Aries

Crikey. Well you were talking about who would be able to afford these “top riders”. I’m not sure Fricke is cheaper than those you’ve mentioned. He certainly shouldn’t be being the best rider that currently rides here.

You’ve missed out Leicester. Unless you don’t think the best rider in the league is a “top rider”.

Is this a “sport” or not? Find me a footballer supporter who has watched their team get beaten most weeks, finished second bottom and ask them if they think it was a “successful season”. You’ll be hard pushed to find one so I don’t agree with you I’m sorry. A club not expected to stay up but avoids relegation against the odds, could consider it a successful season. But that jeopardy doesn’t apply here does it. “But it’s been good racing”. Again, find me a football supporter who would get up and cheer an opposing player banging one in to the top bin from 20 yards against YOUR keeper and saying “great goal son! Enjoyed that one” Appreciate it sure, you wouldn’t enjoy it though. Speedway supporters have long had a stigma attached to them. Programme boards, cr@p club jackets, some with badges attached, fishing chairs and tartan blankets, flasks, etc etc. I was going to say Speedway supporters are generally a bit weird but that’s too unkind. Let’s just say in the main, they’re a bit, erm, different!

This must be the only sport on planet earth where finishing second bottom of the table could be classed as “a successful season”. Absolutely bonkers Speedway supporters.

I’d say the biggest issue for Glasgow moving up is where they are! Much easier for supporters to get to a few meetings in the championship including the Scottish derby, than it is in the Premiership. They have the set up and crowd levels to make a go of it in the Premiership. It all comes down to how well clubs are supported as much as good sponsorship. You’re not going to make it pay with one or the other, you’ll need both. Unfortunately, the majority in the Championship just don’t have the fan base to make top flight Speedway work. Tolley lost a packet because the attendances at Birmingham were rubbish. He was quite public about the attendance figures he needed to break even, and they weren’t getting close to it. If you don’t have that guaranteed core base even when things aren’t going well on track, then you’ll end up out of pocket. Tinkering around with the rules, like doing away with guests and double uppers which some seem to hate, isn’t suddenly going to swell attendances up and down the country. In fact, it won’t make a jot of difference!

You’ve literally contradicted yourself in two sentences. If those people haven’t heard of the “current elite”, then they won’t know who’s been borrowed and from which club either and wouldn’t be bothered with it.

Agree can’t see hardly anyone being there to be honest. Strange time when people are at work and seems hastily arranged too. Not enough time for people to even book the day off work as not enough notice given. At least the groups of Romanian’s will be there to see it! Gathered around the cornhill on a daily basis making everyone else feel uncomfortable 🙄

At last someone who seems to understand the issues regarding “sharing” the top riders around. In either League! There’s only certain clubs who can afford the more pricey riders so the issue is not only can the less well off clubs afford a big hitter that now can’t be fitted in elsewhere, and will those riders now accept a lower deal because that’s the only offer left on the table. As I’ve said on other threads, you could end up losing riders to British Speedway because they’re not prepared to accept what a lower paying club will pay them. If a few of the top boys DO accept a lower deal somewhere where they didn’t want to go, is that in itself fair to said riders because of a restriction in the rules? You’ve also got the issue of local sponsorship. You’ll have riders that have acquired valuable sponsorship at the club they’re settled at, that they’ll now lose by being forced in to moving elsewhere. I personally hope any thoughts of “sharing” riders by enforcing new rules, doesn’t see the light of day and let all teams build how they like within the points limit.

Totally agree here. Dan was also on fire for us at Ipswich until he broke his wrist. Had his moments when he returned, but never regained that early season form. Maybe the wrist was manageable but still causing issues? Who knows but plenty of time to rest over the long winter months and come back 100% next year.

Mind you, a five team league isn’t appealing to anyone either I wouldn’t have thought. Don’t think any of us are happy with that idea. Fingers crossed at least one club can be persuaded/helped to make the move up.

Of course it’s about opinions! I’m responding to people’s “opinions” on what kind of racing they prefer and what division, not what they think their club can afford. People have given their OPINION that they prefer to see less of certain teams and riders throughout the season and prefer more variety. I’ve simply given mine.

I don’t get this narrative at all I’m sorry. I would absolutely have LOVED to see Hans Nielsen and Erik Gundersen visit Foxhall on a regular basis. All about opinions isn’t it? Me personally, would much MUCH prefer to see Kurtz and Bewley visit with Belle Vue several times a year, than watch the splendid “variety” of top tier talent like Tobias Thomsen, Jake Allen and Palovaara sparingly. The anticipation of seeing that array of talent that you don’t often see must be absolutely mouth watering. So jealous of the championship 😞

Under current rules Jenkins would get the 25% reduction for exiting the rising star scheme. Could change at the AGM of course. If it doesn’t, makes sense to use that to our advantage and have him at 6, leaving more scope for the top five.

Brennan is nailed on and so he should be IMO.

If the 36 limit is true, even Doyle and Brennan as a top two would be pushing it, let alone adding Bewley.

Maybe Fricke is off to a new entry to the league..

Ellis seems really popular behind the scenes as well. Nice words from Louis there. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if he was kept on too.

Not a huge fan myself I have to agree.

Nobody would get remotely close to them at the NSS with that side.

I’d usually agree, but a move back there might relight his fire. From memory, he was fast around there when he rode for them and would be on a decent average.

No he isn’t, and yes it is. I’m sorry Bagpuss I’m not trying to be argumentative here for the sake of it, but of course it’s to do with Money! Chapman could have more money than Elon Musk, I never said Chapman wasn’t wealthy. But his personal wealth is completely irrelevant to the point I was making. Does Jason Doyle still live in Norfolk? The fact of the matter is that if Lynn offered a better deal to Doyle than Ipswich then Doyle would be riding for Kings Lynn. It’s quite clear that no matter how much money Keith Chapman has, it means very little if he isn’t prepared to compete for the top riders. That of course is his prerogative, he sets a budget to build a team every year and that budget doesn’t seem to stretch to paying for a Doyle/Bewley/Emil etc. Now that IS all financially relative isn’t it? We’re in danger of veering away from my original point here which wasn’t to do with Keith Chapman’s personal wealth. If the top three are going to be forced in to not re-signing one of their heatleaders to allow Lynn and others the opportunity to sign them, are those clubs going to offer the top money that these riders will still demand? I personally have my doubts but time will tell on that one. In an ideal world, every club would have the same financial clout OR, willing to invest more of their personal wealth to compete but unfortunately that’s just not reality. As I said before, there will always be the have’s and have not’s and that’s not restricted to Speedway, it’s all sports. The Championship is no different. Would you bet against next years play off final being contested by Poole and Glasgow again? I wouldn’t. You can bring in points limits and different rules to try and make things as equal as possible, but there will always be in demand riders on bargain averages that will always be snapped up by those with better resources who will stay one step ahead of the competition. With all due respect to them, the likes of Scunthorpe under Godfrey who builds his teams to a tight budget, are just there to make up the numbers. It’s just the way it is I’m afraid. ALL the heatleaders have now been “freed up” Bagpuss. Every top heatleader that rode here this year, and want to ride here next year, are now available to Keith Chapman and anyone else who wants to sign them. If finance isn’t an issue as you and StarBoy have said, then Lynn don’t have any excuse not to sign one of them do they? Outbid the top three and you’ll bag one of them. We’re going around in circles here. It’s not so much “freeing” up riders for others, it’s a question of if those other clubs can afford them and/or are willing to pay for them. If they can, then fair enough I’m not against bringing in rules to help spread the top riders around. My concern is that they bring in a rule that prevents the clubs that CAN afford to sign them, from doing so, and those riders are then lost to British speedway because they’re not happy with the lower terms offered by others.

I’m sorry but I disagree. Money clearly IS an issue, otherwise you wouldn’t be left picking up the scraps every single year. Chris Louis won’t be dictated by unreasonable demands either and Kenyan Rew is a perfect example. Rew was in the plans last winter, But Rew got a better offer from Birmingham which Louis wasn’t prepared to match. That’s common knowledge. Fair play to Rew, every rider will go where the best deals are. There’s a very small pool of riders that ride here that are genuine world class. Forget all the noise that comes from riders about “this is the only place I wanted to come to” nonsense. Fact is every meeting could be a riders last and they’ll go where the best deal is, quite rightly. Chapman clearly won’t get involved in competing for the world class riders that others are prepared to do. You’re a Lynn fan so maybe you see it from a biased point of view, but from an outsider, Chapman does the bare minimum every year to get through another season. So my point still stands. If the top three are forced not to sign one of their big hitters, what will be Chapman’s strategy? Will he suddenly decide to pay what the riders are looking for (if he is why doesn’t he do that to begin with?) or will he sit and wait for the riders to lower their demands and just accept what he’s prepared to pay as it’s their only option? If he’s banking on the latter, he’ll be disappointed. Those riders will just concentrate on Poland and Sweden.

Was going to say something similar! What a weird take. You get your points limit and then every club then builds the best team that they can within that limit and within their budget. It’s not the fault of those three clubs mentioned that the budget of some clubs doesn’t enable them to secure the signatures of certain riders. If those three clubs each don’t sign one of their heatleaders, that doesn’t necessarily mean that an Oxford or Kings Lynn would suddenly be able to afford to pick them up! The reality is that those riders would likely give UK a miss and our league would be worse for it. I’m afraid you’re always going to have the have’s and have not’s which is why I’m not convinced on the rumour of one rider per team over 8.00. If Belle Vue for example have to choose between Kurtz or Bewley, would the one who didn’t get a place at the NSS next year just accept a lesser deal elsewhere because that’s the only offer in town?? I’m not sure they would.

The Rowe Motor Oil Premiership and the Cab Ditect Championship are to operate as separate entities. The activists have come to preliminary agreements and at AGM we are to know the final version of the order in the UK for the 2026 season. With each club on British soil that was declining, fans began to wonder about the meaning of the two leagues. The departure of the Birmingham Brummies and Oxford Spires means that next season the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership will not be able to gather more than five teams. Of course, sudden changes in the plans of the promoters and the persuasion of some centers must be taken into account, but the league seems closed. Driving in such a small group is no fight, especially for many clubs in the Cab Direct Championship. There, however, the situation is very different, and most resorts cannot afford to ride in the Premiership. Especially when their current teams rely mainly on players who compete in both leagues. However, the plan to combine the games goes into the background. It will not be without changes If nothing extraordinary happens, the British speedway will remain in the current stage of play. The 2026 season will be played on three levels and, above all, there will be changes in building the squad. Activists work on the transfer market to stay back and build a team worthy of fighting for the championship. We know that the Ipswich Witches, Leicester Lions, Sheffield Tigers, Belle Vue Aces and King's Lynn Stars will remain in the Premiership. Sheffield Tigers are primarily waiting for a new owner, and without it the club will not move next year. The league seems to be cut and even a double basic phase will be of no use. Certainly, the KSM limit is to be changed so that the players can spread out throughout the league. Most likely there will be another reduction, so that the duo of Belle Vue Aces Daniel Bewley and Brady Kurtz may be separated. The Cab Direct Championship does not promise to be many changes, possibly in terms of a greater bet on young Britons. The Mildenhall resort, which is set as the favorite to return to the Championship step, is about to determine its future. Upcoming limits However, there is no denying that the British speedway is facing further regulatory problems. According to the regulations described in the Club Membership Regulations, from the 2027 season, players competing in Poland will be able to choose one foreign league. The question remains, what will the current stars of the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership choose? Will some go to Sweden to race with names, or maybe they will stay in British structures. One thing is known - promoters must start thinking much earlier than a few months before the start of the 2027 season. https://speedwaynews.pl/zuzel/zaskakujace-doniesienia-jednak-nie-dojdzie-do-rewolucji/