Steve Irving

If the takeover had gone through when all parties had originally hoped, Doyle wouldn’t have even been an option for Belle Vue mid season because he would have remained an Ipswich rider.

Yeah, let’s not even try to pretend that this season is remotely similar to last shall we? I know you’ll do your best to, because your team is likely to win it and you want the same plaudits for it, but let’s not be silly here. There were four genuine contenders last season, unlike the two this year. Last year every one of the seven clubs had an equal opportunity to be competitive, if two of them failed to do that then tough, their problem. They had no disadvantages. This year, two clubs could be written off immediately through no fault of their own and BOTH clubs didn’t have the same opportunity as the four others in being competitive so it wasn’t a level playing field. That’s just stating facts. There was a winter of discontent many years ago with the infamous Coventry/Peterborough shenanigans, but that paled in to insignificance compared to last winter. It was a set of circumstances unlike anything we’ve seen before and it caused an awful lot of damage to the brand. No confirmed league, no fixtures, no season tickets, literally weeks before the usual season would normally start. A protracted takeover at Ipswich was confirmed on February 28th, Northampton were cobbled together a week later on March 5th. The whole situation was a complete farce, embarrassing for everyone concerned and this year was always supposed to be a sticking plaster, a season to push through in preparation for a more serious league set up in 2027. People are going to be pleased with what they hear on 2027 in due course, wait for the announcements.

It was a 6 team league reduced from 7, two of those 6 (Northampton and Ipswich) weren’t tipped by anyone for obvious reasons. Nobody other than the odd die hard biased Leicester fan were tipping them because of the loss of their GP number 1. Lynn got a little backing at the beginning due to the excitement of signing said number 1, but that soon died down when the other teams were announced and it dawned on people that it’s, well, Kings Lynn. Nobody from memory were predicting Belle Vue to “walk it” , but they had more votes than Sheffield who were tipped to run them close so let’s call a spade a spade here. I know it’s a trait of you Belle Vue fans to big up any success as an against all odds fairytale and chase the adulation that you seem to crave, but winning a realistically two team shoot out in a crap 6 team league is really nothing to crow about this year.

Get him in! Wanna be entertained or not? This fella provides it in bucketfulls. No matter which British club signs him, id travel to go and watch him. I think this “danger” tag gets overplayed anyhow. All i see is a gutsy ballsy rider who isnt afraid to go for gaps. Ive seen Fricke be much harder than Woryna in the Grand Prix’s this year!

Not the first time you’ve done this, why the sarcasm? You bizarrely seem very annoyed that anyone could be lavishing any praise towards Richard Coleman for stepping in and saving Ipswich Speedway. Weird.

“In a unique team-building twist, WTS Sparta Wrocław has forged a strategic partnership with the Ipswich Witches in the British Premiership. Given the new "one foreign league" rule sweeping through Poland, both clubs are working in tandem to structure clever, cooperative rider contracts so that their stars can seamlessly manage commitments between both tracks in 2027” It was Coleman that first mentioned multi contracts between the two clubs earlier in the summer so it would be a bit bizarre if at least one contracted Wroclaw rider didn’t ride for Ipswich. I also know for a fact that last week Richard Coleman and Artur Rusko were working together back in Poland putting the Ipswich team together so it would be even more bizarre if there wasn’t a single rider riding for both clubs.

That @SteveArena pops up on various threads sticking the boot in on Richard Coleman. He has a bit of an unhealthy obsession with the bloke for some strange reason.

Artur Rusko and Richard Coleman have been busy the last few days putting the bulk of an Ipswich team together for next year , so you’d think things have already been loosely agreed for the League next year behind the scenes. Going to be an interesting few weeks ahead.

Stop being ridiculous! You can’t possibly “speak for the majority of Glasgow fans” so pack that nonsense in. And who the hell do you think you are aiming insults at someone for simply having an opinion you don’t like or agree with? Wind your neck in.

That’s exactly what he said on the stream during the interval to be fair. It’s clear it was Ipswich he was waiting patiently for last winter. Doesn’t matter how much a rider wants to ride for someone at the end of the day. There’s more than one component before a deal is struck. The club has to actually offer you something.

Didn’t Coleman himself say Wroclaw would have an influence and would have an input on the Ipswich team building next year? The Wroclaw fella is also now a director at Ipswich. He also said about multi contracts across the two clubs so you’d think there’s almost certain to be at least one rider who rides for both clubs. Someone like Mikkel Andersen maybe?

Tuned in to this, cracking meeting! Both the inside AND the outside were working well in terms of passing potential. Proves there’s nothing wrong with the shape, it’s all down to preparation. Why can’t they be consistent with it? A few of the riders have been having a whinge that it’s different every week they go there, why? They stumbled upon a formula that works last night either through luck of judgment, stick with it!

What the hell is wrong with you lot? I’m convinced a few people are now just on a wind up. If not, this is just cry arsing for cry arsing sake! We’re literally just in to August ffs and people are having a pop that nothing has been mentioned about NEXT year? Who the hell was expecting anything to be announced about 2027 by August 1st 2026? We know for a fact they’ve been having regular meetings far earlier this year to avoid a repeat of last winter if anyone even bothered to listen to the Richard Coleman interview. They’re not, and never were, realistically going to go public by August 1st on anything for 2027. Unbelievable.

Once again thats a very good interview and I’m more impressed every time I hear him speak. I know there’s fans of other clubs who wont be as enthused about him coming in because they’ll see it as a competitor being in rude health and potentially having strong teams in the near future which will harm their own clubs chances of success and I totally understand that. It’s natural as a fan to think that way. BUT, what they need to understand is the bloke seems genuinely more interested in pulling British Speedway up off the floor and getting it back on its feet than prioritising Ipswich’ individual success. As he says “Ipswich will need somebody to race against” and he clearly wants a thriving British league so everybody should be behind him because its in everyones interest not just Ipswich. The little smirk when he was talking about some just wanting to keep “The status quo” and some not being receptive to his ideas was probably an indication that he's fully aware he’s up against it. Every single one of us know exactly who he’s talking about without him even having to name them! Until these absolute dinosaurs who want to continue limping along each year, reducing the points limit each year and doing the bare minimum each year, become extinct, then I fear he’ll be fighting a losing battle. You can bet your last Rolo that they’ll absolutely despise Richard Coleman.

Isn’t that Woryna’s club? Perhaps they’ll swap clubs. Who knows. Will be an interesting Winter this one.

It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on any movement in and out of Wroclaw in a few months time. Unlike us, they tend to get their house in order very early over there and their teams signed and sealed in good time. Artur Rusko is now a director at Ipswich of course, and it was Coleman that mentioned “multi contracts” between the two clubs more than once so you’d think there’d almost certainly be at least one rider who represents both clubs. Was it @PhilTheAce that mentioned Dan Bewley was on the move from Wroclaw this winter? Apologies if it wasn’t. If that is the case, wonder if Woryna could be his replacement..

Never a truer word spoken. We can only hope things may finally be about to change but it’s definitely a “don’t hold your breath” scenario.

Richard Coleman ”The sport can’t continue to do the same thing with a little bit less money each year and expect a different result” In a nutshell.

That’s all we can do really isn’t it? They’ve tried all the “five year plan” nonsense before only to rip it all up 12 months later and change things. There’s so much uncertainty in British Speedway unfortunately with developers/Tracks closing, that we can only really view things short term and take each year as it comes and see what clubs come to the table for the following year. Nothing much is really going to change while the current incumbents are still ruling the roost in terms of taking the sport forward with fresh plans and ideas also.

You’ve got to feel for Sheffield here. It can’t be understated how much of a blow losing Tru7 must have been, especially when no replacement was forthcoming,, To then lose your GP star through injury who without question would have put bums on seats, is another kick in the nuts. Hopefully they can limp through the rest of this season, get a new main sponsor on board this winter and then go again in 2027.

Well done once again, Richard Coleman. 19 quid instead of 25 quid full price, will hopefully tempt SOME of those who have been tempted to stay away and watch the stream at 15 quid a pop, to attend and watch it live for only 4 quid more.

We also know this to be true, he’s admitted it himself. The BSPL have form for this kind of behaviour though, Louis also admitted to being “ ostracised” by his fellow BSPL members over his signing of Sayfutdinov!

“The” season? Where has that been said? All he’s said is work had already started on building a team for next year. What on earth is wrong with that? He’s also been very vocal about the state of the sport in this country, to the point he seems to have annoyed quite a few Ipswich supporters on social media because he seems to be prioritising the sport in general here rather than the club he’s just brought! Don’t let the truth get in the way of a needless pop though eh? He’s also criticised the promotion (or lack of) of Speedway in this Country, so that’s what he’s doing, promoting his club. He’s not daft, he knows what the Ipswich faithful have been used to seeing in recent years and he’ll know full well they won’t be happy with the team they’re currently watching. All he’s done, is given them assurances and hope, that next year will look a lot better. There’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with that whatsoever.

There isn’t one. What? So you’re saying he’s actually lying and there WERE better option out there? Name names as you seem to be another playing the “in the know” game. Let’s look at the facts here shall we? It was your “messiah” Louis and his mate that decided to bugger off at the eleventh hour leaving not only Ipswich hunting around for the scraps left on the table, but also inconvenienced every other club in the league with his selfish attitude. He left his own die hard supporters fearing the absolute worst over the long winter months, not knowing whether their beloved club would still even exist, which also threw the whole league set up in chaos with no clubs able to release their own fixtures and sell their own season tickets which clubs rely on for winter cash flow. I find your post along with those from TTT incredibly ungrateful to both Richard Coleman, AND Paul Hurry for rescuing Ipswich and the top league this season. Hurry by all accounts, doesn’t get paid a single penny for his role as team manager, just expenses paid. He’s doing the club a favour here. I find it genuinely staggering that an Ipswich supporter of all people, are looking at Coleman’s arrival negatively. In my opinion, he’s been a breath of fresh air and spoken incredibly well on lots of varying issues. The communication has been first class despite him only being in place a matter of months. Coleman knew his media man Paul Burbidge had written up the main story in the Speedway Star about the partnership with Wroclaw a couple of weeks ago, so he gathered supporters at Foxhall to tell them the news first, 24 hours before the article went to press. That again, is first class. That partnership should be exciting the Ipswich supporters, not creating negativity. It’s certainly ruffled a few feathers of fans from other clubs judging by their catty comments on here! I see one from Leicester a few posts up has joined the party, “liked” by the usual suspects from Manchester. The bloke has literally just walked in the door at your club, he’s given the supporters another year of Speedway despite only getting the keys in March, all whilst promising the supporters a better 2027 when they’ll be given a fair chance of building a team. Show some gratitude.

You’ve GOT to be kidding here surely? Absolutely. The riders had every right to be unhappy, Douglas and Masters weren’t even remotely interested in their first outing and who can blame them. Correct. It was absolutely dreadful conditions in the opening heats. The grade helped slightly after the second heat, but it still took a good few more heats before it settled down properly. Brennan, Nicholls, D Thompson all rightly critical of the conditions in their interviews.