What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[Fromafar]

3 hours ago, TTT said:

I fully understand the Glasgow race night situation and stuff but this is the point I'm trying to make.

Promoters aren't willing to budge on anything and they're not willing to put the Sport first in this country.

Every AGM should see every Promoter sit around a table and say....What can we do to make the Sport better in this country? What can we do to get a new generation of fans to take an interest? What can we do to make our Sport more attractive to TV companies etc.

But they don't, They just waltz into an AGM every year with a small minded ideology, Where everything is based around what's best for me and my club only and that is why everything is going to collapse eventually.

We would need to know what Promotions are not will to budge though.Also what is being proposed.

[mikebv]

8 minutes ago, TTT said:

Because of a few things tbh, Main thing is due to Rider availability.

27 out of 49 Riders who finished the 2025 PREMIERSHIP season in a declared 1-7 D/UP'd in the CHAMPIONSHIP.

63 CHAMPIONSHIP Riders + 22 PREMIERSHIP Riders (Exc. D/UP) = 85 Riders

Current No. of Clubs in the PREMIERSHIP & CHAMPIONSHIP = 14

14 Teams Containing 7 Riders Per Team = 98 Riders

You're already 13 Riders down before taking into account the mass exits of GP/Ekstraliga Riders, So 5 Man Teams would have to come into play.

I think five man teams will be inevitable if one league happens...

However, maybe they will run with a top tier with 8 teams and a 2nd tier with six? 

(And maybe get the NDL/NORA teams involved in tier two as well?)

With the top tier being obviously Championship level... 

The riders who need to double up will be the stumbling block I would think, and also the earnings of those who need a certain amount of money to meet visa requirements may also impact their availability...

In short.  

We don't really have a "best idea" given the situation the sport has allowed itself to be in, and all the variables that impact it are almost beyond control it sometimes can appear, but we could find a "least worst" solution to follow...

Not great is it? 

[TTT]

1 hour ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

"Championship clubs are nothing without Premiership clubs"

"someone has to step up and fill one of the voids left by Oxford/Birmingham."

"Club bosses need to block Glasgow from competing in the Championship and instead give them an ultimatum"

Perhaps it's just me, but who is "nothing" without the other here? 

Not being nasty, I'm just being honest.

It's top end PREMIERSHIP clubs that keep British Speedway alive albeit on life support, The PREMIERSHIP is the FINAL BOSS of British Speedway.

Edited 6 hours ago by TTT

[YeOldPitGate]

4 hours ago, Phannan said:

Promotion and relegation. That’s the answer imo. That way nobody gets to choose what league they want to operate in . The premiership and the championship should be embroiled together in that way. Yet it feels like a them and us narrative now. One league’s supporters looking down at the other. It would stop the big fish in a small pond problem too. But I suppose football, cricket, rugby etc have always done it wrong whereas the brilliantly run speedway has the answers.

Problem is in the current set up without massive sponsorship nobody would want to get promoted .

[mikebv]

27 minutes ago, TTT said:

Not being nasty, I'm just being honest.

It's top end PREMIERSHIP clubs that keep British Speedway alive albeit on life support, The PREMIERSHIP is the FINAL BOSS of British Speedway.

There is no one league that keeps the sport going as both have similar examples of crowd sizes, kudos in winning competitions, and public awareness...

Maybe next year we could have a Premiership, but at a reduced level...?

Ipswich, for example, could keep Emil (presuming he wants to ride over here), and then release Doyle, Brennan, King and Ellis to spearhead four teams in a much watered down league...

You know....

For the good of the sport rather than selfishly looking out for themselves, particularly as they have the financial backing to do that etc, etc, etc... .....

Edited 6 hours ago by mikebv

[Fromafar]

40 minutes ago, TTT said:

Not being nasty, I'm just being honest.

It's top end PREMIERSHIP clubs that keep British Speedway alive albeit on life support, The PREMIERSHIP is the FINAL BOSS of British Speedway.

Could you tell me in what way the Premiership keeps British Speedway alive .Do the heavily subsidised the Championship for instance?

[TTT]

37 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Could you tell me in what way the Premiership keeps British Speedway alive .Do the heavily subsidised the Championship for instance?

The CHAMPIONSHIP only exists because PREMIERSHIP clubs ensure that it exists by stumping up the cash every year to ensure that British Speedway has a two tier structure.

 

No PREMIERSHIP = No CHAMPIONSHIP.

No PREMIERSHIP = No Top Riders.

No Top Riders = Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs like Belle Vue

Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs = No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble.

No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble = Death of British Speedway.

 

[Fromafar]

27 minutes ago, TTT said:

The CHAMPIONSHIP only exists because PREMIERSHIP clubs ensure that it exists by stumping up the cash every year to ensure that British Speedway has a two tier structure.

 

No PREMIERSHIP = No CHAMPIONSHIP.

No PREMIERSHIP = No Top Riders.

No Top Riders = Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs like Belle Vue

Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs = No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble.

No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble = Death of British Speedway.

 

Really!

Cant go along with that.Thats your opinion though which your are entitled too.

[StarBoy]

42 minutes ago, TTT said:

The CHAMPIONSHIP only exists because PREMIERSHIP clubs ensure that it exists by stumping up the cash every year to ensure that British Speedway has a two tier structure.

 

No PREMIERSHIP = No CHAMPIONSHIP.

No PREMIERSHIP = No Top Riders.

No Top Riders = Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs like Belle Vue

Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs = No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble.

No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble = Death of British Speedway.

 

But then your argument is hamstrung by the fact that there are probably only 4 teams that can afford the “Top Riders” anyway: BV, Ipswich, Glasgow and Poole (I would include Sheffield but too much uncertainty). And as has been said you can’t run a Premiership with 4 teams, so you would then expect another 2-4 teams to prop up the league so them four teams can compete for the title year-in-year out…

[Aries]

40 minutes ago, StarBoy said:

But then your argument is hamstrung by the fact that there are probably only 4 teams that can afford the “Top Riders” anyway: BV, Ipswich, Glasgow and Poole (I would include Sheffield but too much uncertainty). And as has been said you can’t run a Premiership with 4 teams, so you would then expect another 2-4 teams to prop up the league so them four teams can compete for the title year-in-year out…

You’ve missed out Leicester. Unless you don’t think the best rider in the league is a “top rider”.

[StarBoy]

2 minutes ago, Aries said:

You’ve missed out Leicester. Unless you don’t think the best rider in the league is a “top rider”.

He might be “best” rider in the league numerically, but he isn’t what I would describe as ‘speedway superstar’ compared to Bewley, Kurtz, Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Woffinden and Holder. 

[Aries]

1 minute ago, StarBoy said:

He might be “best” rider in the league numerically, but he isn’t what I would describe as ‘speedway superstar’ compared to Bewley, Kurtz, Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Woffinden and Holder. 

Crikey. Well you were talking about who would be able to afford these “top riders”. I’m not sure Fricke is cheaper than those you’ve mentioned. He certainly shouldn’t be being the best rider that currently rides here.

[StarBoy]

5 minutes ago, Aries said:

Crikey. Well you were talking about who would be able to afford these “top riders”. I’m not sure Fricke is cheaper than those you’ve mentioned. He certainly shouldn’t be being the best rider that currently rides here.

See, that’s where I’d disagree. Max is a nice guy, very genuine and I genuinely don’t think he’d try and take the piss out of any team financially. 

[naffer]

2 minutes ago, StarBoy said:

See, that’s where I’d disagree. Max is a nice guy, very genuine and I genuinely don’t think he’d try and take the piss out of any team financially. 

 

£3400 a meeting he was on this year which may be viewed reasonable.

 

[StarBoy]

1 minute ago, naffer said:

 

£3400 a meeting he was on this year which may be viewed reasonable.

 

I heard the spearhead Ipswich duo were on £5k apiece, just as a guarantee. 

[tyler42]

7 hours ago, TTT said:

I fully understand the Glasgow race night situation and stuff but this is the point I'm trying to make.

Promoters aren't willing to budge on anything and they're not willing to put the Sport first in this country.

Every AGM should see every Promoter sit around a table and say....What can we do to make the Sport better in this country? What can we do to get a new generation of fans to take an interest? What can we do to make our Sport more attractive to TV companies etc.

But they don't, They just waltz into an AGM every year with a small minded ideology, Where everything is based around what's best for me and my club only and that is why everything is going to collapse eventually.

I agree, but it's as much the top league promoters as the 2nd division promoters. Remember it's the top league that have taken all the TV money and what have they got to show for it? They don't give a monkeys about the 2nd division, so why should the 2nd division give a monkeys about the plight they are in now. If they think they can have a league with 4/5 teams then let them. It will look daft to those's outside the sport as well as many inside, but if they are not willing to come together with the 2nd division and make it one league, just let them crack on and when another club pulls out next year just have 3/4 teams in the top league.

[SteelShoe]

On 10/28/2025 at 7:13 PM, TTT said:

Sense of entitlement from certain Championship clubs, They need to serve the Premiership because the Premiership is British Speedway.

Certain Championship clubs are waiting for the Premiership to collapse and end up in one big league mostly full of journeymen and out of depth NDL riders and Championship Promoters seem to think that everything will work out perfectly for them when it won't.

Current Championship No.1's & Certain No.5's would have offers galore and promoters will have to pay much more money for them during a bidding war because every one of them would demand much more money as they'll need to cover some of the losses from only having one British team place instead of the usual two.

Disagree with this in general I suppose.

Don't believe there is a sense of entitlement from certain Championship clubs none of which you have named incidentally. To state that they need to serve the Premiership because the Premiership is British Speedway sounds more entitled and just a bit condescending.  I don't think Championship clubs are waiting for the Premiership to collapse, why would any true speedway fan want to see either league collapse?.

How do you know one big league would be mostly full of journeymen and out of depth NDL riders, it is not that long ago since Tom Brennan, Dan Thompson and Jason Edwards rode in that particular league not to mention Dan Bewley.

Speedway's band of Promoters have had plenty of opportunity to get to grips with rider pay structure but seem to have lacked the discipline required as a group to do so. Is that statement fair ? .

Historically lots of riders only had one British team place but the number of teams in the leagues at that time meant they got circa twice as many league fixtures than the 16 of recent years in the Championship anyway. The Premiership with 7 teams was just sustainable but still loss making for a number of those. But 5 teams assuming no one else is joining at the moment with no announced major tv deal is another story. It was rumoured that Ipswich were reluctant to partake in a 5 team league and personally I can see why.

Sometime you have to go back to move forward so if one league in the short term at least is beneficial for the sport then I for one embrace it.

Edited 2 hours ago by SteelShoe

[truthsayer]

Nice as many of these ideas are, we're still just kicking the can down the road.

Without a grassroots plan to develop more riders and secure more venues, there is no team speedway.

There are already nowhere near enough riders, and that's utilising many expensive imports. There needs to be a separation of the sport and the competition. Clubs are (rightly) just trying to do enough to get them to the end of next week. I don't see anyone doing any wider development of the sport.

I just can't see a future for speedway as a team sport, or as a professional sport, but I would hope that the base sport can survive and find an appropriate level for the early 21st century.

[SteelShoe]

2 hours ago, TTT said:

The CHAMPIONSHIP only exists because PREMIERSHIP clubs ensure that it exists by stumping up the cash every year to ensure that British Speedway has a two tier structure.

 

No PREMIERSHIP = No CHAMPIONSHIP.

No PREMIERSHIP = No Top Riders.

No Top Riders = Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs like Belle Vue

Asset stripping of historic PREMIERSHIP clubs = No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble.

No Interest in the Sport outside of a dwindling bubble = Death of British Speedway.

 

Really, there is a saying that there is non so blind as those who do not want to see

[Hawk127]

2 hours ago, StarBoy said:

But then your argument is hamstrung by the fact that there are probably only 4 teams that can afford the “Top Riders” anyway: BV, Ipswich, Glasgow and Poole (I would include Sheffield but too much uncertainty). And as has been said you can’t run a Premiership with 4 teams, so you would then expect another 2-4 teams to prop up the league so them four teams can compete for the title year-in-year out…

I think it depends on what company runs the sport at the respective tracks. Take a look at Companies House and the last set of accounts filed for the teams in each of the leagues and most file abbreviated accounts and few have a decent net worth despite the longevity of the trading and you question how much goes through the companies that run the sport at the relevant tracks versus those riders where the cost/expenses are picked up directly by sponsors so the cost and overhead never appear in the figures for each track operating company. It is difficult to get to the bottom of who is earning what. For example do a search of Ipswich and then the Directors and then the accounts and the resultant filed figures do not match the presumed costs of running the club. Who knows what the real cost is of running a club at the highest level in the UK so to suggest who can and cannot afford to participate in which league is pure conjecture. Financial Transparency is key but it does not exist. To suggest  that the likes of Glasgow should move up has no foundation without financial information in the public domain to support that argument.