering. Such things are avoidable and in many cases inexcusable. Speedway is undoubtedly a better sport experienced live but the increase in tv/ streaming coverage may well be having a detrimental effect on gates and hence atmosphere. Speedway like any sport needs a crowd preferably with a mix of home and away fans plus two teams riding with passion, skill and a strong desire to entertain the fans so they go home buzzing and wanting more.