Paulco

Mitch Shirra was another one , 15 when he rode in division 2 for Coatbridge

In that case it was presumably people trying to get out

So we've finally come to the end ( weather permitting ) of the most shambolic season the fans of every club have had to endure . What began as a season full of optimism , descended into farce at times . For us , we looked to have assembled a side capable of challenging for honours , but between injuries and riders riding for other teams instead of us , the season limped out in disappointment . The real low point was the embarrassing home capitulation to a two man Sheffield side . Any the final 15 heats , hopefully , are run tomorrow night so it's very small consolation , but a win takes us above Edinburgh into third in the table . I think a very different looking Tigers septet will take to the track when we return in late March , fingers crossed tomorrow's opponents will still be around to resume hostilities in 2018 .

Despite various brave new dawns and repackaging over the years , the long suffering speedway fan has just endured the most shambolic season in the history of our sport . I just hope somebody goes to Tenerife with ideas , the vision , the lack of self interest and the diplomatic skills to open the eyes of those who will not see . But i'm not holding my breath .

Meaningless fixture it maybe , not Glasgow's fault though , the rain postponed the first two runnings of this fixture . Richard is a Glasgow asset , not a Somerset one , so is it really unreasonable for Richard to ride for his parent club instead of going to a dance ? Has Glasgow to be fined 5 thousand pounds for not completing their fixtures or race a meeting without their number one because he's at a dance 300 odd miles away ?

The 13 heat formula was ditched because it had become boring . The second halfs had become a waste of time as riders weren't interested and wanted to get on the road as soon as the league match was done . We tinkered with 16 heats with two top scorer races , 18 heats , but the 15 heat formula is the one we went back to and seems to be the preferred option .

Yeah that was announced on Friday at the track , once we were out the cup . Cant see the terraces bulging for this one .

Back to Friday , I was pretty much straight from Glasgow Airport after my hols , to the track . Track looked borderline raceable , such as shame Rory Schlein wasn't a Panther . Harris and Ostergaard pretty much took the Panthers through on their own , Harris was jet propelled from the tapes the three times he was in gate 4 , not so jet propelled from the inside gates . Starke improved as the track improved . The days of Parker and Stancl or Parker and Bird getting us over the line in heats 13 and 15 are long gone , the current crop cant be trusted when the going gets tough , looking good all night Richard Lawson fluffed his lines in 13 when it really mattered , not even being able to pass the abysmal Campton , and that was that . Congrats to the Panthers , they went about their business in an efficient way , good luck in the final .

That seems to be another success story , not back to the days when Chris Holder and Boycie graced the shale there , but it seems to be a thriving club again . Too many promoters are lazy , they expect fans just to turn up as if it was 1975 still and they do nothing to add to the 15 heats of racing . That might have been enough back in the day , but not now . It doesn't take a massive financial outlay to add to the experience of going to the track . Daft things like small prizes for competitions on the day , facebook check in , voting for rider of the night , photo sessions with riders for the kids after the meeting , these things cost nothing but do attract people and keep them interested .

Up at Glasgow , big time . When we stood on the back straight say 5 years ago , there was us three or four in my group and no more than about 20 or 30 dotted about . Now the back straight is packed most meetings . And the kids race against the mascot , during the interval , is a sight to behold . The line of kids stretches from one touchline of the football park , down to the other . Some weeks there are two lines . It can be done with a bit of thought .

That's more like it . You Witches have got too nice , you can't have a derby foe without a healthy bit of bile and venom . You need to get Kings Lynn back .

Perfectly understandable , would be two bumper crowds . However I hope we can spoil your little plan

Och Jenga was only fishing , how did we fall for it ?

You forgot the hundred grand win bonus for reaching the final

As far as I know it was a season ending injury

So the plea in last week's Speedway Star fell on deaf ears . Such a shame , as it was a cup tie with the Diamonds only 2 points behind going into the meeting . Obviously Robert Lambert's nonsense will have put some off from attending , and it is near the end of the season with most of us frazzled with the way the sport has gone this season , but speedway and the Championship needs Newcastle and you worry how many promoters have had enough and are ready to throw in the towel .

I'm sorry Jenga , I hadn't realised we had actually signed James . Must have passed me by , I thought teams couldn't sign anyone after July 31st

Never saw that coming given our recent form , well done lads

Apart from tonight obviously

It is Golden heats . Apparently ties before Aug 1st go to replays and after that date , Golden heats . Why the difference is the mystery , but many things in the rule book are a mystery .

Most probably

Agreed . Workington produces great racing at times . It's the rules and regulations that strangle the sport that chase people away from the sport . If Workington close , and I sincerely hope it doesn't , it's the governing body in this country to blame . Promoters must be tearing their hair out at times as their efforts to try and run the sport at their track are undermined by riders being able to ride here , there and everywhere except for where their promoter wants them to be . What other sport could have this scenario - KO Cup quarter final Glasgow v Newcastle . 1ST Leg - Glasgow's top rider , Richard Lawson can't ride in the tie as he is riding for another team that night . So Glasgow bring in Edinburgh's Ricky Wells to ride in his place for Glasgow against Newcastle . 2nd Leg - Newcastle's top rider , Robert Lambert , can't ride in the tie as he was allegedly injured in Poland the day before despite winning his four races there . So Newcastle bring in Edinburgh's Ricky Wells to ride in his place for Newcastle against Glasgow . How are promoters supposed to attract supporters to meetings and bring in sponsorship money when we get this kind of thing ? Unless the BSPA wakes up and realises that they've sleepwalked the sport to the edge of oblivion , tracks will continue to close as fed up supporters give up and find something a bit more credible to enjoy .

Only in speedway lol

Yes Richie Worrall won a close race with Stuart Robson with Richard Hall finishing ahead of Ben Hopwood for third . So that 4-2 made it 41-31 after heat 12

We weren't . It was 41-31 after heat 12 , then Ricky Wells had a brilliant win over Lambert in heat13 with Summers again found wanting in the big races , trailing in at the back and it was 44-34 . Heat 14 was where we were going to use Tero Aarnio as r/r , but he hadn't recovered from his spectacular crash in his previous outing and we were forced to go with Connor Coles as Richard Hall was already in the race . Coles had previously been passed and beaten by Ryan McDonald in heat 4 , so the chances of a heat advantage were slim to none . In the race the Diamonds pair gated and although Hall was all over Hopwood's back wheel for four laps , he couldn't get passed . That made it 45-39 . In heat 15 Lambert and Steve Worrall flew from the tapes and Richie and Ricky Wells couldn't get near enough to them to land a challenge . So after looking promising earlier in the meeting , the closing heats swung the advantage very much in the Diamond's favour .