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Congratulations to Mark and the whole team at Plymouth who obtained a notable achievement on Saturday by having a record attendance for over 10 years in the defeat against the Pirates. Fantastic for a sport that needs positive news stories to see a club going in the right direction and the swell of momentum behind the club within Plymouth. It's fantastic to see and long may it continue.

Indeed - at Foxhall when some of us starting using horns, cow bells and a megaphone a few moved and one poor old dear dropped a stitch on her knitting

Today I, a lifelong cricket fan, have learned that county cricket is streamed on YouTube, from a speedway forum. Glad to see the ECB spend that £40million budget just as badly as others do.

Yes a plan was put into place to broadcast one meeting Live for free on You Tube on Monday evenings to try and raise the appeal of the sport and could sell some sponsorship as well. This was decided against as clubs would have had to pay for this so as usual looked at the negatives instead of thinking let’s try it cost wise probably less for a full season than £25,00

I'm hundreds of miles from Plymouth, but I always make a point of getting there at least once a season, great little set up there 👍 last year me and my dad went, he loved it too. For that reason, Plymouth are now my team in a sport I've honestly not got much interest in anymore, but I'll still try to get there at some point this year.

Phil Morris has the sport at heart and wasn't allowed to do what he wanted with British Speedway by the clowns who run the sport , mainly that w anchor Godfrey at Scunthorpe. How the hell he got into such a high up position is anybodys guess.

If indeed it turns out that the role of CEO (incumbent Phil Morris) has been made redundant due to a lack of money then it’s difficult to see how an “independent body/person” that is often raised as a solution on this forum, could be funded to run the sport. That said, the sport is already “run” by a (supposedly) independent body - the SCB - which by and large get their objectives done and funded by license & similar fees. Which brings the conversation back to the BSPL & the intransigent hobbyist majority within. Their actions continue to block progress of the sport (to now include the removal of a CEO) simply because they have little or no intention or capability of implementing change which may (would) disrupt their hobby. Until, somehow, there is sufficient momentum by a group of well funded vested promoters to bring about long term change, then worryingly, we fans need to understand that whilst they remain in situ the hobbyist will continue to rule.

Last week, they stopped further along, so I guess they will stop in a slightly different place each week.

Any business needs a vision, and a plan to deliver that vision... UK Speedway, basically, runs season to season with no one knowing who will run the next year, or which league some teams may decide to compete in, or what the team strengths there will be, or what competitions will take place, or what formats these competitions will follow.. You cannot keep "hoping for the best", by living season to season, and doing the same old thing that you always do that prevents you from ever having any vision, never mind a plan to deliver that vision... Millions and Millions of pounds of TV money has gone up in smoke over two and a half decades... Money which seemed to have bailed out a fair few issues which never got resolved... That money isn't there any more....

The reach of YT is literally billions, with tens of millions in the UK... And you even can make money out of views and subscribers... With their algorithm sending you into similar type of videos.... A perfect media for UK Speedway to "piggy back" off other more popular sports, either two wheel, four wheel, or local professional teams in football... "How much?" No chance, we have to pay our riders (who hardly anyone in the UK have heard of, and will never hear of), around three million quid a season between them"... An absolute crackers business model...

The realty was that Sky needed subscribers and from their knowledge of the mutually successful relationship between TV & the NFL they knew that Uk football was the answer. Sky played a pivotal role in the formation of the Premiership alongside the then big five of Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs & Everton. From its inception, clubs have never had the need to fund any part of the running of the league itself as those costs are met from commercial income including TV deals. Each club as shareholders own one share with one vote which they lose if they are relegated. Speedway had a similar opportunity with Sky but the promoters and their central body failed to invest the money correctly to future proof the sport and eventually rather than build a strong relationship with their broadcasting partner the promoters as a body actually alienated Sky.

Just isn’t the money for the role but hopefully Phil will still be involved in a more advisory role and possibly on a pay as you go basis . If the TV deal had come off he would have been very involved. i still do not agree that clubs didn’t take the initiative of broadcasting one meeting a week free on You Tube to satisfy sponsors and try to attract more new fans all they had to do was pay the production costs which were minimal compared to the full tv production costs. The best way would have been to pay BSN to produce one meeting a week for free YT broadcast as that would then give them the opportunity to upsell their subscription service of people want to see more and could have sold race sponsorship for the season

He made the clubs adhere to a schedule to speed meetings up with set grading breaks. Introduced the centre green clocks. Had the sponsors banners made up in the pits so every club looked the same. Brokered deals with riders to ride in the premiership. For the grand final he had a magnificent looking stage not made of three pallets. Pyrotechnics and flames. Spoke to save Coventry stadium and offered to buy Ipswich with his own money. Introduced the media day. but apart from that not much. now the sport is imploding and going backwards under the current regime

Even for 2026, Phil has been a great advocate for British Speedway Premiership and has done lots of work behind the scenes which most people simply do not see. Always knowing that his role of Chief executive wasn’t to continue this year due to lack of money He was instrumental in keeping Ipswich going including being part of a consortium that made an offer to keep it going if Mayfield deal had fallen through. Has also had a a lot to do with the opening of Northampton giving guidance of what was required to get Speedway running along with being involved in the negotiations with stadium owners and management . There has been some failures previously maybe the loss of TV deal being the greatest but he did explore various options but none could be got over the line for various reasons. It has not been helped by some promotions not backing him fully. He wanted to modernise the product to try to get in new fans and sponsors some of which cost money like for tv meetings having a set presentation team and DJ, Lights and fire cannons on centre field but certain promotions wouldn’t back this and could even be objective like refusing to move advertising A boards for tv meetings and not even keeping the league sponsorship ones clean. Phil was also key to a number of top names returning to the UK like Woofy , Janowski and Lindgren along with brokering deals for Lambert and Dudek to ride for clubs to then back down on the deals

I bet the football and rugby players who have ended up with dementia would have appreciated 'snowflakes' with their concession protocols. Know better, do better.

As a Cricket & Glamorgan fan. We are one of the lowest supported counties in the domestic game. County Championship cricket gets somewhere between 200-300 people on a normal day. I don't think the ECB really do anything to promote the Youtube Streams, and i don't think Glamorgan do any real marketing or promotion that incurs costs. It's listed on there Website, mentioned in Match announcements on Socials and by Commentators. The stream, uses 2 fixed cameras (manned), with existing commentary from BBC Radio Wales. They make use of the Youtube Algorithms, that ensure it's the first thing that will appear when a game is on. Almost certain that it pays for itself through advertising exposure. I don't think it's done any damage to any county, rather it has ensured that counties have exposure to a wider and growing audience.

I'm sure you had no issues after, but surely our rules are correct really just to be safe, you see so many sports people from all sports suffer long term with concussion.

witchestv.co.uk is livestreaming this meeting

Its just difficult to comprehend why the BSPL fail to grasp modern streaming media and the benefits available to UK speedway for a modest investment. Clubs working independently of each other at the local level is just plainly inefficient from a marketing and promotional standpoint. Hopefully (maybe) the more recent promoters to the sport may bring something different to the table and in doing so, not let the hobbyist "take" without "first putting in".

Canal + have announced that the Wroclaw v Zielona Gora match on Friday is being shown free to the world live on You tube

Line ups:

Typical short-sighted view. County cricket continue to stream every game for free on YouTube, last week's first round of the season getting just under 1.4 million views across the four days. Speedway is similar in terms of having regular natural breaks in play, it would be a perfect opportunity to sell sponsorship for between races.

Looks like Doyley's forgotten his Kevlars

She's also listed on Mayfields website together with Kelvin Tatum and Olly Allen.

stop pinching whitelinehuggers jokes.

getting cash out of the bank..🤣

definitely worth watching now

Open the track, hold the meeting, hopefully win closely, then lock up the track when the last one is out... Rinse and Repeat two weeks later, (maybe), with pretty much exactly the same fans in attendance... Find a guest for someone missing in Poland or Denmark, or is injured/banned over here but not anywhere else.... Aim to win at home to keep your own crowd attending, with all your riders in attendance... Agree to ride away on nights you know your No1 can't be there and book a guest instead... Don't be too successful as it can close you down... UK Speedway...

The post above has it nailed. If there is no real reward for winning, and nothing really missed by losing, there is no incentive to invest more time and energy, so most don’t. This is meant to be (and is) the pinnacle of the sport in the U.K., but it looks more like Sunday league football in a dead-end division. The idea of paying BSN to stream for free on YouTube sounds nice, but I see two issues. One, would they have the capacity to stream more? Two, it would present a risk to their business model, and given they are probably the most sustainable entity in British Speedway right now, why would they want to take the risk? I don’t see the incentive for them. The Premiership clubs barely bothered to support a media day, so why volunteer to compromise a working model? I think the promoters need to show a lot more before you do that.

Sadly, the operating model has been allowed to evolve into what it currently is... Meaning neither league runs with any real prestige or financial rewards... Win your league? Yay!... Finish bottom of your league? Oh well, there's always next year... Many meetings are ran with almost zero jeopardy or consequence, which is "perfect" for those promoters who don't want any pressure... "Having to win" to keep a crowd level, costs money, time and brings with it some anxiety... The result of the meeting being, for a good number of promoters, "perfection" if it is a 46-44 win.... And, given that lack of prestige, and financial gain available, I 100% get their outlook... Sadly, it appears only us fans that want to see the sport grow, however, to get that growth means a completely new operating model, but, to bring in a "proper" operating model costs money.... A proper vicious circle... You cannot have jeopardy, consequence, credibility, integrity and prestige in victory, without having some serious financial rewards for success, which in turn delivers big publicity... However. You will never get those serious financial rewards, and big publicity, and prestige for victory, by running meetings without jeopardy, consequence, credibility, and integrity... A real race to the bottom currently...

Don't think this is about Berwick. No matter what club had been logged in for that date for a Championship match would have been bumped to get the BSN match on, and complete the section.

My first visit on sunday with my lad and he loved it even though he fell a couple of times and was very rusty but all round great effort from the team and owen was made very welcome Thanks so much for giving my lad much needed track time Paul

Let me guess the fan was 60 plus and wanted speedway to go back to the good old days

Would MPT and SL be eligible for the NDL next year?

Looking forward to attending this one, a group of 9 of us coming, not regulars and a few who haven't been speedway for years. 50-40 Witches, Fricke to top score

Bitterly disappointed to hear about Oxford’s situation. The Cheetahs return to racing represented a glimmer hope in an otherwise abysmal future for clubs of the past, such as Coventry, Swindon and Peterborough. It’s awful how exposed British speedway is. If it isn’t losing riders to challenge matches to Poland, it’s losing the ability to host meetings due to a reliance on other parties. We desperately, desperately need some sort of rejuvenation, very much like darts went through.

Hook, line and sinker... ForTITythiTITyeight... please just put me on ignore! 👍🏻

what the average person dont understand is they do it because its not safe.

So we’ve finally joined the others then. Wonder if this was always on the cards for this year under Louis, or whether it’s Mayfield’s own decision. I know people say you can’t beat being there and that’s true no doubt about it, but it HAS to affect attendance doesn’t it? Ok, they’ll probably make up the shortfall monetary wise by having fans of the away team subscribing who had no intention of going anyway, as well as some neutrals, but how many Ipswich fans will be tempted to save a tenna and watch in the comfort of their living rooms instead? Indeed, how many Lynn fans who planned on coming tomorrow evening, will now stay home and watch the stream instead? Save a tenna as well as spiralling travelling costs. Part of what makes a meeting entertaining is not just the racing, but the atmosphere by a well attended meeting so it’ll be disappointing if it has a noticeable affect on the numbers on the terraces.

Maybe they (foolishly) believed they had a decent team & didn't need changes? Some clubs are certainly more ruthless than others & will make changes to strengthen an already strong team!

Weve just been going round in circles with these posts for the past 4 months now havent we.. I know its opinion and its a forum, its what its for. But it does get tedious reading the same old stuff, just re-worded. Please dont insult me by saying "well dont read it then if you dont like it".. its a forum, we're gonna read all the posts arent we, to keep up to date. All the best guys, David

Concussion/bang on the head can be difficult to assess though - I had a wallop on the head and was dizzy/headache for a time and was withdrawn but then felt better and got reinstated for my last ride, with no issues.

You're spot on with that

Full statement for anyone unable to see: "🗞️ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗢𝘅𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘅𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗵𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 “You will be aware that over the weekend there have been a series of meetings following the termination of the deal between SIS and Oxford Greyhounds to stream racing from the BetGoodwin Stadium. “Inevitably that decision and subsequent ongoing negotiations impact on Oxford Speedway and I can confirm that Wednesday’s BSN Series meeting between the Cheetahs and Plymouth will not go ahead. “We will, however, travel to The Coliseum on Saturday night to face the Gladiators with the visit of Poole next Wednesday opening the official home season at the BetGoodwin Stadium. “Plymouth – and I must thank Mark Phillips for his understanding and co-operation on this – will now visit Cowley on April 22 to compete the BSN Southern Section fixtures – a date Berwick were due to travel south to fulfil a Championship fixture on. “That fixture will be re-arranged for later in the season. “With complex and involved negotiations between a number of stakeholders, including ourselves, on-going and the added inconvenience of a double Bank Holiday I did not feel it was possible to run Wednesday’s meeting. “I firmly believe that it is short-term inconvenience which will have long-term and far-reaching benefits for Oxford Speedway and Oxford Stadium. “British Speedway Promoters Ltd and the Speedway Control Bureau have been kept updated regarding the situation, as has Oxford Greyhounds. “I know there has been much online speculation and a lot of misinformation posted “as fact”. “We will keep our loyal supporters and sponsors updated via the club’s official channels.” Jamie Courtney, 7 April, 2026 #OxfordSpeedway | #BritishSpeedway🇬🇧"

Yes, but don't let that get in the way of all the potty-posters in here, Speedy!

Pretty routine win for the Witches in my opinion, I think our reserves will take a while to settle and Ben doesn’t traditionally do very well at Foxhole. 54-36

Certainly not 'happy clapper's as you put it. Plenty of constructive ideas and business contacts were put forward. Much constructive criticism and suggested solutions also supplied, mirroring quite a lot that is put forward on here. One thing I would say, having looked at some of the suggestions and comments in response, is there is a lot of disagreement between fans on what to do. Having been to Poland last year, and having seen the atmosphere created by the drumming and chanting section of the crowd, I tentatively suggested trying that here - to be told by one fan that if I brought a drum near him then he would shove the drumsticks inside me though an opening ( and it wasn't down my throat).

If he's gone I think its a great shame he brought ideas and professionalism to the Premiership and having the guy who directs the GP series could only be a good thing. Assuming he is still involved with Speedway Futures and that still has legs then hopefully we haven't seen the last of him.

Do we know yet how Thomson sustained these horrific injuries? Saw a Polish rider go under the fence on Instagram yesterday, I don't think he walked away from it!

You don’t have to wait until Monday night, there are fixtures from last season everyone can watch for free right now, which will be the same system and allow you to try things out. As has been communicated there are various options, and also this webpage https://guide.britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk which gives a step by step guide of the other ways to connect. If you still have problems email the BSN support, but best to check now. The new website allows a lot of new features including live pause and rewind, and will cope with future advances as well.