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Who are these Northampton fans that would go to Leicester or even Oxford ? They don’t exist, what’s the point of having a new team that doesn’t have any fans or a track or any history of fans that would still be alive, inventing a team and expecting fans that don’t exist to attend a track miles away from the town it’s supposed to represent is stuff of the matrix

There was a match presented to the paying public last week at Leicester. It was a double header Leicester vs Belle Vue in the NDL followed by Leicester vs Kent in the NDT. In the first match Leicester tracked 2 guests and R/R, Belle Vue 1 guest and R/R In the second match Leicester tracked 5 guests 1 of which didn't start and Kent R/R In the second match Leicester tracked 3 riders who were riding for Belle Vue in the first match. In the second match Kent tracked 1 rider who was riding for Belle Vue in the first match. The 2nd match was scheduled to start at 20:30 but didn't start until after 21:00 and the 2nd match was abandoned after heat 14 due to the curfew. I was toying with the idea of attending this as my last match of the season as it's a long close season. I asked Leicester Speedway a simple question on TwitterX of how much the admission price was only to get no reply... so I didn't bother. Everything that is wrong with British Speedway encapsulated in 1 night! And the powers that be are proposing business as usual as the cure... the sport is finished!

I'm beginning to realise that the "radical" change that has been mooted for next season is in fact no change... and that, when you think about it, is quite radical for a sport in a terminal decline!

Extenuating circumstances that night though Iain... So let's be fair... That FIFTH Leicester guest in the 2nd meeting was unavoidable.... Sadly, it was time to stop taking UK Speedway seriously as a "proper" team sport, about two decades ago.... The GP's and other FIM competitions started to grow, and maintaining your place in a Polish team started to take up many rider's focus and priority... This resulted in guestfest after guestfest, particularly at weekends, as riders pursued their own individual ambitions... With these riders usually being the "big names" and the largest beneficiaries of "the Sky money"... UK promoters, knowing these riders would be missing, still insisted on putting out League racing though... I remember one night at Lakeside, the Aces went there with four guests (Arena track ringers) and RR due to a national championship, and GP qualifiers, taking place around Europe... I was staying in Canary Wharf that weekend and would have gone until I saw the line up... You simply couldn't then, nor (particularly in the internet age), even more so now, take team speedway seriously in the UK... Which is a shame as the raw product is still very sellable.... But, only if the infrastructure underpinning it made more sense, and had more credibility and jeopardy... They desperately need a "Big Sponsor" to ensure a "Big Prize Fund" as that naturally will get interest from the wider UK public and media.. However. You have to doubt that ever happening unfortunately given its operating model is so open to ridicule.... What we have, and have had for probably the best part of two decades now, is probably pretty much "all there is", as surely those running the sport must have seen the decline in crowds as easily as the fans who still attend have... But, given not much seems to have changed when radical change was clearly needed, nor even researched as to why so many who still follow the sport, no longer attend, you can only presume all is thought "OK" at the high table and "same old/same old" remains the order of the day... Roll on next March eh?

Zero - being Zero.

I’ve thought exactly this. If you’re going to reinvent a club from the past and stage their meetings elsewhere, why not a more recent and successful club like Coventry? Still wouldn’t be ideal but I’m sure they still have a big enough fan base that would travel to watch the Bees again. At least in the short term. The novelty would inevitably ware off with the travelling but by that time they’d hopefully have made progress in returning to Brandon or another location closer to home. Who on earth local to Northampton, is going to travel miles to watch a team ride there? It’s been an awful long time since Speedway was raced in Northampton so I’d be surprised if many there even know what the sport is!

I agree insanity but I think if there isn’t another team to make it 6 then there isn’t a league at all and that is purely my thoughts

Can’t believe anybody is seriously proposing a ‘ NOMAD ‘ team comprised of riders from other clubs and sponsored by those other clubs. In the words of McEnroe……” you cannot be serious !”

On the other in 22/23 Louis spent all winter chasing Emil when no body gave it a hope in hell of happening! Ended up doing 3 years as a witch. Louis & Ipswich are slighty different to Schroeck & Oxford.

Here is what I think, 1 rider 1 mechanic 1 bike allowed in pits, reduced points money, no gaurentees, any race night , 6 teams with 1 unknown team run by the rest of the league just to make the numbers up, possibly Northampton, 6 riders per team, has to contain at least 3 Brits, 1 rider of 8 average per team, this is not fact or even what I would do but just some ideas

bring back black/yellow helmet cover lol

Had the good fortune to meet an avid Plymouth fan over the weekend he informed that immediiately Scott N arrived the whole team and club seemed to get an incredible lift .In no time at all his merchandise was flying off the shelves and he was being lauded by almost every supporter .His approach to riding ,team mates and the fans meant in his opinion his return for 2026 was crucial even if he may no longer an out and out number 1 at Champ level . It was great to witness this enthusiasm which we don't see a great deal of within our sport these days !

A shame to see Danny leave - almost as much for his off track/mentoring with some of the younger riders. Hope he gets fixed up somewhere. Would love to see if we could build a team to keep Pijper/Scott at reserve (if we can entice Scott to stay). Would mean a slightly weaker main body but would always leave us with good reserves.

TBH I'm surprised more clubs haven't adopted & adapted 'the Oxford model" of operating 2 or more teams out of the one track. Like, keep essentially the same riders in each team, e.g. from Championship to Premiership level, swap out say a reserve / 2nd string & add GP level rider. So regular speedway each week, watching the same riders with no "he rides for your track one week, against you the next week in a different team"....

Got to start with the reserves I think. Hopefully Pijper & Scott are signed for 2026.

King was a very good team man, excellent with the youngsters , still capable of big scores and a thoroughly nice guy . Sad that he seems to be forced out by a rule that doesn’t appear to have been thought out very well . Hope he gets fixed up quickly, if he hasn’t already been. Whilst Redcar have always shown loyalty to riders… Will the Bears take another gamble on Riss ? Jenkins to come back ? Allen pencilled in ? Might need to find a couple of 2/3 pointers with potential and that won’t be easy.

My understanding was more along the lines of the promotion wanting to operate at the top of the top table. The first season was a reasonable success with a Saturday race night. Season two with the fixed race night was a big problem and the money ran out (I believe). Second tier speedway with a Saturday race night was ideal for Rye House. It was almost an unsinkable ship if managed correctly. For one reason or another it wasn’t, but the sport’s governing body should have seen it for what it was, a rare example of a club that owned its site and had no restrictions. That was worth saving for the benefit of the entire sport at almost any cost.

I'll be absolutely gobsmacked if its not 36 for the top five. We shall see.

After Jordan Jenkins announced he's not riding for Oxford next season could be better worth a go at Scunthorpe always seems to score massively when riding against the Scorpions. (9+1 from 5 and 13 from 5 on last couple of visits at number 5) His injury record isn't the best but it's somebody different other then the usual Scunthorpe go with.

Taking Laguta's spot. Before that it was 2018/2019, again being Lambert. Previously to that it was Iversen. The issue with King's Lynn is always financial. Strength in depth on the cheap & when we've gone with 'real' No1s the rest of the team is bargain bin finds. The JC years are the only time the club has been genuinely competitive. Next season, King's Lynn need a genuine No1 & to hold on to Kvech & Cook as a top 3.

Not enough for me. Like it how it used to be one a week

Its difficult isn't it Mike I do feel bad putting the boot into promoters when you have the likes of Tolley doing six figures plus, but running on Mon,Tues or Wed you are on a hiding to nothing before you begin in my opinion, I keep harping on about it but Plymouth are showing what can be done when you run on a night that the public not the riders want. Appreciate the flip side is if you took this approach in the prem currently you might as well close down as half the riders wouldn't ride here but longer term I do think stripping back to riders committed to UK starting at Championship standard and trying to build back up is the way to go. At the current rate I can't see the top league lasting more than another 2-3 years particularly if no tv deals means weaker teams and higher prices , meeting same team 3-4 times at home per season rinse and repeat.

Can you imagine explaining that to a newcomer

As we are all keen avid speedway fans and use this forum to have fun with other fans from around the tracks, my concern like many others is the potential drop off of the sport in the UK. It has always been the case that fingers are pointed at the things that dont help the sport by the powers that be whilst the sport in this country is being left to diminish to the point clubs will disappear once their owners one by one walk away. Its about time fans are listened to as barely any clubs are financially stable and all that seems to happen each AGM is rulings/stipulations to further detract from the wonderful spectacle speedway is by further adding penalities to a failing sport. The biggest concern for me are the cost of riders which seems to be driven by the cost of parts and the requirement for it to be used as a professional revenue and the subsequent lack of fans which maybe down to various blaize approaches over the past 20 years has created a disconnect for fans on the perifory. We need to act now to give the sport in this country a chance of survival. Fans deserve to have a voice and be heard on the top table as without fans only vast individual sponsors will float any club.

That’s why I don’t like the 1 eight point rider rule per team. As long as each team sticks to the team average that’s fine in my books

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.

Congratulations to Marky_Mark who is this year’s winner! His team was Scott, Simpson, Foord, McGurk, Hodder, Summers & Rushen. A few people got caught out by picking a rider who averaged lower for 1 club than another, like Rushen at KL compared to Leicester. However not picking Rushen at all was a huge mistake. Only 3 people picked Simpson who doubled his average and only 1 person picked Etherington who also doubled his average 1. Marky_Mark 60.86 2. Szkocjasid 57.03 3. Millersfan444 56.14 4. Islander15 55.23 5. Secsy1 52.62 6. Paul Johnson 52.38 7. Speedwayfan8 52.33 8. RS50 51.08 9. Pottering Around 49.80 10. DJC 49.08 11. Dukes 47.00 12. Bluenose 46.43 13. Technik 43.72 14. Scunny Dan 43.18

12Nov .?

Was it ever thus? I am really sad about Danny King. Great Rider in my opinion.

Think it is financial suicide for any team to make the numbers up in the Premier League.

But if Kurtz & Bewley were taking points off each other (lowering their average), would not Holder & Musielak have been doing the same when Tobiasz averaged 8.69? In fact if Musielak was behind Holder in most heat 13s / 15s, does that not make his 8.69 average even more impressive? Which would mean Lynn signed a "real number 1" in 2024. Yes he was poor & disappeared, but that doesn't mean Lynn didn't sign a number 1.

I said it last year that I wouldn’t have Borke back, and for the same reasoning, I wouldn’t have Hume back. Unneeded risk out of loyalty, especially if we retain Hagon, can’t have our number 2 and 6 coming back from injuries.

From left to right - Len Silver team manager, Marvyn Cox, Jens Rasmussen, Ian Clark, Nigel Sparshot, Mel Taylor, Simon Wigg. On bike, obviously Hans Nielsen.

After years of poor quality top flight sides Louis seems to have nailed in over the last 4 seasons. From the emergency re direction of Harris in 2019 to the dodgy Jason Crump signing of 2020/21 Louis brought in Doyle in 2022 maybe he was a little lucky because Swindon closed there. He then followed that up with the box office signing of Emil & enticing Rew to Ipswich. Last winter saw the arrival of Brennan so I have no doubts we now have a guy who is no afraid to chase the best.

The sinking ship called the Premier League is heading for the rocks. Loss of UK venues has been a major factor in recent years. Their defunct club supporters have all probably been lost to the sport never to return. Established stadia with a speedway oval and capable of housing a few thousand patrons in reasonable comfort aren't out there. An ever ageing but dwindling nucleus of speedway supporters with fond memories of past glory still cling on to the wreckage in traditional speedway hotspots. Attempts to promote clubs from the Championship League have been tried and I cannot name one that has been successful ? Costs of operating on the Premier League (although a closely guarded secret) and the restrictive race nights of operation are certainly a major issue. The money for riders is in Poland nowadays, why any of them ride in the UK can only be for personal reasons, it cannot be for the money on offer. WHEN will the league decay into one league and a training Conference league ? The PL cannot hold out for much longer.

It certainly won't be for the top six, the figures don't add up. 36 for the top five is sensible.

Nothing announced as yet, just the standard 'not easy decision', 'fresh challenge' type announcement from Jenkins saying that he is leaving Oxford. I think a lot of teams will be interested.

Since when has Musielak been a 'real' No1?? In any decent side he's only ever been 2nd or 3rd heatleader at best. When was the last time & how often have King's Lynn had a Holder, Kurtz, Bewley, Doyle, Sayfutdinov type 'REAL' No1??

Sadly I think your right Ian credit to the fellas who are running the clubs to keep going as they must mostly be losing fortunes, but I fear its more of the same coming, a lower points limit, some top men leaving and prices going up.

Bob Young on bike and Brian Foote number 5 racejacket

Plan C it is for me

Should have proper highlights packages for every meeting. Would be 20-25 minutes. Would need to look professional with proper graphics and commentary, but IMO this is the only way you are going to get new viewers. Maybe even the creation of some introduction videos explaining the rules on the channel would help to get new viewers as well. There should also be some short form content on TikTok/Instagram regularly for top 5 heats of the week, best overtakes, etc.

If they want someone with links to Sky then they've probably got the wrong Redknapp involved.

New team manager required

and it will eventually bite them in the arse..

They are. Football (one of the biggest of them all) is phasing gambling sponsorship out because it can cause serious addiction. The number of bookmakers who offer speedway markets has also decreased. They aren’t interested. The only people who want to bet on speedway are the existing diminishing fan base or those with serious gambling addiction who would happily bet on Romanian under-12s netball. Companies sponsor things that will help them improve or promote their business generally. Speedway won’t. Greyhounds is a dying sport too and one that has always been synonymous with gambling. It isn’t a partnership that has just sprung up. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth but let’s not assume bookmakers are the saviour. It’s straw clutching.

According to one promoter... "The No 1's".... Who all then pretty much effed off to Poland and Sweden as soon as the UK gravy train ended for them.. Personally I wasnt ever convinced bringing "the top stars" back a few years ago was going to be a "Golden Ticket" given the fact that when pretty much every single top rider (maybe apart from Tomaz Gollob), rode over here week in, week out, during the "Sky years", the crowds didn't grow, in fact, they kept declining overall... Which suggested the "top names" were not deal breakers as to whether fans were attending or not... Plymouth is a perfect example of where "the cast of the production" hasn't changed, yet the number of people now watching them has increased considerably, just by changing their "opening hours", which are now obviously more aligned to people's leisure time...

I would be most surprised if Nick isn't a Bandit in 2026

The news of Nicholls signing for Plymouth in 2026 says one of 2 things to me: There won't be one big league in 2026 Nicholls won't have a TV job in 2026 He probably knows something we don't, but I find that signing to be very interesting.

"Close it if it didn't work for them"? A perfect example of why the sport is where it is... And all to try an win something hardly anyone gives a toss about, with hardly any financial return, and all simply down to the way they themselves as a collective run things.. I remember Jon Cook (who seemed switched on), in an interview with the SS, when on the MC, saying he dreaded the phone call asking for a decision on a guest rider that may, or may not, have been allowed in some meeting.. As once, a promoter called him and said he would not run the meeting and close the track if he didn't get his way... Basically, too many promoters have seemed to have the following attitude... "If I can't have what I want, I am taking my bat and ball home with me and you all then cannot play".. They need to work collectively and ensure all come to the tapes as even as is possible, given no one is going to get "rich" by winning any UK Speedway league, nor are they going to get any national recognition... Looking "insular" is no longer an option I would suggest, and everyone needs to work together to get the sport out of its current "steeply" downwards trajectory...