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Well you know the old saying? "If you're bored of Northampton, then you're bored of life". (or it could be London, i forget which)

You may be... But the good people of Northampton aren't... (Because they haven't been told much about it yet)...

I’m f*c*ing bored of Northampton already…

I think integrity in this instance applies structurally rather than morally in that without a sixth team the whole system could have tumbled. Morally, speedway has had little to no integrity for decades and it will take more than Mark & Rob sitting at the top table to alter that. With regards credibility, speedway has the same as wrestling or monster trucks and the sooner they realise that and lean into it the better. Speedway is a thrilling entertainment not a creditable sport.

I wasn't around in 1928.

Good job you mentioned that, they probably wouldn't have thought of it...

I think we’ve finally cracked the mystery of the BSPL’s undercover PR man — step forward, Steve Irving! In nearly half a century following speedway, I’ve never seen such single‑minded loyalty to the party line. For Steve, every corner of the speedway garden is blooming, and every promoter walks on water. It’s almost touching — almost. Maybe pop an AirTag on that self‑respect, Steve, in case it wanders off again. Now, if he took a moment away from cheerleading, he might notice what’s happening elsewhere in motorsport media. Crash.net and others are reporting that Richard Coleman is “fully focused” on his MotoGP duties as Team Principal with Tech3 — and that’s no small commitment. Remember, 2026 is the final season for 1000cc engines before MotoGP moves to 850cc in 2027, which means non‑stop testing and development is already underway. Yet, somehow, Coleman also claims to be giving his total focus to MotoGP, the Speedway GP series, and Ipswich Speedway. Quite the feat! Perhaps he’s mastered quantum cloning. Realistically, though, Ipswich fans should expect Andrew Chisholm to be the one holding the reins at Foxhall this year. Steve might want to grab a selfie with his idol early — Coleman sightings in Suffolk could be rarer than unicorns by mid‑season. And before anyone complains that this reads like an essay — guilty as charged. I must have missed the point in time when education and critical thinking became surplus to requirements. Maybe that’s why “Hawk127”, who is seemingly bereft of a dictionary, thinks "woke" is an insult. It just means being a decent person — who wouldn’t want that? Anyway, I’ll leave the PR spin to Steve and the BSPL. Some of us still prefer our motorsport journalism with a touch of reality, not rose‑tinted propaganda.

Northampton wont attract new fans. Its in a field in the middle of nowhere, and the facilities are extremely basic. An uncovered stand, or grass banking, looking thru a big mesh fence. This wont appeal to newcomers midweek, when they can sit at home instead, glued to their devices! 12 old duffers from Peterborough with their home made knitted bobble hats, and a 30 year old programme board, wont make the place a success

Totally agree. If it is entertainment and you want to attract a new generation of punters, then you do not need those riders who are costing clubs a fortune. No new punter or family will have heard of any of the top names, so as long as the racing is competitive and you have match race’s featuring different age groups to entice youngsters as well as a meaningful match or individual meeting then that is all you can ask for. No one seems to want to try a two wheeled speed event including for example flat track riders etc. as well as speedway. As it is now you have the same old same old format which with all the ridiculous rules and doubling up etc you will never convince the media that it is credible and without the media the punters are not going to pick up on it. Give them something different (proven by increased numbers who attend the play offs when you something to go for but not the qualifying matches) and just maybe they could start on that very long journey of attracting new fans, sponsors and possibly media attention on a national scale.

Everybody seems to have forgotten that for several years Milton Keynes, which is only 20 miles from Northampton, had a team. Thats a lot nearer than Coventry, Peterborough and Wolverhampton!

Video on Northampton shaleway Facebook page showing the inside mud/grass bank being removed, so it's level on the inside for Speedway. So some progress being made on the infostructure but still silent on team and no publicity 😧

Which means that nothing at all will be done as no ones thought of it.

Only just read last weeks copy of the Speedway Star and they do a two page spread on Northampton... Mark Lemon is quoted as saying that they needed a sixth team for the "integrity and credibility" of the sport... I do hope when he used those words, he managed to do it with a straight face... Fair play if he did....

Just facts cowboy.. The positivity well ran dry a fair while back

Bewdley cannot ride in the British Final as its the same night as the pairs tournament in Iceland where both riders represent small towns. His team partner is Rushden.

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2026 fixtures have been announced: https://www.britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk/

Looks like being a top class field then 🙂 . There will surely be a bout of breakdowns en route preventing riders fro arriving at the "national speedway stadium" but being stuck on a Scottish tour. Surely they could give Bewdley the Belle Vue track expert the title and be done with it. The fixture planners have made a boo boo on this one , and they ought to come out and admit their error.

Milton Keynes “The Grove” was just a tad over 4 miles from Newport Pagnell. But at 9.6 miles it’s very close to Brafield so let’s hope folk take the time to take in a few enjoyable meetings.

Well meaning unpaid amateurs doing their best... Allied to a number of promoters who are ex riders, and ex rider sponsors, all having zero skill set in event management and marketing... Pre 2000 you could get away with it, however, as the internet and social media came on board, and immediate scrutiny and feedback started to be the norm, you no longer can just present something in the way you did thirty or so years ago.. (And for some, 40 years and even further back).. People's expectations have risen, and they get influenced by the feedback of others... Do UK Speedway ever do market research? Do they have a "Trust Pilot" where comments can be left, and answers given to the feedback they get? I used to hold several sessions every 13 weeks with 30 customers at a time, and their feedback could be "brutal"... But, it did give my chance to explain why certain situations happen, and why I couldn't change them, but, more importantly, give me "Gold" feedback on things I could change, but hadn't seen many of these issues as a problem... Amazing how much listening, and being honest with your customers, can improve your business enormously...

100%.... If you cannot run it as a bona fide team sport, (which they obviously cannot), then, simply, don't... Instead, promote it (properly), as "Sports Entertainment".... Still a great night out if you can ignore all the current, an ongoing, nonsense infrastructure around it..... Spend less on riders and more on marketing the event if you cannot afford to do both...

Same place as me. I confess I didn't notice the pallets at all. I think it is really helpful to clubs to have someone go over all these things with a critical eye. Many changes require little cost or effort to improve, even if only a few people notice. One of my roles in my career was process improvement, and although I am now retired, I can't help assessing and thinking about processes - whether that is in a shop, business, sports event or even just on holiday - so I understand where you are coming from

Here's a plan... Let's run a thrilling, exciting, adrenaline pumping sport and get as many teams as possible to participate... Then... let's keep it a secret and not tell anyone anything about it... What could possibly go wrong...? Anyone remember the film... Brewster's Millions...?

Not for me if it's mushroom, otherwise count me in! Thinking about it, it's highly likely to be given the number of mushrooms there are amongst the BSPL 🙂

http://tv.scunthorpe-speedway.com/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAQpVlZjbGNrBClWRmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHr-uZvFHlMiG-OhKX_if_4AK7QXZtGxalXXKT4blZ2PJnqv0FjymelpK84XM_aem_MQ85jRs5jgPZ6Z6n682PvA

Yes

He's also getting track time at Redcar tomorrow night (Fri 20 Mar) as he represents the Diamonds Select side in the Tyne/Tees Trophy meeting.

As it stands there will not be an official podcast as such this year, at least certainly for the time being, one of the many victims of no TV deal and funds to support it. Possibly it will change in future. I don't think there are many podcasts in speedway with the reach it had / has, mainly due to the direct access to riders and officials, and whatever happens I'll be forever grateful to Nigel Pearson for helping to get the BSPL to back it, and the further opportunities it has brought me in speedway. For now it's certainly not the end for it, but parked up and we'll see how we go once things settle down. However, we do plan to do something new via BSN once we get going in April so perhaps that might help fill the entertainment void. And personally I'll likely do more with my Humans of Speedway channels as well. With regards Media Days, I see the Rob Lyon has said at the NSSC event there won't be one, I'd firmly believe he knows better than most of the situation there! 😂

the best kept sporting secret ever . opening night massive crowd of people who support other teams . 3 weeks in and tiny crowd ..they should be marketing it on social media , give the team a name at least theres plenty of Speedway fans internet savvy enough to create a razamatazz , Speedway has far too long relied on its dwindling fanbase to advertise it , and this is a classic exmaple . failing to prepare is preparing to fail !!!

It was colin who was the rubbishbag . Mick took that flack

It's far from ideal and hopefully the reasons for that will become clear but personally I wouldn't rule out going somewhere a month before the first fixture. The main thing British Speedway does wrong is the lack of information even if there isn't much to tell and rhats happening here unfortunately.

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Oh my,someone DOES need to calm down, another one that accepts and makes excuses for mediocrity and poor practices and wonders why we are where we are and because you obviously need a little help the post I made was sarcasm

Village fete it is then Anyone interested in tickets for the tombola? 25p each or 5 for £1 - numbers ending with 5 win a packet of cuppa soup...

The media day will have all the riders in their race suits sat on rows of pallets at belle vue and on the end there will be 7 life size cardboard cut outs of riders like Dag Lovas, ove fundin, trond stretting lars munkerdal Glenn Doyle, Das sumner and Edgar stangerland who will be representing Brafield badgers this season only they couldn’t find the Glenn Doyle one so they got a Julie Hartley brewer one hoping nobody would notice

An important part of season planning for a professional sport as set out by Dave However as is seen through this winter it seems that others want to reset the sport to the level of a village fete.....

The Brafield team of the 1950's and 60's were called the Badgers. Given that Badgers are mostly seen dead on their ar$es they do share some other similarities with those who run British Speedway. They have very poor vision and they are creatures of habit who will follow the same paths for generations despite the dangers and do not adapt well to changes in their territory. Badgers would be ideal. All we need is a Bodger to manage the mashed potatoes.

Imagine starting a completely new team in a new sport in a new venue. And just over a month to go. No team name no players signed. No website . Absolutely zero information . The people in the surrounding area who are the demographic who would form the support for the venture know absolutely nothing about the exciting new entertainment which will be coming to their doorstep in a matter of weeks. A completely ridiculous situation and only speedway. Could f:;k up an opportunity like it .even hardcore fans of speedway are completely in the dark about iit.

There are other Saturdays which could have been chosen and far less disruptive. The 18th July and 5th September, for example, where the only other fixtures anywhere are rounds of the European Championships and 4th July, Berwick v Oxford.

“Kiss of death” ?

So.... Basically, promoters thought that an authentic and relevant league, that had some resonance, and ran during the warmer months, would negatively impact their unauthentic, and largely irrelevant league, with minimal, if any, resonance, (that they would still run), using the colder months too?... In summary... "This product would deliver what many fans want, and would engage them to attend, but then they wouldn't turn up to watch the usual contrived stuff we cobble together each season".. They probably wouldn't be wrong would they?

Oh, you cynic... But. With your inside knowledge, and my years of following the sport, I can only assume you are very much probably right!.... On a separate note, Mark Lemon in his Speedway Star interview, mentioned how important to the "integrity and credibility of the sport" this sixth team is... Reading further, it apeears that there are several (all, who knows?), other BSP promoters actually running the show, with riders already spoken with, and team planning in an advanced stage... So... This means that promoters of teams in the same top tier competitions are compiling the Northampton team... The very same team that their own team(s), (already announced) will race against.. "Integrity and Credibility"??? Imagine a professional sport being ran that way, with spectators then being expected to take it seriously...?

Rob Lyon confirmed at the NSSC last week that there would not be a Media Day this year.