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Just been listening to Talksport and 'Arry was on (for a change!).... Very disappointing... He spent his whole time on there discussing Spurs and Thomas Frank, with the end of his conversation mentioning the sad passing of Billy Bonds.... I thought he may have at least mentioned his thoughts on how the Berwick team were shaping up, or maybe what he felt about Peterborough potentially coming back, but running at Oxford, or even his views on whether opening a track at Northampton would be good for Speedway.. Nothing... Just Football.... Maybe his life long love for the sport has ended?

How about a little respect for keeping speedway going for nearly 60 years in their remote outpost?

Sorry to say that I am not one of the parties mentioned in attempting to buy Ipswich - I do hope they find a buyer however and manage to make it to tapes for 2026!

It’s difficult to quantify exactly what the current position is. The current Championship clubs are continuing to announce signings which seems to point to: Premiership A potential league of five teams: Belle Vue Kings Lynn Leicester Sheffield Ipswich The obvious elephant in the room is that two of these need to find new owners and we are in December. Even if new owners are found, the still major secondary problem is that a five team league is borderline unviable and potentially value destroying. Is there really going to be a new ‘unicorn’ club conjured up from somewhere? Championship Everything is pointing to this continuing in the existing format with the existing clubs. If you believe some of the rumours, there is an active position that if any of the existing Premiership clubs wanted to join, then they would be turned down. Outcomes If there is a scenario where either one or both of Ipswich and Sheffield do not find a new owner, then the Premiership is toast. This would mean that either: - The Championship is prepared to expand and accept the rump of the Premiership clubs. - Three, maybe four (whatever is left) of the Premiership clubs do not come to the tapes for the 2026 season. One League for 2026 Arguably, with the number of signings already made by Championship clubs, the boat has already sailed on this. Either, the Premiership clubs joining the one league would have to build teams from a very shallow pool both in terms of numbers and talent or the existing Championship clubs agree to wipe the board and each participant club in the one league starts to team build from scratch. I really cannot see the latter option being accepted by those who would need to. Worst Case A number of Belle Vue, Kings Lynn, Leicester, Ipswich and Sheffield do not come to the tapes for the 2026 season. Four of those clubs do not have any current issues with landlords, potential eviction, housing developments, etc. If this happens, then it has to be the absolute definition of insanity on the part of those who bring it about.

I heard he fancied a home track with shale on it.

P!$$ing off the management possibly came into it!?😉

I agree. Top marks for wanting to make an effort to solve the problems, but sadly zero out of ten for execution. I'm afraid it's all a terrible contradictory nonsense. It would take too long to show everything that is wrong, but just to highlight some points: 1. OK, you want 1 league (we'll come back to the problems with that). But then you want just 8 teams in the KO Cup. So what do the other 6 teams do for those 2 months? That doesn't work. 2. You want a 42-point CL level for 14 teams. What's your calculation for this? The CL limit was 40 with just 9 teams. It would have to be much lower than this to staff 14 teams (even if there were enough riders available... which there aren't). You want a "GP or top-level rider at every team". So that's a Monday/Thursday league? Even then, where are you getting 14 GP or top riders from? And how do you fit all the fixtures in on Monday/Thursday only? No chance. 3. You seem to want a 16-heat format, with 3 nominated races. OK. But what about the other 13 heats? You say who you'd like riders to be paired with, but it just doesn't work. It's mathematically impossible. Are you wanting them riding against the same rider every time? It just doesn't work in any way. If you think you can make it work, please provide the heat-by-heat race format. (You can't because it doesn't work). - Then we have one point for a win and one point for a draw. Well, obviously that doesn't work, but it's ideal if you're trying to encourage race-fixing! 4. Well, we haven't got a workable race-format. But let's just assume you have everyone racing the same rider every race. Your GP stars would see their averages brought down to around 6-7. The best reserve would gain an average of around 8 -9 points. I'm sure you see all the problems with riding positions and bringing in injury replacement riders after the first green sheets. 5. Now, you're asking for a 7-days-a-week league instead. So if you're not sticking to the Monday/Thursday league with "top stars", you have just made about 25 "top star" riders unavailable. You now have no chance of filling 14 teams. (You talk about R/R, but this no longer works with your impossible race format, so you need a rethink on that too). 6. No disrespect to Connor King, Arran Butcher, Jack Kingston and Kai Ward, but your teams are an uneven joke. And you've only listed 4 "Example teams". Presumably this is because you have realised that it's impossible to fill 14 teams with a 42 point CL limit. (In fact it's impossible to fill 14 teams at all, as it would need 98 riders, and there aren't that many available). 7. A G.P. style British Championship would be a nice idea, but not economically viable without a big sponsor. A British Championship would need Bewley, Lambert, Woffinden etc, but they wouldn't commit to more than a one-off British Final (But it is the least impossible of your 7 items).

I haven’t ruled it out infact I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen but I don’t want it, I want 1 league, I want variety and as last year proved to me even 7 teams is not enough

5 team league. 6 , 4 or 3. It’s all the same really. A shambles that can’t be taken seriously.

Big challenge to join the Championship. 1. None of the 2025 season riders would be returning 2. A new team manager required. 3. Highly doubtful any quality riders would be available. So, at a time when speedway folk apparently lament the loss of speedway stadiums to the villainous developers a purpose built facility will become dormant - and it will be of no surprise if some folk on this forum attempt to justify the needless stupidity of the situation.

Let people react how they like mate, its a forum so always going to have people offer something else or not like a suggested. I have answered back on some key points especially with not having enough riders but thats why my system works Its a 7 man team but its like two sides in one, a main team and a development one But let it be shot down if needs be, i used to be a promotor, not in speedway but in another sport and pioneered some big changes in that sport so i have a little knowledge tho not a speedway product

If cradley were to get planning and open in 2027 or whenever the bspl deserve cradley to tell them where to shove their premier league, the bspl have been totally absent in cradley’s quest even when asked for help,a quote from the consultants was they were shocked how far cradley had got in their plans without any help whatsoever from their governing body

Quite a few on here keep mentioning Beau Bailey. He's already signed a contract in Denmark who race on Wednesdays. And Cooper Rushen seems to have signed an Oxford contract...just depends if it's Cheetahs or Chargers.

Will they let them in to their wonderful panacea of perfectness??

It was ever thus.... If ever a body of people needed saving from themselves it was UK Speedway... With no one to independently stand back, and objectively scrutinise how the optics of the decisions taken will look, and land, to their customer base, we have had decades of completely wrong decisions being made time after time... UK rider development should have been the No1 on their "to do" list, to ensure more supply than demand of riders, but instead we had foreign journeymen coming over and replacing each other using an ever spinning revolving door.. There are far too many self inflicted, and avoidable, issues to unpick now to ever sort the sport out without a huge influx of cash from somewhere I would think...

Same old aggressive sociopaths on here (in the middle of the night 🕯️) shooting somebody down who has taken the time and trouble to sit down and work out a possible future, I wonder if they actually have any friends in real life 🤡

Top marks for effort (asking AI to create it), but this is probably the single worst set of ideas I've seen and that's despite the BSPL operating our sport in this country.

Nobody wants a five team league but although others seem to disagree, I personally think it’s vital to keep a top league in place. If that means running with a five team league in the short term, then so be it. But there simply HAS to be some kind of plan in place for 2027 and beyond to go with it because a five team league for years to come won’t cut it. If they came out and said Peterborough will be back in business in time for the 2027 season and will be in the top flight along with another club whether that be a club coming up, another resurrected club, or a new club, to make a seven team league again in 27, then I think people would be a little more tolerant of a “sticking plaster” five team league for a season. Maybe.

If you look at all the responses, (some samples above), most, including me, have applauded the effort of trying to come up with something new, even though we have then pointed out that it is flawed and unworkable.

And almost taking the club to the brink of financial collapse in the process

You, of course, are entitled to your view. You also are entitled to point out the counter arguments. The only criticism that I have of your Post is that some of your wording seems very uncharitable to someone who has tried to do some things differently. I certainly could not have come up with something like that. Who knows that someone may look at this and come up with a system that would work. At least he has offered something, you and I have come up with nothing. I believe that Falcon1983 should be applauded, not vilified.

Like I say Bailey isn't coming to UK in 2026 and I was told that directly from his camp!

I’ll go for: Cooper 2.00 New foreign rider - 5.00 Batch - 7.10

Terry Russel had 2 million, the elite had just under 3 million which went mostly on some expensive no1s and about 50,000 went to the premier league (2nd tier) and what was left (£0) went to the buying of umbrellas for the rainy day which was to inevitably going to come

Beau isn't doing the UK in 2026, 100%

Not sure Oxford is the best choice then!

Thought Rushen was a cert for Oxford?

Nope,just a shambles.Everything rosey behind the scenes I would imagine. what do the fans matter, they have just to turn up and hand over the cash.

Yes, It's been a long time since a rider transfer fee was paid due to the worthlessness of it all... but I do believe that loan fees were paid until relatively recently, not 100% sure though as like so many things in the murky world of Speedway finances it's a closely guarded secret.

Sooo true! That response was out of the Trackrat textbook 🙈😂

To my knowledge Speedway riders have not been club assets for a very long time mainly because they are self-employed. Clubs once had an arrangement where they bought and sold riders off each other but these arrangements seem to have disappeared. As you say riders enter into contracts to provide their services to clubs and I agree these contracts are probably not worth the paper they are written on in terms of placing a value on a rider. It would be like trying to sell your window cleaner to your next door neighbour!

Cos its Lewy, what do you expect. He never backs up anything he says as per. Just ignore it i do 👍

Well i did say Glasgow or Oxford. Glasgow have the money and Oxford overpaid to have Boughen apparently (according to their fans) as an asset so not really that surprising! There are riders that i can see clubs overpaying for but Rowe shouldn't be one of them.

Imagine a business plan where you ignore your customers

Hook has upped his average every year he's been over here, so would be a good decision to retain him. While he may not find it so easy in the top 5, every rider has to make that step up eventually, unless you sign a career reserve. Besides you don't need all 7 riders to improve their averages to have a successful season, even if Hook can maintain his average in the top 5, that would be considered progress. Also from a purely "moral" standpoint, it'd be a shame for a rider to be dropped because he did too well!

I think Kerr is a better signing now, than he was a year ago. Last year his starting average was higher than his 2024 average, so it wasn't a surprise to see it drop. Of course I still expected him to do better than he ended up doing. This year he has scope to improve his average, especially if you look at his average for the 4 play-offs meetings (8.94). I wouldn't say he was a brilliant signing, but could prove to be an astute signing, especially as I can't see his average dropping any more.

Must of been one of those who because he did a lap in a second half somewhere thinks he knows what he is talking about

He'll put at least a point on his average. Good signing on 6.77 He more than made up for the BSN final in the play-offs and KO Cup.

Season Tickets ? No one knows if there is going to be a league in 2026 yet or if there is what type or strength of league there will be.

Signed for Brovst by the way. Fixtures most Wednesdays April to September.

I still maintain it will be Zach/Bailey/Cooper - combined 13.34. Despite what a few say, Bailey openly said in a recent Polish interview that he was expecting to ride in UK in 2026 if he can qualify in the State/Aussie Champ/U21 meetings for a UK Visa. This he achieved in his first qualifying meeting where he was not only top 4 but also won the meeting. Unless someone has some concrete evidence that he or his team have said he is definitely NOT doing the UK. As for Zach - I would have thought that having said nothing at the end of season function about not returning to Poole in 2026 and also nothing in the media since then, that maybe also with the Rowe situation and also with Prem situation in doubt that maybe he will return after all. Maybe the Fords are keeping the best until last in announcements, i.e Cook/Bailey & Rushen. Hopefully all will be revealed in the coming 3 weeks 🙂.

Surely not - Ipswich 'Houghton Hams Ltd' Silver Machine

Nationality plays to different priorities.

Kn0b

I think Berwick did an excellent job putting together the team they ended up with. Injuries and being let down had the bandits backs to the wall from before the start of the season. We might not have made the playoffs but the promotion and management put together an exciting and entertaining team that I and the other fans in the stands that I spoke to enjoyed watching.

He is Trackrat 2

The way he went about his business in Birmingham. Top hats Del boys three wheeled van for announcing signs all very amateurish!! Light years behind what the sponsors & fans expect.

Sadly, all you have proven there is that some fans live in cloud cuckoo land.

This is my point... to have to run your business relying on the buffoons that run British Speedway is not a wise long term investment. They're currently missing the Christmas market, as are all clubs, which is notoriously a good time of year to do business.

Individual Speedway Championship of Ukraine. 3rd round. Sheptytskyi (formerly Chervonohrad). June 29, 2025. https://gorka-speedway.blogspot.com/2025/07/140-250-500-29-2025.html 1st round was canceled, 2nd round was postponed to October 2025.