Speedway 2026 ??

[secsy1]

6 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

Why have a North / South split? So few teams could easily have all teams meeting once home & away.

Money is the root of all evil and finances are restricted to have one league.

Travelling expenses and the present lack of fans and sponsorship would be the downfall of one league.

It would make financial sense to split into North and South making a league cup where they all meet more interesting and hopefully give fans what they want.

[IainB]

12 hours ago, ONTWOMINUTES said:

Modern day riders across the board think everybody owes them a living and are beyond greedy when it comes to money.  Very few if almost any would do anything for nothing,  not like back in the 80s.  Yes I realise they need to spend on machinery etc etc but they all make far more than the average working man so you'd think they'd give something back.  This along with unreasonable admission prices is among other things that's destroying Speedway.  

... and all on the back of an army of volunteers that move heaven and earth each week to enable tracks to stage meetings and riders to earn money.

[1 valve]

On 9/4/2025 at 8:45 AM, shippy22 said:

The first division in 1970 had 19 teams.  Of those 7 teams, Belle Vue, Coventry, Halifax, King's Lynn, Wembley, Cradley and Swindon raced on Saturdays, so hardly a minority !!

Sorry to be pedantic but seven of seventeen is a minority number.

[Technik]

10 hours ago, secsy1 said:

Money is the root of all evil and finances are restricted to have one league.

Travelling expenses and the present lack of fans and sponsorship would be the downfall of one league.

It would make financial sense to split into North and South making a league cup where they all meet more interesting and hopefully give fans what they want.

I know the North South league has been mentioned many times. I fear the biggest issue there is just that some riders will want to ride in both & there will be a time when both teams the rider is in will be racing on the same night then an even bigger problem is on our hands.

I know earlier this season a team came to Oxford for an NL level fixture & one of their riders was missing so they used a guest as per the rules. The rider they were using had an average in both variations of this seasons NL leagues & the higher average ment he could not ride in place of the injured rider as his average in that league was higher although lower in the other league.

[topaz325]

I think it will be the same again with a few minor changes and the Premiership trying to get a couple of teams to move up.

[Fromafar]

2 hours ago, topaz325 said:

I think it will be the same again with a few minor changes and the Premiership trying to get a couple of teams to move up.

With you on that one.Just hope the Championship Clubs don’t fall for it and tell them where to go .

[Bomber75]

On 9/5/2025 at 7:39 PM, topaz325 said:

I think it will be the same again with a few minor changes and the Premiership trying to get a couple of teams to move up.

I think your right the push will be to get a couple of teams probably Poole and Glasgow to move up to the premiership and a couple of teams who are racing in NDL to move up to the championship. I fear that this will dilute the championship and make it less attractive to the casual supporter.

[ShanoXtra]

If Harry and Mayfield could get some big sponsors into the sport and sort out some really good financial deals it could make a difference (big if though). If you are getting double the money from sponsors etc to be in the prem vs the champ then it would make teams think. Or you could then introduce promotion and relegation, which IMO would move the sport forward, money makes everyone change their mind. Attendance at Ekstraliga is average of what about 10,000 - 12,000 ish each match… costing about £10-£12 a ticket. You would need 5,000-6,000 to start packing out British stadiums at £24 a ticket which they are now to be equal, get TV and Sponsers and really bang in promotion, then and only then could you try to offer big money like they do in Poland and make riders choose Britain over Poland, it’s all about money, Aussies would chose Britain all day because they live here and would drop Poland, the problem is the whole set up with infrastructure etc I know, but getting a few to choose Britain over Poland could then make TV run Friday night and Sunday night which would work better for fans.

It’s either that or wait until riders are scared to go to Poland due to Russia and Ukraine 😂 I don’t know what would come first haha

[StevePark]

1 hour ago, Bomber75 said:

I think your right the push will be to get a couple of teams probably Poole and Glasgow to move up to the premiership and a couple of teams who are racing in NDL to move up to the championship. I fear that this will dilute the championship and make it less attractive to the casual supporter.

There's only Kent (In the NDT) who currently are not running in the Leagues above. Are you suggesting Teams go like Oxford and run more than one team (Belle Vue, King's Lynn & Leicester are the only current PL teams in the NDL/NDT, all others are already Championship)?

[IainB]

48 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said:

Aussies would chose Britain all day because they live here and would drop Poland

Not so sure about that, especially for the younger ones, aren't Rew and Lidsey based in Poland? I assume the likes of Masters with his family and maybe Douglas are UK based? A lot would depend on visa and family situations

[ShanoXtra]

6 minutes ago, IainB said:

Not so sure about that, especially for the younger ones, aren't Rew and Lidsey based in Poland? I assume the likes of Masters with his family and maybe Douglas are UK based? A lot would depend on visa and family situations

I know Rew is based over there for sure, both holders, Doyle, fricke, Douglas, Masters, Cook brothers, Kurtz, Picko, and some others are based in Britain I believe, or at least must work in Britain for visa purposes.

[Normski]

2 hours ago, Bomber75 said:

I think your right the push will be to get a couple of teams probably Poole and Glasgow to move up to the premiership and a couple of teams who are racing in NDL to move up to the championship. I fear that this will dilute the championship and make it less attractive to the casual supporter.

I would be very surprised if Glasgow were to move up i think they have mentioned in the past they are not interested.

[Fromafar]

1 hour ago, Normski said:

I would be very surprised if Glasgow were to move up i think they have mentioned in the past they are not interested.

Would agree only thing I see is they are heavily involved in Sponsership and are prominent people in the Management of the sport now.Race night is a major stumbling for Glasgow and Poole + financially viable if having to pay big money for Major Heatleaders.Hope Championship tells them where too go.Rider availability and guests needs sorted out though.

[poole keith]

The championship league hold all the aces,they stand together and they can control the way things go,I would love to regularly watch grand prix riders at poole but that's not going to be possible in british speedway anymore,need a structure that works for british speedway and that won't include gp riders,if bv and ipswich got to have them, then just have to race against each other 

[Fromafar]

1 hour ago, poole keith said:

The championship league hold all the aces,they stand together and they can control the way things go,I would love to regularly watch grand prix riders at poole but that's not going to be possible in british speedway anymore,need a structure that works for british speedway and that won't include gp riders,if bv and ipswich got to have them, then just have to race against each other 

100  % agree,we have to do what’s right for speedway in Uk.Its pretty obvious we can’t compete with Poland.

[Noelinho]

4 hours ago, Normski said:

I would be very surprised if Glasgow were to move up i think they have mentioned in the past they are not interested.

It depends who you speak to. Race night is an issue. The preference is to keep Fridays. How strong that preference is varies a little. But at the moment, the Premiership does not have enough upside to mess with a setup they seem to be happy with (crowd numbers, mainly).

[Fromafar]

52 minutes ago, Noelinho said:

It depends who you speak to. Race night is an issue. The preference is to keep Fridays. How strong that preference is varies a little. But at the moment, the Premiership does not have enough upside to mess with a setup they seem to be happy with (crowd numbers, mainly).

The Premiership is in a mess,looking for get out clause.

[Ben91]

7 hours ago, Normski said:

I would be very surprised if Glasgow were to move up i think they have mentioned in the past they are not interested.

Plenty of evidence now of teams being crippled by moving up. Having to change race night and the extra costs aren’t conducive to good business. Think the Glasgow promotion are too switched on to fall into the trap. 

[False dawn]

2 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

Plenty of evidence now of teams being crippled by moving up. Having to change race night and the extra costs aren’t conducive to good business. Think the Glasgow promotion are too switched on to fall into the trap. 

Not to mention the loss of all those local derbies with Edinburgh

[False dawn]

2 minutes ago, False dawn said:

Not to mention the loss of all those local derbies with Edinburgh

Unless the Monarchs go up as well 🤔