SteelShoe

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.

Typical crowd levels today dictate that a realignment of the sport is almost unavoidable.In my opinion It needs to be semi professional in an effort to reduce costs. More riders will need other forms of employment in addition to riding speedway. I do not necessarily believe it is an outdated product, but certain venues are outdated as is the way the sport is marketed and promoted. For me personally, one league has to be the way forward. This should hopefully create more meaningful fixtures while also encouraging a stronger identification of fans with 'their' riders and vice versa because they won't be riding in both leagues. If riders reckon they can't make one league pay then that is up to them. Rider costs at many clubs are simply not sustainable, more clubs will disappear untill it all comes crashing down. I see situation as that serious.

There is a lot of sense in this. Worky crowds are down so far this season and there have been internal discussions re the need to do something to attract more people. Our first priority should definitely be to find out why we are losing fans we had. There have been a series of variables this season which have had a deleterious effect on early attendances eg relatively late start, lack of fixture continuity, rain offs, unbalanced team strength and poor early form. We have had home fixtures against two clubs Scunny and Plymouth which historically attract less fans than other fixtures while the Edinburgh KO Cup return leg was a dead rubber following a disastrous score in the 1st leg as was pretty much the Redcar BSN meeting because we couldn't qualify. Like has been stated it is easy for certain fans to get out of the habit of attending. Finding out why they are falling out with it, while rigorously self critiquing your own product in terms of entertainment and enjoyability has to be a top priority.

Apparently over 120 expressed an interest in coming from Worky town centre on a bus in the first season. Andrew duly organised a bus running at set times and only 20 or so used this over the first 2 meetings. As Geoff100 stated it was deemed unsustainable.

It is a tricky one, for £20 plus do fans need a bit more than the racing for them to think it is good value for money and a right good day out ?. I will go whatever but still think it could offer more in the way of ancilliary entertainment especially for kids.

The fact still remains that for alot of clubs expenditure is exceeding income.

It was more than 250 and I believe the figure excludes season ticket holders.

I believe Birmingham may well have sorted Antti's as an agreement between the clubs.

I don't really know what the issue(s) is /are. The blind sided suggestion is based on the fact that it is 27th June and only now coming to light. We shall hopefully see if it is a result of a management failing in due course.

Just read this, complete shock. Whatever it is i'm pretty sure the management must have been blind sided. Like other Comets fans no doubt, I too have travel arrangements arranged/ hotels booked for 2 out of the 3 away meetings beginning with the visit to Shielfield tomorrow. Looks like I'll be smelling bird poo instead of methanol fumes as well now, not quite the same is it.

Home win, i'll take a punt and say 54-36.

Fraser signed for the Comets before getting the opportunity with Tarnow. In any logic Comets should have priority when there is a fixture clash for that very reason. It could be claimed that Poland are insensitively contributing to the ongoing demise of British Speedway, I don't think they give two hoots. Don't they have more than enough Polish riders they could/ should be using. I don't know when the British Promoters are going to get a grip in order to try and save the sport in the UK. It will be interesting to see what would happen if Discovery suddenly pulled the plug on British Speedway next season.

Don't think that would be a good move.

Well the rain unfortunately came about 90 minutes before tapes up and at one time was pretty heavy. All the weather updates gave it to pass over by about 2-45 pm and so it proved.The rain actually helped the track condition and the forecasted timing will have been in Steve Lawsons thinking when he was carrying out his pre meeting track watering regimen. Must admit I was a bit surprised when we got dust around heat 7. It was great to see the Comets finally get their league campaign underway on what must be some kind of record late start date in recent seasons. It was a good solid performance from all the Comets which was encouraging. Special thanks should go to Jonatan Grahn who changed his flight to Poland in order to guest for us in the absence of Fraser, he pulled off a couple of eye catching wins in his tally of 8 points. It was rewarding to see Tate win his first race at the GT Tyres Arena in 2025 ! almost unbelievable when you consider the form he produced there in the early part of last season prior to him crashing at Belle Vue. Hope we see his full confidence return now and he can start thrilling us all again like he did last season, go Tate . Also really pleased for Jacob Hook who achieved his best score to date in British Speedway, he gave his best in every race and deserved his reward. With the possible exception of Lasse Fredriksen the Gladiators were very much a one man team yesterday. Nicolai Klindt was different class . I think that has to be the most dominant display with the possible exception of Dan Bewley in last seasons Ben Fund meeting that I have witnessed at the GT Tyres Arena. Not many riders have ridden turns 3 and 4 so wide with so much speed and control !. He was obviously enjoying himself on a track where he could display his supreme motorcycle skills in complete confidence. UTC!

Got a feeling that Antti and Tate will be very good today 🤞👍

Nicolai is a classy rider, professional with good equipment, rode well for the 2018 treble winning Comets at Ashfield scored 18+1 from 7 rides in the Championship fixture. Great place to watch Speedway.

You been grafting 🤣

Totally agree. Signed for Comets before getting a chance at Tarnow. Would rather be No 8 there than getting good race practice in the UK. Believe he is missing next week too.