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How can anyone be getting excited for a 5 team league is beyond me

Because those that are getting excited, just love speedway. I don't think it's wrong that people are excited for a new season. I - personally - would still be getting excited if there were just two teams left as I always miss speedway over the winter. Yes, the current situation is far from ideal and there's plenty that could be done in the future to improve things, but it's not going to stop me from going to meetings and enjoying myself. Boycotting the sport is not going to save it.

Yes

And there definitely won't be a future if everybody stops going.

Probably Louis I’d have thought. Think some deals were already done early doors so they’ll probably be resurrected if those riders are still available. Wonder if Vaculik could be tempted? Only has one club in Poland as far as I can see, nothing in Sweden or Denmark and of course, no GP’s now either. Needs more racing than that surely?

Maybe... However... The Promoters didn't develop enough riders over the past two decades to fill their teams without the DU riders becoming essential... What first started as "young lads" getting a chance to move up a league to develop their skills against a higher level of riders, whilst still having their "other job" to fall bsck on, instead, became the "main stay" of the UK version of the sport, and a "free for all"... Take the DU's away and both leagues wouldn't fill the 14 teams left without using many NDL level riders... The Championship in particular would struggle given these riders make up the majority of their HL's, and, the top tier effectively subsidise the riders salaries so the riders are "affordable"... A typical short sighted unfit for purpose "fix" which each year got bigger and more essential, rather than it ever being reset, and used for what it was initially set up for...

Big thanks to Antti for the last few years riding for us always professional and reliable as well as providing some unbelievable races. I’ll miss watching him around NS hopefully we wears the Blue and White again.

Unfortunately the malaise the sport finds itself is because riders like bomber have kept their cash register ringing twice over rather than once!

In the current Speedway Star, Bomber is quite critical of the way the sport has been allowed to drift into the situation it now finds itself in... He said the demise of Birmingham and the non running of Oxford was known "halfway through last season" and they should have sorted the current issues out well before now, instead of "leaving it to the last minute, again"... "It's frustrating, I have said to a lot of people how grown men can't just sit in a room and sort it out once and for all. It's beyond me why it's taken this long. The powers that be knew we were in trouble"...... Still no fixture lists exist? Still no conformation of what competitions will take place? How do fans plan time off work to follow their team? How do riders inform sponsors of what coverage they will get? Incredible really isn't it?

And Emil Sayfutdinov would be a good signing. But like Zagar and Wright, his average doesn't fit the BV second-string berth either. BV needed a 5-point second-string, to complete the team, and seem to have found one of good value. As I say, if Kildemand's age of 36 makes him a bad signing, then we must write off Sayfutdinov, Wright and Zagar too, along with Chris Harris, Chris Holder and Jason Doyle.

Almost every contributor on here can see the problems looming for the sport but those in charge of its destiny are not doing too much to keep the fan base onside and give some ideas as to how things might change. An announcement following the AGM then radio silence. No provisional fixture list, no details of the new competition, no more news about the mystery 6th club and none of this can help riders, sponsors etc. plan for the coming season and it must have a negative impact on season ticket sales. With the lack of clarity is any wonder some supporters are disillusioned with the sport and riders have opted to ply their trade elsewhere. You would have thought that some press releases would have been forthcoming even it was only to update of progress or otherwise of changes which may at least placate some of the doubters. The BSPL really have not got a clue when it comes to taking care of the fan base. If they are unsure as to what to do might I suggest they take a look at Poland, Sweden and Denmark all of whom are way ahead of the UK.

One of the most awkward interviews ive ever seen. Some good talking points though. Andrew mentioned he may be looking further afield (outside UK). He also claimed that Ashton Boughen is wanting to make a return to speedway.

So because Oxford & Birmingham aren’t visiting fans won’t attend the meetings when say, Leicester or Sheffield do? I find that odd.

Big difference between having some issues with drugs off track and ROBBING THE ELDERLY in their own home at KNIFEPOINT.

I hope so speedy. It’s great that we’re still running and the loyal fans will still have their speedway on a Thursday don’t get me wrong, but it’ll still need to be an attractive side to entice the fence sitters (I consider myself one of those) to attend regularly again instead of picking the odd meeting here and there. It’s already a less appealing league than it was even last year due to losing two clubs and a reduced team limit, so it’s gonna need a star man at the top of the team to prevent a big drop off in attendance IMO. There’s likely to be a drop off regardless due to the reasons I’ve said, plus losing two hugely popular riders in Emil and Doyle so it’s a damage limitation job to try and prevent the drop off from being too severe.

Cooper was always at Lynn, Louis or not.

If I was Ipswich now I’d actually change it up and just go for a younger team, Brennan number one and Rew at number 5. Try to get confirmation all riders would want to stay on a few seasons and get them this season learning and being specialists for the 2027 season. I honestly believe cooper would have come to us if Louis was on board and I would have loved him in the team. Keep Tai away from the team, too many Ipswich fans he has annoyed which would affect their decision to come to any races.

Jammy dodgers were what they were hoping for but when garibaldi came up as an option most round the table thought that was the new Italian track hosting a GP. Another promoter thought the Penguins were the Icelandic national team. Just shows what the British fans have to contend with. Roll on the end of the season and the contrived play offs. Home and away twice with an aggregate bonus point for finishing third out of two. Yep sums up speedway in the UK. Did someone mention Fred Carno

Surely your not admitting that the Championship is totally reliant on the Premiership and that without it you don't get the riders you want/need.....

Christ you better have a huge budget for damage to the air fence every other meeting, how that boy didn't kill himself multiple times over when I used to watch him lord knows.

Einar Kyllingstad?

no ones excited, we are just thankful that we have some speedway for this year only, ignore this one league business because it was never going to happen, we was never going to be accepted so late. also you and i both know that one year away till they sort out 2027 never happens, one year away almost certainly means more years away and sometimes never return, keeping speedway going at any form was necessary for the top clubs

Cooper Rushen has signed for Leszno ( U 24 team)

With new owners it’s a chance for a new beginning and a change in team building strategy. Stop with having riders in for 2,3 or 4 years and look long term so the fans can grow to love them and start to create a family feel to the club, like The Aces. For some clubs speedway can be a numbers game put together on a spreadsheet where they see a number and not a name. It’s not the best imo despite results and being somewhat under the points limit is no bad thing if it allows riders to grow with the club.

I'm just guessing. Personally I don't think we even need another competition considering we'd already be facing the same Teams enough times as it is.

But as gets said on many threads, as an away rider you are up against track specialists. When he guested in 2024 he scored a paid maximum 10+2 at number 2. Only beaten twice by Jack Holder.

Delighted to see Cook back this season. I’ve been critical of some instances involving him in the past, but a British speedway without Craig Cook is a sadder, less entertaining and lower in quality place. Really strong side being built at Northside.

To answer your question directly, the first two fixtures for each round I've listed as Friday, and the second two fixtures for each round I've listed as Sunday. I've taken these from the official Ekstraliga announcement. The last couple of years, Ekstraliga announced the fixtures in the same way and closer to each round they then confirmed which meetings were Friday and which were Sunday. Last year, in one round, they swapped two fixtures around, so that one they'd listed as probably Friday became a Sunday fixture and one which was listed as probably Sunday became a Friday fixture. So, it may be they're going to do this again this year, but as R+R said above, the final confirmation will come earlier this year, they've said it'll be at least 6 weeks before the relevant round. Obviously as we find out, if there are any changes I'd list them immediately.

I think it was later than that someone better informed than me commentated that they only won once which was Swindon away Einar got a 15 point max which meant he scraped above a six point average so Rogers could have him back in 1987, with all due respect to Einar I was hoping he wouldn't make the cut. We had a truly dreadful team that year we got Richard Knight who went from world beater at Lynn to seven point man which I think in hindsight for a few years prior to Richard's arrival we were so bad we made him look gp standard. Who remembers Kevin Brice he was pretty much nailed on for fourth place by the second bend but was the best trapper ever, I remember one meeting we were in with a shout against Cradley and it came down to the last heat and Brice out trapped Gunderson like he was standing still the crowd erupted but it was all over coming out of the second bend. Halcyon days still remember the mental lynn fan "nutter who would sink 10-15 pints in the bar come out every time Richard Knight was getting ready to race shout "Richard Knight " at 20 thou decibels you could have heard him in Glasgow and before tapes even went up he would be back in the bar he never watched a race all season. He was about 11- 12 stone but looked hard as nails but so long as you nodded approvingly to his Richard Knight war cry you were safe.

Quite ironic given that he has probably been one of the biggest beneficiaries of 'how the sport has been allowed to drift'

You cannot take in to account what he achieved in 2018

No I don't, It's a public forum and I'm entitled to post an opinion. 1 Year ago fans were on here, X, Facebook etc. all taking the pish out of Oxford for signing Kildemand so I don't buy into the fact that Belle Vue fans are happy to sign the same Ageing Injury Prone Rider on a highly inflated GSA due to him taking 5-7 Rides a night at reserve when they were expecting a Young and Exciting Talent like Hellstrom-Bangs on a 5.00 Assessed GSA. I'm delighted that you've kept Kurtz and Bewley because it means that Belle Vue pose no threat of winning anything again as they've got no backup.

Please stop speaking for other teams fans, you drop into every thread telling fans what they should think. I am certain there isn't a single Aces fan who would want to drop one of Bewley or Kurtz. I said 2 years ago, id keep both for the next decade and build a team each year around them. Of course you wanted the Aces to drop Dan as you were absolutely desperate to have him at Ipswich.

I wish Lemo would hurry up and announce Zach Cook! His visa needs sorting...!😉

27.3 - daft answer but you started it

That's the spirit...

Definitely. When you do match ups with other teams (some rumours) we lose out in every position.

But they are doing sweet FA to improve it especially with a 5 team league people will just get bored and won't attend maybe the diehards will but it won't attract new supporters and essentially could prove financial suicide

Everyone has guaranteed entertainment in their team.

The way I see it is that this league is a joke . People commenting who’s got the best team or worst team . Who gives a sh.t in the grand scheme of things. At least Belle Vue fans have guaranteed entertainment in their team, with 2 of the top 3 racers in the world in the side. And they definitely entertain. Can the other teams say that ??

Proves that Mark Lemon won't let Kurtz or Bewley go unless forced into it by a One Rider Over 8.00 Rule. Defo the weakest rumoured Team on paper so far.

Oh,, nothing ground breaking new then. It's about time something different was tried

Ride for us this year and I’ll get you back in the GP series next year? Interesting theory and entirely plausible. Guess we’ll soon find out how ambitious they are, and whether they have any immediate influence. Finance shouldn’t be an issue.

We can talk and talk till we're blue in the face haven't we done this every year, a totally independent person to chair this shower is the only way and it won't happen.

Looking at Belle Vue's and Leicester's rumoured 1-7. You can certainly make a case for Ipswich to run without a proper No.1. Leicester are onto something with their team building imo where they don't have an out and out No.1 but they've got a proven Heat Leader at No.1 who's being backed up in every department of the team. Could very well be the way to go in a weakend Premiership.

Vacuilik is riding in Sweden for Vargarna. Michelsen and Thomsen could be worth testing the waters with though because neither Rider is in the GP's anymore and they're not currently signed up to 3 Leagues.

The fact that Cookie has been given yet another opportunity to ride is a reflection on the short fall of riders willing to race in this country. Whilst I hope he can ‘find himself’ next season for the benefit of Worky and UK speedway, the Comet’s promotion should already be looking at eligible replacements on his average in readiness for the inevitable.

Some of the comments on this topic aged well (@mikebv 😉😂) I ran a poll on TwitterX the last time his position seemed untenable and the consensus then was he should be gone... yet here we are 3 years later. He's so far out of his depth it's embarrassing, he may be okay running sleepy Scunny but as a leader he's been about as effective as Liz Truss!

They have stated that days will be announced 6 weeks prior to the match. Oops, sorry, I didn't see that R+R had already answered. As to tickets for Wrocław league meetings, make sure you are registered on the wts.pl website and then also follow the club FB page. They announce there exactly when tickets will be on sale for each meeting. Be ready at the moment they go on sale and you'll get them. But be aware that they have 7500 season ticket holders and most of them will be in the main stand, so there won't ever be many tickets available there

Hausl rode for Landshut in the Polish National League last season. So based on published rules is a cat 5 rider => 4 pt av in PL, 5 pt average in CL PS to qualify as a commonwealth rider wouldn't he still need a visa? And to get a visa wouldn't he have to finish in the top 3/4 of the Seychellois national championship.