YeOldPitGate

If Comets run in 2027 would be worth seeing if they could tempt Grahn as he seems to always go well at your place.

Paul as in Paul Dugard ? would have thought he might have been onboard being an ex rider .

There seem to be 30-40 who comment regularly on here, I was astounded when I think it was Mike who said there's 750 people online when he checked maybe us 30-40 have 30 aisles each ?

What's happened to Scott he started the season on fire, I know he's had a few knocks recently is he carrying an injury as in my mind early season he wasn't far off the Poole turbo teens.

Rib injury I believe

Lets hope some money is found to get a half decent top liner as it does seem support is there and by all counts with a bit more work the track could be really good maybe the legendary extra support that was promised for them will turn up. Maybe Harry will announce the long awaited seven figure sponsorship deal with Linda in tow waving the used McDonalds bag around with all the teams names in it.

Don't disagree with any of that if the Bates chuck the towel in who knows if someone new will step in. I've just been watching my son learn to snowboard and was passing the time reading an article on music festivals and you could read across to speedway , a few years ago there were over a 1,000 a year now roughly 500 and falling, the article quoted almost same problems as speedway repetition of acts, to high ticket prices, cost of running the whole set up gone through the roof since covid, people prefer watching big acts in footy stadiums.

Here you go sublime stuff

Spot on its telling that most on here desperately want the support to succeed but I would guess 90% of us no longer attend and I must admit even if I had a track close to me it would take a lot to tempt me back even though I still love the game. The last four races from the world team cup where Poland pipped us in the last race were everything the sport can be brilliant racing, all four nations still in with a shout going into the last four races and the place going mental in the final heat brilliant stuff.

Even when I started going in the mid 80's every winter 2-3 clubs would be on life support but some semi rich fan would step up and keep the club going for 2-3 years before rinse and repeat. I had stopped going by the time Sky stepped in and as many have said it was a huge opportunity missed for a reset but the promoters let the number one's hoover up all the golden eggs. From my time following the sport 84-93 in truth I'm amazed it has still survived to present day , I think as others have said probably the only chance of survival moving forward is to become a feeder ground for Poland.

Worky don't look that bad a side on paper but other than Jepperson it looks like they have raised the white flag after heat 1

To be fair General as we all know he's really a number 3 ranked heat leader , they have done the best they could with the scraps but having three riders in a team who may or may not fancy it you are on a hiding to nothing , plus they have Zagar looking a shadow of his former self. Credit to Niels , Harrison and especially Thomsen who has exceeded all expectations. They will never get him but as I've banged on someone like Anders Thompson a rider who will put in a shift week in week out would be enough to enable them to win at home most weeks and a better reserve to replace Batch, you might then just be able to carry Klindt and Lidsey.

Out of interest the Ford's said they were looking at someone to replace Bowes but the rider in the end couldn't commit anyone any idea who the mystery rider was ?

Hi Phil what's the score are there now two forum's running or is the idea to close this one down shortly and run everything through the new version ? (If i've got the wrong end of the stick Phil and its nowt to do with you apologies in advance).

There seems to be a more polished version of this forum just released but only a handful of the people who post here seem to have transferred over, I have registered but haven't had an activation email through. Anyone know if this means here is on last knockings ? Phil if your about seem to think you might be involved in the running of the speedway forum , or if anyone else knows whats going on would be great to hear.

Its not a bad old life.

If TTT leaves there will only be about eight of us rattling around in here.

I would at a guess 70-80% on here are ex fans desperate to see it succeed but equally as things currently stand wouldn't be tempted back.

Very good Mike, if only mind it was thus, mind you i'm doing some investment mentoring to my youngest son and his best friend for their A levels tomorrow. The drill for his friend is turn up tomorrow at 10 am in t shirt and shorts on we will do a couple of hours on asset allocation start the bbq at midday crack open a couple of beers and you will be home by 2pm. Before they both head off I will shatter the illusion that unless you get lucky and have a great idea your looking at 40 years of graft so enjoy today.

Agreed absolutely as you said trail out after a hard days graft, try and find a parking space, assuming there's three in the family attending £75 odd to get in plus food and drink on top or flop in the armchair cold beer on one side, trusty remote in the other and the mrs cooking a nice steak sandwich in the kitchen and £15 laid out.

As someone else mentioned on the forum if you factor in the loss of the tv deal and main sponsor pulling out they were possibly 100k down on 2025 from the get go, plus it seems some promoters helped get Northampton started if Sheffield chipped in that could be another 10-25K ? (guessing). Throw in all the problems over the winter making it nigh on impossible to plan things also, I do also remember someone saying the Bates main business was also struggling so wouldn't be as much money available to bail out the Tigers. Really hope they can pull through but looking at the above there's a lot of headwinds now really hitting speedway and the possible saviors are thinner on the ground than twenty years plus ago.

Have the crowds been so much worse than 2025 as they are claiming ?

And by sounds of it you were a die hard which shows the difficulty in getting new people in. I was the same when I went me and my best mate were 18/19 at the time, we used to travel everywhere Coventry for British final, Bradford world final, Sweden world final , Ippo and Lynn every Saturday absolutely loved it. I moved away from Lynn so its now a three hour round trip and there's nothing tempting me back for the reasons we have covered on here a hundred plus times.

Yep nobody wants to see another track close, the Bates family have no doubt poured hundreds of thousands in over the years if they step down will anyone be willing to take it on ? unlikely I would think.

Spot on and I'm guessing probably still earns 80-100k out of the sport in those six months.