What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[noaksey]

2 hours ago, InTheDeepStuff said:

Anyone heard anything on the back of last Wednesdays ‘emergency’ BSPL meeting? Believe it was called as all not well with the set up costs initially to Northampton as under egged, causing them to not want to enter in the Prem and then other Promoters not happy with 5 team league (Belle Vue, Ipswich, Kings Lynn and Sheffield) as Glasgow and Poole staying where they are in Championship.  Be interesting to see if it is 5 teams if sticking with the initially agreed 6 plus RS teams with 36 average (no cap on riders above a certain average) 

Nothing save for Baggpuss's post on this thread on Saturday 

[YeOldPitGate]

3 hours ago, TTT said:

Still wouldn't be shocked to see Scunny in the Premiership, If anyone is going to save the Premiership from a 5 Team League then it's more than likely going to be Godfrey imo.

Can you imagine Rob's already stretched budget going up another three gears ? I can't see him bankrupting himself within twelve months unless deep pockets Tolley comes on board.

[szkocjasid]

3 hours ago, InTheDeepStuff said:

Anyone heard anything on the back of last Wednesdays ‘emergency’ BSPL meeting? Believe it was called as all not well with the set up costs initially to Northampton as under egged, causing them to not want to enter in the Prem and then other Promoters not happy with 5 team league (Belle Vue, Ipswich, Kings Lynn and Sheffield) as Glasgow and Poole staying where they are in Championship.  Be interesting to see if it is 5 teams if sticking with the initially agreed 6 plus RS teams with 36 average (no cap on riders above a certain average) 

The only suggestion I would have is clubs "democratically" voting for decisions that would encourage Poole & Glasgow to step up.

Allow Wednesday's for Poole, lower the points limit to make it more affordable, lower the points limit in the Champ to put them off, make a ruling that every Champ club has to enter the NL or NT? Would Oxford stick to Prem of they could race on Wednesdays?

I know people say Wednesdays wouldn't work because of Denmark, but not every Prem rider races in Denmark, they already play second fiddle to Poland on some Thursdays, besides it's not an ideal situation. It's a case of, would you prefer a 7 team league with guests, or a 5 team league without guests?

[szkocjasid]

I know it's not the job of Glasgow & Poole to "save" British Speedway, but is their reluctance to step up gonna harm them in the long run?

If no-one wants to join the Prem & it collapses. Riders no longer get to double up, said riders now want paid more due to less meetings. Clubs can't afford it, Champ clubs begin to drop off down to NL / Nora.

Like I said at the start it's unfair to expect a team to ride at the level they're not comfortable with, but the alternative could be far worse!

I mentioned those teams, as they seem the best set to give it a go.

Sticking to what's safe (not a criticism as it's their money on the line) won't be an issue in the short term perhaps, but what's the long term future going to be?

[LisaColette]

4 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

I know it's not the job of Glasgow & Poole to "save" British Speedway, but is their reluctance to step up gonna harm them in the long run?

If no-one wants to join the Prem & it collapses. Riders no longer get to double up, said riders now want paid more due to less meetings. Clubs can't afford it, Champ clubs begin to drop off down to NL / Nora.

Like I said at the start it's unfair to expect a team to ride at the level they're not comfortable with, but the alternative could be far worse!

I mentioned those teams, as they seem the best set to give it a go.

Sticking to what's safe (not a criticism as it's their money on the line) won't be an issue in the short term perhaps, but what's the long term future going to be?

Matt Ford has already said Poole won't move up until they have a long term future at the stadium. They always seem to know they are okay for the following year but seems to be as far as long term it is atm. 

Better off trying Redcar. Didn't they used to ride on Thursdays? 

[LisaColette]

4 hours ago, TTT said:

Still wouldn't be shocked to see Scunny in the Premiership, If anyone is going to save the Premiership from a 5 Team League then it's more than likely going to be Godfrey imo.

Apparently he lost money riding in Championship so can't see it. 

Edited 19 hours ago by LisaColette

[ouch]

If Glasgow & Poole had the support to cover it, they would be in the top league with top riders in their teams. They don’t and they haven’t - it’s not rocket science  

[Hawk127]

All the thoughts and ideas on here have some validity but the unknown factors are the state of the TV coverage, the level of sponsorship for the sport and to a large extent the set up of the leagues which are largely determined by the self interest of the business owners who are ploughing money into a sport in decline. It seemingly has no major media coverage in the U K and  is largely ignored by the average person on the street and or is unknown to the average sports follower in the UK nor does it have any profile beyond the anoraks. Despite this it can be one of the most exciting two wheeled sports and needs to be marketed correctly. Take a look at the recent Polish Gala event and watch some of the races of each season going back to 2016 and watch the likes of Gollob winning races and find another sport that can match it. Like almost all on here we do not put money into the sport other than the entrance fee and whilst some have the answers to its failings we are not the custodians and until the club owners work for the overall best interest of the sport it will stagger from one crisis to the next and without a major change in 2026 it is the same old same old followed by a further decline in attendees.

[InTheDeepStuff]

Pretty sure if Glasgow wanted the Premiership they would move up, they don’t need financial support that’s for sure.  They’d loose out fan wise as it’s a helluva trek on a Monday or Thursday even from the closest track which would be Belle Vue, so not many travelling fans would turn up, plus loosing matches v Edinburgh and Berwick that always bring better crowds in. They’ve already signed riders up in the Championship so can’t see them back tracking now for this coming season anyway. 
 

Geographically you’d think Scunthorpe would be the one to put their hand up to move up a league and Godfrey to back up his ideas, get a local(ish) derby back against Sheffield and not too far away from Leicester or Kings Lynn 

[stevebrum]

On 10/26/2025 at 9:15 AM, Pitch said:

I agree with you 100% , odd that some people on hear and some clubs think keeping Emil and Co in a 5 team league is more important than having one league of 14 championship level clubs.

 

Having a top flight is more important. Without it British speedway is as good as a dead sport.

[Teromaafan]

8 hours ago, stevebrum said:

Having a top flight is more important. Without it British speedway is as good as a dead sport.

No rider should be bigger than the sport or an individual club. Clinging on to the top riders by satisfying their financial demands is not the way to evolve British Speedway. The current crop of GP riders in this country will move on/retire before you know it and the sport in this country still needs to be standing when they do so. Powers that be need to be brave and if necessary have a total reset instead of applying fresh sticking plasters to see the sport through following season. Competitive racing with riders of a similar ability distributed across teams has to be the focus. How else do you attract fresh interest which the sport desperately needs? The people whose interest and money we need have probably never heard of the sport’s current elite. A league of five teams that can borrow riders from each other now and again isn’t the way to attract outsiders.

[Fromafar]

12 hours ago, InTheDeepStuff said:

Pretty sure if Glasgow wanted the Premiership they would move up, they don’t need financial support that’s for sure.  They’d loose out fan wise as it’s a helluva trek on a Monday or Thursday even from the closest track which would be Belle Vue, so not many travelling fans would turn up, plus loosing matches v Edinburgh and Berwick that always bring better crowds in. They’ve already signed riders up in the Championship so can’t see them back tracking now for this coming season anyway. 
 

Geographically you’d think Scunthorpe would be the one to put their hand up to move up a league and Godfrey to back up his ideas, get a local(ish) derby back against Sheffield and not too far away from Leicester or Kings Lynn 

They maybe have money,but they certainly aren’t going to throw it away.They have already stated that the speedway has to pay for itself now.After all their investment in upgrades to the Stadium.

[Aries]

29 minutes ago, Teromaafan said:

No rider should be bigger than the sport or an individual club. Clinging on to the top riders by satisfying their financial demands is not the way to evolve British Speedway. The current crop of GP riders in this country will move on/retire before you know it and the sport in this country still needs to be standing when they do so. Powers that be need to be brave and if necessary have a total reset instead of applying fresh sticking plasters to see the sport through following season. Competitive racing with riders of a similar ability distributed across teams has to be the focus. How else do you attract fresh interest which the sport desperately needs? The people whose interest and money we need have probably never heard of the sport’s current elite. A league of five teams that can borrow riders from each other now and again isn’t the way to attract outsiders.

You’ve literally contradicted yourself in two sentences. If those people haven’t heard of the “current elite”, then they won’t know who’s been borrowed and from which club either and wouldn’t be bothered with it.

 

[Aries]

5 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

They maybe have money,but they certainly aren’t going to throw it away.They have already stated that the speedway has to pay for itself now.After all their investment in upgrades to the Stadium.

I’d say the biggest issue for Glasgow moving up is where they are!

Much easier for supporters to get to a few meetings in the championship including the Scottish derby, than it is in the Premiership.

They have the set up and crowd levels to make a go of it in the Premiership. It all comes down to how well clubs are supported as much as good sponsorship. You’re not going to make it pay with one or the other, you’ll need both. 
 

Unfortunately, the majority in the Championship just don’t have the fan base to make top flight Speedway work. Tolley lost a packet because the attendances at Birmingham were rubbish. 
 

He was quite public about the attendance figures he needed to break even, and they weren’t getting close to it. If you don’t have that guaranteed core base even when things aren’t going well on track, then you’ll end up out of pocket. 
 

Tinkering around with the rules, like doing away with guests and double uppers which some seem to hate, isn’t suddenly going to swell attendances up and down the country. In fact, it won’t make a jot of difference!

[TTT]

Bosses need to grow a backbone and refuse starting permission for Glasgow in the Championship imo.

It's a club with a Premiership business model in place on all fronts.

Under no circumstances can the Premiership take place with 5 Teams.

[JamesB]

39 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

They maybe have money,but they certainly aren’t going to throw it away.They have already stated that the speedway has to pay for itself now.After all their investment in upgrades to the Stadium.

Everybody is welcome to their own views and to be fair it seems pretty much 50/50 from contributors on here about the way forward.

Personally, I struggle to understand how removing the GP/top/expensive riders and equally sharing out the remainder will attract more spectators. The cost argument holds more water.

The quality would be Championship + at best. I can only speak from personal experience, which is that the crowd numbers at Foxhall in the Doyle/Sayfutdinov era have been substantially higher than the Championship days and even the early Premiership days pre their signing.

Of course, you can get some good races between any riders but give me a Heat 13/15 involving Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Bewley and Kurtz any day over one involving lesser quality riders.

[Fromafar]

2 minutes ago, TTT said:

Bosses need to grow a backbone and refuse starting permission for Glasgow in the Championship imo.

It's a club with a Premiership business model in place on all fronts.

Under no circumstances can the Premiership take place with 5 Teams.

Is that a joke.

Premiership is in trouble why should Championship prop it up.

[BluPanther]

10 hours ago, stevebrum said:

Having a top flight is more important. Without it British speedway is as good as a dead sport.

It's been on life support for a while now Brum. It will have to be just one league if we lose a few more tracks, and I just don't see a 'top league' existing in five years time...

[gjcone44]

also expect a couple of quid rise per meeting. which wont go down well. my take one league get rid of top stars and drop price at least a fiver.

clubs want top riders put on individual events thru season. like we had in the good old days😁

[Ben91]

The current business model is clearly unsustainable. Premiership club dies so a Championship club has to step up to keep the Premiership afloat. Rinse and repeat. This Groundhog Day can only repeat itself a finite number of times, before long there will be no teams left. 

It’s concerning the number of fans who think things should carry on this way, let alone that the people running the sport seem to agree.