Workington 2025

[Binman]

8 minutes ago, Neila said:

Obviously not been to worky social media all over the place, this is what the younger people who you are trying to attract use, live or recorded coverage on BBC radio Cumbria, lots of coverage via Cumbria crack, local news outlet, no one buys newspapers much, but also coverage in these, victory laps by most riders home or away, yes a 3pm start due to no flood lights, we're going to experiment with a later start,but have not had many fixtures up to now to do this. Parade every week.

On a brighter note how did the flat track meeting go

[truthsayer]

British speedway has attendances in line with seventh or eighth tier football.

Those are not professional leagues and the overheads to run football is much less than speedway.

If speedway wants to carry on with the notion of being a professional team sport, it is not viable on those attendances and those overheads.

Parades and victory laps are irrelevant when it comes to the survival of speedway.

[Wee Eck]

59 minutes ago, Mr Blobby said:

July 2023 was the last time they filed accounts. Link here. 
 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04261535/filing-history

 

That company was wound up last month and couldn’t have been without HMRC consent. It has no further obligation to prepare accounts. 
My guess is that Workington Speedway operates as an unincorporated business rather than a limited company 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

2 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

British speedway has attendances in line with seventh or eighth tier football.

Those are not professional leagues and the overheads to run football is much less than speedway.

If speedway wants to carry on with the notion of being a professional team sport, it is not viable on those attendances and those overheads.

Parades and victory laps are irrelevant when it comes to the survival of speedway.

But have TV viewing fiqures on par with 2or 3 tier football and more than most other sports at league level so the question is really how do we get those people into stadiums 

[Fromafar]

3 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

But have TV viewing fiqures on par with 2or 3 tier football and more than most other sports at league level so the question is really how do we get those people into stadiums 

Make the sport more credible would be a good start.Anyone who thinks it is is deluded.IMO.

[gjcone44]

we also know its better watching live than on tv.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

I put it on the forum months ago about speedway running as a charity,my reason for this idea/thought was brought about by a team looking for some land was told yes you can build a track here but it’s a few million pound but other sports on the site get their facility built for free by the council via grants because they are either a charity or amateur basis and not the professional entity it parades round as ,anyway I was thinking how do you pay professional riders if your a charity? Then I read today that the Glastonbury festival is a charity, really ? That is either the biggest scam in Britain or a genius way to run things,Is the way forward for the sport ? 

Edited June 29, 2025 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

12 minutes ago, gjcone44 said:

we also know its better watching live than on tv.

Is it ? You can’t beat being there 

[gjcone44]

`that's what i mean./said.

[mike baker]

1 hour ago, paul84 said:

The pairs was a British speedway event held at Workington so the club had no involvement in the prices for that meetings.

So was the Champioship Riders the day after at Scunthorpe. They offered Concessions. Both shared events. Workington, the only club not to, in a Shared Event.

[IainB]

41 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

Parades and victory laps are irrelevant when it comes to the survival of speedway.

Not so sure about that, Speedway is all about the riders and the more interaction they have with the fans the better... Look at F1, packing stands out around most of the world, it's certainly not because of the racing, it's seen an uptick in crowds since the Drive to Survive series because fans have got to see the drivers and all of the bts footage and a narrative that has been built up around them, rivalries etc, not to mention you don't see Lando Norris driving for McLaren for the season and occasionally turning out for Ferrari.

A few questions, what is the biggest rider rivalry in British Speedway at the moment? Who is the most controversial character? What do we know about these riders? The rider with perhaps the biggest following and puts bums on seats is maybe Chris Harris (Now the Emil Sayfutdinov effect has worn off a bit) and he's become a bit of a running in joke within the sport for the number of (diminishing) clubs he rides for. These riders need to connect with the crowd and victory laps and soaking up the crowd applause... or winding them up is a start. 

[Ray Stadia]

52 minutes ago, Wee Eck said:

That company was wound up last month and couldn’t have been without HMRC consent. It has no further obligation to prepare accounts. 
My guess is that Workington Speedway operates as an unincorporated business rather than a limited company 

Really! Not a good idea, if someone decides legal action against you. You carry the financial can totally! 

[StevePark]

Can someone explain how the ACU Flat Track Championship Rounds were run at the track this weekend, if the track owners/company has been "dissolved" ??

[Wee Eck]

Just now, Ray Stadia said:

Really! Not a good idea, if someone decides legal action against you. You carry the financial can totally! 

I agree completely and was under the impression that BSPL required promotions to be limited liability companies. But I can’t find any other active companies under Andrew Bain’s name

[soupy]

1 hour ago, Binman said:

On a brighter note how did the flat track meeting go

Got wet yesterday with that horrible drizzle but was okay but would be nice to see some of the top competitors against each other.

[Wee Eck]

2 minutes ago, StevePark said:

Can someone explain how the ACU Flat Track Championship Rounds were run at the track this weekend, if the track owners/company has been "dissolved" ??

I think it’s the previous company - Northside Speedway Training Track Limited - that has been dissolved but don’t know anything about any other entity. Flat track is licensed by ACU so there would be no BSPL/SCB involvement and it’s that licence that has been suspended. 

[Neila]

5 minutes ago, StevePark said:

Can someone explain how the ACU Flat Track Championship Rounds were run at the track this weekend, if the track owners/company has been "dissolved" ??

I would assume the organisers would sort the insurance, they would only hire the track for the racing, as I understand the riders pay to take part, so I would assume insurance is included in the taking part price

[truthsayer]

3 minutes ago, IainB said:

Not so sure about that, Speedway is all about the riders and the more interaction they have with the fans the better... Look at F1, packing stands out around most of the world, it's certainly not because of the racing, it's seen an uptick in crowds since the Drive to Survive series because fans have got to see the drivers and all of the bts footage and a narrative that has been built up around them, rivalries etc, not to mention you don't see Lando Norris driving for McLaren for the season and occasionally turning out for Ferrari.

A few questions, what is the biggest rider rivalry in British Speedway at the moment? Who is the most controversial character? What do we know about these riders? The rider with perhaps the biggest following and puts bums on seats is maybe Chris Harris (Now the Emil Sayfutdinov effect has worn off a bit) and he's become a bit of a running in joke within the sport for the number of (diminishing) clubs he rides for. These riders need to connect with the crowd and victory laps and soaking up the crowd applause... or winding them up is a start. 

On one hand I don't disagree with you, but these things are so far down the list as to be irrelevant.

The presentation of the sport is stuck in the 1970s, it needs to be addressed, but the utter lack of riders and facilities are what will be the death of speedway. That's far more important than connecting to the pitiful 'crowds' the sport has.

Comparing British league speedway to Formula One is also completely irrelevant. As a sport, it should be comparing itself to the likes of non-league football, ice hockey and motocross, other sports which are struggling to survive.

I've always maintained speedway's biggest problem is that it is a sport for spectators and not riders. There is no grassroots and this means the sport will die. As a contrived team sport, it relies on imports it cannot really afford, serving up a product only the diehards really get.

Speedway can't go forward unless it reinvents itself as a grassroots (individual) sport which competitors wish to spend their money on as a hobby. If it can achieve that, the team/professional sport may have a chance on the back of it.

As someone who might be interested in racing speedway as a hobby, I have no real outlet but I can always ride some motocross, do track days or race karts. These are far bigger issues than riders being paraded before the start of a meeting.

[SteelShoe]

21 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

But have TV viewing fiqures on par with 2or 3 tier football and more than most other sports at league level so the question is really how do we get those people into stadiums 

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. 

[SteelShoe]

5 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

On one hand I don't disagree with you, but these things are so far down the list as to be irrelevant.

The presentation of the sport is stuck in the 1970s, it needs to be addressed, but the utter lack of riders and facilities are what will be the death of speedway. That's far more important than connecting to the pitiful 'crowds' the sport has.

Comparing British league speedway to Formula One is also completely irrelevant. As a sport, it should be comparing itself to the likes of non-league football, ice hockey and motocross, other sports which are struggling to survive.

I've always maintained speedway's biggest problem is that it is a sport for spectators and not riders. There is no grassroots and this means the sport will die. As a contrived team sport, it relies on imports it cannot really afford, serving up a product only the diehards really get.

Speedway can't go forward unless it reinvents itself as a grassroots (individual) sport which competitors wish to spend their money on as a hobby. If it can achieve that, the team/professional sport may have a chance on the back of it.

As someone who might be interested in racing speedway as a hobby, I have no real outlet but I can always ride some motocross, do track days or race karts. These are far bigger issues than riders being paraded before the start of a meeting.

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