What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[Roger Jacobs]

2 hours ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Shame he didn't give the fans any options - 1, Close down; 2, run in a 5 team Premiership;3, Run in the Championship; 4, Run in a 'one league' set-up, with 5 or 6 rider teams?

What part of he doesn't want to be the promoter anymore don't you understand?

If a buyer is found it'll be up to them to decide how they want to run the club, which might include asking fans what they think.

[Daniel Smith]

1 hour ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

But in Louis case he has proven if  it’s done correctly & professionally then it can work. 

With the help of deep pockets from Guy Nicholls. There's a lot of delusion as to how well run Ipswich is. Without TruPlant, Ipswich would be also-rans alongside King's Lynn. Absolutely no chance Doyle & Sayfutdinov would be in the team. Louis himself has said Nicholls has done way way more than people know.

[Arch Stanton]

12 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said:

With the help of deep pockets from Guy Nicholls. There's a lot of delusion as to how well run Ipswich is. Without TruPlant, Ipswich would be also-rans alongside King's Lynn. Absolutely no chance Doyle & Sayfutdinov would be in the team. Louis himself has said Nicholls has done way way more than people know.

For the 1 millionth time, completely and utterly wrong. Guy Nicholls had plenty of opportunity to sponsor Ipswich for many year before he finally did, while Nicholls chose to sponsor other clubs and individual riders. He picked up the sponsorship for what he called “a song”, paying LESS per season than Sackers recycling did before him. He’s been supportive of Louis from a business point of view, and been a terrific soundboard. But this myth that Nicholls pumps all this big money in to the club is exactly that, a myth. 

Edited 19 hours ago by Arch Stanton

[mac101]

26 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

It will be interesting to see how the championship gets on when doubling up ends & the riders ask for bettter terms to cover their loss in earnings

The championship have a wages cap agreed by all clubs 

[topaz325]

Looking like a larger championship league as each day goes by 

[Aries]

I see absolutely clueless planks such as @therefused laughing at someone’s post without having a clue who he’s laughing at. That in itself is hilarious!

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

9 minutes ago, topaz325 said:

Looking like a larger championship league as each day goes by 

Yes and it’s not a bad thing 

[SUPERACE]

5 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Unfortunately it sounds like lemon is doing the same, BV in the national league only and Ipswich potentially not running at all is catastrophic for the sport, both completely avoidable but are we dealing with stubbornness preventing a proper solution 

Zero percent chance that happens. More chance of not running than just doing NL.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

29 minutes ago, SUPERACE said:

Zero percent chance that happens. More chance of not running than just doing NL.

Hope you’re right but needs to run something to keep stadium open for speedway, 2 GPs is not enough, if there is no premier (looking likely)and they won’t go championship what is left ?  

[cowboy cookie returns?]

9 hours ago, mac101 said:

The championship have a wages cap agreed by all clubs 

That’s all well & good until their income is at least cut by half. 

[ouch]

10 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

With the help of deep pockets from Guy Nicholls. There's a lot of delusion as to how well run Ipswich is. Without TruPlant, Ipswich would be also-rans alongside King's Lynn. Absolutely no chance Doyle & Sayfutdinov would be in the team. Louis himself has said Nicholls has done way way more than people know.

Bang on. It’s mainly due to slick PR by Henry, ably backed up by the trolls on here and no doubt other social media. A good example of this was the annual AGM statement we are all eagerly waiting on. This years included a large section on Ipswich running a junior meeting, painting Louis as some kind of saviour on the junior front. I urge you to read it again and compare it to the damp squib it turned out to be. Don’t get me wrong it was a worthy venture and I’m always pleased to see top level clubs help us with the task of bringing on the next generation, no matter how small. It was not worthy of the being included in the AGM statement. 
 

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/miscellaneous/british-speedway-agm-statement-2/

[gjcone44]

21 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

That’s all well & good until their income is at least cut by half. 

its not the fans who owe the riders a living.

[gjcone44]

27 minutes ago, ouch said:

Bang on. It’s mainly due to slick PR by Henry, ably backed up by the trolls on here and no doubt other social media. A good example of this was the annual AGM statement we are all eagerly waiting on. This years included a large section on Ipswich running a junior meeting, painting Louis as some kind of saviour on the junior front. I urge you to read it again and compare it to the damp squib it turned out to be. Don’t get me wrong it was a worthy venture and I’m always pleased to see top level clubs help us with the task of bringing on the next generation, no matter how small. It was not worthy of the being included in the AGM statement. 
 

https://britishspeedway.co.uk/miscellaneous/british-speedway-agm-statement-2/

There is plenty to look forward to next season but also a great deal of work going on further down the line, and we’re all positive about what’s to come.”

that didn't last long.

The points limit itself was agreed over a month ago, following several meetings leading up to the AGM, and it’s pleasing that we’re also looking at rule changes and improvements for 2026, so we are trying to look a year in advance.

or this.

Edited 8 hours ago by gjcone44

[ShanoXtra]

I’m surprised the amount of people moaning about Chris, more frustration should be aimed at your own promoters, if they could actually run a speedway club like Chris then we wouldn’t be in this situation. It’s not really his fault others have failed. A fair few people on here happy to makes their voices heard but not so keen to actually go to their local speedway club every single week and back your boys, maybe that’s a bigger reason why the league has fallen along with poor promotion? Or maybe Chris calling it a day because he didn’t want to entertain one league has upset people because now the domino effect happens and your club will be next. Bigger issues in British speedway than Chris leaving the club, maybe focus on them.

[PhilTheAce]

12 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said:

I’m surprised the amount of people moaning about Chris, more frustration should be aimed at your own promoters, if they could actually run a speedway club like Chris then we wouldn’t be in this situation. It’s not really his fault others have failed. A fair few people on here happy to makes their voices heard but not so keen to actually go to their local speedway club every single week and back your boys, maybe that’s a bigger reason why the league has fallen along with poor promotion? Or maybe Chris calling it a day because he didn’t want to entertain one league has upset people because now the domino effect happens and your club will be next. Bigger issues in British speedway than Chris leaving the club, maybe focus on them.

ill repeat again, while every promotor have an input its 4 people that rubber stamp and decide any rules, structures etc, and they are, CHRIS LOUIS, rob godfrey, Danny Ford, Damien Bates. so he has to take some blame for being in this mess.

 

no one is disputing he ran ipswich well, hes been excellent for you

[arnieg]

8 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Hope you’re right but needs to run something to keep stadium open for speedway, 2 GPs is not enough, if there is no premier (looking likely)and they won’t go championship what is left ?  

They could follow the lead of clubs from other minor nations (Landshut in Germany and Daugavpils in Latvia) and join the Polish National League

[mikebv]

11 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

With the help of deep pockets from Guy Nicholls. There's a lot of delusion as to how well run Ipswich is. Without TruPlant, Ipswich would be also-rans alongside King's Lynn. Absolutely no chance Doyle & Sayfutdinov would be in the team. Louis himself has said Nicholls has done way way more than people know.

Speedway as far as I know, is the only other "Professional" sport in Ipswich...

With the other not being "too successful" since the early 80's, indeed, it ended up in "Div 3" quite recently...

Therefore, it is a huge opportunity to gain sponsors, and attract fans if successful, and Ipswich, traditionally, even when not winning anything for decades, could deliver the UK's largest crowd of the season on Easter GF, with over 4,000 in attendance, so historically there has always been a much more than average following..

Many other UK tracks have many much popular and larger pro sports on their doorstep...

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sheffield, Belle Vue, and Leicester in particular are places who face massive competition for the "sports dollar" local media coverage and publicity....

Poole is similar to Ipswich with a decent conurbation and not much in the way of pro sports fighting for the same followers..

With the other common denomination being that both Promotions have pro actively taken every advantage to maximise their opportunity..

Some other promoters, but not all, who don't have Pro Basketball, Netball, Ice Hockey, Rugby Union and League and top two tier Football Mens and Womens teams around them, obviously are not doing what the likes of Ipswich and Poole do so well..

Plymouth and Workington, in particular, last season seemed to improve their  business just by changing when they opened their business, which meant they could attract more families...

Who would have thought such "whichcraft" would work for tracks? 

[old bob at herne bay]

11 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Yes and it’s not a bad thing 

 

11 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Yes and it’s not a bad thing 

That’s IF the 2025 CL promoters will accept them into their league? 

A few stumbling blocks in the way ……

Rider availability …how many will ride in UK  if only one league available ? 
doubling up riders …race nights….assessed CMA …….points limits in 2026 

eg Dickie Lawson …..Poole or Kings Lynn ? 
      Chris Harris  …….??? 
etc etc 

Guess there was always going to be the final straw that broke the Camels back ……and that appears to be the retirement of Chris Louis.

[IainB]

11 minutes ago, mikebv said:

traditionally, even when not winning anything for decades, could deliver the UK's largest crowd of the season on Easter GF, with over 4,000 in attendance, so historically there has always been a much more than average following..

... and then in a stroke of promotional genius... stopped running those Good Friday meeting!

Unbelievable Jeff!

[bellevueace]

15 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Unfortunately it sounds like lemon is doing the same, BV in the national league only and Ipswich potentially not running at all is catastrophic for the sport, both completely avoidable but are we dealing with stubbornness preventing a proper solution 

There have been murmurrings BV could go down the same route as Ipswich, what a legacy for Lemon to leave, doing what Hitler couldnt and bringing the longest unbroken run to an end. Also Aces have only ever ridden at the top level throughout their history so would fans support the club in enough numbers without the likes of Bewley and Kurtz? I have spoken to fans who only want to see these top riders but have spoken to more that wouldnt be against a championship league, more variety, a more level playing field in rider ability that would make for good racing and as been said before if it were a championship and ndl championship then becomes the top tier. I suppose the question would be would the loss of GP riders and their wages offset the expected drop in attendences? The stadium still has to be paid for and i couldnt see that rental decreasing with the level of whats on offer. Myself i would just embrace the championship and enjoy visiting different tracks. We just have to wait and see what happens but once its gone its not coming back.