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Only "superstars" can have top quality races??? Look up Heat 14 from the Glasgow v Edinburgh playoff semi (British Speedway Network posted it on their Facebook page on 27th September) It was a fantastic race between Perry, MPT & Flint swapping places. Then contrast that with the dross that was GB v Poland at the same track which had Bewley, Woffinden, Zmarzlik and Janowski, 3 of the 4 riders that had just competed in whatever they call the World Pairs final these days, and next to no passing all night. It was one of the worst meetings ever at Ashfield. The only worse ones I can think of were ruined by rain. Glasgow fans are very happy with the entertainment on show at Ashfield every week. Star names do not mean better races. Glasgow fans want to race Fridays, and the promotion fought long and hard to get it. They also have the derbies with Edinburgh and Berwick and rivalry with Poole, and to a lesser extent Redcar and Workington. They also have a competitive team. And they run with (what the promotion deem to be) acceptable losses each year. All of which would be lost propping up the failing Premiership. The Facennas are working hard to build up the speedway at Glasgow but that move would not make any sense and could jeopardise the future of the Tigers.

As an Ipswich supporter it was great to win the league after so many years. However, based of course on endless speculation it would appear like the Premiership is acting like a playground bully. Unfortunately apart from Ipswich the business model would appear not to work, root and branch review will not work. The tree is dead. It requires chopping down and a new one planted.

I appreciate that but there's also option 4, racing part-time rather than expecting a living from British Speedway when the sport cannot sustain giving them that.

Full series here.

Because steve(or should it be Stephanie, you never know these days)how would the ex prem teams sign whoever they want and leave the championship teams "chasing shadows"there are championship teams who have better promoters and sponsors than most prem clubs,maybe some of the prem clubs would end up chasing the shadows

Do you really think so? The riders who have “signed” for Championship clubs would soon be backing out of those deals quicker than a rat up a drainpipe. The fact is, those clubs that would be “dropping down” are more desirable clubs to ride for who more than likely could/would offer better deals. The first thing Ipswich would do for example, is take Scott Nicholls off Plymouth. Those deals aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Pure delusion to think those riders would stay loyal to the Championship clubs they’ve already agreed to ride for, if they’re suddenly offered a better deal by one of the clubs currently in the Premiership. They’ll go where the money is and rightly so. 99% of riders have been dumped by clubs over their careers when they’ve hit a sticky patch, so none of them can cry foul when it’s their turn to be dumped. It works both ways.

And if you can't get along for any reason can you ask Bomber to replace you?

Trade stands, nostalgia or promotion, it doesn't matter what you call it, everyone who wants the sport to continue has to try and do their bit. If by pushing an open door tomorrow keeps the door open then great. If you let the door close it gets locked. I will be there early tomorrow and also at the offroad show in Telford next year trying to keep a little bit of that door open.

I'm not in the know by any stretch Steve but plenty on here who are reasonably well connected hinted last deal was roughly 100k per club.

But where is the Premiership money coming from if no TV contract??

Whilst I take your point, that the future is the way to go, I do not agree with your your premise regarding Doris and Bob. You need to think about ALL Speedway Supporters and that includes the elderly. There is a theory that you can learn from History. Perhaps you could look back to when Speedway really was popular, when good folk, young and old, flocked to Speedway Meetings for the noise, the excitement, the smell, the thrills, the spills and the entertainment. Look at those points I make now. How many apply today? Noise - Yes, Excitement - Yes, Smell - No, Thrills and Spills - Yes (too many of the latter, these days), Entertainment - No, not really. No second Half from where you grow your future riders. I would argue that Speedway, which purports to be a Sport, has lost it's way. The Grand Prix system, I believe, has degraded the Sport in this Country. It is too gimmicky. I just mention the laughably named - Last Qualifying Round/Race. Too many places are given to the top riders from the previous year - these riders are SELECTED from their efforts this year for the World Championship for next year. What is fair and equal about that? Then we come to the League - no the wonder Supporters drift away when their Team win the League, only to find they have to win another competition to win it AGAIN (Play Offs aka: an injustice) - not fair. If you want another competition - fine - but don't call it the League Championship, for that it isn't. They (the Promoters) have changed what used to be a great Sport that people used to attend enthusiastically, into fifteen races - and that's it. Bare minimum offered to Supporters. High prices to be paid, when money these days is extremely tight. Finally the riders themselves have lost touch with the Supporters. No going for a drink afterward as in the old days. All of these things add up. Well, I am off to get my flask and my blanket - it is cold this time of year. Much Love Doris and Bob.

They really don't. The likes of Chris Harris, Danny King, Peter Kildemand, Sam Masters, Charles Wright, Richard Lawson, etc, etc, pick up a "top-up" wage from the CL, to supplement their main PL earnings. If the PL were to collapse, those riders would either need a big pay rise from their one remaining British team or they'd need a foreign league place, which would bring clashes with any British team who don't ride on either a Monday or Thursday. e.g. A collapse of the PL would see Danny King's Plymouth signing fall through. He couldn't ride solely for Plymouth money. He'd be better going to Ipswich on a Thursday and picking up a foreign league. The CL absolutely need the PL to survive, or else it will be the end for some of them.

Sounds like a name for most speedway promoters !!!!!

You have a higher opinion of BCP than I do

I have no idea why “Poole Keith” is laughing at your post. He (or she. You never know these days 🙄) knows damn well what you’re saying is true.

Poole is different to Swindon though. He doesn't own the Poole Stadium site. He only leases it from the Council. Having said that, Cala Homes have shown interest in the site in the latest 'suggestions' to be considered in a revised Council Local Plan!! If the Council accept the 'suggestion' as a firm proposal and then include it in a new Local Plan, which will have to be approved by central Government, then that plan will go out to public consultation.

Who says Championship clubs are trying to destroy the Premiership? It's failing on its own. I think what is happening is that no Championship club wants to risk their business by stepping up and taking huge losses. Remember also there is a history of teams stepping up being screwed over and having to sign the dregs as the Premiership teams won't share out the heat leaders to help a new team at least be competitive to protect their business. They are all too focused on winning and keeping the new team as whipping boys which racks up the financial losses as fans rarely support an uncompetitive team in big numbers. Plus from a Glasgow perspective, there would be no special fixture in the calendar to sell. No Edinburgh (you could easily sell a Glasgow v Edinburgh contest at anything), no Berwick for localish rivalry, no Poole (silverware rivals). No offence to anyone but the fixture list would all be a bit 'meh'

what's weekends got to do with anything 😁

Last time it was held at the NSS at the weekend a few years back I seem to remember the crowd being quite good

I don’t think that’s true. They pick up two wages. It’s not a top up. If the Premiership teams are cast out into the cold then there won’t be a top league for those riders to ride in. It’ll be Championship or no job here. The Championship needing the Premiership and vice versa is a falsity. The Championship is in a stronger position.

Sadly, there are indeed a lot of insular, narrow-minded, stuck-in-the-past, head-in-the-sand speedway supporters, who think it's still 1940s Britain with Hitler, Rickets Diphtheria and Ringworm. Of course we all love old Doris and Bob, who turn up at their club every week with their rattle, tartan blanket and Thermos flask. They tell us great stories of how when they lived in London, they would cycle to a different track every night to watch speedway, go dancing, have some fish and chips, and still have change out of a farthing. Doris and Bob love a Saturday morning in a village hall looking at a 1961 Ove Fundin rosette. But should Danny Ford spend "just £15" (plus fuel, plus food, plus 10 hours of his day) travelling a 320 mile round trip to a village near Coventry to talk to Doris and Bob? Will this increase Poole attendance? Will it increase his business turnover? Of course not. I ended up talking to Phillip Lanning at a meeting earlier this season. He handles a lot of the marketing for Glasgow and Belle Vue (two of the more forward-thinking clubs in terms of marketing - and two of the clubs who don't bother wasting £15 at the village fayre). He was saying how they both spent thousands on strategic partnerships with Facebook and the media company which owns the biggest local newspapers in Glasgow and Manchester. (Reach Media, I think?). He said the Facebook advertising won't necessarily be seen by existing fans as it's not targeted at them. It can be targeted at very specific demographics of interest, and feedback is monitored. Speedway has to move with the times and use the clever marketing technology which is available. The social media generation of Youtube, TikTok and Instagram are who we need to attract. Doris and Bob are not the future. The past is a foreign country; They do things differently there.

i don't think anyone expects the ship to be turned around in one go, but harking back to the plymouth example they have made the wise move of running on best night for their punters and this year they have learned from the Klindt issue and signed two english based riders and i would imagine they will try and do likewise with the other five. So they should have a situation where they are running on the best night, the seven riders barring injury should be present fo 80-90% of home meetings they can then move onto getting sponsorship and improving track and stadium facilities. Its lots of small wins built on top of each other that win the day we just need to see even a handful of small wins to start things off that's the issue at present.

All they do is hire a room out, so in a way why would you, justu like if you hired the room for a big wedding, would you expect it to be on the motor museum website 😗

You've completely missed the point. (perhaps you haven't been following the thread from the start?) No one is suggesting Doris and Bob should be ignored. No one is saying they shouldn't be catered for. They are absolutely an important part of our speedway family. As important as any other fan. Maybe more so - they've been there through thick and thin. And no one has knocked today's Collectors Fair. Everyone seems to agree it's a great product and they have praised the fans who organised it. It's a great way for super-fans to pick up old programmes and memorabilia, and see old bike, old leathers and wallow in brilliant nostalgia with like-minded friends. A great day out for fans. What we've been reacting to, is a crazy suggestion that all 2026 club promoters should be there because it's a chance to market the sport to new fans. Of course this is nonsense, and this is what we are all disagreeing with. This collectors fair provides a great day of nostalgia for diehard existing fans (Doris and Bob). But young Oliver and Amelia are at home playing on their smartphones. They were born in 2015, so they are not interested in a show of oily old 1960s bikes. They've never heard of speedway. And 30-year-old Tarquin and Jennifer, who run their successful dot.com business, (who could be a potential speedway sponsors of the future), are not wandering round a village hall collectors fair on a saturday afternoon either. In short, there are no ordinary members of the public, potential new supporters, for promoters to market to. It would be a completely pointless waste of a day for Chris Louis, or Matt Ford, or Gerry Facenna to be there at a collectors fair, selling the sport to Doris and Bob, who have been there and bought the t-shirt many years before Tarquin and Jennifer were born. That's what we are disagreeing with - The suggestion that current promoters should be forced into wasting their time at a collectors fair when there are far more important issues they need to be addressing.

It’s not going to happen for many many reasons, but talking hypothetically if they went with one league then any deals currently done would be null and void. There is absolutely no way you could have all the current Championship clubs practically sorted, and then five clubs joining them having basically nothing to pick up. That just won’t happen and anyone thinking it would, are completely delusional.

I’d be staggered if that is the case! The train of thought was the clubs were getting next to nothing, but the exposure of the sport on a mainstream sports channel was what made it worthwhile.

What Premiership money? I thought it was minuscule if anything at all? The costs of running in the Premiership compared to the Championship are far greater than anything they’ll have received via “TV money” which I’m sure you’ll concede. The clubs coming down will more than LIKELY, be in a position to offer better deals considering the substantial lower costs of running at that standard. There’s a reason all the Championship clubs won’t touch the top flight with a barge pole and the main reason isn’t race nights. It’s the cost of running a Premiership team.

Sad to read that re British Final doesn't seem that long ago when it was held at Coventry with Wiggy, Tatum, Morton, Havelock, Silver, Thorpe, Cox, PC when you would regularly have 10k plus turn up.

Any reaction from Spidvej?

Any news on who's replacing anders Rowe?

I wonder if there’s something of a mutiny going on at present. The Championship teams hold the aces as the Premiership needs at least one to step up. If those nine Championship clubs dig their heels in then there’s not much the Premiership sides can do beside coming into line. The Championship sides may be in agreement already over their rules for 2026 team building hence signings being made and announced. The Pickering to Scunthorpe signing could be more telling than at surface level. In theory he’s far too good for that level but perhaps he’s signed on there to be guaranteed a ride in Britain considering the uncertainty of Sheffield and the top flight in general. There aren’t enough riders of sufficient standard to populate a 14 team Championship. If the existing nine get their teams sorted and it transpires the five Premiership clubs have no choice but to drop down we could see those five clubs scrabbling to put together competitive teams with the odds and ends left.

I remember it the first time around when I was a kid. It was filmed at Rye House (and says so in the end credits). I believe Bob Garrad did the riding for Peter Duncan, and I think Kelvin Mullarkey, Hugh Saunders and Karl Fiala are mentioned at some point (Either introduced by Len Silver or announced as a race winner).

I even heard them being played over the pa at Belle Vue once a few years back... how's that for down with the kids!

Great band. Seen them live a few times

smell my cheese......

I believe (also not an expert) that Superbike uses modified production bikes while Motogp are purpose built prototypes. This means that there is more tech on a gp bike which helps them go faster. I see it as Motogp is the F1 of bike racing while Superbike is the GT3 but with less of a performance gap.

Awesome! Saw them in Nottingham on the Wednesday, brilliant show 🤘. I wonder if they were playing "Still Counting" at the AGM? 😂

Yes

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/docs/2024-25_BSP_Ltd_GBE_Criteria.pdf See Appendix A - top 4

Well last year I made a good few thousand so that horse is well worth riding

Many people on here and elsewhere don't seem to have a clue about the costs of hiring a stadium like Cardiff for 10 days or so - and thats before the cost of laying a track and then dismantling it afterwards. The stadium would take into account any lost revenue (bars, hospitality, franchises etc) on the 'dead' days, aside from the days that speedway actually takes place in front of a (mostly) paying audience!

Fantastic news! Hopefully the lessons learnt from last season can be put to good effect. Wonder if the temporary stands could be made a little bigger (with a proper sound system) next year?

Does anyone know the definition of an 'asset' in speedway terms. As an Ipswich supporter, my god have we been lucky with the last few years. However, as a speedway fan first and foremost I would happily watch an amateur or semi pro sport if it meant we got the famous names back such as Wolves, Cradley, Coventry,Swindon, Peterborough and anyone else I apologise for not mentioning. If the sport went back to this footing and became affordable then who knows.

I wouldn’t read too much into that.

Batchelor would fit in well. Good gater, which is essential for Wimbore Road. Just had a season at number 1, and dropping to the slightly easier number 5 in a weakened league means he should increase his average

Might work for anyone interested in trying to cop off with a senior citizen.

In theory a good idea. In practice it’s a hard sell. Unless things have changed drastically since my student days the night out starts with the cheapest shop bought booze possible at home (halls or uni house) then out once nicely leathered to spend as little on booze as possible and try cop off with someone. Would be an uphill battle to try convince a Uni crowd that they should trade that in to start off at the speedway.

Plymouth were robbed again.

2025: 322 meetings 2004: 1095 meetings All-time high- 1300 in 1978. Sobering stats.

If it was up to me 100% British Premiership Speedway would be back on Sky Sports unfortunately it’s not my decision I am however having words in the correct ears . There may be some interest if the right deal was available and if a decent league sponsor could be found to support with the production costs as Speedway was not planned into 2026 plans . I am a great advocate of BSN however it’s very much a niche closed product so can foresee some potential issues with sponsorship for clubs