What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[tyler42]

7 hours ago, RoundTheBoards said:

Absolutely spot on.

I found the Speedway Star recent edition which claimed something like "70% of fans want one big league" to be totally irresponsible.  It seemed to be 70% of people responding to a dishonest question 

The question they were responding to was "Would you support one big league if it had 14 strong teams with good quality riders, and equally competitive teams?"

But get that thought out of your head.  A "yes" answer to that question is irrelevant.  That's not an option.

One big league, running on any racenight, would automatically rule out anyone who races in the Polish leagues.

Gone would be:    Max Fricke, Jack Holder, Brady Kurtz, Dan Bewley, Emil Sayfutdinov, Jaimon Lidsey, Josh Pickering, Ryan Douglas, Jason Doyle, Michael Jepsen-Jensen, Chris Holder, Tom Brennan, Luke Becker, Jan Kvech, Tobias Musielak, Nicolai Klindt, Matej Zagar, Keynan Rew, Ben Cook, Maciej Janowski, Rohan Tungate, Norick Blodorn, Francis Gusts.

So that's 23 riders gone from Britain.

So what will the Premiership bring to a new combined league?     JUST ADAM ELLIS !

Every other rider who ride in the Premiership in 2025 (apart from Adam Ellis) doubled up into the Championship.   We can't count them twice.

So, the 5 teams joining the "One Big League" (Belle Vue, King's Lynn, Ipswich, Leicester, Sheffield) are bringing Adam Ellis to the party, but they need 5 x 7 = 35 riders.

So these big 5 need to take 34 of the doubling up riders....  

The remaining 9 championship clubs need 9 x 7 = 63 riders.....   but 34 of them are not availsble because they can no longer double up.

So suddenly we need a further 34 riders.   Where are they coming from? 

We could look to the National League, but many of the NDL riders already double-up into the Championship, others are still only 15 years old, so even if we take every NDL rider right down to the lowest 3.00 newcomer, we still can't get close to filling 14 "One Big League" teams.

Then of course, with no one able to double up, will riders be happy to have their income reduced by so much?  Or will they quit the sport?

What happens when someone gets injured?  Where will replacement riders come from?

ONE BIG LEAGUE CANNOT POSSIBLY WORK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regardless of it's one league or two. the sport has to acknowledge, more so the riders. that riding in front of less than a half decent semi pro football team. doesn't warrant them being full time professional Speedway riders. How has speedway got to such a point? Some riders do work, how many I don't know, but a lot of them don't!

The older riders like Bomber will find it hard to cope, but lets face it, he's had a good run. But he like a lot of the others will have to cut down on their bikes and all the little extras they ask for and god forbid get a job!. There are too many youngsters who are no where near the standard to be called full time professional Speedway riders. Lets face it, if it weren't for the bank mum and dad they wouldn't be doing it anyway, because the sport has now got so far out of hand. why in the third division even the second division do riders have to have two to three bikes and big Mercedes vans? 

Go back to the 70/80s 90% of riders in the second division worked. That was when the sport had a lot more tracks, riders and supporters. It's a sad fact that come next season with all the top riders gone, the only option left open will be for riders to go Semi Pro. The sport in GB has to start to cut it's cloth accordingly, or sadly, there won't be league racing as we know it anymore, just amateur racing like over in the Isle of Wight. 

 

[*JJ]

4 hours ago, tyler42 said:

 Lets face it, if it weren't for the bank mum and dad they wouldn't be doing it anyway, because the sport has now got so far out of hand. why in the third division even the second division do riders have to have two to three bikes and big Mercedes vans? 

 

Because the promoters demand it.

[PersonalResponsibility]

6 hours ago, tyler42 said:

Regardless of it's one league or two. the sport has to acknowledge, more so the riders. that riding in front of less than a half decent semi pro football team. doesn't warrant them being full time professional Speedway riders. How has speedway got to such a point? Some riders do work, how many I don't know, but a lot of them don't!

The older riders like Bomber will find it hard to cope, but lets face it, he's had a good run. But he like a lot of the others will have to cut down on their bikes and all the little extras they ask for and god forbid get a job!. There are too many youngsters who are no where near the standard to be called full time professional Speedway riders. Lets face it, if it weren't for the bank mum and dad they wouldn't be doing it anyway, because the sport has now got so far out of hand. why in the third division even the second division do riders have to have two to three bikes and big Mercedes vans? 

Go back to the 70/80s 90% of riders in the second division worked. That was when the sport had a lot more tracks, riders and supporters. It's a sad fact that come next season with all the top riders gone, the only option left open will be for riders to go Semi Pro. The sport in GB has to start to cut it's cloth accordingly, or sadly, there won't be league racing as we know it anymore, just amateur racing like over in the Isle of Wight. 

 

I totally agree with the general point you're making, and there are far too many who think a Championship team place or higher = made it, but having said that, what jobs are we expecting riders to get?

The world is a very different place to 30 years ago, it's hard for young people to get any job now, let alone one that'll be flexible enough to let them fulfill a full speedway calendar. 

The clubs do need to take a stance and call the riders' bluff to some extent, and make them realise it's either take it or don't ride speedway. The tail cannot wag the dog. However, it's very difficult to see how that would actually work in the current climate. I wish I had the answers.

[tyler42]

1 hour ago, *JJ said:

Because the promoters demand it.

Surely in the current economic climate, both riders and promoters should be working together in making the sport as cost effective as possible. It's economic suicide for riders in the lower leagues having to run the same equipment and budget as the top riders. The promotors and riders have to cut their cloth accordingly. 

[tyler42]

23 minutes ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

I totally agree with the general point you're making, and there are far too many who think a Championship team place or higher = made it, but having said that, what jobs are we expecting riders to get?

The world is a very different place to 30 years ago, it's hard for young people to get any job now, let alone one that'll be flexible enough to let them fulfill a full speedway calendar. 

The clubs do need to take a stance and call the riders' bluff to some extent, and make them realise it's either take it or don't ride speedway. The tail cannot wag the dog. However, it's very difficult to see how that would actually work in the current climate. I wish I had the answers.

I agree the current state the country is in, means walking into a job like the old days is not going to be easy. I think I heard or read, Paul Stark works as a bricklayer also Richard Lawson works on site and that Palm Toff took a day off work to guest for Edinburgh last week.I'm sure there are plenty of others who have a job. Someone like Bomber, who's had a great career. Has rode at the top level for quite a few years, so I would guess he has never had to work. So in Bomber's case It could be tricky. He does though ride on the continent doing Long Track meetings, so maybe he will not find it as tough as some of the others. Regardless there does have to be a reality check. In other bike motorsports i.e Moto X and Road Racing, only the top riders are professional. If you look at our sport. Riders who ride in the UK, Sweden and Poland are genuine professionals. Riders who only ride in the UK are either not of a level that promoters of Polish and Swedish want or they are quite happy to double up and ride in two leagues here in the UK. Unfortunately for these riders, speedway in the UK will need a drastic change next year and if whats been muted, one league. Doubling up won't be an option.

 

 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

8 hours ago, tyler42 said:

You say that, but on the other hand the riders you are talking about it all depends if they are riding in Sweden as well as Poland. If they are then I agree with you, but the ones who only ride in Poland imo, are not going to jack in British speedway and rely on Polish Speedway as their only form of income.

As we all know it's a different animal out there as proved today. Brennan won his first race came last in his second and that was that. They are very fickle with riders and if they don't perform then they soon get dropped. The riders we are talking about need a safe back up and British Speedway is that and will imo continue. Only the top riders who you mention will not be riding here.

Time will tell but I think you are showing ostrich tendencies on this one

[Youhave2minutes]

What will 2026 UK speedway bring?
 

Another gigantic headache.☹️

[mikebv]

3 hours ago, *JJ said:

Because the promoters demand it.

And then between themselves and sponsors pay riders the kind of money that they need to pay for, and maintain, those bikes and vans.  

Money far in excess of what the sports crowd levels and financial income can justify...

And all to try and win something that they then  systematically destroy the very credibility of due to using a truly ludicrous operating model for a pro sport...

Imagine a couple of promoters taking the UK Speedway business plan and operating model to the Dragons Den programme, and asking for investment...?

The Dragon's response would resemble those Martians in the Smash adverts of the 70's...

[Fromafar]

14 hours ago, flagrag said:

Ipswich 

Leicester 

Belle Vue

Sheffield

Kings Lynn

Poole with special agreement to be able to run Wednesday nights

Thats would be my feeling of a Premiership next season 

 

Don’t think race night was Poole’s only reason for dropping down Finance had a lot too do with it .IMO

[stevebrum]

17 hours ago, RoundTheBoards said:

Absolutely spot on.

I found the Speedway Star recent edition which claimed something like "70% of fans want one big league" to be totally irresponsible.  It seemed to be 70% of people responding to a dishonest question 

The question they were responding to was "Would you support one big league if it had 14 strong teams with good quality riders, and equally competitive teams?"

But get that thought out of your head.  A "yes" answer to that question is irrelevant.  That's not an option.

One big league, running on any racenight, would automatically rule out anyone who races in the Polish leagues.

Gone would be:    Max Fricke, Jack Holder, Brady Kurtz, Dan Bewley, Emil Sayfutdinov, Jaimon Lidsey, Josh Pickering, Ryan Douglas, Jason Doyle, Michael Jepsen-Jensen, Chris Holder, Tom Brennan, Luke Becker, Jan Kvech, Tobias Musielak, Nicolai Klindt, Matej Zagar, Keynan Rew, Ben Cook, Maciej Janowski, Rohan Tungate, Norick Blodorn, Francis Gusts.

So that's 23 riders gone from Britain.

So what will the Premiership bring to a new combined league?     JUST ADAM ELLIS !

Every other rider who ride in the Premiership in 2025 (apart from Adam Ellis) doubled up into the Championship.   We can't count them twice.

So, the 5 teams joining the "One Big League" (Belle Vue, King's Lynn, Ipswich, Leicester, Sheffield) are bringing Adam Ellis to the party, but they need 5 x 7 = 35 riders.

So these big 5 need to take 34 of the doubling up riders....  

The remaining 9 championship clubs need 9 x 7 = 63 riders.....   but 34 of them are not availsble because they can no longer double up.

So suddenly we need a further 34 riders.   Where are they coming from? 

We could look to the National League, but many of the NDL riders already double-up into the Championship, others are still only 15 years old, so even if we take every NDL rider right down to the lowest 3.00 newcomer, we still can't get close to filling 14 "One Big League" teams.

Then of course, with no one able to double up, will riders be happy to have their income reduced by so much?  Or will they quit the sport?

What happens when someone gets injured?  Where will replacement riders come from?

ONE BIG LEAGUE CANNOT POSSIBLY WORK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely, I’ve been saying the same thing all along. You pointed out the realistic and probable outcome to this one big league.

it will be padded with NL riders completely out their depths and an horrifically imbalanced team set up.

Do whatever it takes to get Poole and Glasgow to move up and drop same race nights if required.

Top flight racing is a must if we want UK racing to survive. 

[JamesB]

A league without Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Kurtz, Bewley, Fricke, Holder, etc can only be poorer for their absence.

Ipswich have always had a decent fan base, but I am certain that attendances in the Doyle/Sayfutdinov era have been markedly better than before their arrival. I would also wager that they have put some additional bums on seats at away tracks as well.

Dumb it down at your peril.

Edited 4 hours ago by JamesB

[TTT]

Take out the big name riders and British Speedway won't exist in 2027, The promoters would get 1 dreadful year out of it and that's it.

Barely anyone will fork out £20+ for a ticket, Couple of quid for a Programme, Couple of quid for Parking and a few quid for food and drink to see a watered down product that'll mostly feature NDL riders and journeyman.

Do we trust the Promoters to listen? Absolutely NOT! They never listen and that's why British Speedway is in it's current state.

[60sMonarch]

4 hours ago, stevebrum said:

Absolutely, I’ve been saying the same thing all along. You pointed out the realistic and probable outcome to this one big league.

it will be padded with NL riders completely out their depths and an horrifically imbalanced team set up.

Do whatever it takes to get Poole and Glasgow to move up and drop same race nights if required.

Top flight racing is a must if we want UK racing to survive. 

Your problem here is that Poole and Glasgow are run by very successful businessmen who have no interest in losing lots of money just to keep the dying Premiership going. Where would you get the very large sums needed to persuade them to move up from?

The Premiership has been living well beyond its means for years and is no longer sustainable.

If the top level of British speedway is now to be roughly Championship level so be it, still a lot better than no speedway   

[Youhave2minutes]

6 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

Time will tell but I think you are showing ostrich tendencies on this one

Are you at a zoo

[Fromafar]

14 minutes ago, 60sMonarch said:

Your problem here is that Poole and Glasgow are run by very successful businessmen who have no interest in losing lots of money just to keep the dying Premiership going. Where would you get the very large sums needed to persuade them to move up from?

The Premiership has been living well beyond its means for years and is no longer sustainable.

If the top level of British speedway is now to be roughly Championship level so be it, still a lot better than no speedway   

Good post.

Be interesting to see all these riders who can’t make it pay in GB are going to make their money abroad. (and get paid on time ,or at all)

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

7 hours ago, tyler42 said:

Surely in the current economic climate, both riders and promoters should be working together in making the sport as cost effective as possible. It's economic suicide for riders in the lower leagues having to run the same equipment and budget as the top riders. The promotors and riders have to cut their cloth accordingly. 

You would like to think so unfortunately that’s not how either riders or promotors think, when you’re in the sport you are blinkered to the good of the sport, you are sort of carried along with it, it’s not till you step away from the sport  you become aware that we are literally peeing money up the wall, I’ve tried to point out recently which the speedway star actually picked up on that we are actually going no faster than 40 years ago but spending £1000s to achieve it, riders just don’t want to hear it or believe it, they are just chasing the next pay check and the tuners and promoters are just feeding their desires 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

Nobody wants the stars out of speedway including me but we don’t have the money to carry on doing the same thing, they should get the promotion from each team ,get round the table with the top boys and say here is the pot we have which isn’t enough to carry on doing the same how do you propose we go forward ? And let’s here it from the top riders 

Edited 2 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[JamesB]

32 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Nobody wants the stars out of speedway including me but we don’t have the money to carry on doing the same thing, they should get the promotion from each team ,get round the table with the top boys and say here is the pot we have which isn’t enough to carry on doing the same how do you propose we go forward ? And let’s here it from the top riders 

Part of the problem is that there are good and not so good promoter’s.

I don’t believe that Ipswich lose money as Louis has stated a number of times that he will not bankrupt the club for success. He puts in a lot of effort to attract sponsors of which there are many.

I believe that Doyle’s wages are paid by one of the sponsors and I wouldn’t be surprised if part or all of Sayfutdinov’s are as well.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

39 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Part of the problem is that there are good and not so good promoter’s.

I don’t believe that Ipswich lose money as Louis has stated a number of times that he will not bankrupt the club for success. He puts in a lot of effort to attract sponsors of which there are many.

I believe that Doyle’s wages are paid by one of the sponsors and I wouldn’t be surprised if part or all of Sayfutdinov’s are as well.

That may well be the case but until the sport sorts itself out those sponsors are few and far between and it’s not the fault of any one promotion, it’s the fault of the collective, the sport itself doesn’t know what it is or where it’s going, and if speedway doesn’t know how do you expect anyone else to ?

[cowboy cookie returns?]

1 hour ago, JamesB said:

Part of the problem is that there are good and not so good promoter’s.

I don’t believe that Ipswich lose money as Louis has stated a number of times that he will not bankrupt the club for success. He puts in a lot of effort to attract sponsors of which there are many.

I believe that Doyle’s wages are paid by one of the sponsors and I wouldn’t be surprised if part or all of Sayfutdinov’s are as well.

Louis does put a lot of effort into  attracting sponsorship. He has one new backer this year who I believe are very impressed with how Louis goes about things.