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Lidsey announced he's been released by belle vue and is looking for a new UK club. Let's hope he goes Ipswich for our mate @Gavan

Before he was 16 he used to come out during the interval and race against the stop watch at Lynn. At the time nobody had heard of him, but he headed out on what looked like a brand new bike, dug himself a hole at the starting gate then left the tapes like a rocket ship posting a time not too far off the track record! Everybody stopped drinking their beer and thought... what the hell did we just witness there? The rest, they say, is history.

Tate had a bad day with bike issues but had otherwise been very good in Aus. Worry about your own Aussie who was doing awful and resorted to faking an injury to save himself embarrassment

C5 is basically a nostalgia channel... so that could be a goer!

Very sad when fans feel this way when riders put their lives at risk to entertain the public.

Jack has won the first round of the Australian championship - but probably to be expected given all the main competition has pulled out/not competing

Im sort of sat on the fence on this one, Jason is a massive talent on a speedway bike and if a club signs him they will get a real racer but I also understand people saying they can’t forgive him and don’t want him anywhere need speedway, Jason’s crime are clearly motivated by money or the lack of it and fueled by drugs and realistically speedway is his only chance of sorting his life out but speedway doesn’t owe anybody anything least of all Jason but if he doesn’t get a chance then imo he will be back inside before long and we could be the next victim, I’ve said it before I got on well with Jason and always found him very personable but I also saw the other side of him,as I said I’m on the fence on this one, if he gets a chance then I’m happy to pay to watch him race but if speedway says no because of the fans reaction then imo he will also happy because keeping the fans happy is what the sport is about

Northampton.

There is a reason but I can't remember what they said. For me it doesn't need a big stand there but get some grass banking all the way around it like voyens. Can get a few 1000 in there that way for a gp and will be cheaper than hiring a stand

You would think their viewing demographic would be not too dissimilar to UK Speedways... Plenty of funeral planning adverts, Will planning, SAGA holidays, "Aches and Pains" improving devices, Cruises, Coach Holidays etc... Fairly well off retirees, with a decent amount of disposable income... The perfect Speedway crowd dynamic, with, no doubt, many of those viewing being those who say "Speedway? Is that still going? I used to go to Speedway"...

And you can add in a lack of TV money which may also reduce sponsors money as there will be less media coverage of their name... I have seen that C5 covered The Worlds Strongest Man competition over Xmas... They don't seen to have a huge sporting portfolio so maybe they could be interested in doing an hours worth of highlights using, for a fee, the streaming coversge from tracks, and BSN footage? A relatively cheap show to produce, and gets some mainstream "free to air" coverage, rather than being behind a pay wall...

Louis was certainly asking a lot more than that for it. I have no idea whether someone has met his crazy high valuation, or whether he's negotiated down, but I understand a deal was done, and they were looking to tie it all up this week. I think any delay is purely due to solicitors not being particularly keen to be doing a lot of work over Christmastime. Assuming it's a consortium of people taking over, there may be several solicitors involved. Hopefully, it's still all on schedule to be sorted before the AGM. I was thinking that having Ipswich on board would cancel the need for the 5th team, which has been looked into, but I'm hearing that this is still going ahead too at the moment. I'm sceptical, and it's hard to get good information, but I'm led to believe that Ipswich being sorted doesn't necessarily mean the 5th team will be dropped.

Garrity was released on license and ended up back inside. So that should answer that. Regarding the poster who asked if anyone making these comments would say them to Garritys face, I absolutely would.

You can only speak as you find I suppose. My old next door neighbour was okay. He used to race greyhounds but soon gave up because they used to beat him every time!

I believe he was 16 when he made his debut in 1975. For Boston and Lynn He averaged 7.43 that season for Lynn in the top league. At 17 he averaged 9.43, at 18 it was 10.59. 19 was 10.23, 20 was 10.21, 21 was 10.14. All this was for Lynn in the top league. He was something special for sure.

Muck Fe! I've seen the BSPA/L blamed for everything now, why didn't I think it was their responsibility? Probably not woke enough.

It isn't per se but at the same time if you have a 'trade' and this is one of thw ways you can earn a living then if someone is wanting to take a chance on him then he should be allowed to! Having locked him up and he served his time he needs to do something with the rest of his life, given he would have to declare his conviction etc many companies wouldn't take a chnace on him (entirely their choice by the way) - if he was prepared to retrain then companies such as Timpsons might well give him a go! Frankly as a tax payer I want him out there paying something back into the system rather than us footing he bill for him for the next 40 years!

Are you drowning your sorrows today after Tate's performance in Australia?

If he was a self employed plumber, or sparky, would he not be allowed to still be a self employed plumber, or sparky, when he came out of prison? Being a self employed Speedway rider was his job when he went inside so not sure why he wouldn't be allowed fo try and get another job doing Speedway...? As long as someone wants to give him some work, obviously... I have taken on many "Ex Cons" down the years, who had served their "debt to society", (one of whom went inside for manslaughter and stayed with my company for over 20 years till retirement), with some going on to Managerial positions... Some found themselves back inside within 18 months, however, that was their choice to not take advantage of the opportunity given to them..

If he's someone who has 'robbed innocent, elderly, vulnerable people', then does it mean he qualifies to stand as a Member of Parliament? . 🤔

It certainly isn't easy Ippo has probably always been one of the best if not the best supported club in the UK with a friendly landlord so from that point of view its attractive, the big issue as we all know is that the sport as a whole is in one hell of a mess held up by rich fans who don't mind losing money. I would liken Ippo to having a really nice presented coffee shop with a good product but said shop is in a really rough area of town and all the other shops are run down and surviving month to month, in the longer term its a question of will you have a business in 2-3 years time as everyone else around you is slowly failing so it could be in three years yours is the only shop open in said rough area. Like most of us i've no idea how the sport digs itself out of this hole and as I've mentioned many times it could just be that like pubs, blockbuster videos, nightclubs etc its just stuck in a bygone age and doesn't appeal to youth that spend most of their time online in their bedrooms or on phones.

Only after a few pints in the pub or at speedway on an away trip 🙃😝

Ritchie Hawkins will also be a massive miss by the way. A figure of fun for some because of his demeanour, but he was an excellent team manager and done an awful lot behind the scenes that many don’t realise. He genuinely loved Ipswich and being part of the club.

Does club anyone know who administers the 400 club? I joined when it started in 1996 and will now have paid in to the fund around £1800. When it started it did have around 400 members although I believe there is probably less than half that number who still contribute. However after paying out the prize money at least £250.000 must have been raised but no accounts have ever been published and members have never been told what the money has been used for. As my monthly £5 is still being collected it would be nice to have a little information.

Anyone know if the AGM is being live-streamed pay per view, should be worth a quid of anyone’s money, watching 5 brave warriors debating over Zack cook average,new helmet colour or not and just how many times should teams race each other in a season before fans start to feel a bit cheated out their money

Wasn't Howard Cole kid BODIE.

I think he was Kid Bodie during my supporting days. Wiki mixes him up as both Bodie and Brodie!!

Probably lots of questions ..... but no one has any answers

Well it will be tricky to ride without those things!

I reckon they will go with Chris Holder, Josh Pickering and Jye Etheridge. Rising Star either Jody Scott or Luke Harrison.

So that's Poole, Krakow and Brovst Richard has contracts with so far! Not bad for no sponsors, no bikes, no mechanic is it?!

Richard Lawson back with Krakow, hope they have heard he has no bikes

Also in the 400 club and understand it is run by the Supporters Club and is totally independent of the Speedway Club. Their AGM is on 28th Jan, so you could attend & ask the questions. Copied from Facebook Due to the unavailability of the main hall on the 14th, our AGM is now taking place on Wednesday 28th January at Kesgrave Social Club, with a start time of 7.30pm. At the moment, we don't know if this will be followed by a quiz, but as soon as we have more information, we'll let you all know. We will be holding the 400 Club draws for December and January and will post the results here.

Mike use to occasionally turn up at Mildenhall on a Sunday when he was 15, with two spanking new Jawa's on a trailer, and it was obvious then that he was a special talent. At least I can tell the grandchildren that I have ridden against a World Champion...😀

A definite top five one....?

Good post. The point I have been trying to make is his "rehab " starts now ,being gainful employed and occupied as much of the time as possible is the best chance he has of making a fist of it .By all means he should be encouraged to show some of form remorse for his appalling crime /crimes and demonstate his wish to become a asset to society . To be clear I consider his situation to be totally HIS own making but that isn't to say we pehaps should not give him the opportunity to put things right .

well well at least it's not the usual poole issue of phone pics ahem nor is it phone pics again for Mr Lawson ahem ahem - this time (those that know know! especially around worky way!)

Imo his best hope of making life for himself is at this stage to return to the sport , short term prisoners ( as he would be for the length of his sentence ) get "ZERO" help in any shape or form with regards to reabilitation . In the past I have had dealings with former offenders ( through being a former residential landlord ) as Mikebv says some make a fresh start others fall back into their old ways .

Good suggestion as they have identical CMA’s and looking at 2025 figures their home and away split was 9.12/8.91 & 6.77/6.88. Almost identical in every way but one is fourteen years younger. Be sad to see another of our team departing having only ever been an Ace but if it helps another club then so be it and it shows the system can work.

I'll confirm/deny or otherwise next Saturday/Sunday!

It’s both a risk for the buyer, AND the seller so it’s a very difficult one to value. On the face of it it certainly does currently look like a failing business model, but what if it turns around in 2027? People will scoff at that suggestion and with good reason, but we know plans are being put in place to make sure next winter, isn’t like this one. People keep saying machinery, starting gates, and air fences are the assets. But it’s the supporters who are the assets. A well supported club will always be worth more financially, than a poorly supported club for obvious reasons. Ipswich would be one of the plum pick ups because of the loyal core fan base. The difficulty is the valuation and trying to predict how much of an effect the negativity of a dwindling top flight, plus the loss of Doyle and Emil, will have on attendances. It’ll definitely have an effect for certain, but to what degree remains to be seen and that’s why it’s difficult to value. If Louis sells too low and the sport sorts itself out even marginally, and the crowds return, then he could end up losing out. If the buyer buys too high and the downward spiral continues and the crowds dwindle further, then they’ve made a poor investment. It ain’t easy.

If that is even remotely true its no wonder there's no takers £35k would be nearer the mark given at the current time your being asked to buy into a failing business model with top level UK speedway as a whole.

Could be some drama poole way. Will they be looking for a new no1 👀 Sponsor less Mechanicless Bike less in Poland In court early Jan, Potentially losing his drivers license. Can he overcome the setbacks

It does sadden me to read when some people state they wouldn’t attend any track where he is riding. By all means you can choose not to support him personally or write to your clubs promoter with your views but if too many people vote with their feet then it could have awful long term consequences. The sport is on its knees and we’ve lost far too many tracks with many more making a loss, let’s not lose any more by turning our backs, the other 6 riders in the team still need your support and the clubs as a whole.

One season. Holder had better average for the previous 2 years. Honestly don't think there is much between them, but Fricke was more dominant than Holder at home last year.

SGP results for last 5 years suggest otherwise. 😉

Pickering looked so childish & unprofessional there. Wouldn't have been surprised if Leszno didn't pick him again.

No I will be there, even going to have a skid there soon

Just guessing but Triple H is an English teacher...... right? Well I'm dyslexic and these things happen get over it... at least you understood what I meant.

I am hoping that they have chosen this date deliberately as a genius bit of marketing... "A moment of sudden and great revelation or realisation"..... Am I expecting too much???