What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[gjcone44]

for got about the government's bit.😁

[mikebv]

23 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said:

Same magazine that got info wrong about Stal… very reliable 😂

To be fair....

It was the Oxford promotion's quotes..

So. I presume. They would have had a "modicum" of "inside information"  as to why they quit the top tier...

[mikebv]

12 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Sorry to be pedantic but you will need to deduct VAT from the gate receipts. 

Cash only...

#cough.....

Edited Friday at 11:31 PM by mikebv

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

1 hour ago, gjcone44 said:

for a laugh lets throw this out , average crowd 1000, x £20. =£20000

12 riders start money £500, each,=£6000.

£100, a point x 90 pts =£9000

leaves £5000. for club to use. 

rider 12 pts makes £1700.

thats what we can afford. 

thats how  i would start again.

so dont start what about this and what about that,.

Bspa fees including ref , paramedics, rent for stadium, insurance , that’s a good chunk of that £5000 left over 

[PersonalResponsibility]

I'm afraid all I can think about is this. Having the money for something ≠ affording that thing.

Edited 17 hours ago by PersonalResponsibility

[TTT]

8 hours ago, mikebv said:

Cash only...

#cough.....

Clubs should start operating that way, Do away with online ticket sales as well.

Pay on the Gate, Cash Only.

[cowboy cookie returns?]

13 hours ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

Shouldn't Ipswich have had this attitude when they spent 8 seasons (trying) to beat up second tier clubs because they couldn't hack the top flight?

Ipswich dropped down as they were in a bad place. Crap teams poor crowds. It was also the time that Louis junior took control. At the time he said it was done to stabilise the club. I think they got forced up when Chapman came a long and was going to buy the club. Subsequently thank god that fell though but Louis grasped the nettle to make it work.

Louis has proved that with the right mindset & professional approach you can make top flight speedway work.

[truthsayer]

Let's be clear, there will be no TV network paying British Speedway for the rights to show the sport. At best, someone will cover production costs and show it for free, or there may be an opportunity for the promoters to pay for the privilege of having the sport shown, which may be a price worth paying in order to bring in sponsors and to give some credibility for the sport.

TBH, if TV is important then the sport needs to adapt and create a 'made-for-TV' format, rather than expecting TV to fit around the sport's legacy. This is what has happened with Grand Prix and will need to happen if domestic speedway is to gain coverage.

[Mick Bratley]

12 hours ago, gjcone44 said:

for a laugh lets throw this out , average crowd 1000, x £20. =£20000

12 riders start money £500, each,=£6000.

£100, a point x 90 pts =£9000

leaves £5000. for club to use. 

rider 12 pts makes £1700.

thats what we can afford. 

thats how  i would start again.

so dont start what about this and what about that,.

You’re missing out a lot of expenses.

Riders and Public Liability insurances

Tyres

Rental of stadium - that can be over £3k 

Payment of referee and anyone else who is not a volunteer 

Paramedic attendance

Track preparation

Track preparation equipment

Shale

The list is pretty endless

[PersonalResponsibility]

2 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Ipswich dropped down as they were in a bad place. Crap teams poor crowds. It was also the time that Louis junior took control. At the time he said it was done to stabilise the club. I think they got forced up when Chapman came a long and was going to buy the club. Subsequently thank god that fell though but Louis grasped the nettle to make it work.

Louis has proved that with the right mindset & professional approach you can make top flight speedway work.

The right mindset, a professional approach, and a rich sponsor. 

Chris Louis is probably the best thing British speedway currently has, but let's not make out it would be as straightforward for every club. They'd all do it if it was.

[TigerIain]

19 hours ago, TTT said:

AGM is going to be a mess anyway, Northampton running at Oxford with no fan base is the rumoured solution according to those who run our Sport and that's a disaster waiting to happen.

Nothing changes until they stop playing happy families at the AGM, All of these 1-2 Year solutions they come up with aren't good enough, They need to come up with a long term plan for a change.

I stick by what I said despite nobody agreeing.....Glasgow shouldn't be allowed to compete in the Championship and the same to a lesser extent goes for Poole.

They're basically sacrificing clubs every year just to allow Glasgow and Poole to compete below their level.

Why shouldn't Glasgow be allowed to compete in the Championship? 

Tigers currently have wealthy promoters but that has not always been the case, in fact it's rarely been the case in our history. 

Moving up would eliminate any sort of local rivalry. And further reduces the number of teams to race against. 

Moving up would force Tigers to give up the Friday night that their fans prefer (by a significant margin over other times/days).

More importantly, where would Glasgow get a non cannon fodder Premiership team from? (Never mind not being able to build the type of entertaining team that the promotion and fans want). A combined Oxford and Birmingham team from last year would still have finished miles off the pace. 

If rumours are true, Glasgow make a not insignificant loss every year, despite the promotions best efforts, in the Championship. Moving up to the Premiership would make that worse and might drive the Facennas away, quite possibly ending speedway in Glasgow.

I think I speak for most Tigers fans when I say I don't want the Premiership.

[gjcone44]

42 minutes ago, Mick Bratley said:

You’re missing out a lot of expenses.

Riders and Public Liability insurances

Tyres

Rental of stadium - that can be over £3k 

Payment of referee and anyone else who is not a volunteer 

Paramedic attendance

Track preparation

Track preparation equipment

Shale

The list is pretty endless

thats the point I'm making riders would have to pay for their own tyre's insurances vans ect,. it shows a lot of money is needed and the public are not willing to pay it.

 

[proud panther]

On 11/3/2025 at 10:02 PM, Fortythirtyeight said:

You must be a politician 

I have been called a lot of things, but that is the worst ever lol.

[YeOldPitGate]

4 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Ipswich dropped down as they were in a bad place. Crap teams poor crowds. It was also the time that Louis junior took control. At the time he said it was done to stabilise the club. I think they got forced up when Chapman came a long and was going to buy the club. Subsequently thank god that fell though but Louis grasped the nettle to make it work.

Louis has proved that with the right mindset & professional approach you can make top flight speedway work.

He has done a great job but I would imagine having Guy Nichols money involved has helped plus Guy's business contacts and I would imagine when done right Ipswich generally has the best support of any team in the country this certainly seemed to be the case back in the John Berry days.

I can remember regularly going down to Ippo for the bank holiday derbys when I followed Lynn mid 80's to early 90's and there was generally more than 5k there every time for that meeting.

The potential is still there I can remember Buster saying when Poole came to Lynn several years back with Holder and Ward in their prime he had his best home crowd since the seventies.

 

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, Mick Bratley said:

You’re missing out a lot of expenses.

Riders and Public Liability insurances

Tyres

Rental of stadium - that can be over £3k 

Payment of referee and anyone else who is not a volunteer 

Paramedic attendance

Track preparation

Track preparation equipment

Shale

The list is pretty endless

You had to go and spoil it Mick

[TTT]

1 hour ago, TigerIain said:

Why shouldn't Glasgow be allowed to compete in the Championship? 

Tigers currently have wealthy promoters but that has not always been the case, in fact it's rarely been the case in our history. 

Moving up would eliminate any sort of local rivalry. And further reduces the number of teams to race against. 

Moving up would force Tigers to give up the Friday night that their fans prefer (by a significant margin over other times/days).

More importantly, where would Glasgow get a non cannon fodder Premiership team from? (Never mind not being able to build the type of entertaining team that the promotion and fans want). A combined Oxford and Birmingham team from last year would still have finished miles off the pace. 

If rumours are true, Glasgow make a not insignificant loss every year, despite the promotions best efforts, in the Championship. Moving up to the Premiership would make that worse and might drive the Facennas away, quite possibly ending speedway in Glasgow.

I think I speak for most Tigers fans when I say I don't want the Premiership.

I fully understand most of your points and the logic they hold.

Just my personal opinion, I think Glasgow is a fantastic club that's very well run and to me they're competing below their level.

In Football terms it's a bit like Newcastle United competing in the EFL Championship.

In my opinion for British Speedway to move forward the whole outlook towards the Sport needs radical change, AGM's should no longer be based around what's best for me and my club only.

They're all to pally pally for me and nobody wants to upset each other so almost everyone gets whatever they want to the detriment of the Sport overall.

Ruthless decisions have to be made for the benefit of the Sport and squabbling over little things like Race Night's should no longer be given the time of day.

 

Despite my opinion, Nothing will change at this AGM and Northampton will be sacrificed and it will be a very short lived return to Speedway and we will all be back here in 12 Months time back at square one.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

There is very little discipline in speedway with regards to riders and their demands, they ultimately push the price of things up themselves with vanity and the pursuit of speed and expect the fans to pay for it, does zmarzlik go to the FIM and say I want this much £ to ride in the GP ? No the FIM say this is what it is like it or lump it and this is what British speedway and polish speedway need to adopt, I’m frankly staggered what riders get these days compared to 20 years ago, then it was just the top riders, now it’s every top dick and Harry gets it, I don’t like to single out anyone because it’s a collective problem but I saw 1 rider selling a complete set of rear sprockets,half of them never been used because he wants a new different colour next year, that is pure vanity but he will argue how much the cost of things have gone up and demand more money/deals next season and ultimately promoters will give in and then the next does it and then the promotion has to put the price up to pay for it, I know it’s the GP at the moment but something I see and just think wa***er is the hat stand in the pits with 4 helmets on it or the little fridge for their cans of sugar in it, really ????

[gjcone44]

they now have their names on their front wheels,

[Aries]

2 hours ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

The right mindset, a professional approach, and a rich sponsor. 

Chris Louis is probably the best thing British speedway currently has, but let's not make out it would be as straightforward for every club. They'd all do it if it was.

Personally he is yes. But if you’re insinuating that he ploughs untold riches in to the club then you’re very much mistaken. In fact, he does the bare minimum and I’ll bet other clubs in the top flight get as much if not more from their main sponsor. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

2 minutes ago, gjcone44 said:

they now have their names on their front wheels,

Yes I know an amatuer rider who has this and he has his own FB page and if you didn’t know him you would think he was a real superstar and he has been riding about 30 years and still rides in novice class at amatuer meetings