What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[PersonalResponsibility]

It would be quite cool if they relaxed the points limit a bit and made the best out of the 5 teams left over. If you could get Musielak/Rew/Wright/Janowski/Tungate into each team in place of their weakest rider, plus any other riders who weren't here last year, it would be a very strong competition. Lots of reason as to why this won't/can't happen, I'd imagine.

[therefused]

10 minutes ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

It would be quite cool if they relaxed the points limit a bit and made the best out of the 5 teams left over. If you could get Musielak/Rew/Wright/Janowski/Tungate into each team in place of their weakest rider, plus any other riders who weren't here last year, it would be a very strong competition. Lots of reason as to why this won't/can't happen, I'd imagine.

Buster has probably fell out with half of them so they wont be at Lynn 😅

[TTT]

10 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

If no-one's willing to move up, what can they do?

The fact that Ipswich, Belle Vue & Sheffield haven't exactly shared out the heat leaders, may make any clubs thinking of stepping up hesitant to become the next Birmingham or Oxford?

One big watered down league all on BSN.

Premiership collapses next season if it's a 5 team league imo, Basically facing the same team every other week and what happens if one team gets tailed off? The Play-Offs would be sorted in no time and I doubt punters would turn up to see the same fixture that they've already just seen a couple of weeks ago.

Need to force Glasgow or Poole to move up as neither of them should be allowed to race in the Championship because they've got a Premiership business model in operation.

[therefused]

13 minutes ago, TTT said:

One big watered down league all on BSN.

Premiership collapses next season if it's a 5 team league imo, Basically facing the same team every other week and what happens if one team gets tailed off? The Play-Offs would be sorted in no time and I doubt punters would turn up to see the same fixture that they've already just seen a couple of weeks ago.

Need to force Glasgow or Poole to move up as neither of them should be allowed to race in the Championship because they've got a Premiership business model in operation.

if there are only five teams in the league play offs cannot feasibly take place with four teams.

[BluPanther]

3 minutes ago, therefused said:

if there are only five teams in the league play offs cannot feasibly take place with four teams.

League winners straight to the final, 2nd and 3rd in a play off...

[mikebv]

2 hours ago, TTT said:

One big watered down league all on BSN.

Premiership collapses next season if it's a 5 team league imo, Basically facing the same team every other week and what happens if one team gets tailed off? The Play-Offs would be sorted in no time and I doubt punters would turn up to see the same fixture that they've already just seen a couple of weeks ago.

Need to force Glasgow or Poole to move up as neither of them should be allowed to race in the Championship because they've got a Premiership business model in operation.

Spot on apart from "if" one team gets tailed off, as it is "when"...

Every season the team everyone on here says have "no chance" before a wheel is turned, invariably have their season over by the end of May and become a team with small appeal to watch either home or away...

The biggest frustration for the fans is that where we are today has been predicted by us for the last two decades...

As we could see the glaring obvious flaws in "Baldrick's cunning plan", yet those insulated within their own echo chamber/Speedway Bubble either couldn't, or chose not to...

There should have been radical change to the operating model when the GP's started to impact UK Speedway. And they chose to not to do anything different..

There should have been radical change to the operating model when Poland started to impact UK Speedway. And they chose not to do anything different...

There should have been radical change to the operating model for the return of the sport post Covid, when a year out gave them huge opportunity to reset the sport, and unpick all the nonsense that has held the sport back over the years, and disillusioned so many fans, who still follow the sport but attend either never or infrequently. And they chose not to do anything different.. 

Many of the same people who have led two decades of negative fan attendance, plus reduced TV viewership and media profile, are still running the sport...

The sport desperately needs outside influence to drive it forward, from marketing, to adminstration,  to operating model planning...

People not within the Speedway Bubble..

The past two seasons of the play offs, in the flagship competition, have actually been ran by NOT following the very rules the competition was set up with, which from an outside optics view, is both amateurish and ludicrous... 

The sport won't move forwards until the promoters realise that they are the custodians of ALL OF IT, and not just their own clubs, and also realise that they may not have the right set of skills to lead it, and be open to get some clear direction from people who do possess those leadership skills...

Edited 7 hours ago by mikebv

[DaveWayne]

4 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

So it's says more than one - which is at least 2.......

Depends on the interpretation. More than one could be taken as anything from 366 days to 2 years.

As Tai didn't ride in the British leagues due to injury from the end of June 2024, so that is "more than 1 full season" as a season can't be longer than 12 months and by the time 2026 starts it will be about 21 months since he last rode in the UK.

[SteveLyric2]

1 hour ago, therefused said:

Buster has probably fell out with half of them so they wont be at Lynn 😅

Serious question - I thought Buster had had enough and was packing it all in??

[SteveLyric2]

1 hour ago, TTT said:

One big watered down league all on BSN.

Premiership collapses next season if it's a 5 team league imo, Basically facing the same team every other week and what happens if one team gets tailed off? The Play-Offs would be sorted in no time and I doubt punters would turn up to see the same fixture that they've already just seen a couple of weeks ago.

Need to force Glasgow or Poole to move up as neither of them should be allowed to race in the Championship because they've got a Premiership business model in operation.

Have you not read Matt Ford in the Speedway Star last week?

[TTT]

6 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Have you not read Matt Ford in the Speedway Star last week?

No, I don't get the SS Magazine.

[therefused]

22 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Have you not read Matt Ford in the Speedway Star last week?

if Ford doesnt like it and hes outvoted then its tough rubbish if you ask me. 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

44 minutes ago, DaveWayne said:

Depends on the interpretation. More than one could be taken as anything from 366 days to 2 years.

As Tai didn't ride in the British leagues due to injury from the end of June 2024, so that is "more than 1 full season" as a season can't be longer than 12 months and by the time 2026 starts it will be about 21 months since he last rode in the UK.

The usual smoke and mirrors twisting to suit your own agenda

He had returned from the 2024 injury hence his declaration and his riding in order to pick up the new (and sickening) injury

Therefore he only missed the 1 season - 2025 - as a result of that injury

No reduction should be given for an initial declaration in 2026

If he is then declared and rides elsewhere it shouldn't applied to any redeclaration later in the 2026 season as he would not have missed more than 1 season

[DaveWayne]

10 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

The usual smoke and mirrors twisting to suit your own agenda

He had returned from the 2024 injury hence his declaration and his riding in order to pick up the new (and sickening) injury

Therefore he only missed the 1 season - 2025 - as a result of that injury

No reduction should be given for an initial declaration in 2026

If he is then declared and rides elsewhere it shouldn't applied to any redeclaration later in the 2026 season as he would not have missed more than 1 season

Why is it smoke and mirrors ?

The rule quoted was from the British rule book and was in relation to racing in the British league.

Yes he was declared for 2025, but never rode in the British league before he was injured again.

Nowhere does the rule say that the period missed has to be related to the same injury. Therefore, by the wording of the rule, he has missed more than one full season due to speedway injury.

[noaksey]

On 10/19/2025 at 9:20 PM, Neila said:

How has the figure of £450 come from, this year I paid £250 ish for full championship and the covered premier League meetings, if ? BSN cover speedway I could see it being £180 per league that's as this year about 50 meetings.

Worked out at £4.60 a meeting so price of a pint to watch a speedway meeting on me sofa 😃

If they want big subscriber numbers its going to have to be something like £20 per month absolute maximum for say 7 months =£140,

[arnieg]

2 hours ago, therefused said:

if there are only five teams in the league play offs cannot feasibly take place with four teams.

Although Denmark manage to have six teams in their play-offs from a seven team league.

So it's feasable (but still very unsatisfactory)

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Have you not read Matt Ford in the Speedway Star last week?

Go on ?

[TTT]

Rumoured One Rider Over 8.00 Rule.

6 Riders finished the 2025 Season with a GSA Over 8.00 (Fricke, J. Holder, Kurtz, Bewley, Sayfutdinov & Douglas)

Emil Sayfutdinov's work visa has expired and he may not return to British Speedway in 2026 so I guess this is the proposal on the table at the AGM?

BELLE VUE -> Kurtz

IPSWICH -> Bewley

KING'S LYNN -> Douglas

LEICESTER -> Fricke

SHEFFIELD -> J. Holder

[StarBoy]

17 minutes ago, TTT said:

Rumoured One Rider Over 8.00 Rule.

6 Riders finished the 2025 Season with a GSA Over 8.00 (Fricke, J. Holder, Kurtz, Bewley, Sayfutdinov & Douglas)

Emil Sayfutdinov's work visa has expired and he may not return to British Speedway in 2026 so I guess this is the proposal on the table at the AGM?

BELLE VUE -> Kurtz

IPSWICH -> Bewley

KING'S LYNN -> Douglas

LEICESTER -> Fricke

SHEFFIELD -> J. Holder

I’d happily take Douglas for Lynn at 1. as long as we get R Lambert in as well to back him up and when the 1st/2nd set of averages change, Douglas drops down the order. Lynn would have the strongest duo in the league. 

[mikebv]

24 minutes ago, TTT said:

Rumoured One Rider Over 8.00 Rule.

6 Riders finished the 2025 Season with a GSA Over 8.00 (Fricke, J. Holder, Kurtz, Bewley, Sayfutdinov & Douglas)

Emil Sayfutdinov's work visa has expired and he may not return to British Speedway in 2026 so I guess this is the proposal on the table at the AGM?

BELLE VUE -> Kurtz

IPSWICH -> Bewley

KING'S LYNN -> Douglas

LEICESTER -> Fricke

SHEFFIELD -> J. Holder

Its certainly a good job Coventry, Peterborough, Somerset, Rye House, Lakeside, Swindon, Wolverhampton and Birmingham have all closed within the past decade or so it isn't it?..

And Poole dropped down into Div 2...

Imagine trying to fill these teams with riders..?

[The White Knight]

5 hours ago, TTT said:

One big watered down league all on BSN.

Premiership collapses next season if it's a 5 team league imo, Basically facing the same team every other week and what happens if one team gets tailed off? The Play-Offs would be sorted in no time and I doubt punters would turn up to see the same fixture that they've already just seen a couple of weeks ago.

Need to force Glasgow or Poole to move up as neither of them should be allowed to race in the Championship because they've got a Premiership business model in operation.

Jolly good Post.