What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[ShanoXtra]

14 minutes ago, Phannan said:

Depends what you call south. I’m from Huddersfield so Sheffield is south to me whereas Redcar is north to me but south to Glasgow and Berwick. Whereas Edinburgh….. confused you will be 😳

I think you’re the only one confused from your geography 😂 nobody in Britain would class Middlesborough as South 😂 

[Phannan]

38 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said:

I think you’re the only one confused from your geography 😂 nobody in Britain would class Middlesborough as South 😂 

If you lived in the outer Hebrides you would 

[1 valve]

2 hours ago, Ben91 said:

If done correctly then absolutely. On the basis of a league with 14 teams you could race home and away against everyone once, then another round of six fixtures against the sides in your north/south conference. Makes for 19 home meetings per team, plenty of speedway. 

Points count in your north/south conference and then there are play offs to decide overall champions at the end. Either top of each region over two legs or the top two from each region qualify with semi finals. 

Not necessarily what I’d like to happen but an option. 

Would not work

There’s simply not enough riders of suitable competitive quality to run a format where eventually teams from regions/divisions/whatever meet in the playoffs /final because such numbers of teams would need doubling up and what happens if/when two teams meet who share one or more riders? 
 

 

 

[old bob at herne bay]

We started 2025 with 16 team  of 7 riders, total 112 riders. 

Quick check showed that there were only 90 unique riders , cos of double uppers. 

So enough riders to complete almost 13 teams with no double uppers allowed. 

 

Maybe they will follow one of county cricket's rejected ideas of 2 zones of 6 sides (north could have 7) . Each would race each other twice home and away. 

Top two clubs in each zone race the p.offs. 

you could have a separate KO cup competition all clubs drawn outh of the hat  

 

In speedways case the "south" zone would be Plymouth Poole Ipswich Oxford Kings Lynn and Leicester

The rest woudl be "north" 

Race nights - well good luck with that. 

 

 

[Ben91]

13 hours ago, 1 valve said:

Would not work

There’s simply not enough riders of suitable competitive quality to run a format where eventually teams from regions/divisions/whatever meet in the playoffs /final because such numbers of teams would need doubling up and what happens if/when two teams meet who share one or more riders? 
 

 

 

The standard will have to drop sadly. Through necessity rather than desire.

Britain isn’t producing as many riders as it used to and that next tier below the elite names isn’t as good as it was 10-20 years ago. There are still enough riders to fill teams, they’re just not as good as they used to be. The way the sport has been run is to blame for that. A big part of which has been doubling up. It is a massive stain on the credibility of the sport. 

[mikebv]

54 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

The standard will have to drop sadly. Through necessity rather than desire.

Britain isn’t producing as many riders as it used to and that next tier below the elite names isn’t as good as it was 10-20 years ago. There are still enough riders to fill teams, they’re just not as good as they used to be. The way the sport has been run is to blame for that. A big part of which has been doubling up. It is a massive stain on the credibility of the sport. 

And guesting has become the all too easy go to solution for missing riders...

You don't need to develop riders to a certain level when you just share around the ones already riding at that level on an ad hoc basis...

A "troupe" of usually the same riders earn more money, and clubs can even improve their teams by using them..

Everyone (short term at least), is happy...

Long term? With Brexit also now also impacting visa's, a lot of challenges ahead as an ever ageing "mid level" rider base will inevitably one day wind down their careers.. 

[Aries]

58 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

The standard will have to drop sadly. Through necessity rather than desire.

Britain isn’t producing as many riders as it used to and that next tier below the elite names isn’t as good as it was 10-20 years ago. There are still enough riders to fill teams, they’re just not as good as they used to be. The way the sport has been run is to blame for that. A big part of which has been doubling up. It is a massive stain on the credibility of the sport. 

You see I don’t get this argument and I never have. When doubling up, you’re not riding for two teams that are in direct competition with each other are you? They’re in completely different leagues. Going by this reasoning, riders shouldn’t be riding for another club in Poland, Sweden or Denmark either? What is the difference?

Chris Harris for example rides for Kings Lynn and Glasgow. Kings Lynn and Glasgow are not rivals/competitors because they ride in completely different Leagues. What’s the issue?

Guests are far worse because you’re borrowing riders from a direct rival you’re competing against. 

[cowboy cookie returns?]

9 minutes ago, Aries said:

You see I don’t get this argument and I never have. When doubling up, you’re not riding for two teams that are in direct competition with each other are you? They’re in completely different leagues. Going by this reasoning, riders shouldn’t be riding for another club in Poland, Sweden or Denmark either? What is the difference?

Chris Harris for example rides for Kings Lynn and Glasgow. Kings Lynn and Glasgow are not rivals/competitors because they ride in completely different Leagues. What’s the issue?

Guests are far worse because you’re borrowing riders from a direct rival you’re competing against. 

Doubling up was a great idea when it was first introduced. It allowed a second tier rider to share a reserve spot with a top flight team. 
 

It’s now gotten massively out of hand and needs to revert to what it was a couple of lower league riders sharing one position in the next league up.

long term the sport here needs to become a mix of amateur, semi pro & pro riders. Developing enough riders so that teams can have a type of squad system.

using the structure we currently have. MDL solely for amateur riders who ride in the uk using standard cheaper equipment so opening the sport up to more participants.

The top MDL riders could hold squad positions in the second tier but no more than 2 per second tier club & only 1 can be used at any time.

The second tier a mixture of amateur & semi pro riders with controls on equipment costs to allow riders to compete & not have to pack up because of costs. Again the top riders can hold a squad position in the top league a maximum of 2 per top flight side & only 1 can be used at a time.

The top flight a pro league along the lines of what it is now. As a rider if you wish to be a full time pro then you need to have the ability & desire to progress through the ranks to a point where you can support yourself as a pro.

However before you can expand & develop your rider base we will need to do some sort of merging of the league to stabilise the sport for the next 2 or 3 years .

My thoughts require a long term commitment to a strategy that will hopefully begin to grow the sport.

[Ben91]

38 minutes ago, Aries said:

You see I don’t get this argument and I never have. When doubling up, you’re not riding for two teams that are in direct competition with each other are you? They’re in completely different leagues. Going by this reasoning, riders shouldn’t be riding for another club in Poland, Sweden or Denmark either? What is the difference?

Chris Harris for example rides for Kings Lynn and Glasgow. Kings Lynn and Glasgow are not rivals/competitors because they ride in completely different Leagues. What’s the issue?

Guests are far worse because you’re borrowing riders from a direct rival you’re competing against. 

In an ideal world the sport would be big enough worldwide to support riders racing for one team full stop. That’s flying pigs territory though. 

I understand your point about doubling up but there’s no other sport to my knowledge where a competitor is competing for multiple teams in the same week, racing with and then against the same rider tooth and nail from one night to the next. It’s shambolic really. 

First we need to get rid of doubling up (except between the “development” league and the “professional” league), the next step after that would be to work towards guests being scrapped too. 

[ShanoXtra]

For anyone wanting to know how Polish media see’s our league 😂 from Thursdays media report in Poland…

Takie rzeczy tylko w Anglii. Sheffield Tigers oraz Ipswich Witches rozegrały już swoje półfinałowe spotkania, ale w czwartek zmierzyły się jeszcze w ramach... fazy zasadniczej. Tak właśnie w Premiership odrabia się zaległości.

To sprawiło, że Sheffield Tigers, które odpadło w półfinale z Leicester Lions, miało mecz dosłownie o nic na pożegnanie z własnymi kibicami. Z kolei Ipswich Witches, przed którymi jeszcze finał, potraktowało to starcie bardziej jako sparing z wymagającym rywalem.

TRANSLATION:

Such things only happen in England. Sheffield Tigers and Ipswich Witches have already played their semi-final matches, but on Thursday they faced off again in the... regular season. That's how you make up ground in the Premiership.

This meant that Sheffield Tigers, who were eliminated in the semi-finals by Leicester Lions, had a literally meaningless match to say goodbye to their home fans. Meanwhile, Ipswich Witches, who still have the final to play, treated the match more like a friendly against a demanding opponent.

[r8gdp]

1 hour ago, ShanoXtra said:

For anyone wanting to know how Polish media see’s our league 😂 from Thursdays media report in Poland…

 

Takie rzeczy tylko w Anglii. Sheffield Tigers oraz Ipswich Witches rozegrały już swoje półfinałowe spotkania, ale w czwartek zmierzyły się jeszcze w ramach... fazy zasadniczej. Tak właśnie w Premiership odrabia się zaległości.

To sprawiło, że Sheffield Tigers, które odpadło w półfinale z Leicester Lions, miało mecz dosłownie o nic na pożegnanie z własnymi kibicami. Z kolei Ipswich Witches, przed którymi jeszcze finał, potraktowało to starcie bardziej jako sparing z wymagającym rywalem.

TRANSLATION:

Such things only happen in England. Sheffield Tigers and Ipswich Witches have already played their semi-final matches, but on Thursday they faced off again in the... regular season. That's how you make up ground in the Premiership.

This meant that Sheffield Tigers, who were eliminated in the semi-finals by Leicester Lions, had a literally meaningless match to say goodbye to their home fans. Meanwhile, Ipswich Witches, who still have the final to play, treated the match more like a friendly against a demanding opponent.

Because of the play offs over here lots of matches are meaningless.I believe the league champions should be the team who as secured the most points over the season thus being able to claim being the best that season.But I understand it’s just my opinion which not everyone will agree with.I am just another supporter lost to the sport used to go week in week to owlerton but when the meeting s became not as regular got used to not going so now unfortunately can t be bothered.