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It is a moment all Panthers and Speedway supporters should take great pride in. We’re not there yet, but a foot is in the door.

No... It was cancelled last week due to the poor forecast...

If the Colts at the NSS were the "only ticket in town" for Speedway they would get very decent attendances... When they started at the NSS they got 800 and sometimes more at a tenner a time... And that was with the Aces getting around 1700 on average.. The sport is down very much to its "die hards" who will attend "any" Speedway locally... Oxford have shown by choosing to run in the 2nd tier, rather than the first, that the cost v return of the top riders doesnt make for a great business decision... And Plymouth have shown that running on a Saturday, with all the same riders in attendance, can circa double their attendances from a Tuesday night... Workington also changed their starting times on Saturdays and saw a significant increase. Same riders, just a more convenient time for fans to attend. I notice they didn't try and run Monday or Thursday afternoons... The Peterborough team involved in any possible comeback have said crowds were similar for them whether they were in Div 1 or Div 2... The unpalatable truth for some is that paying £20k out for two heat leaders for two meetings from your home meeting, (regardless of whether sponsors pay it or not), is simply ridiculous for a sport that, even in the top tier, can often deliver crowds of less than 1000, (and that alone shows their presence isn't pulling too many in)... It also massively reduces jeopardy in the league as those "few" who can pay that kind of money will always be in the play offs... (And that level of sponsors money would be better used marketing the club, and nationally, the sport)... Poole are the perfect example of a team that simply haven't missed the "top stars" and run on the night they need to, to deliver their best crowd level.. Speedway is a tiny, tiny sport, with my lad playing amateur/semi pro football in front of bigger crowds than many Speedway teams get.. You can see by the fact no one is willing to move up that the top tier operating and business model is not fit for purpose... To keep flogging a dead horse is madness...

Why do you think? Because clubs are for sale, clubs are closing for housing, crowds are down, riders haven’t been paid, the TV deal has gone, whilst promotors want to continue with the same structure, that quite clearly isn’t working and isn’t sustainable and that’s just the Premiership.

IMO Monday night Premiership racing is the worst decision ever made. Thursday is slightly better. Who wants to really go out on a Monday night especially parents with kids. And if you’re trying to attract a younger early 20s audience, generally they’ve spent out over the weekend. The majority of our meetings should be on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and if that means we have to lose the ‘stars’ then so be it, the sport is or needs to be bigger than any individual rider.

Just back from a week’s holiday in Rhodes and on the second day I was wearing my Dan Bewley Wroclaw shirt around the pool. Later that evening while at the bar, someone appeared behind me and asked if I was Polish or English as he had seen me wearing the shirt. I replied English and he introduced himself as Andreas Bergstrom. We chatted briefly for ten minutes before I had to go. A few evenings later I saw him again and this time we spent the evening sinking plenty of whiskey and rum and putting the speedway world to rights! A top fella with a lovely family. Couldn’t speak highly enough about Berwick, the club and its supporters (less complimentary about a certain person who was at the club when he rode though!) His stories were brilliant, funny, eye opening and his opinion on a certain Swedish ex-World Champion was surprising! 😉 His thoughts on speedway’s current crop were also very interesting, and his love for Bomber Harris oozed out of him. His fears for the future of both Swedish and British speedway echo many of our own, as do his ideas of how to promote the sport and turn it round. But as he said himself, there are too many people in positions of power who don’t want wholesale change for the better due to their own business interests. He currently runs his own industrial firm which is extremely busy but hopes to get some time off to come to watch the GP in the UK next year when hopefully we can meet up again. The only downside meeting him was that I’m still in the doghouse with the missus for chatting to him all night at the bar rather than spending it with her and our daughter! 🤣

Neil Middleditch, Matt Ford, Danny Ford, Gary Havelock, Captain Pugwash, Captain Jack Sparrow, Chris Foster, Thomas Hardy, Richard Lawson, Kristen Scott Thomas, Alan Carr, Zach Cook, Forever Blue, John le Carre', Anders Rowe, Billy Bragg, Lewis Kerr, Sir Walter Raleigh, LBW, Tobias Thomson, PJ Harvey, Pirates of Poole, Will Cairns, Kate Aide, Shovlar, Paul Starke, Lisa Collette, Harry Redknapp, Martin Clunes, The 2nd bend NIDS your boys just took one hell of a beating!

I'll play devil's advocate As you and your team have no interest in being a part of it what the f@c£ has your opinion got to do with it

Who are these Northampton fans that would go to Leicester or even Oxford ? They don’t exist, what’s the point of having a new team that doesn’t have any fans or a track or any history of fans that would still be alive, inventing a team and expecting fans that don’t exist to attend a track miles away from the town it’s supposed to represent is stuff of the matrix

Just got back. Well done to Redcar no complaints from the Poole fans. Such very very fine margins. If poor Tobias had made it over the line Pirates would have been celebrating the treble. Just one of those nights but I feel the team were complacent. Special mention for Jody Scott who put it all out there, an inch from the fence. Certainly a rider on an upward trajectory. Redcar got a very warm reception from all the Poole fans when they went over to their fans after heat 14. Poole fans really are the best out there.

Only "superstars" can have top quality races??? Look up Heat 14 from the Glasgow v Edinburgh playoff semi (British Speedway Network posted it on their Facebook page on 27th September) It was a fantastic race between Perry, MPT & Flint swapping places. Then contrast that with the dross that was GB v Poland at the same track which had Bewley, Woffinden, Zmarzlik and Janowski, 3 of the 4 riders that had just competed in whatever they call the World Pairs final these days, and next to no passing all night. It was one of the worst meetings ever at Ashfield. The only worse ones I can think of were ruined by rain. Glasgow fans are very happy with the entertainment on show at Ashfield every week. Star names do not mean better races. Glasgow fans want to race Fridays, and the promotion fought long and hard to get it. They also have the derbies with Edinburgh and Berwick and rivalry with Poole, and to a lesser extent Redcar and Workington. They also have a competitive team. And they run with (what the promotion deem to be) acceptable losses each year. All of which would be lost propping up the failing Premiership. The Facennas are working hard to build up the speedway at Glasgow but that move would not make any sense and could jeopardise the future of the Tigers.

The riders can ask for more money but they most likely won't get it... They will then have four options... Give up speedway and get another job.. Keep riding and get more sponsors.. Keep riding and ride in other countries.. Get a job alongside riding Speedway.. I would suggest giving up Speedway would be very much the last option for the vast majority.. There clearly isn't any "best option" for the sport given the state it has been allowed to end up in, just the "least worst"... Having a top league of so few teams won't engage too many to keep turning up In reality, what do they have to offer? At least a six figure increase in costs? Restricted race nights which most likely will actually reduce crowd levels given the change of nights? An increase in admission fees for the fans to pay the higher costs?.. A chance to put an uncompetitive team together as other teams have already sewn up the most wanted "top riders"... "Top riders" who, after any novelty wears off, won't make much of a difference (if any), to the crowd numbers anyway.... Not exactly a "winning formula" is it? There is a perfect example of which level is more suitable for the current UK issues... Oxford.. They had plenty of World Class riders in attendance last season. but have decided to drop the top tier and keep their second tier position...

There was a match presented to the paying public last week at Leicester. It was a double header Leicester vs Belle Vue in the NDL followed by Leicester vs Kent in the NDT. In the first match Leicester tracked 2 guests and R/R, Belle Vue 1 guest and R/R In the second match Leicester tracked 5 guests 1 of which didn't start and Kent R/R In the second match Leicester tracked 3 riders who were riding for Belle Vue in the first match. In the second match Kent tracked 1 rider who was riding for Belle Vue in the first match. The 2nd match was scheduled to start at 20:30 but didn't start until after 21:00 and the 2nd match was abandoned after heat 14 due to the curfew. I was toying with the idea of attending this as my last match of the season as it's a long close season. I asked Leicester Speedway a simple question on TwitterX of how much the admission price was only to get no reply... so I didn't bother. Everything that is wrong with British Speedway encapsulated in 1 night! And the powers that be are proposing business as usual as the cure... the sport is finished!

British Speedway has two options. A) make sure it is the one other league that riders choose or B ) strike out on its own. Remove the fixed race day and rebuild its own product. Short term the big names will stay in Poland but if we focus on developing our own riders in the long term we won’t be as reliant on Poland propping the sport up as it apparently (according to Poland) does right now. The bubble could always burst in Poland. It did here after all. It is in our best interests to have our own sustainable model here in the event of that happening.

Let's take one of the best ran clubs and make them completely change their operating model and business plan, and make them follow an operating model and business plan that has shown it clearly isn't fit for purpose, nor sustainable... What a great idea....

You won the double had a chance of a treble, but you Poole fans want a big shake up. I really can't work out what more do you guys want from the riders? They gave it their all. It's sport, sometimes you lose and in most cases you won.

Whilst many advocate keeping today’s top riders gainfully employed in the UK at a cost that no club can afford without generous sponsorship, that is a questionable position hold in the overall scheme of things. All who dismiss the lesser known riders and those coming through the ranks at NDL level as not being worthy, please explain where tomorrow’s top star riders are going to come from. Doyle, Lambert, Bewley etc. will not go on forever so where are the stars of the future coming from in the UK. The sport in this country does not have the facilities that the likes of Poland have who are able to have a conveyor belt of talent. Something has to give as the sport means diddly squat to all but a few thousand punters, it does not make good live TV and from an investment aspect you have to be a raving lunatic to put money into a business model where the terms of running are dictated by people and factors over which you as the club owner rarely have control. The sport can survive and rebuild itself but it will never attract a mass audience in the UK to warrant big pay days for the top riders in the world so it needs to cut its cloth accordingly and all the banging on about the need to keep the top tier and top riders and TV deals are just topics that can be debated to death but the reality is that outside the loyal followers no one is interested or listening and while many ideas put forward on here have some merit it is it is not going to influence the way the sport is run now or in the future.

And both will be as well known as each other to the vast majority of the local population... Watching Dan Bewley fly around the fence at the NSS is great, however, watching him cross the finishing line as two rising stars are still getting around bends three and four doesn't make for much of a spectacle... Even four "Superstars" in a race, most times, ends up with the winner being half a straight ahead of fourth... At the NSS. You can basically pay £25 to watch the "Superstars" on a Monday or Thursday, deliver similar racing to what you can see the NDL lads do, for £15, at the weekend... With the vast majority of the local population not knowing their "Dan Bewley's" from their "Will Cairns'".. Or even who Belle Vue are, or what Speedway is... With any title victory for the Aces or the Colts meeting a similar level of recognition locally from the vast majority of the 2.75M who live within 45 mins of the track.. In any business, if you can find a way to deliver a similar standard of product, but for less cost, and then pass that saving onto your customers in a lower price point, then surely that has to be good for your business...? Or even use some of the cost savings to invest in marketing, to get what you sell out into the consciousness of those living within your catchment area...?

Britain competing PL on a Mon/Thu is a relatively new thing and has just about killed off the sport, and the PL in particular, in this country. I take it you're a relative newcomer to Speedway and Ipswich? Personally I think new punters are more likely to want to come and see young Johnny Local making his way to better things in the sport rather than Johan Foreigner who flies in for his pension fund top up.

And be 100% correct to do so..? A business is only successful when you meet what your customers want.... And isn't, when you don't listen to them and ride rough shod over their wishes... A sport is only successful when built on crowd sizes and atmosphere... So run it when the most people want to be there..

TTT this and almost all your other posts assume that prem Clubs have some cards to play, they really don't, they're almost in a beggers can't be choosers position.If belle vue/ipswich owners/promoters decide they'd rather sell then so be it

I agree... and as a Leicester fan I'd be more than happy to see us in the CL... the PL has failed

Was it rained Off!!!!

This isn’t true, Max is still racing next season

It's simple, you hit the ground running from the mid March to the end of August with league fixtures (Just like the Premiership do). Would be 16 home league matches, plus at least one KO Cup fixture, making 17 meetings to fit into 24 Race nights, allowing for rain offs/rider availability. The BSN series is a nonsense competition. While we are on the subject, Mark Lemon's comments on the same page in the SS were tone deaf as usual, speaking about the Championship clubs not to think about themselves being okay (I'm alright jack was what I think was quoted). If he wants to mess about thinking that clubs like Poole and Glasgow should move up to save the Premiership, then he needs to give his head a wobble. The crowds both clubs get provide the best business model to run a sustainable sport with a future. Getting the biggest names in the sport to ride over here is not sustainable in the long term apart from 2/3 clubs unless Lemon is quite happy to see clubs go to the wall. He wants to try promoting speedway outside a major city then he will see how hard it really is.

According to one promoter... "The No 1's".... Who all then pretty much effed off to Poland and Sweden as soon as the UK gravy train ended for them.. Personally I wasnt ever convinced bringing "the top stars" back a few years ago was going to be a "Golden Ticket" given the fact that when pretty much every single top rider (maybe apart from Tomaz Gollob), rode over here week in, week out, during the "Sky years", the crowds didn't grow, in fact, they kept declining overall... Which suggested the "top names" were not deal breakers as to whether fans were attending or not... Plymouth is a perfect example of where "the cast of the production" hasn't changed, yet the number of people now watching them has increased considerably, just by changing their "opening hours", which are now obviously more aligned to people's leisure time...

As an Ipswich supporter it was great to win the league after so many years. However, based of course on endless speculation it would appear like the Premiership is acting like a playground bully. Unfortunately apart from Ipswich the business model would appear not to work, root and branch review will not work. The tree is dead. It requires chopping down and a new one planted.

"It's not a Circus, it's a pantomime" "Oh no it isn't" "Oh yes it is"

I wouldn’t read too much into that.

Meanwhile... if true, there's riders in the PL on guarantees who don't care one jot about British Speedway. While Trigger and Perry may not have been the next Bartosz Zmarzlik they could well have been the next Simon Lambert's and without them the sport is dead.

You talking from experience.

Where is the source of this concept coming from. Unless I am mistaken, The 2026 GP series will run pretty much in line with 2025 concept. Or put another way, your post is without foundation and is in fact utter garbage!

Are all these returning GP riders going to ride for a lot less money, because if they don't we cant afford them

Thumbs up to the Comets management 😄 just been in town and the local electronic advertising board at bottom of Ramsey brow, main entrance into the town, has a message for all to see. Thank you to all supporters and sponsors for supporting us 2025 season

For me as a worky fan, very similar to Plymouth A good season is watching entertaining racing with the majority of home wins, if we get beat by a better team so be it 😄 Then if our team survives and runs the following season that is a success and hopefully the guys that run the speedway have broken even

So what? Only one team can win a title -- real success is having an entertaining team providing excitement for fans, getting enough bums on seats to pay the bills.

Why should Glasgow prop up the top league. The top league over the years have pocketed fortunes from the TV deals. Now because they haven't got a TV deal you expect 2nd division clubs to throw them a rope. I would tell them to get stuffed. The only reason the top league might only run with 5/4 teams is down to them. They stood by and watched Tolly skint himself last season and now you think other clubs should follow suit?. They made their bed. Let them lie in it.

The current business model is clearly unsustainable. Premiership club dies so a Championship club has to step up to keep the Premiership afloat. Rinse and repeat. This Groundhog Day can only repeat itself a finite number of times, before long there will be no teams left. It’s concerning the number of fans who think things should carry on this way, let alone that the people running the sport seem to agree.

With Phil Morris in charge of track prep, boats wouldn't be out of place...

5 teams won’t work, surely they know this, at this rate by 2027 we will have the equivalent of the Oxford/Cambridge boat race

Poole fans leaving early 😂😂😂😂 An absolute rarity in speedway after watching your team just fall short of winning every trophy available. Plastic fans with an absolute embarrassment of a track.

You said that Tigers will not win any silverware with Cami Brown as Team Manager, I pointed out that they won with the Playoffs with him as Team Manager in 2023. They topped the league this season with him as Team Manager. And almost won the Playoffs this year with him as Team Manager. Basically, my point is that you're talking mince.

Yes if he would ride for rising star money because his performances during his stint in the uk just about warranted them

Full series here.

I suggested on here, (what seems a lifetime ago now), that the BSB model was "perfect" for UK Speedway.. I think It was around the time that Poland basically "took over".. I worked with Cadbury at the time, promoting their products in my stores, and got free passes to Oulton Park to watch the BSB and could see how professional and slick it was ran.. Shane Byrne and Leon Haslam were among the main men at the time and both went on to "bigger things" but left with the blessing of the BSB as they "knew their place" in the hierarchy of motorbike racing.. And ensured that they had plenty of "Shane Byrne's and Leon Haslam's" lined up to replace them... With both having good careers elsewhere before coming back to end their careers with the BSB... The UK promoters need to accept their place in the hierarchy and stop wasting "huge" resources for such a small sport, paying out up to £5k a night to a "World Star" and instead pay a grand a night to five young UK lads who just may come through and progress to a level on the World Stage, and then ensure they have another five to replace them when they move on... They "brought back" "World Stars" to "Bring the crowds back", without, (as far as I can see and know), any market research at all as to why crowds had dropped... And, once again, used a large chunk of TV money to do it... And all to deliver the current situation.. Truly. Incredible...

Sorry but i think rather than moan we should be thankful. If ticket prices and Hotels prices are sensibly priced both night’s will sell out and provide superb entertainment.

Haven't you heard... Christmas has been put back to March 😂

Mediocre riders making full time living out the sport.Something has to give.Doubling up for a lot of riders should be Speedway and a job outside the sport.

If that's the point of the league there should be team building rules to allow that but there isn't and we built a team to the rules that didn't even end up winning a trophy so obviously we're not the only ones who can sign the best riders, does our 2024 team look like something a team with infinite money bags would put together? Why should Glasgow take the risk into a top league that is killing every other team that goes into it, giving up our Friday race night and isolating ourselves from our local clubs? Glasgow owners also sponsor the championship, will they stop that to save money in turn starting the championship on a downward spiral? Glasgow's closest club in the top league is Belle Vue, between those two clubs you have not just Berwick and Edinburgh but Redcar and Workington with Scunthorpe around equal distance. Glasgow is trying to get families coming with their kids to enjoy speedway, a Friday night works well since parents don't have to worry about kids getting home too late on a school night. Finally Glasgow isn't a speedway city, the owners have mentioned it before but no one cares if Tai Woffinden of Emil Sayfutdinov are in town, most people who you'd tell would look at you like you're insane. You wouldn't get a big draw of new fans flooding in for these top league names, maybe a couple fans from Edinburgh/Berwick but not enough to balance the increased wages. I understand being a premiership team fan wanting a competitive exciting league, despite all the above points I'd love for us to give the top league a go as long as it means the club won't die in a year but what are the actual benefits to moving up from a business perspective? From your posts it just sounds like you want to punish Glasgow for doing a good job .

100% agree with you as I said no good/easy answers, personally I think the top league is done either now or within the next 3 years the championship is a much more sustainable business model particuarly when they can run on the best night for their business Plymouth being a rare success this year.