Leaderboard

If you fell on him 😉😂

Here is the opening two paragraphs from the 2026 press release... (continue the each as you wish). "British Speedway will enter a bold new era in 2026 that is sure to excite fans across the country following their AGM at the weekend..." "Chairman of the BSPL, Rob Godfrey said he felt satisfied that the sport will be the real winner with all the promotors working collectively in the best interests of the sport..."

Don’t think the rule is necessary when you have a points limit.But that’s Speedway.

Tactical but i plead ‘ not guilty ‘ it wasn’t me that did that dastardly act lol

Sadly, it's official that Danny King won't be in The Bears team next season due to the one rider over 8 point rule, It was announced at the Redcar awards do last night. He said his farewells and received a standing ovation from the supporters. It's unfortunate when rule changes force riders out of a team place. That apart it was an excellent evening, and good to see Erik there looking well.

Your missing the point I’m making, it’s Buxton I’m talking about, where you wouldn’t own the track but the rent is tiny compared to other tracks and that is for practically unlimited use and you get the money from absolutely everything from catering to practice days, as I said it’s not the ideal solution but it is by far the best most cost effective solution to the crap that British speedway finds itself in, honestly making a point to you lot is like talking to the bspl 😂

☹️

Where’s Pickering? Surely he’s a certainty in Sheffield’s 1-7?

A couple of days ago I read on here he was on his way to Workington. Principal is the same, if they want to share out the top riders, just make sure no-one gets missed out whatever average they end on. i.e could be one rider over 8, one over 7.9, one over 8.1, just don't make a rider unemployed because of the ruling.

And that’s where the sport will be changing,the money for riders will be less, do Oxford get catering and bar profits ? Which as any entertainment business will tell you is where you can make serious money, Len silver used to let fans in for free at rye house when they were against lesser attractive teams so he could make more money on his fish and chips and beer and that was a fact, I know I was there on a few of those occasions, the tv money was not really a pittance, in the grand scheme of things it was a welcome few quid for promotions and will be a big loss, on average rent for a track is around £50,000 a year, some more some less, so if you pay nothing that’s £50,000 saved before you have even started,I haven’t anywhere said this is a perfect solution but it should be considered because the alternatives are far worse and far more costly

Barely did this year did he?

People need to stop seeing TV coverage as a tool to promote the sport. If that’s the aim then the promoters should take out some prime time advertising on television. The days of flicking through the channels and stumbling upon something are long gone. There are too many channels and streaming options. Television companies aren’t going to give out a deal to help push speedway to the masses. They want something that is established and will bring eyes to their channel. The promoters need to make the sport an attractive proposition for a broadcaster to take an interest not expect a TV deal and for that TV deal to suddenly attract fans through the gates of tracks.

Rather keep Pickering and get rid of Chris

So what if one or two other teams do a Scunthorpe and sign an 8+ rider who didn't ride in the Championship last season? Some of last seasons 8+ riders will miss out on a team place. My point is valid. We are told there is a shortage of riders but potentially some will the frozen out! What is the points limit for? Teams should be built to the limit but how that's done should be up to the promotions.

Appreciate that I’m biased as it’s the club I support(ed) but allowing Rye House to die was a real travesty. A track that owned the stadium and had no restrictions over when it could operate. Somewhere that could have been a real asset to the sport in this country. Around the same time I’m pretty sure other tracks were bailed out too. Ones with bigger names but less solid foundations.

Another rider who I'd target if No TV deal happens is........Scott Nicholls. Last Premiership GSA was 5.69 (5.55 after 2.5% Reduction) and he'd score bucket loads around Foxhall @ No.2 imo.

Seems like a real possibility as I feel one more year in championship would probably be best for him to go out on a high and prove himself as a no1 rider,and getting Emil machinery there’s every chance he can push on to that level and would make a good spearhead with Nicholls and he can learn off him aswell.

I don't think it really matters anyway as long as you've got the correct blend of riders.

Yet we keep getting told there are a shortage of riders.

Klindt not doing championship possibly.

Neither do I. In fact it’s damn stupid

I'm not initially a fan of this rule, will have to see how it works in practice. Danny been a solid signing for the Bears, appears a good club man and a fair racer.

@racers and royals? 🤔

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but maybe teams should have invested all of the money into the stadiums/land/facilities and then used the increased revenue on riders, rather than just going straight for the riders. This would also have prevented a lot of the issues we are having now of teams be kicked out of their stadiums or being priced out due to the increased price of land and shrinking revenues

The elephant in the room is or is never appearing to be addressed by the powers that be, lack of riders or finance for riders or development of riders for example. I think if someone done a straw pole of riders who quit in the last 20 years because they couldn't afford it I think the numbers would be shocking.

I have always thought it strange that anyone still at school isn't allowed in for free... The Aces (I think), let U12's in for free on the back straight, which is a good idea... However, just as they become more interested and nuanced in the sport the person who takes them now has to pay for them... Just at a time too when they start going out with their mates, and going somewhere (by yourself), that your Dad and Grandad attends suddenly becomes "very uncool".. Let all school kids in for free, let them bring their mates for free, and let them "sod off" by themselves if they so wish... Some will never become "paying punters" but some will, and some of those will be "mates" who never attended Speedway, until their mate who did, took them.. These "teens" are not there now in any numbers worth a mention, so let them in for nothing as you have nothing to lose, but maybe something longer term to gain... It is barmy that at somewhere like the NSS (particularly on TV), swathes of seats and terracing lie empty when thousands of kids attend local schools and play in local sports leagues... One of the positives of internet purchasing is that you gauge well in advance as to what your ticket sales will be like on the night, as the "walk up and pay on the gate people" will have an average number too... Therefore if your capacity is 2000 more than you expect to turn up, flood the local schools, kids groups, sports teams etc etc with free tickets... They, and their parents/guardians, will not be turning up to pay anyway, so nothing to lose... And if the odd few parents, who do actually attend, get a free ticket then its a small price to pay to give the optics out that you are a "popular sport"... People are very much sheeplike and get easily led by seeing a "big crowd", and just automatically latch on to it, and follow it.... The opposite also is true, ie. If it looks unpopular, it must be unpopular, and something I won't be interested in following...

Musielak headed up the team on 8.69 in 2024. In 2025 they went for a strength in depth bunch of 6 pointers I reckon a big hitter with weak reserves might be the plan for 2026

I want to know who put the c*nt in sCUNThorpe

Wasn't it Marcel Gehard, former long tracker, his daughter was also involved in some capacity I think when it all went ** up. Not sure why they never took off, many riders tried them and didn't Freddie even win a GP on one?

suits the narrative Bellers

Welcome to the new Workington thread

They do offer price structures tailored to individual sports rather than a singular monthly subscription, but the question is always the same. How would that attract NEW fans to the sport it desperately needs??

Yeah. Thats what I’m hearing. But not sure if that’s with one rising star or 2 RS 1 RS u24 1 RS u19 rising star list being sorted tomorrow apparently

I think it would be great to have him back. as mentioned before add in him and Nicholls at 1 and 5. Barker, Joe Thompson and Bowtell/Tomsen in the engine room with klima and another at reserve think it would be a good team.

The boffins won’t be happy until they put the sport in a grave

Yeah but he's enjoyed every minute of it!

Over last 3 seasons Bewley has averaged 6.08 over 10 matches at Foxhall. That is substantially worse than any other Premiership track [I think 7.50 at Birmingham is his next lowest]

And they always do have

I’m 18 stone. I’d give speedway a go if weight limits were brought back. BZ would be in trouble

Very few changes from 2025... Swap Pickering out for Musielak. Lose Morris (to Leicester) and move Leon Flint up into the team on 25% reduction, then you just need a new Rising Star J Holder 9.08 C Holder 6.84 T Musielak 6.63 A Rowe 5.22 L Flint 5.06 J Etheridge 3.00 L Harrison R/S That fits the limit. If the limit gets a little move upwards, just swap Etheridge out for any potential upgrade.

So 1,3 & 5 Lawson,Kerr, Rowe.

Aren't we all getting a bit ahead of ourselves here? Have the showground owners made any comments about their next move or anything about reopening the showground as an events facility?

Think a lot of overreaction has taken place after the Emil news in regards to the strength of British Speedway in 2026. Last night's news was just confirmation of what most of us expected imo.

I'll play devil's advocate As you and your team have no interest in being a part of it what the f@c£ has your opinion got to do with it

(i) Red: Well, we have Redcar to thank that they (Poole) didn't. (ii) Blue: But do you not think that is part of Speedway's problem. It's a predictability thing. I don't think that one or two Clubs winning everything every year is good for Speedway. Speedway is a Sport, there must be competition. Becoming like what Rangers and Celtic used to be in Scottish Football can be very,very boring.

What a ridiculous comment. Just because Poland aren't particularly great at the majority of sports we focus on in the UK, you think they are useless at every other sport going? Go and educate yourself on what sports Poland regularly play, such as volleyball, basketball, handball, etc. and you'll soon see they are far better than us and compete at the highest levels. Not to mention individual sports such as, athletics, winter sports, etc. as well. For instance, an all-time combined Summer and Winter Olympics table sees Poland inside of the 20 countries in the world.

With their new found spare time, the riders can seek additional work outside of the speedway and the sport can return to a sustainable semi-professional level. Full time speedway riders on crowds between 500 and 1000 can't be sustainable.

I have always found it strange the riders can ride for multiple teams across the continent. Always felt like it was one of the things that held speedway back. I know there is a lack of riders, but I am not sure why they haven't followed the model of most other sports where there are national and then continental competitions. Would also allow for cup competitions which would be a big boost to the finances of smaller clubs when the big riders ride against them in the cups

For me as a worky fan, very similar to Plymouth A good season is watching entertaining racing with the majority of home wins, if we get beat by a better team so be it 😄 Then if our team survives and runs the following season that is a success and hopefully the guys that run the speedway have broken even

They have had almost 30 years of coverage and the fanbase is probably (at best), half what it was 30 years sgo... Promoters have had hundreds of two hour advertisements for their businesses and done nothing to make the sport look "popular" via the optics... I am always impressed the way the directors can focus in on thirty or forty people stood, or sat, together to make it look like a "crowd" is in attendance... Unfortunately, they then have to show the racing using a wider angle and the swathes of empty spaces and seats become clearly evident... When Sky first covered the sport, kids got in for free and they had face painters there, bouncy castles etc, and a "roving camera" that focused on the face painted groups of kids waving and shouting into the camera. This then often led into the adverts, and was the first thing you saw when they came back for the break. Giving the impression I presume that Speedway is great to take your kids to, and "fun".... Nowadays nothing appears to be done to create a "fun" atmosphere when on TV... A 2 hour advert that others in the entertainment industry would kill for and use to create interest. Imagine several restaurants being filmed for two hours, several times a year, with just four people eating in them each time they were on TV? They would ensure the place was packed, even if they all didn't pay!!! Sports that can only half fill their stadiums often close parts down to squeeze the crowd together and use the closed sections for large banner advertising of their sponsors... I always think the NSS, as an example, there are many others, that could benefit from that when on TV, ie fill the grandstand so the camera inside the circuit covering the start makes the place look full, (rather than it looks now due to hardly anyone sitting in the sections at the start of the home straight), and advertise your sponsors on the back straight... Just charge standing prices for one night in the grandstand, and credit the ST holders with any difference. (If they moan about it)... Put simply, Speedway, uniquely when measured against other "niche" sports, hasn't progressed one iota via the huge amount of TV coverage it has had... And you have to question why?.. So not sure what positive difference any other satellite or streaming service would make to it now.. The real issue without the TV coverage will be the lack of the six figure payment that the teams got rather than if it grew the sport or not...