Speedway 2026 ??

[Hamster00]

I understand some people have very strong opinions on play offs but I think without them our sport would be even less interesting to many people, they provide drama and no doubt a very important stream of income for a lot of teams.

I went up to Glasgow last night as a neutral purely and simply on the basis of it being in the balance and with the hope of a dramatic meeting which was delivered in droves going all the way down to a last heat decider.

The place was absolutely packed, programmes sold out by the time I arrived, I’m sorry but if you remove the play offs you lose all that.

Those that say that more people might attend league meetings if it counts more towards a league title may be discounting the fact that teams on the edge of the play off bubble these days may lose crowds because by August they’d be out of the title race and nothing to play for, with this system most teams have something to race for for most of the season.

[The White Knight]

35 minutes ago, Hamster00 said:

I understand some people have very strong opinions on play offs but I think without them our sport would be even less interesting to many people, they provide drama and no doubt a very important stream of income for a lot of teams.

I went up to Glasgow last night as a neutral purely and simply on the basis of it being in the balance and with the hope of a dramatic meeting which was delivered in droves going all the way down to a last heat decider.

The place was absolutely packed, programmes sold out by the time I arrived, I’m sorry but if you remove the play offs you lose all that.

Those that say that more people might attend league meetings if it counts more towards a league title may be discounting the fact that teams on the edge of the play off bubble these days may lose crowds because by August they’d be out of the title race and nothing to play for, with this system most teams have something to race for for most of the season.

We must agree to differ. 🙂

[False dawn]

22 minutes ago, Hamster00 said:

I understand some people have very strong opinions on play offs but I think without them our sport would be even less interesting to many people, they provide drama and no doubt a very important stream of income for a lot of teams.

I went up to Glasgow last night as a neutral purely and simply on the basis of it being in the balance and with the hope of a dramatic meeting which was delivered in droves going all the way down to a last heat decider.

The place was absolutely packed, programmes sold out by the time I arrived, I’m sorry but if you remove the play offs you lose all that.

Those that say that more people might attend league meetings if it counts more towards a league title may be discounting the fact that teams on the edge of the play off bubble these days may lose crowds because by August they’d be out of the title race and nothing to play for, with this system most teams have something to race for for most of the season.

What a week I've had. At Leicester on Monday. The Lions get my support while I wait for Brandon to reopen. And watching them claw their way back to win by 90-89 was sensational. The tension waiting for heat 15 to start was palpable. The feeling waiting for the rerun to start after the Tigers had made the start first time round was almost unbearable. And for Max to fly off gate 4 to seal the deal was truly memorable (apologies to all my Yorkshire pals).
Then to sit down and watch Glasgow Edinburgh on BSN last night was another treat. A hard fought meeting which either side could have won. But to achieve a 10 point swing in 3 heats is hard to argue with.
So any lingering doubts that the play offs are a good idea have been banished, from my mind at least.

P.S. The delight continues. I saw Dougy win his testimonial tonight and I'm off to Torun on Tuesday to see GB win the SON (I can dream).

[StevePark]

14 hours ago, 1 valve said:

The simple mathematical truth is that there are insufficient riders of competitive quality to make up the number of teams you suggest are being considered for “one league”. 

That, of course, depends on how many riders will be in the teams!! Some have suggested five riders per team, with many others saying six.  It doesn't necessarily have to be seven man teams.  It went down to six per team in 1997 (but soon went back to seven!!).

[1 valve]

1 hour ago, StevePark said:

That, of course, depends on how many riders will be in the teams!! Some have suggested five riders per team, with many others saying six.  It doesn't necessarily have to be seven man teams.  It went down to six per team in 1997 (but soon went back to seven!!).

Also consider that there would need to be multiple race nights in addition to Mon & Thurs which would rule out riders who compete in Poland, Sweden & Denmark. 
In that scenario even 5 man teams would not be possible.  
 

[SpeedwaySlider72]

On 9/27/2025 at 6:36 AM, Aries said:

All the other top riders will be missing and riding in Poland also so a guest will be one of a lesser quality therefore weakling their side. 

Maybe British speedway can exist without these riders and focus on the ones that want to race in Britain as a priority? This opens up opportunities for young riders to establish themselves and clubs become more stable as they don't live beyond their means by paying riders who don't see Britain as a priority.

[Youhave2minutes]

What will 2026 UK speedway bring?
 

A Headache

[szkocjasid]

On 9/20/2025 at 7:56 AM, 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.

To make the racing closer, you want the gap between the top & bottom riders to be lessened. There will always be new inexperienced NL riders stepping up, but if the league on the whole was weaker, shouldn't be such a task for them to achieve the minimum 2.00 average.

I'm sure no fans of these riders at heir clubs would want to lose them, but if he likes of Lawson, Masters & Harris can race in the Prem as heat leaders, should they really be in the second tier?

If we can get to the stage where Prem heat leaders / top second strings race, Prem & Poland / Sweden only, then lesser Prem riders double up in the Champ, there would a lot less guests needed in the Champ, a lot less hassle rearranging fixtures around foreign matches, a lot more youngsters realising a Champ place is a bigger possibility.

Riders won't like it, some fans won't like it, maybe the likes of Poole & Glasgow would step up rather than run a Champ at second string & reserve standard (I've no issue with that). But something needs to be done to secure the future of the sport, carrying on as it is now, obviously isn't working.

[szkocjasid]

On 9/5/2025 at 6:31 AM, 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.

But your plan had 7 teams in each section, so 6 home meetings, plus one guaranteed match in the league cup.

7 matches across the season is far too little, even the clubs making the finals would only get 12 home matches.

I could understand a North / South split for a league cup, then everyone races each other in the league = minimum of 14 home matches each.

[szkocjasid]

On 9/27/2025 at 8:58 PM, Hamster00 said:

I understand some people have very strong opinions on play offs but I think without them our sport would be even less interesting to many people, they provide drama and no doubt a very important stream of income for a lot of teams.

I went up to Glasgow last night as a neutral purely and simply on the basis of it being in the balance and with the hope of a dramatic meeting which was delivered in droves going all the way down to a last heat decider.

The place was absolutely packed, programmes sold out by the time I arrived, I’m sorry but if you remove the play offs you lose all that.

Those that say that more people might attend league meetings if it counts more towards a league title may be discounting the fact that teams on the edge of the play off bubble these days may lose crowds because by August they’d be out of the title race and nothing to play for, with this system most teams have something to race for for most of the season.

While you do make fair points about the play-offs. This year in the Prem, the top 4 clubs were known for a long time, have they been racing to lower crowds half the season with people waiting for the play-offs to start. The Ipswich vs Sheffield matches had nothing riding on them, if they were for the title would've got mammoth crowds.

For Speedway to be successful we want the Glasgow crowds you mentioned at every match, how do we convince fans that every match deserves their attendance not just play-offs? If every match had a "play-off crowd", there would be no need for them!

Obviously I'm in a minority but if Redcar & Poole meet in 3 finals, why will they get bigger crowds in one over the others? Same 14 riders (unless using guests), same tracks, same rules, only difference is the name of the competition!