Speedway 2026 ??

[PersonalResponsibility]

2 hours ago, CTD26 said:

It’s absolutely pointless comparing it to football. We don’t have the following, certainly in this country, to keep people interested in 2 home meetings a month. Football has millions of fans in the country, speedway be lucky if there’s 10% of that amount of people who attend regularly. 
 

If it is one big league, then the clubs and bspa need to lay down the law to the riders. If you signed for a British club before anyone else, then that league takes priority. I get Poland pays the big bucks, but it’s about time someone put them back in there box. They tried being sly a few years back and that soon got overruled. If not, it’s simple, the riders who want to ride over here will, the ones who don’t, well, see ya later. 
 

With the polish u24 league not running after this season, there’s going to be a lot of young riders wanting spots over here, a select few may find themselves riding in the second or third division over there. 
 

A rotation of a week at home and a week away wouldn’t wash with me. I want to see weekly action at my home track, I’ve known people lose interest because there was a 2 or 3 week gap between meetings. And before anyone says about going away, try going to a midweek track, when my nearest is 2 and a half hours away, working full time and having a family.

The U24 league will continue next year, so no flood of free youngsters to fill team spaces. 

I don't think Poland can be held responsible for this, though, for all they push the envelope at times. The riders know they'll be paid a fortune, and the fortunes are there because Poland get huge crowds, and they get them because they run a professional, attractive product. If you were paying £1000s for someone to ride for your club, then you probably don't want him risking injuries in another country, which is fair enough.

I do actually agree with you on giving riders some form of ultimatum, though. In reality, are the likes of Lawson/Howarth/Kemp/etc. really going to ditch British speedway for Poland? It's probably handy now, given Poland is some extra money, but would they sacrifice riding over here for a potential 10-12 meetings a season there? I'm not sure personally.

The issue is filling the bottom and middle order riders, probably with NL level riders. Would fans still attend/support in the time it takes to produce new riders to keep teams stocked up?

[Bitza]

On 9/2/2025 at 12:40 PM, Fromafar said:

Sorting the fixture List is a priority.Then again it is set around riders dictating their availability.So it is big problem.

Seems to me that setting the initial fixture list ought to be down to the BSPA. Fixtures to be set to give a maximum of two weeks between home fixture, but aiming for one a week especially during holiday periods etc. Team promoters would then have to work within that constrain, in determining which riders they sign bearing in mind their likely availability. Maybe leaving rescheduling postponed meeting is best left to team promoters. The Guesting procedure could also be more structured, by having say 2 (from different clubs) nominated guest riders named at the start of the season for each of the main team riders. Making guest preordained and part of the initial team selection process. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Bitza

[SaddlebowRoad]

30 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Don’t think Poole need to move up.Let the Premiership sort their own problems.

lol the championship has been a shambles this year with so many important fixtures still left to race and riders being signed even though they are missing every other week eg bowes nagel knudsen gusts klindt 

whatever happens in the winter everyone needs to work together to solve british speedway problems 

[1 valve]

On 8/31/2025 at 3:15 PM, Fromafar said:

That’s the problem Clubs losing money.Why! Riders dictating when they can ride,wanting more money than the Clubs have incoming through the turnstiles,reducing the meetings does not help the sport,fans want to see regular speedway(whether it be weekly or fortnightly).Back too basics product wise and riders wages would be a start.I’m sure the entertainment factor wouldn’t be any worse.The sport needs credibility too attract new fans.IMO

ps

Im talking Championship Speedway here.

the Premiership are a different story ( their fans seem too think it’s Ok)

 

errr. Not at all. 
Plenty of commentary on the Prem thread regarding what's not right and frankly some well meaning suggestions regrding change and the way forward. 

[1 valve]

Sad to say but both fans and promoters alike appear to share a common opinion which is;
 "We know the running of speedway overall in the UK is not good enough and things need to change, which is ok so long as its not my track that has to change".

Of course you may agree or disagree with the above,

Try this simple "fun" test to see where you fit in short term Club (first) thinking v long term wellbeing of the sport by either "agreeing" or "disagreeing" with the following statements. 

1. I would not oppose a change to the current race night for my clubs home meetings
2. I'm happy for fixed race nights to be limited to two per week in the UK for team fixtures
3. A rider with an average greater than five in the Premier league at the start of the season cannot ride for a championship club.
4. My club could hold weekly meetings on at least 5 different nights of the majority of weeks during the season.

If you can agree to all five of the above statements then you and your club are definitely a part of the answer to speedway UK problems.

The more statements you disagree with, the more you and your club will continue to be the cause of the problem. 


 

[mac101]

2 hours ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

The U24 league will continue next year, so no flood of free youngsters to fill team spaces. 

The under 24 league in Poland from what I was told will now be mainly really young junior riders with little points money as the teams can’t afford to pay the money to riders riding in near empty stadiums in that league 

[Bitza]

1 hour ago, 1 valve said:

Sad to say but both fans and promoters alike appear to share a common opinion which is;
 "We know the running of speedway overall in the UK is not good enough and things need to change, which is ok so long as its not my track that has to change".

Of course you may agree or disagree with the above,

Try this simple "fun" test to see where you fit in short term Club (first) thinking v long term wellbeing of the sport by either "agreeing" or "disagreeing" with the following statements. 

1. I would not oppose a change to the current race night for my clubs home meetings
2. I'm happy for fixed race nights to be limited to two per week in the UK for team fixtures
3. A rider with an average greater than five in the Premier league at the start of the season cannot ride for a championship club.
4. My club could hold weekly meetings on at least 5 different nights of the majority of weeks during the season.

If you can agree to all five of the above statements then you and your club are definitely a part of the answer to speedway UK problems.

The more statements you disagree with, the more you and your club will continue to be the cause of the problem. 


 

I don't know if I'm just being a bit dim, but three out of the four statements seem to all relate to more choice for race nights and the other re premiership riders eligibility to ride in the Championship. 

While I agree that greater choice of race nights would be very helpful. I'm thinking that the essential thing is for the BSPA to take a more organisational role, setting the conditions in which the Promoters operate. Key issues are how Fixtures are set, and the rules for Guesting. 

[Fromafar]

32 minutes ago, Bitza said:

I don't know if I'm just being a bit dim, but three out of the four statements seem to all relate to more choice for race nights and the other re premiership riders eligibility to ride in the Championship. 

While I agree that greater choice of race nights would be very helpful. I'm thinking that the essential thing is for the BSPA to take a more organisational role, setting the conditions in which the Promoters operate. Key issues are how Fixtures are set, and the rules for Guesting. 

Agree,but that’s where self -interest kicks in everytime.

[foreverblue]

3 hours ago, SaddlebowRoad said:

lol the championship has been a shambles this year with so many important fixtures still left to race and riders being signed even though they are missing every other week eg bowes nagel knudsen gusts klindt 

whatever happens in the winter everyone needs to work together to solve british speedway problems 

Don't think you can blame Poole for that, we finished our fixtures well within the schedule.

[poole keith]

17 minutes ago, foreverblue said:

Don't think you can blame Poole for that, we finished our fixtures well within the schedule.

Can't just think about one club blue,speedway as a sport is going down the pan,everybody needs to widen their outlook and consider the wellbeing of all clubs 

[1 valve]

53 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Agree,but that’s where self -interest kicks in everytime.

Spot on. 

[1 valve]

20 minutes ago, poole keith said:

Can't just think about one club blue,speedway as a sport is going down the pan,everybody needs to widen their outlook and consider the wellbeing of all clubs 

Correct. And it needs to start with the promoters - 

[foreverblue]

18 minutes ago, poole keith said:

Can't just think about one club blue,speedway as a sport is going down the pan,everybody needs to widen their outlook and consider the wellbeing of all clubs 

Yes just saying Poole is not to blame on this occasion, we get enough flack, speedway is a shambles in general, as you say it is going down the pan with more clubs closing, I have been to many of the clubs that have closed. I thought Morris was brought in to help, he has done absolutely nothing.

[1 valve]

On 8/31/2025 at 8:57 PM, Hawk127 said:

Agree but perhaps giving the punter what they want with a weekend race night does possibly reduce the odds of losing so much money. Speedway use to be a good weekend sport but alas circumstances dictate that it is not possible albeit NDL teams seem to cope. This is possibly why a rethink is necessary and perhaps go backwards first in order to progress. I would rather go to a Saturday evening meeting or a Sunday afternoon meeting than go mid week. Thursday is OK but after that having been brought up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday meets I would not bother with any weekday/ mid week racing. Just my view and others may feel different but promoters should race on nights which give them a best chance of a return on the asset/investment.

Actually, back in the day (70's 80's when there were many tracks and support was large and healthy) The majority of teams had mid-week race nights with only a small minority racing on Saturday and no major clubs rode on Sundays. 
By doing this all clubs were able to hold a meeting each week and if race nights clashed they went to their nominated alternative race night. Example, Leicester's race night was Tuesday with the alternative being Friday (might have been Thursday). However as Lions were the only Tuesday club the alternative was rarely used. 
Also worth noting that the age profile was also very mixed with many school kids attending either with or without parents many who actually had to use public transport to get to the meetings. 

[crescent girl]

1 hour ago, 1 valve said:

Actually, back in the day (70's 80's when there were many tracks and support was large and healthy) The majority of teams had mid-week race nights with only a small minority racing on Saturday and no major clubs rode on Sundays. 
By doing this all clubs were able to hold a meeting each week and if race nights clashed they went to their nominated alternative race night. Example, Leicester's race night was Tuesday with the alternative being Friday (might have been Thursday). However as Lions were the only Tuesday club the alternative was rarely used. 
Also worth noting that the age profile was also very mixed with many school kids attending either with or without parents many who actually had to use public transport to get to the meetings. 

Nonsense to say a 'small minority' ran on Saturday! 

Off hand, l can think of Belle Vue, Cradley, Berwick, Coventry, Swindon, Canterbury, King's Lynn, Edinburgh/Coatbridge...   and l think l've probably missed a couple more.

 

[heathen52]

15 minutes ago, crescent girl said:

Nonsense to say a 'small minority' ran on Saturday! 

Off hand, l can think of Belle Vue, Cradley, Berwick, Coventry, Swindon, Canterbury, King's Lynn, Edinburgh/Coatbridge...   and l think l've probably missed a couple more.

 

Halifax ?, Eastbourne ?, Stoke ?.

[Normski]

6 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Don’t think Poole need to move up.Let the Premiership sort their own problems.

you know your right