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Live updates from Ornskoldsvik: https://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/1142/fim-ice-speedway-world-championship-qualifying-round-oernskoeldsvik.html Race card here:

Also, to be fair... In football your team is your team... You build an emotional attachment to them.. In Speedway you could have any number of "soldiers of fortune" representing you, from one meeting to the next, with your opponents doing exactly the same.. Which means often "your team" hasn't really won or lost, given they were not really there in the first place.. You also have jeopardy and consequence in football, with relegation meaning fans will still attend a failing team in numbers hoping to stave off this "disaster".. In Speedway, you can choose what league you want to ride in, and win, lose or draw, you choose your future... The bottom line is no trophy delivers enough kudos of financial rewards to take winning one too seriously, therefore many who attend do so for the racing rather than the result, thus seeing UK Speedway as "sports entertainment" rather than a bona fide professional team sport... Which is pretty much fine until admission prices keep rising to that certain level where the individual sees the entertainment value no longer justifying their outlay..

its because most fans compare the current state of the sport back to a bygone era. alas its gone and will never return.

As the somewhat flexible rules have now made the NDL ( really should drop the D ) somewhat stronger by including half the championship second strings and reserves is the new ‘ 5 year plan ‘ to make the NDL ( hence forth to be known as the NL ) replace the championship meaning the championship will become the new premiership as that will have disappeared by the end of this year ?

To paraphrase a song by Gershwin Maybe we shall find out Sunday maybe Monday maybe not But I'm sure we'll find out someday maybe Tuesday will be our good newsday

You've got to address the sport and it's supporters how it is though and not how you wish it/they would be. Some fans/supporters are glory hunters, some just like the racing... many of them have been abused by the sport so much over the years and decided up with this they will no longer put. Ideally you'd have a sprinkling of both good competitive racing, some success and an affinity to the club you follow. It is up to the sport to look at other successful sports and take what makes that a success and to apply it to Speedway not just churn out the same old 5h1t every year and then blame the fans when they don't turn out and pay to watch it.

British Speedway is far from perfect, I agree 100% and it's nothing like it used to be. I could list a number of issues that I've got with it too however no fan should turn their back on their Club when results don't go their way though because it just makes them look like a glory hunter tbh. Have to take the rough with the smooth, The good times with the bad times as the saying's go which is what the owners are politely saying in statements by issuing rallying calls to fans when asking them to stick by their Club during a difficult period.

Would Lambert (if he fits) not be a prime candidate to sign on, do a couple of meetings and then step aside for a stronger replacement once Pickering's average drops?

No. But it's also not his fault he was a pawn in the cost cutting rising star game that has been used for a while now. Now he's not wanted at that level anymore he's been chewed up and spat out. Just another example of the left hand of the sport not knowing or caring about what the right hand is doing.

To be fair, The fan mentality was like that before inflation, COVID etc. Unfortunately Speedway fans don't have the mentality as Football fans for example who are also from a working class background. No matter the results, They'll be their every week supporting the Club through the good times and bad ones. British Speedway fans bail out when their Club hits a rough patch and then it forces the hand of Clubs to go public with statements.

I could absolutely go to town on all of your points but I've decided to leave this topic alone as a little oasis of positivity in the desert of reality of the rest of the forum 👍🏻😂

With,before a wheel is turned each season, the undeniably major issue that any trophy that you can win is seriously devalued, almost beyond parody, by the very operating model put together by the same promoters who expect you to take the sport seriously and turn up to watch it... An incredible concept really isn't it?

Has something gone wrong ? The silence is deafening.

And yet none of you moaners can give a compelling argument against any of my points?

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but after reading the last few posts and completing a full home season at Scunthorpe last year, I felt it was time to share a bit of perspective from a "new" local. I moved to Lincolnshire last year, and on paper, King’s Lynn is significantly closer to me. However, I decided to make Scunthorpe my go-to track, and I’ve based that decision purely on the quality of racing. Having previously lived in a village just down the road from Leicester, I’d actually stopped going there because, frankly, the racing was so poor. As a lifelong Coventry fan, I’ve seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It’s clear to anyone with eyes that things at the Eddie Wright Raceway are done on a very tight budget. The team for 2026 might not look like world-beaters on paper, and we might not be lifting silverware come October, but after last year, I’ve realised that isn't the most important thing. The racing last year was superb—genuinely entertaining from Heat 1 to 15. I was told by the regulars that it’s "usually even better,". I now consider myself an honorary Scorpion fan. To those who look at the "no-frills" nature of the place and judge it: believe me, if a track like Scunthorpe disappears, you will miss it when it’s gone. This sport needs places like the EWR that prioritise genuine track action over everything else. Regardless of where we finish in the league, I’m massively looking forward to the new season. Lets get behind the lads and hopefully spring a surprise or two.

Yes, but... what are they fans of? Guests turning up every week? Insult to the intelligence excuses from riders (and promoters) for not turning up to ride? Your club promoting themselves to a higher league with zero call for this from the fans? Your club changing race nights from a well attended Saturday to a poorly attended Monday? I could go on but we all know the issues with the sport and instead of addressing these some promotions point the finger at the fans 👉 Not all fans look for the same thing in Speedway, you know this from reading comments about your own club, with some saying they'd effectively follow Chris Louis of the cliff! Me, I'm always there because I love my Speedway, success is a bonus, maybe that's because I was brought up on the Lions of the late 70's and early 80's where success was a foreign concept 😂

You also though have things like inflation, goods/services on average are 25% more expensive now post covid partly because the Government at the time printed another £400 billion out of thin air which caused prices to sky rocket, with Putin invading Ukraine adding fuel to it all. Speedway appeals mainly to the working class who will be suffering financially most of all so it is likely people will pick and choose matches that they attend, this will most likely be highlighted even more in the coming season with only five teams so I think its highly probable that crowd numbers will be lower this year and then most likely get a big bump up when the play offs get here.

If fans stuck by their Club through thick and thin instead of having a 'We're only turning up when we're winning mentality' then Clubs wouldn't need to put out statements. British Speedway is far from perfect and the highers up make a number of mistakes but I don't see a problem with Clubs politely calling out fans who bail out when the going gets tough results wise for their Club on track.

But what does "winning" bring? Definitely not rich financial rewards, in fact, you could close down due to the cost of being successful, (as has been shown in the sport).. Winning at home wlll be Scunthorpe's target, with putting on some entertaining racing, on a very good track, being the back up to it... With Stox helping to cover any shortfall Speedway may need... No idea what crowds Scunthorpe get but a title winning team won't grow crowd numbers hugely, whilst a wooden spoon team won't lose crowd numbers hugely... The wooden spoon team would be seriously cheaper to run though...

Newport threatened it every week in their programme notes, the local papers, the speedway star. You name it they complained to it then blamed the BSPA for an average change last minute for them closing down. It was no secret that the haulage company were coming in. Birmingham were regulars with it before the stadium owners stepped in. Newcastle, even Glasgow did under the Facenna's!

Many in the past... and my own Leicester Lions during the Bates era

Which Clubs?

Seeing if Guest numbers are well up from their pitifully low 196 in 2025? Seeing if £30 admission can be the norm in the top tier? Seeing if you can watch your team race at every track in the top tier within a month of the season starting? Seeing which rider can have the best excuse for missing UK meetings, whilst still riding in either Poland, Sweden, or Denmark or following his own individual ambitions? Seeing which promoter can have the best reason for calling off a meeting, (with a special bonus for the one who uses the longest ranged weather forecast)? Exciting times indeed do lie ahead...

Very good news, well done to all involved. Fingers crossed that this is the beginning of the end and that consortium can get on with the job of restoring the stadium.

Woke up this morning, stretched out my elbows, No Wooden sides ! another day to be grateful for .