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That's the spirit...

To be fair they currently have no fans and based on recent history it's going to be a hard task to keep it running for a long time. I think fans are just being realistic rather than being negative. Fingers crossed it goes well though...I hope they smash it.

Fantastic news, hope they make Northampton a great success

Sadly just had to put the latest person on ignore . I don't know or care if it was the same person but it was similar drivel as the other person please don't quote his posts as it means I can still read his

Have you heard of an IP address? Care to explain why you and Youhave2minutes have the same if you're not the same person? Brothers living together in the same house perhaps?

Well done to the BSPA for giving Northampton every chance to come into the league. Its a good job they don't listen to some of the people on this thread.

For me whos fairly new to speedway and loved going to peterborough to watch this is amazing news. I will get to as many home meetings as I can even if they don't have the strongest team & then hopefully given a bit more time in 2027 it can become a proper outfit. Or maybe they've got some tricks up their sleeve for this years team 🤔 but all in all it has got be good news. I actually went to watch the F1 stockers there 2 years ago and it does seem a really well fitted track for speedway 👍

There has been a lot of (justified) concern as to the viability of such a project, especially with the timescales involved and with the sport being in its lowest ever position. Surely nobody really thinks a new track is a bad thing... closing mid season, having an uncompetitive team, running in front of poor crowds with an expensive team are all bad things which many have been and still are concerned about. Good luck to them though, I for one can't wait to get down there at some point 👍🏻

There have been plenty of posts saying that there is no point as it won't survive beyond two to three years, the sport is a circus so it's a waste of time, it will have no fan base, the track won't be good enough for passing etc, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah. If that's positive and a good thing... You either haven't read the posts or have forgotten them.

My guess would be Matt Ford.

I can't recall seeing a single post saying that the addition of Northampton would be anything other than a good thing 🤷‍♂️

Congratulations to all involved. This is nothing but great news for British Speedway, despite what some might think. 😉 Good luck to them and hopefully the start of something big. 👌

Matt Ford spoke at the Coventry Stadium appeal. Brandon Estates brought in the odious Clarke Osborne to say that Speedway was dead and no one would want to promote speedway at Brandon if it was restored to former glories. Matt Ford spoke in opposition to say he ran a successful promotion at Poole, he knows Coventry is viable, and he would be interested in promoting Coventry. Whether his remit was just to testify that speedway is viable, and Coventry would be viable, or whether he is actually seriously interested in Coventry, probably only he knows. However he's not involved in Northampton.

Not sure where you've got your figures from but Mark Webber, while he has plenty of contacts within motorsport (and is a current Porsche ambassador), is not worth hundreds of millions.

Never too early for that - needs sorting by late summer if at all possible Will need a big input to be secured from somewhere / a new TV deal etc to be able to maintain or perhaps expand the top league Hopefully big enough to facilitate the elimination of doubling up If that cannot happen then its one big league

Great news. I wish the Northampton promotion the very best of luck and I hope it's a success.

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.

Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Lidsey Iversen Tungate Wright Klindt Sedgmen Harrison/Hagon that would be my guess 🤷🏻‍♂️ won’t be far wrong

Northampton "Tolleys Badges" Badgers? 🦡🦡

I think everyone on here wishes them the absolute best but it can't be denied there's some very big challenges to be overcome hopefully every assistance will be given to them by the other tracks so they have a fighting chance.

...and the starting gate.. and machinery damage...and pits infrastructure damage.... etc.🤬 And..BTW. putting a laughing emoji doesn't make your post funny.

You watch them blame the increased prices on the Iran war 😂

Wow major effort made here, and the 6th team does exist. I'm sure we will get some teams put up during the day, but as previously hinted on here by some, clearly Lidsey,Tungate,Riss,Kerr,Wright,Iversen come into play, maybe Rew,Jenkins,Harrison (RS), but brilliant to see another track in the Prem. Will be a tough 1st season, but exciting news at a traumatic time for UK Speedway and could quite easily finish above Ipswich in the table come September.

Glad they are running, still a few teams short of a proper league but it's a start..

Announced now.

Today’s going to be a Fabrizio Romano sort of day

Got my tickets for the South stand as prefer to be on the straight and won't pay the grandstand prices. However, I thought the East stand prices weren't bad. You can't get most Premier League tickets for these prices. Next week is the Cheltenham Festival (4 days). A comparable ticket to the South stand is £90 per day and over £100 on the Friday. Their hotel prices are way over £300 per night. They get an average of about 50,000 a day. Yes, it's different! We all love speedway and to see the best in the world take each other on at the NSS is worth it to me for 2 nights. It's expensive, but in line. Wroclaw is brilliant also, signs are all around the town and it's great, but it's great cos they have a great track also. Lots love Prague (not been to the SGP) and I like the city, but the track is in general average (not always). I go for good racing and need to go to Torun which if prepped right is also excellent. I suppose we can all put a value on any trip, but one things for sure like everything in the UK. Prices will only go up. Most of us have a bit of disposable income and we all have decisions to make on how we spend it. 👍

Hard to understand why anyone would be anti a new venue being created per se, and i'm not seeing much or indeed any of that being expressed. However, there is considerable concern and scepticism over the chances of it being ready on time, and successful and sustainable, with time constraints being one of the main concerns over effective local marketing and publicity. These concerns and doubts can be expressed in humourous or serious ways, and are sometimes wrapped up within more general concerns about speedway in the Uk and the way it is being run. These are mostly perfectly valid concerns, made in good faith and with the underlying well-being of speedway in the UK at their heart. Whether the above could be justifiably deemed "moaning" is rather irrelevant, especially as the definition of what constitutes "moaning" is likely to vary greatly. I'd liken it to "complaining", and there doesnt seem to anyone complaining that a new venue could be happening. But there are doubts and concerns being expressed, which for the most part seem to be perfectly valid

Good luck to the Cobblers …. Let’s hope they might attract some former Panthers fans back to the sport . Should get somenovelty value of fans from nearby Leicester, Ippo and Lynn taking a look at the track for the first time… but spectator facilities look pretty spartan standing on grassy banks on a cold evening. Memories of freezing on the grassy slopes of the Arena Essex racebowl.

I want to share this disgusting comment for all to see before this individual decides to edit it or remove it. Name calling is one thing. Telling someone to go and kill themselves has no place on this forum. I had a friend who took their own life as well.

Lidsey, Iversen and Klindt are nailed on 100%

I don't know tbh. I thought i read that Ford would consider being a promoter if they came back, but that was a while ago now.

The full Premiership fixture list will be announced on Friday (March 6) at 8am.

Great news re. Northampton. Hopefully, it's the shot in the arm that British Speedway needs and fingers crossed re. the return of Coventry, Peterborough, Swindon etc. Plus the fact it seems to be quite feasible that Northampton could host bigger meetings in the future considering the facilities there, Midlands location etc. Various other sports have been on the decline in the past but they pick themselves up through a variety of different reasons (new innovations, sponsorship deals, TV deals, change of public perception etc.) and get back on track. Quite possibly and with fingers tightly crossed, just maybe it is now Speedway's turn.

Not for long if he gets involved in British Speedway financially 😂

yes, it was interesting to read the new Ipswich promotions comments in the star today - I have a mate who works for the Sheffield Star newspaper and has done for 30 years he says that now Vlogs and short video stories are the order of the day no one reads print anymore (well its much reduced)

I think you all need to get out more ffs get a life!!!

If you believe the bloke in charge then he and Speedway Futures have thought about it already.

I can remember when practice used to be from around 10am to around 6pm. Lots of riders would turn up hoping to impress. I also remember school teacher taking us on a if my memory still working a Tuesday afternoon to watch the Bandits practising. As Mary Hopkin said Those Were The Days. Sunday afternoons at Berwick were regular as well

There you go!! Well done to all involved and hopefully all those that said it’s never gonna happen will get behind the new team, track looks an awesome shape for racing so will be great to see them racing on it

If Lidsey's in, then looks like it's only 4 out of those 6 that would fit and you'd need someone like Jeppesen to round it off. Although if Lidsey's not in, then the 6 riders that SuperStarsFan91 mention come to a total of 36.99 (i think!)

He dropped what he was asking from Belle Vue to get a ride at Ipswich.

Agree totally. The sport faced a tough winter, and to come out of it with a 6-team league (as we've had in the past) is something of a miracle. Let's hope we can add Coventry and others for 2027 and really start moving forward. I'm hearing TV deals and corporate sponsor deals are making progress. Maybe if we had a bit more positivity from "fans" getting out there and spreading the message, who knows? Hopefully we'll see fixtures at weekend. Then we just need the news that Northampton have signed Bartosz...

I think the P&P will be changed now. You can’t have it without two of your top riders

What are the Team GB's home fixtures this year?

I think someone was attacking Youhave2minutes. It’s shouldn’t be a crime posting as much as he liked. However you appeared to have him disapear which I hope you are pleased about? This forum don’t need troublemakers like you. I personally was not affected by his postings. He started many interesting topics. Sad loss unfortunately.

Just my opinion on the sport.Couldn’t care less about who runs.I still go to watch speedway racing ,end off .Everything Rosey as usual🤔