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Then eventually the whole thing will go broke so the choices are Overpay and go broke Pay what you can afford and reset the whole sport on a semi professional basis if that what it takes. It might not work but it's much better than going skint

Then he needs to come out and say his reasons. Don’t just out of the blue put out a statement and give it no reasons, As I said a few weeks ago on this very thread, I was told Louis was throwing his toys out the pram and threatening to sell the club, and guess what, looks like he has

Personally I think that’s exactly correct, speedway season last approximately 6/7 months, April can be busy or quiet, September can be the same, so that’s 4/5 months probably busy, however, riders class themselves as professional self employed, I’m professional self employed building worker, now I’m not having a pop at any rider but I’m working all year round and have to so what is wrong with these guys having a 2nd job? Yes some weeks they might have a few meetings on, take holidays from other job, etc, most have a guy who is on the spanners being full time or near as, stop that and have him on a meeting basis, and do the bikes when you can, because that’s the only way this is going to work, years ago riders did it, roads were certainly not as good to travel on so riders spent longer getting there and back but still got up for work , it’s about wanting it or not and only they can decide, but working 5/6 months and trying to earn enough for 12 ain’t possible

Mike's words wont be taken well by some, mostly Ipswich fans. But like them or not hes absolutely right. CL has quit because hes struggling to get his own way, hes showed hes no better than those who have gone before him. Hes let Ipswich down hes let the UK Speedway down, especially when most thought we was different.

You say look at the facts and then produce a load of estimates, they are not facts my friend. If you look at my list of rider appearances you'll see that Luke Harrison was top with 48, for the likes of King, Harris & Lawson it was around 44. The only fact is apart from those appearance numbers which are in the public domain everything else is guess work. A 14 team league would have provided 26 league meetings, a cup competition, at least 2 meetings and maybe a 4's or something that brings you to at least 32. A cup run and play off meetings and you could be up to around the 40-44 meetings that they're currently doing. There's no doubt in my mind that some kind of cost cap also needs to be in place as regards what is spent on machinery.

Where are you getting your figures from? Appreciate your post and explanation don’t get me wrong, but unless the figures are facts then it’s just conjecture. I think the ultimate issue is that the sport can’t justify being professional/full time here. Riders need to get on board with that. Either ride where you can for what you’re offered, make it work, go part-time or get a proper job. All of us fans have to cut our cloth accordingly in life. But the promoters and riders seemingly don’t have to do that.

we all want to see the best, thats who we enjoy most, but lets not lie to ourselves, do the top boys produce best racing??? in poland yes where the level of competition is much more level. over here 90% of the time, the kurtz, bewleys, doyles, frickes, emils, holders of this world just gate and clear off winning by the length of the straight, theirs only really heats 13 and &15 we look forward to, and then most of the time the tracks aint prepped to produce good racing anyway. championship for me does have better racing due to most of them being on a similar level. was it around 2016/17 when they changed the race format and all the top boys raced each other and the lower team raced each other, racing wise that was a phenomenal season, but obviously messed up riders averages, if they could bring that format again the sport could blossom with a premiership

I just don’t understand why they insist 2 leagues when we are in the situation were in, there is either a tv or sponsorship deal looming and they don’t want to split the money or there is a we are better than them attitude towards the championship of which they are not, 5 teams is financial suicide, they must know this

'Throwing his toys out of the pram' is a well worn phase in speedway, and it's normally directed at people who have wanted to progress the sport domestically. UK speedway has a history of successful promoters walking away from the sport, thanks to the short-sighted toxic dinosaurs that are destroying British speedway...

Shock horror it’s the Belle Vue fans moaning Louis hasn’t thrown his toys out of his pram… Those close to the club know how much money Chris has ploughed into the sport at Foxhall .. his own money ,… the hardest working promoter in the league with the sports interests at the forefront including the recent Tigers academy Unfortunately other promotions don’t share his vision Why should he keep ploughing his own money into something that will bear little or no reward … he is done and I can t blame him He has young grandchildren and he spends 7 days a week almost at Foxhall along with his wife Julie Maybe just maybe with all the expenditure he has put in … all the time and effort (most fans don’t know how much money and time he put in to get Emil over here)…. And the sport going backwards that he feels all of that and at his age of 56 that he might want to spend time at home with family and enjoy his years??? To many people on here mainly Belle Vue clowns who think they know it all when they are absolutely clueless

This is a guy who has been involved professionally at Foxhall for near on 40 years. I don’t buy the throwing his toys out of the pram. Anyone who has had dealings with him will tell you he is the ultra professional. It’s got to the point where he can’t see any future & can’t drag others in the direction to make it more professional. Believe you mean he has being trying for years. Probably got to the same point the late great John Berry did at the end of 83. As a Ipswich supporter I have to say I agree with & respect his decision. Yes it’s a tough one as it could see speedway at Foxhall finish but if the alternatives are as bad as rumoured the final call is coming anyway. Louis had the decency to actually personally let all the sponsors know before the announcement was made.

I’d rather have 10 years of speedway than 1 crowd of 6-7k per season. Hes risking you losing your weekly speedway, closing the club you love for what seems to look like prams being thrown out of the pram. when the going gets tough, the tough get stronger, not quit

Should a rider only be able to ride in one league then their income will of course reduce, but that does not make the leagues dependent on each other. There are many riders that currently get by only riding in one league and using their spare time to seek additional income from elsewhere. To say the Championship needs the Premiership would be the same as saying the Championship needs Tesco/Amazon/the local garage/wherever the rider may seek a secondary income. In your example, a rider riding Championship only will make £20,000. It should be remembered that the season lasts about 6 months now, maybe 7 at a squeak. Is £20,000 for half a year's work not a decent return? Bearing in mind that during this 6 months, the rider may only have to ride approximately once a week on average and allowing generously another day a week for bike maintenance then the £20,000 starts to sound like not too bad an amount to be able to extract from a sport on the brink of bankruptcy. I place no blame at the door of riders on this front but both promoters and riders need to be realistic. Many riders ride one league and work hard to fund their careers through other means. Simon Lambert is a great example of this and all the credit to him.

And you know this how? He's certainly not let me down and the 6-7k crowd for the play off final was testament to the hard work that's been put in.

Those world class riders can produce moments of absolute quality at times though Phil where they literally leave your jaw on the floor and you just know you’re watching the sports Elite. Emil at Leicester a few weeks ago for example, Fricke at the same venue earlier in the season when he made a terrible gate, etc etc. the last few years at Foxhall seeing Emil and Doyle in 13 and 15 was just magical. I’m sorry, you just don’t get that same buzz seeing King and Charles Wright in the same heats. You just don’t I’m afraid. As I say though, there are die hard fans of the sport who will go regardless, and good luck to them. But let’s not pretend a watered down product won’t majorly affect attendances. The attendances at Championship level generally, is pathetic bar one or two obvious exceptions.

I've not commented on this news yet as still been taking it in. If this results in Ipswich putting out a lower standard of speedway in 2026 then I will only attend maybe once/twice, rather than most weeks. When they dropped down in 1989 I travelled to Reading for the next few seasons. I'm afraid I prefer to watch the best in the world and one or two in each team is fine - if there's none of them then it holds much less attraction for me. Sad times and must have been awful for Chris to have to pull out.

Utter madness and the perfect example of how the majority of promoters in the UK have only their own self interests at the forefront of their ambition. Of course the majority are championship promoters who have clearly been willing to take the benefit of taking riders from Premiership teams who have underwritten their losses so that UK speedway can see some of the worlds best riders race in this country. If in 2026 there is going to be a watered down version of two tier league speedway or even worse one league incorporating riders who can barely get out of the gate and turn the bike - then lets be clear, this isn't the fault of the riders but a reflection of the promoters capabilities to promote the sport....and still with two teams (Neither who race at weekends) being at the top and by comparison the others floundering in their wake.

It can and will if it suits the right number of those left......

Yes and it’s not a bad thing

I see absolutely clueless planks such as @therefused laughing at someone’s post without having a clue who he’s laughing at. That in itself is hilarious!

What I would really like to see is. Louis pairs up with Dean Wood at spedeworth, Guy Nicholls & another sponsor like Halo. They then run a breakaway league with Ipswich other spedeworth venues & bring in Belle Vue, Lynn, Leicester & Sheffield. Only one venue would need infrastructure works. Halo provides the money ( a drop in the ocean) compared to their outlay in football & F1 Nicholls provides the track work equipment. The league Ipswich (Spedeworth Mildenhall (spedeworth) Northampton (spedeworth) Eastbourne (spedeworth) Belle Vue Kings Lynn Sheffield Leicester The difference being that sponsors would bank role the club’s & an independent chairman would oversee the league. Harry Redknapp & futures Ltd sorts out the tv coverage. The BSPA could then run the championship & NDL Happy days.

If the Prem go with 5 teams in 2026 to keep the “top” riders here, there could be the chance that 2027 could have more teams in the Prem. Maybe running 1 season with 5 teams and “ taking it on the chin” with the “hope” of Peterborough, Northampton etc boosting the Prem in 2027 is worth the chance 🤷‍♂️

Bowes confirmed for 2026

Absolutely. Amd without 2 leagues to double-up in, the whole thing falls apart anyway. Still think a 6 team league can happen.

it isnt though is it, its a complete joke to even call it a league with just five teams. the sport has barely any credibility as it is, there will be even less if the top 'league' has so few teams.

Calling it mediocre sure is putting some positive spin on it! It wouldn’t be that good ☹️

A five team top tier definitely won't generate extra interest, and, I would suggest, actually reduce attendance's at those five tracks... Whereby, given nothing else but just using the novelty value alone, a fourteen team "British League" just may get some extra punters through the doors .. With a perfect world being many of them being competitive enough to make a play off challenge, rather than it being pretty much set in stone by the end of May.. Even with five riders per team, there will probably still need to be guestsfests every week, just like now, and the race format, depending on the breadth of capability levels, may need to be rewritten.. A five team top tier just says that the sport is solely being ran for riders to Double Up, rather than being ran as something to be taken seriously under a team sport concept...

After expenses ? Would you trust a speedway promoter to calculate that honestly...😉

😉

I don’t think there’s much more prestige to winning a 6 team league to be honest. And there definitely can’t be any in winning the championship when there’s only 2 possible winners from the outset.

Firstly, Its not clear by who you mean as "they" insisting on two leagues- but I presume you mean the current Premiership promoters. Secondly, You say a five team league would be financial suicide. Well instead of painting the Premiership promoters as the bad guys (as you clearly do) why don't you at least acknowledge that losses incurred by the Premiership promoters are covered by each individual promotion/club with no impact on the financial results of the championship promoters. In reality, it most probably helps them as riders doubling up are able to get two sources of income lessening the demands on championship clubs. Thirdly. You say you "don't understand why "they" insist on 2 leagues". Well maybe that's because you just stubbornly refuse to take on board the reasons that have been stated over and over again on this forum. 1. Some promoters are of the belief that a league featuring the very best riders is the best way to promote the sport both at club and national level and they are prepared to foot the bill. This means that in the UK clubs at the "Elite" level have to abide by the globally agreed reserved race nights. Monday & Thursday. 2. If the top tier of speedway as we know it, was to be disbanded and the reserved race nights "ignored" in favor of one league, there would be a significant number of current day riders not available to race in the UK due to their contractual obligations with clubs in other countries. There would also be a removal of riders being available to race for more than one club due to the removal of the Doubling up facility. This would mean sufficient riders (say) of todays championship level to make eight teams possible - No more. 3. An alternative to having one eight team league of championship quality is to greatly reduce the team building points limit so that all existing NDL level of riders could be included which could just about mean twelve teams being created for the one big league. 4. A further alternative is to divide the one big league "talent" of point 3 into two leagues with one comprising (say) six or seven teams operating full time/professional riders and the remainder of six/seven teams running on a semi pro/amateur basis. Point 1. Requires the very best of riders to be available - and promoters willing to "give it a go" with a plan to attract TV/sponsorship at a national level to help with their costs. Point 2. Requires the loss of five or six clubs to professional racing - maybe to run NDL level on an expanded basis. Point 3. Requires a substantial reduction in team building numbers with an ensuing drop in quality of on track racing. Point4. Means a restriction in top tier teams with the quality/ability of riders competing being significantly lower than point 1. reducing the appeal of a national TV deal and significant sponsors.

I disagree, If someone of his calibre is selling his club something is seriously wrong, he's fed up of banging his head against a brick wall year in year out and he's finally done, I don't blame him.

Ive seen moments of absolute quality in the national league and championship too, its not just the world class riders. Its obvious at this point the premiership experiment has failed and clubs (apart from maybe two) cannot afford to fork out the big contracts anymore.

Just caught up on the SCB site saying that he refused to come over for the last meeting.. Thanks Neil and whoever else it was for correcting me recently. I'd lost touch a bit towards the end of the season. Regards, David

Not so sure about that, their statement said the "with Thursday’s (September 25, 7.30pm) home meeting against Ipswich the last top-flight fixture under the promotion" Could that mean the promotion would stay on in CL and/or NDL? If they've been rejected by the CL and there's no buyer... who knows 🤷‍♂️ What an utter shambles to potentially see 2 viable clubs with no worries over their venues not start the 2026 season... absolute madness with the current low level of operating clubs.

It certainly won't interest all the considerable amount of punters who used to go regularly and now either attend "now and again", or not at all... I will stick to the PCMM, the two GP's and (maybe), a Play Off meeting... And not bother going anywhere else to watch, as I have been to the other four tracks several times... Just imagine the euphoria though in the town or city of whoever wins the prestigious title of "Speedway GB Premiership Champion"?..... (Be like winning the Meat Raffle in the local Legion)...

For the 1 millionth time, completely and utterly wrong. Guy Nicholls had plenty of opportunity to sponsor Ipswich for many year before he finally did, while Nicholls chose to sponsor other clubs and individual riders. He picked up the sponsorship for what he called “a song”, paying LESS per season than Sackers recycling did before him. He’s been supportive of Louis from a business point of view, and been a terrific soundboard. But this myth that Nicholls pumps all this big money in to the club is exactly that, a myth.

Blobby are you Godfrey’s right hand man or have you got a video off him in a compromising position with the secretary. That is the only explanation I can arrive at with you knowing in no particular order riders demands. rider contracts. rider signings Methanol type they use Best motorway services or are you just guessing, I’m going for the compromising video.

If you won’t even contemplate doing championship then why would you just do NDL, doesn’t make sense

There it is. You’re making assumptions on something you know absolutely nothing about. You haven’t got a clue what is going on Phil.

I will not dispute any of your estimates relating to alleged rider income or expenses, but all relates to the rider being full time I assume? Reality sucks and for any rider to assume a full time income from speedway in Britain in todays present climate has not done their sums on viability. Whether or not their is a Premiership and a Championship, only a potential few will make ends meet, unless they have a generous sponsorship deal. With little interest, the dwindling fan base is a reality and they actually pay the riders. Personally I now only watch NDL and NDT matches and could not care less about over paid, alleged top riders making up the numbers at various Premier teams.

And very little of that applys to my post, you have just assumed that my view is degrade the sport on all fronts and hope it works well it isn’t so all that is just your opinion which is fine if that’s your view but it’s not mine, I have a plan which covers how 1 league would work with the top riders but it’s too long to detail on here, I might talk about it on the 360 podcast when I’m next on but I don’t get to choose the subjects

Did you read my post? Show me im wrong! If they are not facts put me right - at least make some effort Typical choice to just shout "You're wrong" with no input back as to why and what is right/wrong

Official announcement Fraser Bowes not returning to Workington.

I’m in the same boat and agree with every single word you’ve written here. Some will still go whatever level it is, each to their own of course and good luck to them.

Unlucky Kings Lynn... So close to the play offs again...

Because they don’t want to lose money on additional meetings helping bringing British youngsters through unless those youngsters are prepared to pay for everything from racing here or abroad and then if the odd one suceeds they claim them and shower them with affection until they blow up and walk away and deny they ever existed! And that’s where the story ends

I would if the play off four weren't set in stone by the end of March...... Your promoter has thrown his toys right out of the pram by the looks of things.. I had huge respect for him but he has shown he is as inward looking as the rest of them, when I had high hopes for him to lead the sport... Cometh the hour. Cometh the man... He, seemingly, has "ran off".... Which. Is a huge shame for the sport, given that Chris was genuinely one of the few who could see the potential of it, if it could be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century... A sad loss...