All Activity

And with that 'gone list' those that are left include: Kildemand (36), Craig Cook (38), Sedgmen (34), Palm Toft (35), Harris (43), Masters (34), Lawson (40), Kerr (35), Barker (37), Nicholls (47), Wright (38), King (39), Worrall (34), Simon Lambert (37), Batchelor (38), Iversen (43) That's almost all of what would effectively be the top group of riders. If people think they can just about manage to find enough riders to sustain one league now, what about in 3 or 5 years?

I do think doubling up will remain a necessary evil if they went two leagues of 8 home and away once to keep the likes of Masters, Harris and Lawson on side you would have to allow them to compete in both leagues , I'm really thinking maintain the current status quo but with eight teams shortened season over say four months May, June, July , August when weather should be favourable. Reduced losses also the first struggle thought would be to get the bottom four teams up to a half decent standard so they weren't getting whipped every week like Oxford and Brum which would somehow mean getting 3-5 additional top line riders back to the UK.

I don't get the obsession with Ekstraliga averages - Kolodziej and Ben Cook for example have been near the top in those lists but neither have made it into the GPs on a regular basis. Kurtz wasn't even riding in that league when he qualified via the GP challenge in 2024 was he? No-one knows how a rider may perform, if it was all about averages and assessments why have a competition at all? It'd just be nice to see some new battles, not just the same old troupe.

Hopefully 2 good close meetings on 2 tracks where rider skill has to come into play Leicester fans are a great bunch , not blinkered or volatile Should be a great final

For those who haven't seen it:

Just have to hope the weather allows it all to happen.

If the FIM were truly concerned about inclusivity in Speedway they'd pay more than lip service to it, if they were that interested in the development of Speedway in the lesser Speedway nations they should run proper qualifiers where Poland, Denmark, GB, Australia & Sweden etc are made to travel to the likes of Germany, France, Finland etc. etc. to compete in qualifying meetings, much like UEFA & FIFA do with Euro and World Cup qualification. You can't just have these teams turn up at the finals where they're sunk without a trace and virtue signal that you've included everybody, it's exactly what they do with SGP4... look at us developing the kids, they're that interested in the kids that the results from the SGP4 at Vojens are still "coming soon" on the website! At the moment the FIM really have got the worst of both worlds, they're not doing a proper development job and at the same time they're not pulling in the crowds either.

I don't give a toss about GP riders here, I really just want clubs to stay open and the future of the sport to be protected. As much as I love watching Fricke at Leicester, I'm not going to be selfish and demand riders like him stay just because he's top quality. IMO there are enough decent riders out there to create a bigger league but it would be a watered down championship. I'm ok with this personally, I love speedway in the NDL as much as the premiership. I think Poole are the best argument for my case, serial winners and the I don't hear any fans moaning about the standard or quality of riders, yes it helps they build great sides every year but I highly doubt Scunny or Plymouth fans are going to be running to the terraces if they join the premiership next season. It didn't work for Oxford or Birmingham did it? and the crowds at Leicester have actually dropped since moving leagues. Trust me I would love it if a few clubs could come back and join the premiership, but it isn't happening is it? And who will it benefit exactly? I cant think of one championship club that would benefit from moving leagues. All the people suggesting one big league wont work haven't come up with any other solution have they? What is it then? A 5 team Premiership? Northampton to join the prem for financial suicide? Poole moving up? ( That wont work because race nights) Glasgow moving up? ( They wont sacrifice the Scottish derby) .

I see you got there in the end but they obviously changed it as it was listed as being on 10 when I checked last week here - https://www.tvguide.co.uk/channel/tnt-sports-10 Looking again, tonight's doesn't appear on any of them now as they're showing Major League Baseball instead.

You can say, with c.90% certainty, whether a young rider is good enough for the GPs. It's not like football where a player can bang them in against the U21s or lower league teams and you're never sure if they'll do it at the top level, we see these young riders every week in Poland/Sweden/Denmark/GB vs the same riders as they'd face in the GP. The only rider in the top 20 of the Ekstraliga averages who you could argue is young and could/should be given a chance is Przyjemski, but even then he's racing as a junior, so his average doesn't tell the full story. Cierniak...maybe? He's sat between Woryna and Janowski in the averages, so it's difficult to see him being any better than Vaculik/Doyle/etc. I'd love to see new faces in the GPs too, but the long and short of it is, there isn't anyone good enough. Even if you had the very best 15 riders in the world (Emil, Artem back, etc), someone is still going to be last. The one thing I do think it lacks is some genuine jeopardy beyond mid-season. If you can't win the title, and are a few too many points off the top 7, what is your motivation? You'll either be handed a wildcard or you'll just drop out anyway. Same as having the GP Challenge before the end of the GPs - Kubera scored 6 race points in 2 GPs after winning the GP Challenge, why does he need to risk anything?

While the woke FIM is putting inclusivity ahead of bums on seats they'll always be on a hiding to nothing

Common sense by BSPL. Playoffs should be prioritised.

As people have pointed out, one big league of 14 teams with 7 man teams would be impossible. Take out the 25ish riders who ride in Poland (and are only available to Britain on Monday and Thursday) and reduce all the doubling-up riders to a single team (another 30+ riders) and you've barely got enough riders left to staff 14 teams of 3 or 4 riders. You'd need to take every rider from the National League, including every novice 3.00 NDL wobbler, and you still couldn't get to 14 full teams. The standard or 14 teams would be somewhere between Championship and NDL. The level would be a big comedown for Workington or Plymouth fans. Imagine asking fans of Belle Vue, Ipswich or Sheffield to watch that!

Really hope a new promoter is found etc - having looked at the Sheffield accounts they do seem to lose money over time (unless i have misread them) so someone with a few quid is needed.

I agree that would help matters, but equally it's the year 2025. If TMs are making changes to the line-up then there's no reason it can't be done digitally, with almost instant notification to appropriate people (commentators), regardless of whether they're in the stadium, London, or Timbuktu. Alas.

I'd be wary of this! Utd (Blades) seemed to be the only Saudi prince owned club with no money 😁 The moment they got into the Prem the other season the club was put up for sale

Surely it's gamble worth taking because the current rock bottom attendances need a major boost. I think those who watch speedway nowadays will stay loyal whatever. And the only way to attract the 50/50 followers back through the turnstiles is via a more varied fixture list. Meeting the same teams 4 or more times each season just breeds complacency. Not that the riders care, of course, but Joe Public needs more variety.!!!!

if it is one big league i would highly doubt it would be with seven mean teams. as i replied to that original post that is a MASSIVE assumption that all of those riders would drop GB.

JK has also made Race cards for both SF and also the SON2. They are over at his website. https://www.speedwayservice.at/en/info/jk-speedway-scorecards.html

Live updates for SF2: https://live.baansportfansite.nl/event/945/fim-speedway-of-nations-semi-final-2-torun.html

The format works so no need to change that, the one thing that needs addressing over the winter months is the track preparation and that goes for the Grand Prix's as well, the tracks are atrocious and serve up little more than follow the leader, speedway is in the entertainment game and these events should be the prime events for the world to look at and watch, now if us hardened speedway "fans" find them boring then how do we think "newbies" to the sport feel?? Last night the track was that slick i would imagine even with the very small crowd they would of covered the shale costs!

Northampton then

I Don’t know for sure- only themselves and WBD are privy to that information, but a rumour was that it was their choice to do it from London.

As it is a extra competition as most meetings were contested early season then it is fair to say the semi final and final should have been completed ages ago.

What's the reason behind Chris and Kelv not attending the meetings abroad this season ?