Steve Irving

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You said back in December they’d already signed one Flagrag. What happened?

The new owners are going to want to make a statement of intent. They’ll know full well the Ipswich supporters have been used to watching Doyle and Emil lead the team the last few years, and having Brennan (with all due respect to him) leading the team at 1 isn’t going to cut the mustard. If it’s Mayfield, that gives them a huge advantage over every other club when it comes to attracting a big hitter over. Especially those GP riders who might not make the cut, and will rely on a wildcard to remain in the series…

That’s what I saw too but I remember his average being a bone of contention back then, especially when it came to his eligibility to guest. Cant see this one happening for a few reasons, but if it does it’ll be interesting to see what average he’s given and whether it’ll be reassessed.

What would Robert Lambert’s average be out of interest?

That all goes out the window when you’re offered enough $$$$ Think it would actually do him the world of good personally. Looked to go backwards a little last year and could do with being sharpened up.

Surely that’s a complete conflict of interest? You can’t have two owners/promotors run their own clubs, and also own/run a second club between them in the same league. That’s just nuts. Glad Louis turned that particular proposal down! Wouldn’t think the Ipswich supporters would have been too thrilled either to be frank. The two promoters would naturally put their clubs first, and Ipswich would end up with the scraps just to get them running so their own clubs had a viable league to compete in. Assuming one was Chapman, he’s hardly going to help build a better team than his beloved Kings Lynn is he? Terrible idea, and pure desperation.

No offence intended but that’s not new news is it? Louis himself issued a statement over a fortnight ago now saying the same thing. Sale all agreed, just DD and paperwork to get through.

Being one of the “nice guys of the sport” shouldn’t be a yardstick for anyone to sign him. There may have been value signing him at the start of last season due to his average dropping due to riding with a wrist injury. But a solid season has seen that rise over half a point again. Little value, and a poor signing and a strange one all things considered. You’d have thought with his mates disappearing (Hawkins due to his loyalty to Chris, his words), King would have seen lifting the big one finally as a natural conclusion to his time at the club and he’d follow the others out the door. I guess with nobody else wanting him (understandably), a job is still a job I suppose. Not exactly out with the old, in with the new and a bright new dawn is it? Death, taxes, and Danny King at Ipswich.

His best mates that have kept him in the team all these years have now buggered off, and they STILL can’t get rid of him at Foxhall 😂

Exactly. Correct. He’s clearly going to have to be compensated for walking away. He’s not going to let them run HIS business. The sale is going to need to go through for everyone’s sake here. It’s a complete mess.

That doesn’t make any sense. So what is he selling then? He doesn’t want to “risk his own financial security”, but he’s asking a sh!t load of money for someone else to do just that? If he thinks it’s no longer profitable, and he thinks it’s only going to get worse and he’ll end up LOSING money, then why not give it away?

Times up. Another deadline missed. This is getting ridiculous, seriously how much longer do you give them? Starting to think that the others at BSPL towers pi$$ed Louis off that much that he’s doing this on purpose to be as disruptive as possible!

Rosco?

If it’s Mayfield Sports, then you’d put good money on at least one GP rider or ex GP rider being recruited. Not sure on two due to the lower points limit and Tom Brennan also likely being in the side.

That’s where the rumour came from. Phil does get some duff information given to him from time to time, like the Brennan to Sheffield information, but the fact Adam Ellis’ father has also claimed on here that he knows who it is, and liked Phil’s post naming Mayfield Sports, then you can safely say that this one is more than just rumour. If this comes off btw, then it’s a game changer for Ipswich particularly, and maybe in the future, British Speedway in general.

Possible, but again it’s the only one that is inaccurate. Ipswich has been removed from Doyle’s etc.

Well that’s another issue. If Ipswich are currently picking the bones out of the scraps left already, god help a potential sixth team. That’s why all those moaning at a lack of variety with only having five teams, need to understand that a top league only suits five clubs because of the lack of available riders of a certain pedigree! We had a seven team league in 2025, but let’s be brutally honest here, only five of them were competitive. Is it really worth adding more teams, if they’re just going to be cannon fodder like Oxford and Birmingham were last year?

With Louis admitting they’re way behind the other clubs because of the sale uncertainty, I think it’s clear that Ipswich are going to have to pick the bones out of what’s left this season. What the Ipswich faithful need to do though, is not judge the new owner on the back of potentially putting together a less than stellar line up. They’re coming in very late in the day so the supporters need to back the new owners and give them the benefit of the doubt. Next winter will be the time to judge their ambition when they’ve had a year to get their feet under the table. The worst thing that could happen, is the support to dwindle to a level where the new person makes a significant loss, and then simply sacks it all off in 12 months time on the back of it. That would put the sport in Ipswich in all kinds of trouble! Even if you’re disappointed in the line up, back them. At least in the short term.

Again, everyone seems to know who Chris Louis has sold Ipswich to. Is it Mayfield Sports Events LTD or is it someone else?

Ride for us this year and I’ll get you back in the GP series next year? Interesting theory and entirely plausible. Guess we’ll soon find out how ambitious they are, and whether they have any immediate influence. Finance shouldn’t be an issue.

Ipswich’ is by far the most interesting team building because it’s going to look a lot different to the ones we’re used to seeing. The others will just recycle most of what they’ve had before, Ipswich will probably look like a completely different team. And the added intrigue is nobody is too sure who is putting the team together. Is it Louis or the new guy? Or both?

There’s a lot of dreamers and pretend ITK’s on here, but Phil isn’t usually one of those to be fair to him. He didn’t seem in any doubt that Brennan was Sheffield bound.

They all do seem to be correct, so if that is a mistake then it’s the only one made. If he gets the 8% reduction as well as the British reduction, then that then creates a vacancy big enough for Chris Holder to add to the other options I mentioned earlier. A top three of Jack Holder, Chris Holder AND Woffinden, would be some spearhead in a weakened league of 37 points! Pickering would have to join either Ipswich or a potential sixth team if he wants a Premiership ride this year. Perhaps there is substance to the rumour he was pricing himself out of a return to Sheffield? No Brennan for Sheffield either. Both probably Ipswich bound.

If Woffinden has signed on again, that would leave 9.19 for last two. A 3 pointer at Six leaves 6.19. Janowski (already has three clubs?) Rew Ellis Tungate All fit. Would obviously mean no place for Pickering, Chris Holder or the rumoured Tom Brennan. Unless of course Woffinden gets a bigger reduction for spending the entire year out injured? And if it’s not a genuine oversight on the FIM website.