What about Northampton?

[foreverblue]

13 minutes ago, hasta la vista said:

Will only be able to put together a team of 6 pointers as that's all there is.

No top riders interested in riding in UK, especially without TV.

Could be like KL last year with Mulford/Harrison as RS?

Do not think that is an issue, there will be a few teams built that way.

[YeOldPitGate]

1 hour ago, PhilTheAce said:

Northampton is happening so lets get behind it and stop being negative about it.

 

good luck to them 

i think 99% on here wish them all the best Phil and would be more than happy to be proved wrong and it ends up being a resounding success.

My worry is that it seems to have been rushed without any testing for public appetite for the Sport in Northampton.

Given how hush hush its been I can imagine 99% of the Northampton population have no idea anything is even going on with the new season weeks away.

Over the years I have seen numerous promoters come into speedway loose a bundle of money then exit a year later, if the other promoters are all going to chip in you still have a situation where Leicester and Sheffield both lost money last year, Lynn and Ipswich maybe made a small profit ?, Belle Vue no idea do they make money or operate at a constant loss.

But you still have at least two of the five above who might be being asked to shell out a contribution on top of expected losses for 2026 and no tv money either.

I would be delighted for anyone to say to me "i told you so" this time next year and i want to see the sport thrive but think it will need another Tolley character to finance a large chunk of it.

Your way better connected than myself so hopefully the venture will be in experienced, long term planning, wealthy hands.

[naffer]

1 hour ago, PhilTheAce said:

all this just so his son got a track to race at when hes old enough. what a father 

Should all be in the nick of time.

[PhilTheAce]

12 minutes ago, naffer said:

Should all be in the nick of time.

see what you did there, like it

[PhilTheAce]

22 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

i think 99% on here wish them all the best Phil and would be more than happy to be proved wrong and it ends up being a resounding success.

My worry is that it seems to have been rushed without any testing for public appetite for the Sport in Northampton.

Given how hush hush its been I can imagine 99% of the Northampton population have no idea anything is even going on with the new season weeks away.

Over the years I have seen numerous promoters come into speedway loose a bundle of money then exit a year later, if the other promoters are all going to chip in you still have a situation where Leicester and Sheffield both lost money last year, Lynn and Ipswich maybe made a small profit ?, Belle Vue no idea do they make money or operate at a constant loss.

But you still have at least two of the five above who might be being asked to shell out a contribution on top of expected losses for 2026 and no tv money either.

I would be delighted for anyone to say to me "i told you so" this time next year and i want to see the sport thrive but think it will need another Tolley character to finance a large chunk of it.

Your way better connected than myself so hopefully the venture will be in experienced, long term planning, wealthy hands.

i see what you are saying, but just because nothing is public doesnt mean nothing is happening, nothing will be rushed, a lot of stuff been going on behind the scenes.

[PhilTheAce]

58 minutes ago, Aries said:

That’s good to hear Phil. People have said on here one extra track makes little difference but I totally disagree. One more/less club in a division with a high number of clubs I agree makes little difference, but the lower number you go, the bigger difference that one club makes. 
 

A six team Premiership is far far better than a five team Premiership no matter what some naysayers will tell you.

Just hope they can put something decent together team wise to make it a reasonable success. Nobody wants a weak marooned team at the bottom that everybody else is beating every week

6 teams is less than ideal, BUT, with what it looked like in December its not to shabby and is a perfect number to get through this season before hopefully a complete reset in 2027 which i imagine

[FishersGate]

Northampton will get decent crowds in season one. Season two the crowds will drop slightly, third season they'll be lucky to get 700 fans turning up every home meeting.. fourth season will be  survival. 

Lets hope I'm wrong .

[Mumsie]

I think it's going to be a disaster. The football club only gets around 6000 for home games, whilst the rugby club regularly pulls in well over double that crowd. Rugby fans are rarely interested in speedway, in my experience. 

[Neila]

2 hours ago, PhilTheAce said:

Northampton is happening so lets get behind it and stop being negative about it.

 

good luck to them 

Maybe so, good luck to all involved BUT the season officially starts in less than 4 weeks, Easter is 7 weeks away, prime attendance time if the weather is good, no track built, no fixtures out for away fans to plan journeys, no team announced, no local promotion can be done as no one knows what is happening.

This is not just Northampton it the whole of premiership speedway, it's a fookin joke 😗

[mikebv]

6 minutes ago, Mumsie said:

I think it's going to be a disaster. The football club only gets around 6000 for home games, whilst the rugby club regularly pulls in well over double that crowd. Rugby fans are rarely interested in speedway, in my experience. 

It will be tough sell, just as the rest of the teams find...

Particularly in areas with plenty of other established sports...

The days of attending several professional sports in the local town are long gone for many given modern livings stretch on disposable income...

In the mid 90's I could go to Old Trafford, Kirky Lane, and watch Wigan Warriors, several times a month out of my salary, and still pay a mortgage and "live"....

Not a chance of visiting United, The Aces and The Warriors nowadays, several times a month, and that is without a mortgage to pay... 

One promoter once told me that you lose half of an opening night crowd the next meeting, (novelty factor brings in plenty of other fans), and then half that again over the season...

Let's hope, if still true, they get five or six thousand to that first meeting...

The standard of racing will be a key factor I would think, and, I presume, they will be racing on a Thursday due to the Stox meetings at weekends will require plenty of track maintenance?

Will that mean only the Aces run on a Monday?

Best of Luck to whoever takes over... 

[spin king]

Just a quick thought.

Could Northampton be a temporary base with view of trying  to move back to Coventry (Brandon).

Not first time that a sporting club have moved to Northampton.

Coventry City Football team move to Northampton a few seasons ago. 

[spin king]

Could it be Northampton Bees.

[WookieboyDon]

"The Premiership with five teams is a joke..."

Northampton rumoured to be joining.

"No point doing that, it will never work."

Northampton likely to be announced shortly to boost both the Premiership and British speedway.

"What's the point? Won't have a fanbase and will be gone by the end of the third year."

 

Honestly, the negativity on here is unbelievable. You either want British speedway to expand and do well or you don't. And if not, it begs the question why?! The fact we have a new team running should be cause for positivity and support, not derision and ridicule from quite a few on this forum. Joke.

[IainB]

1 hour ago, naffer said:

Should all be in the nick of time.

 

1 hour ago, PhilTheAce said:

see what you did there, like it

Northampton "Nicks"?

[Tapewrecker]

1 hour ago, FishersGate said:

Northampton will get decent crowds in season one. Season two the crowds will drop slightly, third season they'll be lucky to get 700 fans turning up every home meeting.. fourth season will be  survival. 

Lets hope I'm wrong .

Can I borrow your crystal ball?

[FishersGate]

42 minutes ago, WookieboyDon said:

"The Premiership with five teams is a joke..."

Northampton rumoured to be joining.

"No point doing that, it will never work."

Northampton likely to be announced shortly to boost both the Premiership and British speedway.

"What's the point? Won't have a fanbase and will be gone by the end of the third year."

 

Honestly, the negativity on here is unbelievable. You either want British speedway to expand and do well or you don't. And if not, it begs the question why?! The fact we have a new team running should be cause for positivity and support, not derision and ridicule from quite a few on this forum. Joke.

The premiership with 6 teams is still a joke. Northampton have no fans as of yet. These are stone wall hard truths. I'm really hopeful Northampton gets thousands turning up week in week out but there aren't even any fixtures out yet. No advertisement. No news. Nothing told to the locals of Northampton speedway. Just rumours. So the people turning up are already speedway fans but they don't even support Northampton. 

I'm positive there is a new club, but I'm not exactly jumping for joy either. That's because we've lost so many clubs in recent times. Sorry for the negativity but if we all stop moaning nothing changes. Everything just carries on as normal. The fact that many fans online have voiced there concerns of a 4/5 team league has forced Phil Morris to add a new club. I honestly think if everyone pretended everything is great they would have done a 4 team league. Without us negative trolls things would get even worse. Fans have a voice and I'm using it to force change. Change like Northampton which is great news. Shame this couldn't have been sorted months ago...

[Kieran22222]

4 hours ago, PhilTheAce said:

all this just so his son got a track to race at when hes old enough. what a father 

Who are we talking about?

[hasta la vista]

Of course Northampton will lose money, all of the Premiership clubs do. 

It can only be viewed as a hobby for any promoter now and if you don't believe that ask Cairns, Tolley, Buster etc

[singy13]

59 minutes ago, IainB said:

 

Northampton "Nicks"?

Northampton 'Load of Cobblers'.....

[YeOldPitGate]

42 minutes ago, hasta la vista said:

Of course Northampton will lose money, all of the Premiership clubs do. 

It can only be viewed as a hobby for any promoter now and if you don't believe that ask Cairns, Tolley, Buster etc

I think Ipswich made a small profit last year and I would imagine Buster breaks even as he own's the stadium but the rest I would imagine loose money year on year.