What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[Preston Comet]

9 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

It might be a case that we just have to accept the sport in the UK at the level we have known it previously is now over.

I mentioned before i stopped going in my late teens in the early 90's when I discovered nightclubs , fast forward 33 years and nightclubs that pulled in thousands of people on a Saturday night then are all gone.

The nearest city to me had 10 night clubs in the early 90's now it has one tiny one, and loads of pubs have closed over that time frame also, places that from 1990 -2005 if you had said to me one day all these will be gone you would have thought never going to happen but it did.

Its accelerated since then with social media really taking off a lot of the youth of today have near zero interest in going out, online gaming, dating app's so you don't physically have to trawl out rounds pubs any more looking for a likely partner.

Why bother with restaurants get Deliveroo to drop off a pizza to your door, Blockbusters video gone the way of the Dodo when streaming caught on.

I occasionally look back at threads on here from 10 years or so back, and there's loads of names I come across who are no longer posting, I would guess there is maybe 50 of us die hards on here now posting and hoping a miracle happens so even this forum is probably on last knockings.

Really sad how its ended up all be it the sport has actually limped on for far longer than i thought it would but these days its a struggle to attract punters even when you are offering a professional leisure opportunity let alone when you are trying to attract people to a sport where the riders all ride for different teams every other week and after the first month in you can pretty much guarantee every week from the two teams on show there will most likely be at least 2-4 of the combined 14 riders missing.

It really does look like checkmate is nearing I would say one big league but the argument that there has to be some form of even dire top league to subsidise the bottom league as far as rider earnings goes does have merit as an argument, so it really is a case of least bad outcome.

I would imagine it will be a five team top league in 2026 with a view to finding a sacraficial lamb to get it up to six in 2027 unless someone with a load of money and no business sense can be shoe horned into getting Northampton running in 2027.

Take a bow.. this thread should now be locked after this post, magnificently worded

[Littleze]

42 minutes ago, tonyd said:

Agree 100%

Speedway in this country as we know it  is in a state of collapse, high wages, high stadium rents and dwindling  supporters are the norm these days. GP standard riders wages are expensive AND if no team will meet there demands they take there ability elsewhere in Europe to ride which is fair enough. How many races have we seen in the past couple of seasons where there are two races in one? Top riders a straight length ahead of second strings or reserves battling it out together So as more teams fall by the wayside so will the GP riders.

The way things are going at present within 5 years any teams that are left will have to have riders that are semi-professional racing mainly at weekends again, maybe back to the 13 heats and a second half once more where the supporters can watch the juniors improve week on week like we used to. This is the only way I can see speedway completely surviving in this country starting from the grass roots again and rebuilding.

 

 

Until the sport reinvents itself, I don’t see how anything changes. You need salaried riders, a squad and no averages (for team building purposes) but you can’t do that, as no money, not enough riders or interest in the Sport, it’s not football where all you need is a ball. If riders can/do manipulate their average then you’re essentially watching a bent product, which was probably part of the *sports undoing back in the day. This is before modern stadia, all weather surface or preventable measures to minimise rain offs, then you may have some credibility, which is a starting point…but that is all it is. 

[Roger Jacobs]

It seems they are planning for a 5 team Premiership, with teams racing each other 3 home & 3 away. However: it can only be confirmed in the New Year IF new owners are in place at Sheffield and Ipswich - so the riders are looking elsewhere for earning opportunities, in case nothing happens.

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, Preston Comet said:

Take a bow.. this thread should now be locked after this post, magnificently worded

Thanks Preston take zero pleasure in thinking this is the last knockings but I realistically can't see any good way out moving forward hopefully i'm wrong but think unlikely.

[Marky_Mark]

1 hour ago, Roger Jacobs said:

It seems they are planning for a 5 team Premiership, with teams racing each other 3 home & 3 away. However: it can only be confirmed in the New Year IF new owners are in place at Sheffield and Ipswich - so the riders are looking elsewhere for earning opportunities, in case nothing happens.

And if Ipswich and/or Sheffield don’t get new owners then it leaves Belle Vue, Leicester and Kings Lynn with nothing to run?

[truthsayer]

13 hours ago, ouch said:

Meetings need to be run on a tighter timeline with 9.00 as the finishing target. Grading breaks need to be short and at standard times every meeting. In the down time have something to engage the fans with rider interviews ( preferably on a big screen with replays and scores throughout), games for the kids and a mascot to provide some fun and free sweets. A chance to hear from and meet the riders after the meeting would be good to help build relationships. 

Is handing out sweets and having someone dressed up like an extra from Paw Patrol really going to bring speedway into the 21st century? It's just the old ideas being regurgitated.

 

13 hours ago, ouch said:

All not easy to do I know but with the right people it could be achieved. Chris Louis would be the ideal choice to push this through or Stewart Dickson at Leicester. Bates would have been good before deciding to move on and of course Buster could get things done as he has done in the past. There could even be candidates from the lower division with the drive to see this done. 

So basically get three of the people whose old school thinking has helped us get into the state we're in.

The sport needs a dictator, who will run the sport with a view to making profit and without the rose tinted glasses. Sadly I don't think it can be run at a profit, which is why it will die a death in the next few years.

[Bagpuss]

3 hours ago, truthsayer said:

Is handing out sweets and having someone dressed up like an extra from Paw Patrol really going to bring speedway into the 21st century? It's just the old ideas being regurgitated.

It works at Belle Vue and I bet all of the 92 (and beyond) have them not to mention T20 cricket and I daresay both rugby codes. So wouldn't be a bad thing if all speedway teams did too.

[IainB]

7 hours ago, truthsayer said:

Is handing out sweets and having someone dressed up like an extra from Paw Patrol really going to bring speedway into the 21st century? It's just the old ideas being regurgitated.

 

So basically get three of the people whose old school thinking has helped us get into the state we're in.

The sport needs a dictator, who will run the sport with a view to making profit and without the rose tinted glasses. Sadly I don't think it can be run at a profit, which is why it will die a death in the next few years.

I saw this the other day from 1933 and the remarkable thing is how much of the presentation has not changed since then:

 

[truthsayer]

3 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

It works at Belle Vue and I bet all of the 92 (and beyond) have them not to mention T20 cricket and I daresay both rugby codes. So wouldn't be a bad thing if all speedway teams did too.

Not saying its a bad thing per se, but this isn't going to save the sport. Speedway ceased being a family sport IMO when attitudes to drink driving changed. My experiences of speedway growing up was that it was a great family night out. There were a bunch of us there, there wasn't anything else we'd be doing and dad would sink six pints (at least) with his mates before driving us home. We put a lot into the speedway economy but times change and even he wouldn't think of drink driving these days.

Anyway, does giving out sweets really work at Belle Vue? Is Belle Vue really even a viable business?

Speedway's problems run so deep the only solution is to start again. My sincere hope is that they can separate the sport from the business of league racing. League racing is in trouble in part because the sport has been neglected. I'd hope that we can at least preserve a few tracks and a training structure to help keep the sport alive when league racing has died.

[Littleze]

3 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

It works at Belle Vue and I bet all of the 92 (and beyond) have them not to mention T20 cricket and I daresay both rugby codes. So wouldn't be a bad thing if all speedway teams did too.

What part of handing out sweets and having a mascot is working for BV? Genuine question… it adds to a family day out (possibly/probably) but it’s not adding numbers to the gate, it doesn’t encourage late teenagers/20-50yr olds through the door. It doesn’t add professionalism or credibility, these are things to add on when your product is working, not a starting point.

[truthsayer]

10 minutes ago, Littleze said:

What part of handing out sweets and having a mascot is working for BV? Genuine question… it adds to a family day out (possibly/probably) but it’s not adding numbers to the gate, it doesn’t encourage late teenagers/20-50yr olds through the door. It doesn’t add professionalism or credibility, these are things to add on when your product is working, not a starting point.

My local football team has the kids on at half time, kicking around with the mascot and doing silly stuff.

It's fun for everyone and a great part of community engagement.

But it's not the product. Without the 10,000 fans coming to watch the football there is no business. That's the product.

This forum is full of fans with ideas and, in isolation, they are not bad ideas but the speedway product is so fundamentally damaged that points limits, race formats or, indeed, giving out sweets to kids, are not the answers.

I have no idea what the answer is, but if speedway didn't exist and I just had a brainwave for a new sport which involved motorbike riders hurtling around a dirt track, this wouldn't be what I would come up with.

[Littleze]

4 minutes ago, truthsayer said:

My local football team has the kids on at half time, kicking around with the mascot and doing silly stuff.

It's fun for everyone and a great part of community engagement.

But it's not the product. Without the 10,000 fans coming to watch the football there is no business. That's the product.

This forum is full of fans with ideas and, in isolation, they are not bad ideas but the speedway product is so fundamentally damaged that points limits, race formats or, indeed, giving out sweets to kids, are not the answers.

I have no idea what the answer is, but if speedway didn't exist and I just had a brainwave for a new sport which involved motorbike riders hurtling around a dirt track, this wouldn't be what I would come up with.

Absolutely, surely it starts with the track, fit for modern day bikes, raceable, room to overtake etc, that’s what makes it exciting, along with the no brakes, the danger element, noisy bikes et al. People are tribal, they want to get behind something or someone, align yourself to a product etc. Guests, ripping sides apart year in year out, rules forever changing, thus the lack of meaning to hastily arranged competitions, resulting in little credibility. This is before, stadia/facilities & everything else countless people have mentioned previously. Jim Radcliffe will tear down Old Trafford, as it’s falling apart/leaking. 
The sport is a mess, maybe no tv deal money will be make or break, you’ll have to go if you want to watch it, if the numbers drop off further it’s surely doomed. People have mentioned the likes of Barry Hearn etc, why would they get involved, what’s their financial return on their time, investment, tracks/stadia are largely not owned either. There’s quite a few old riders still going, enough coming through to replace them? Most of the promoters are 50+ too.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

53 minutes ago, IainB said:

I saw this the other day from 1933 and the remarkable thing is how much of the presentation has not changed since then:

 

Back in the early 2000s having seen the film 'Once a jolly swagman' for the first time I made the same observation - even had my comments published (can't remember if it was in the Star or Backtrack)

Another quarter century on and as you say very little change 

There are a few exceptions and a few individuals in presentation that stand out but not enough

[ouch]

1 hour ago, Littleze said:

Absolutely, surely it starts with the track, fit for modern day bikes, raceable, room to overtake etc, that’s what makes it exciting, along with the no brakes, the danger element, noisy bikes et al. People are tribal, they want to get behind something or someone, align yourself to a product etc. Guests, ripping sides apart year in year out, rules forever changing, thus the lack of meaning to hastily arranged competitions, resulting in little credibility. This is before, stadia/facilities & everything else countless people have mentioned previously. Jim Radcliffe will tear down Old Trafford, as it’s falling apart/leaking. 
The sport is a mess, maybe no tv deal money will be make or break, you’ll have to go if you want to watch it, if the numbers drop off further it’s surely doomed. People have mentioned the likes of Barry Hearn etc, why would they get involved, what’s their financial return on their time, investment, tracks/stadia are largely not owned either. There’s quite a few old riders still going, enough coming through to replace them? Most of the promoters are 50+ too.

 

You make a few good points there. It would be worth looking at a way to keep the bulk of the side over many seasons, even hopefully ending up with a one club man’s testimonial. This would give the fans something to get behind. 

Dropping RS riders Willy nilly needs to stop and clubs need to persevere with these youngsters. Injuries can get in the way but apart from that we need to look to keep them on. 

Your other point about guests needs more input from clubs. Maybe look to limit them as much as possible say over a five year period to see how it might work. The rules can be a nuisance as sometimes there is no other option than using guest but if clubs could find a way to limit them, all the better.

This fad of top league clubs dropping down when things get tough needs to stop. It’s an easy get out and doesn’t make these clubs pull their socks up and improve things. The whole league is guilty of this I think. 

 

[mikebv]

2 hours ago, IainB said:

I saw this the other day from 1933 and the remarkable thing is how much of the presentation has not changed since then:

 

The music's the same...

[singy13]

The general opinion on here is that speedway is doomed unless a sugar daddy of some sort saves the day .. come on 'arry.

Sadly Speedway is to lose TV coverage. But already lost ,down the years, are media outlets from where you could access speedway results, yes TV sports channels, Ceefax, Radio Two sports round up at 10pm.Local tv news, newspapers. All now ignore speedway as a much loved sport, well I love it!!.. But hang on there is a sister/brother track related sport who suffer the same total media ignorance but I don't see there promoters seeking urgent help. I'm talking about stock cars - stox invariably have bigger crowds than speedway don't they? But they are not on last knockings as some say about speedway, so why are the stox more popular UK wide? Do the 'drivers' earn as much as speedway riders? Can speedway somehow join forces with the stox i.e. shared meetings on shale surfaces, probably 5 man speedway.. Just my thoughts on getting speedway a cash flow to keep the flag flying.

[mikebv]

2 hours ago, Littleze said:

Absolutely, surely it starts with the track, fit for modern day bikes, raceable, room to overtake etc, that’s what makes it exciting, along with the no brakes, the danger element, noisy bikes et al. People are tribal, they want to get behind something or someone, align yourself to a product etc. Guests, ripping sides apart year in year out, rules forever changing, thus the lack of meaning to hastily arranged competitions, resulting in little credibility. This is before, stadia/facilities & everything else countless people have mentioned previously. Jim Radcliffe will tear down Old Trafford, as it’s falling apart/leaking. 
The sport is a mess, maybe no tv deal money will be make or break, you’ll have to go if you want to watch it, if the numbers drop off further it’s surely doomed. People have mentioned the likes of Barry Hearn etc, why would they get involved, what’s their financial return on their time, investment, tracks/stadia are largely not owned either. There’s quite a few old riders still going, enough coming through to replace them? Most of the promoters are 50+ too.

It's little more than an expensive hobby for most, and one that they, and those who regularly attend, happily collude to make out it has some relevance, and resonance. 

All cobbled together so the riders get a chance to be "professional" for six months of a year...

The operating model clearly doesn't work, (as we see each season that it gets used), however, the skill set required to maximise what is very much a unique product in its most raw form, simply doesn't exist.... 

And those who run the sport show no signs of ever bringing anyone in who maybe could maximise its potential...

Yet, will quite happily pay well over seven figures collectively to all the riders who, in the main, put hardly one extra person through the turnstiles...

(Quite baffling)...

 

[Bagpuss]

3 hours ago, truthsayer said:

Not saying its a bad thing per se, but this isn't going to save the sport. Speedway ceased being a family sport IMO when attitudes to drink driving changed. My experiences of speedway growing up was that it was a great family night out. There were a bunch of us there, there wasn't anything else we'd be doing and dad would sink six pints (at least) with his mates before driving us home. We put a lot into the speedway economy but times change and even he wouldn't think of drink driving these days.

Anyway, does giving out sweets really work at Belle Vue? Is Belle Vue really even a viable business?

Speedway's problems run so deep the only solution is to start again. My sincere hope is that they can separate the sport from the business of league racing. League racing is in trouble in part because the sport has been neglected. I'd hope that we can at least preserve a few tracks and a training structure to help keep the sport alive when league racing has died.

 

2 hours ago, Littleze said:

What part of handing out sweets and having a mascot is working for BV? Genuine question… it adds to a family day out (possibly/probably) but it’s not adding numbers to the gate, it doesn’t encourage late teenagers/20-50yr olds through the door. It doesn’t add professionalism or credibility, these are things to add on when your product is working, not a starting point.

Certainly not going to 'save the sport' but in my opinion Chase The Ace improves the atmosphere and engages kids at BV, if the right person can be found to don the costume its a quick win for every club. Seems an odd thing to pick on as a negative. In terms of getting more people through the door there are 101 things more important but I think it needs  fresh pair of eyes and fresh ideas, certainly I think far more could be done via social media and the general presentation and quailty of the night out could be much better. 

Whatever moves our sport forwards needs to be something pretty radical IMO.

[PhilTheAce]

So no Doyle in UK next season 

 

No Emil in UK next season

 

Rumours no jack holder in UK next season. 

 

Is there any point in a top league really?????

[YeOldPitGate]

36 minutes ago, singy13 said:

The general opinion on here is that speedway is doomed unless a sugar daddy of some sort saves the day .. come on 'arry.

Sadly Speedway is to lose TV coverage. But already lost ,down the years, are media outlets from where you could access speedway results, yes TV sports channels, Ceefax, Radio Two sports round up at 10pm.Local tv news, newspapers. All now ignore speedway as a much loved sport, well I love it!!.. But hang on there is a sister/brother track related sport who suffer the same total media ignorance but I don't see there promoters seeking urgent help. I'm talking about stock cars - stox invariably have bigger crowds than speedway don't they? But they are not on last knockings as some say about speedway, so why are the stox more popular UK wide? Do the 'drivers' earn as much as speedway riders? Can speedway somehow join forces with the stox i.e. shared meetings on shale surfaces, probably 5 man speedway.. Just my thoughts on getting speedway a cash flow to keep the flag flying.

I think its probably down to Stock cars holding less meetings and your not facing seeing the same team 4-6 times per season syndrome.

I remember going to Lynn a few years back when it was a world team cup round (Billy Hamill) had come out of retirement to help the USA for the event.

This was my first meeting after many years away and there must have been 5-6k turn out for it so it shows for the right event people will still come.

Maybe a shorter calendar for the top league if it survives might be one of the ways forward with less but better meetings run over May to August possibly.