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me, i think thats pretty solid, will win well at home and thats all thats needed,

They’ve literally just completed a takeover 48 hours ago ffs! Pretty sure graphic design wouldn’t have been on a list of priorities 🙄

Given that the two leg semi final will be a lucrative pair of fixtures, will we see teams "manipulating" their final league position to finish 2nd or 3rd rather going for the top slot? It's not like you get anything for winning the pre playoff league is it?

I don’t understand all the cynicism here. GB was a joke of a team year after year but Painter, Blackwell, Allen, Stead, Vatcher plus the professional team around them involving fitness, psychology, physiotherapy and media profile have produced some world beating performances. No more pizzas and beer but pride in the job instead. And top class sponsors. It’s not been just a one day job either with qualifiers and finals in the same week resulting in the squad being together for 4 or 5 days. GB has team spirit, team uniforms and, allowing for 2025 being a hiccup, great results since it changed to the current management team. Olly and Simon have worked well together but they will acknowledge they are only one part of the whole set up. When domestic speedway in UK, especially the way the top league is going, is a clown show, and is working its way down and down, the national team has shown that we still have good people with great skills in this country. And Simon has been one of the key players. We should be thanking him and not making smart ass comments about his wish to devote more time to his family, his job and Sheffield speedway.

That’s the spirit.

The Abbey Stadium planning applications are scheduled to be decided upon next Tuesday (10th) from 18.00. The SBC Planning Officer's Reports recommend the applications are rejected.

Why should they when all three can still comfortably outperform Jordan Jenkins? What a weird thing to say.

The signing of PHB has really cheered me up, it was always going to be hard so late in the day to bring over a top no.1 but in the absence of that bringing in an exciting newcomer to the league from the continent is a good show of intent from the new owners and offers additional excitement and intrigue to see how he fairs on these shores

And also ask why it isn't compulsory for every meeting to have at least three rides each for NDL and even lower, standard riders... Either during the meeting itself, to add something extra to the event, or afterwards... Expenses only, or even "pay to play" like so many other Motorsports do at that level... Track time is obviously the largest fundamental requirement for rider development, therefore, common sense says the more laps that these lads do, the more in control, and faster, they become... Once again, both leagues will be bringing over riders at reserve and second string level, to take places a UK rider should have been trained up to the required standard to take.. When will it actually dawn on the promoters that this doesn't help the sport long term in the UK, one iota, hence, we are where we are now, with riders having two jobs due to a complete lack of suitable resource .. And Guestfests taking part each week, destroying any authenticity of the competitions due to no "subs on the bench"... The Glasgow promotion seem very pro active, and honest, so it would be interesting to hear their views..

Would not have thought riding at 3 any more difficult than 4.

Top 5 material

Because when they retire and leave the sport people like Jordan are the new generation then people like you will probably say they aren’t good enough… so give them a chance in the here and now to become the future. Not look to the past. It’s not a weird thing to say. It’s a get out from the promotion to get the fans on side with a club legend, yet they said they are trying to build a sustainable sport.

Especially when you've got 3 39+ year olds "bike blockers" in your team, who really should be seeing out their days in the CL at this stage of their careers.

I remember listening to Chris Morton at a Nuneaton Supporters club meeting a couple of years ago talking at length how he designed the NSS track. He couldn't find any plans of the Hyde Road circuit. But he visited the site of the original track and found that the inside kerb still existed on the ground. So he measured that all out and started from there. So in a real sense the Hyde Road circuit lives on. Pity they haven't got a roller coaster that overlooks the track though, eh?

dont think its a bad team by any means, good to see everything wrapped up now.

Riders sound out clubs, clubs sound out riders. It happens all the time and you’ll get situations where riders will be in a team one minute, and out the next. It’s commonplace. Until you actually sign a contract then nothing should be taken for granted.

You only need to look at the Witches Facebook page to see the popular reaction to Nicholls. He will bring paying customers into the stadium, and is worth the risk if he can score. It also ensures Hellstrom-Bangs starts at reserve.

Apologies, he was in the plans SINCE December. He sounded gutted, is rather have a bit of loyalty and chose him over any news riders, especially to then come out and say they basically don’t care about this season and gave Scotty a sent off season. Do the right thing and put Jenkins in, speedway is failing in a lot of ways for me.

Injury free season with Scotty rolling back the years around Foxhall seems like a fitting send off imo.

Business as usual then? We can't afford the top riders while Poland are paying what they are, not without a TV deal and a very good tv deal at that. And how you can say that not having a NDL standard riders in a single league is not the way to develop the sport I can't fathom 🤷‍♂️ There are still riders looking to ride over here, Ippo's signing of PHB this year and Lynn bringing in Kvech a few years back shows this and there are other new faces in the CL this year.

IMO how well he scores and if he can stay injury free will detemine whether this is his last season !

Running the sport in a way that removes pretty much all authenticity of both leagues is an even worse answer to develop the sport...

So do they have a new presenter currently or not? That role is hugely underrated IMO and can go a long way towards the meeting experience. The few times I went there last year, I thought the fella presenting was excellent and one of the best I’d heard. Shame if he’s given it up/been ousted.

Totally agree and I felt the same when we signed Rew. We should look to do one of these every year in my opinion because it freshens things up and gives us a look at a new rider. With all due respect to the others, we know exactly what they can do and how they ride because we’ve all watched them a million times. PHB gives us that intrigue and something different.

And benefited hugely by using Ostergaard's average, which he gained whilst at reserve, but subsequently put him at No1... With his long term injury, meaning plenty of decent guests or RR covered by any of the team.. A perfect storm, season...

shocking what's been allowed to happen to Speedway

Hard to see anyone beating BV in the prem? Kurtsy and Bewley top two will deliver.

Good to have the clarity re the team etc, so the Witches have gone strength in depth this time - will enjoy it anyway - nice to see Tobi finally a Witch about 2-3 seasons after he asked for a team spot! He should be good to watch at Foxhall! Awesome Richard Lawson will be a solid and reliable rider too. I always said Scotty would come back to finish his career as a Witch!

IPSWICH TRU7 GROUP WITCHES 2026 (in average order): Tom Brennan (Great Britain) 7.05 Richard Lawson (Great Britain) 6.83 Tobiasz Musielak (Poland) 6.63 Danny King – captain (Great Britain) 6.50 Scott Nicholls (Great Britain) 5.26 Philip Hellstrom-Bangs (Sweden) 4.50 Jason Edwards (Great Britain) Rising Star

No TV deal. Rescue mission takeover. Lastminute.com team building Sorry my spirit dried up before Christmas regarding this season! 😀

Should be fun at least 😁

I reckon that team will finish in the top 5

Well that’s 100% Danny’s lugs at 4 and Lawson’s dodgy mullet at 5 😂

Why are you limiting yourself to Monday and Thursday? 14 teams of 5, 6 or 7 riders any night that works for the club. And before you come back with where are the riders, I've already quoted some 130 odd that competed in the 2025 season. But as the powers that be have decided to cut back on the NDL and even fill those teams with the likes of Simon Lambert and Jake Mulford instead of really developing the youth, I fear that the opportunity may have been missed, 2026 was the season to merge, who's still competing at the end of '26 is anybody's guess. The sport is only heading in one direction currently and that is very sad.

Can’t agree with you at all on that, King has a respectable away average and if Klindt doesn’t like the way the wind is blowing , he’ll do nothing at all as he will be on his usual guarantee.

Yes I think it is safe to say the individual has several accounts going. It is equally quite sad and amusing that they crave so much attention. Hey we're a nice bunch here on the forum. Perhaps we can have a whip around and buy this person a Labrador puppy and satisfy their attention seeking needs 🤣

Understandable imo. King doesn't exactly go well at most tracks away from Foxhall where's Klindt can score points everywhere bar Sheffield imo.

The BBC are losing the Commonwealth games, possibly Wimbledon and definitely The Boat Race, after being outbid, might be the perfect moment to offer them Speedway, after all don't think TNT, Discovery or Eurosport will outbid them on that ! Might even be worth giving them the rights for nothing ,just to promote the sport ? BBC staff left 'fearful' after two events lost and Wimbledon warning | Other | Sport | Express.co.uk The BBC’s dying sports coverage is hurting Britain - Cherwell

Rather have King anyday, he would not give up like Klindt does.

King costs half of what gating tart Klindt demands.

I don't remember it as a weak league year at all. Give them some credit, they rode really well as a team to win.

To be fair when Pboro won it the top league was probably the worst its ever been for quality and they did it on seven riders who had all been at the top of their game 10-15 years ago, all of them were still a decade past their best but due to such a weak league they were still good enough to get over the line

I can see a top 5 finish for the Witches.... Unless Northampton make a late entry.

Or no pockets at all

I love a pavlova for afters topped with raspberries

Very naive way of looking at it.

At this stage and despite the various suggestions put forward by many on here the Ipswich team is yet to be confirmed therefore everything is up in the air until an announcement from the new owners. Having read the statement released, like many who have commented it is to be commended for the proposals but they have failed to understand the closed shop that runs the sport which is surprising given the amount of information that is available if anyone bothers to trawl through the dross that is in the public domain. Ipswich coming to the tapes in 2026 is a plaster over what distracts from the real issues that the sport is facing in this country. List the issues in no particular order, doubling up, rules made up as the season goes on, management of a sport governed by self interest, up and coming riders learning the ropes who think they should earn top dollar, parents backing siblings who feel that overseas riders are taking away from their over rated prodigies, race days determined by overseas schedules, GPs which have lost the charisma and fail to track the best speedway riders in the world but instead pander to a woke selection so that no one feels left out and a sport which in the UK has failed to promote itself to the point where even loyal followers cannot be bothered to regularly attend meetings. Nothing new but the same old mediocrity from the few promoters who over the years have dragged the sport down. No forward thinking, electric machines dismissed, failure by the governing body to consider something new in terms of format, a lack of fight by the governing body when it comes to track closures and a bunch of riders who think they should earn from the sport a living for twelve months by screwing the system over a window of six months. The sport needs a wholesale change in order to move forward but those in charge are gutless individuals who if it is a hobby for them should relinquish their ties and let the sport start over to give it a chance and if that means riders have to be come part time so be it. Change is needed.

Stene Pijper, Liam Greens (500cc) Ella & Douglas Marshall (125cc)

Would agree