As a loyal Tigers supporter since 1966, following the Bates announcement I'm fully expecting that 2026 will be the death knell for the sport in Sheffield. The only hope in my opinion is a single nation-wide league of 12/14 teams, and if that means saying a permanent goodbye to riders who prefer to ride for big bucks in Poland, so be it.

I  abandoned at least 10 years ago.

I'll still attend, probably until the bitter end, but I'll no longer be attending matches where a rider has decided that he'd rather be elsewhere. Dan Thompson did that when Lions visited Sheffield earlier in the year and I made my protest then by not attending. Injuries are part and parcel of the sport, but riders not showing for their clubs due to riding or being sat in the pits elsewhere is the final straw for me. The reasons why attendances are down are numerous and have all been discussed ad infinitum across this forum, so I'm not going to rehash them

Is that with the football or the wife

Good on him.   

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.