Aries

Tune! 😁

Maybe GM, maybe not! I’ll believe it when I see it this time after the last fiasco. I still remember the official website posting pictures of Louis shaking Busters hand and the headline “Witches sold”. Weeks and then months went by and nothing further was ever said. We now know that Buster backed out of that deal, but nobody said a word, it was all just swept under the carpet as if nothing happened and Louis just carried on as usual!

I hope so speedy. It’s great that we’re still running and the loyal fans will still have their speedway on a Thursday don’t get me wrong, but it’ll still need to be an attractive side to entice the fence sitters (I consider myself one of those) to attend regularly again instead of picking the odd meeting here and there. It’s already a less appealing league than it was even last year due to losing two clubs and a reduced team limit, so it’s gonna need a star man at the top of the team to prevent a big drop off in attendance IMO. There’s likely to be a drop off regardless due to the reasons I’ve said, plus losing two hugely popular riders in Emil and Doyle so it’s a damage limitation job to try and prevent the drop off from being too severe.

Almost signed him to replace Doyle in 2024. Can’t see it now though and I think it’s going to have to be a totally different strategy to the one we’re used to seeing in recent years.

Probably Louis I’d have thought. Think some deals were already done early doors so they’ll probably be resurrected if those riders are still available. Wonder if Vaculik could be tempted? Only has one club in Poland as far as I can see, nothing in Sweden or Denmark and of course, no GP’s now either. Needs more racing than that surely?

Or third option, Sheffield have someone else other than Chris Holder. I’m surprised Rew hasn’t been snapped up as yet. Big fan personally and so much more to come. Another great result for him today https://fimspeedway.com/news/rew-claims-fim-oceania-crown

Neither 😂 Night shift. Finished at 7 this morning. Bath and bed for me! 😴

https://fimspeedway.com/en/riders/tai-woffinden The FIM website has Woffinden a Sheffield rider. A mistake? Initially thought they could be the riders 2025 clubs, but there’s no Ipswich on Doyle’s and Fricke has Lynn as his GB club.. https://fimspeedway.com/sgp/riders

All sounding very final this evening, as if a sale and a new direction has gone through..

.

Wonder if he gets the 25% again? He’s already had it once hasn’t he?

A relief. Still begs the question, who will be running it..

That’s not exactly difficult to do in this day and age either is it really? Pretty basic stuff.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting if nothing else. We’ll surely know more on Ipswich’ situation one way or another (they can’t release any kind of statement and avoid mentioning Ipswich surely), and we’ll also know more on any potential 5th/6th team. They did after all, guarantee a MINIMUM five team league so it’s either Ipswich or a.n.other or both.. Your suggestion is also a possibility to give club(s) even more time we’ll see.

I’m guessing somebody will have to declare the Witches running or not tomorrow 🤷🏼‍♂️ Everyone else has waited long enough. Fixtures need sorting and season tickets need to be sold. Not looking promising is it.

Ritchie Hawkins will also be a massive miss by the way. A figure of fun for some because of his demeanour, but he was an excellent team manager and done an awful lot behind the scenes that many don’t realise. He genuinely loved Ipswich and being part of the club.

You’re right, I’d add in they may also need a new track man and presenter if the current incumbents also decide to walk out of loyalty to Chris. You’d hope that Louis wouldn’t just sell and walk away completely right away. He did say he would work tirelessly over the coming weeks and months to make sure the club was left in good hands, so perhaps he would hang around and help the new person/people settle in by helping them build a team to keep the wheels moving.

It’s both a risk for the buyer, AND the seller so it’s a very difficult one to value. On the face of it it certainly does currently look like a failing business model, but what if it turns around in 2027? People will scoff at that suggestion and with good reason, but we know plans are being put in place to make sure next winter, isn’t like this one. People keep saying machinery, starting gates, and air fences are the assets. But it’s the supporters who are the assets. A well supported club will always be worth more financially, than a poorly supported club for obvious reasons. Ipswich would be one of the plum pick ups because of the loyal core fan base. The difficulty is the valuation and trying to predict how much of an effect the negativity of a dwindling top flight, plus the loss of Doyle and Emil, will have on attendances. It’ll definitely have an effect for certain, but to what degree remains to be seen and that’s why it’s difficult to value. If Louis sells too low and the sport sorts itself out even marginally, and the crowds return, then he could end up losing out. If the buyer buys too high and the downward spiral continues and the crowds dwindle further, then they’ve made a poor investment. It ain’t easy.

This was said this time last year too. I’m not sure he has the consistency to do that but we’ll see.

Looks like we’re going to have to wait and see what transpires on Tuesday. If anything!

Couldn’t disagree with you more. All about opinions isn’t it.

That’s the problem when you issue these timeframes. To be fair to him, he did say he was “hopeful” that a sale would be announced, not WOULD be announced. But when you issue these timeframes and that then elapses with no announcement, that then just increases the worry. He's going to have to update Ipswich folk now or SHOULD update the fans I should say. Whether that be simply talks still ongoing but taking longer than expected, or the deal is dead like the discussions with the previous two interested parties. There’s only five days until the re-arranged AGM, so we’re getting very close to the end game in any case.