Ipswich Witches 2026

[TTT]

1 hour ago, 1 valve said:

Calling it mediocre sure is putting some positive spin on it! 
It wouldn’t be that good ☹️

Agree.

I'm being very polite by calling it medicore.

24 minutes ago, RoundTheBoards said:

Absolutely.

Amd without 2 leagues to double-up in, the whole thing falls apart anyway.

Still think a 6 team league can happen.

Yeah got a 0% of working

Riders will do a Rory Schlein and retire due to a job outside of the Sport.

All of this talk about signing Young Foreign Talent to replace GP/Ekstraliga riders is a load of nonsense.

We won't even be able to sign Young Foreign Talent in 2027 (Polish Rule) because they'll ride in their own Country and then they'll fill a squad role at a 3rd Tier Polish Club just like Kyle Howarth and Drew Kemp are going to do in 2026.

[Badge]

 

[SteveLyric2]

34 minutes ago, Badge said:

 

Keeping to the script at least!

I still don't understand why they didn't go to the fans for their preferences first before announcing stepping down and selling?

[Gavan]

Shock horror it’s the Belle Vue fans moaning 

Louis hasn’t thrown his toys out of his pram…

Those close to the club know how much money Chris has ploughed into the sport at Foxhall .. his own money ,… the hardest working promoter in the league with the sports interests at the forefront including the recent Tigers academy 

Unfortunately other promotions don’t share his vision 

Why should he keep ploughing his own money into something that will bear little or no reward … he is done and I can t blame him 

He has young grandchildren and he spends 7 days a week almost at Foxhall along with his wife Julie 

Maybe just maybe with all the expenditure he has put in … all the time and effort (most fans don’t know how much money and time he put in to get Emil over here)…. And the sport going backwards that he feels all of that and at his age of 56 that he might want to spend time at home with family and enjoy his years???

To many people on here mainly Belle Vue clowns who think they know it all when they are absolutely clueless

[The Third Man]

Do we know what his vision is that no one else shares?

[BluPanther]

10 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Keeping to the script at least!

I still don't understand why they didn't go to the fans for their preferences first before announcing stepping down and selling?

[Phannan]

5 minutes ago, Gavan said:

Shock horror it’s the Belle Vue fans moaning 

Louis hasn’t thrown his toys out of his pram…

Those close to the club know how much money Chris has ploughed into the sport at Foxhall .. his own money ,… the hardest working promoter in the league with the sports interests at the forefront including the recent Tigers academy 

Unfortunately other promotions don’t share his vision 

Why should he keep ploughing his own money into something that will bear little or no reward … he is done and I can t blame him 

He has young grandchildren and he spends 7 days a week almost at Foxhall along with his wife Julie 

Maybe just maybe with all the expenditure he has put in … all the time and effort (most fans don’t know how much money and time he put in to get Emil over here)…. And the sport going backwards that he feels all of that and at his age of 56 that he might want to spend time at home with family and enjoy his years???

To many people on here mainly Belle Vue clowns who think they know it all when they are absolutely clueless

Lily Savage is in the room … talking the usual bollox 

[ouch]

12 hours ago, mikebv said:

It certainly won't interest all the considerable amount of punters who used to go regularly and now either attend "now and again", or not at all...

I will stick to the PCMM, the two GP's and (maybe), a Play Off meeting...

And not bother going anywhere else to watch, as I have been to the other four tracks several times...

Just imagine the euphoria though in the town or city of whoever wins the prestigious title of  "Speedway GB Premiership Champion"?.....

(Be like winning the Meat Raffle in the local Legion)...

You do realise you’ve picked meetings that contain the top stars. Even the play offs have top stars as generally their inclusion makes for top teams. What made you choose these meetings?

[Pinny]

7 hours ago, singy13 said:

Attendance figures are never given to the public (apart from play off finals ?) so how do you know these secretive numbers?  Obviously the sport is in a big decline!

i guess I must be missing something and there are thousands of invisible people at meetings then? 
 

From seeing footage , reports and messages from fans here... you dont need figures to see a crowd is shocking. 
 

[Biffa]

If the Prem go with 5 teams in 2026 to keep the “top” riders here, there could be the chance that 2027 could have more teams in the Prem. Maybe running 1 season with 5 teams and “ taking it on the chin” with the “hope” of Peterborough, Northampton etc boosting the Prem in 2027 is worth the chance 🤷‍♂️

[Tim G]

1 minute ago, Biffa said:

If the Prem go with 5 teams in 2026 to keep the “top” riders here, there could be the chance that 2027 could have more teams in the Prem. Maybe running 1 season with 5 teams and “ taking it on the chin” with the “hope” of Peterborough, Northampton etc boosting the Prem in 2027 is worth the chance 🤷‍♂️

But most of the top riders aren’t riding here, Oxford, Kings Lynn and Birmingham couldn’t get one last year.

Now Emil has gone we are left with the two at Belle Vue and Doyle, Holder and Fricke and that’s if they all stay.

if these clubs come to the tapes in 2027 in the top tier where are the riders coming from?

[Biffa]

Just now, Tim G said:

But most of the top riders aren’t riding here, Oxford, Kings Lynn and Birmingham couldn’t get one last year.

Now Emil has gone we are left with the two at Belle Vue and Doyle, Holder and Fricke and that’s if they all stay.

if these clubs come to the tapes in 2027 in the top tier where are the riders coming from?

Ok, will agree with what you call top riders, but if them few can be retained and added too maybe it could hold the door until 2027. Just a thought with a bit of vision thrown in. Also, as in all walks of life, it’s amazing what a bit of bull and a promise can to do to people. 🤔

[PhilTheAce]

1 hour ago, Gavan said:

Shock horror it’s the Belle Vue fans moaning 

Louis hasn’t thrown his toys out of his pram…

Those close to the club know how much money Chris has ploughed into the sport at Foxhall .. his own money ,… the hardest working promoter in the league with the sports interests at the forefront including the recent Tigers academy 

Unfortunately other promotions don’t share his vision 

Why should he keep ploughing his own money into something that will bear little or no reward … he is done and I can t blame him 

He has young grandchildren and he spends 7 days a week almost at Foxhall along with his wife Julie 

Maybe just maybe with all the expenditure he has put in … all the time and effort (most fans don’t know how much money and time he put in to get Emil over here)…. And the sport going backwards that he feels all of that and at his age of 56 that he might want to spend time at home with family and enjoy his years???

To many people on here mainly Belle Vue clowns who think they know it all when they are absolutely clueless

Well belle Vue shared his vision, kings lynn shared his vision, so let’s not make false accusations now

[Hawk127]

18 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said:

Well belle Vue shared his vision, kings lynn shared his vision, so let’s not make false accusations now

Unfortunately a lot of emotions on both sides to this decision by CL to call it a day and yes he is entitled to do this but I don’t often agree with you or Gavin on this but frankly no one wants to see the sport fall apart at any level and having blame or otherwise laid at the door of one club/supporters is not going to resolve the issues facing the sport.
In basic terms you need to keep as many tracks as possible open and holding meetings. If it is not a league fixture then a monthly individual meeting on an open licence basis but the constraints put on the structure of the sport in this country is sentencing it to death.
Those in charge need to encourage tracks to run at whatever level brings in the punters and if they cannot put a competitive team out then let them run open meetings. Stop this “it is my way or no way” and Licence tracks to run individual meets and make those events a two wheeled spectacular with short track or whatever but keep the stadia open for that revival that will come (history does repeat itself) but don’t lose tracks.

I doubt that any supporter on this forum wants to see another track lost to the sport so persuade those in charge that the sport in whatever guise has a fan base that wants it to prosper despite the dire circumstances it finds itself in. 

[Roger Jacobs]

5 hours ago, LagutaRacingFan said:

That's nonsense.

In the NFL, the team with the best record skips a round in the play-offs.

You don't hear their owners moan about a gate being lost.

How you can compare NFL with British speedway is laughable.

"Each of the 32 teams in the NFL received* $432.6 million in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year."

* That doesn't include any revenue they generated 'locally', e.g. Green Bay Packers reported total revenues of $719.1 million.

[Phannan]

2 minutes ago, Hawk127 said:

Unfortunately a lot of emotions on both sides to this decision by CL to call it a day and yes he is entitled to do this but I don’t often agree with you or Gavin on this but frankly no one wants to see the sport fall apart at any level and having blame or otherwise laid at the door of one club/supporters is not going to resolve the issues facing the sport.
In basic terms you need to keep as many tracks as possible open and holding meetings. If it is not a league fixture then a monthly individual meeting on an open licence basis but the constraints put on the structure of the sport in this country is sentencing it to death.
Those in charge need to encourage tracks to run at whatever level brings in the punters and if they cannot put a competitive team out then let them run open meetings. Stop this “it is my way or no way” and Licence tracks to run individual meets and make those events a two wheeled spectacular with short track or whatever but keep the stadia open for that revival that will come (history does repeat itself) but don’t lose tracks.

I doubt that any supporter on this forum wants to see another track lost to the sport so persuade those in charge that the sport in whatever guise has a fan base that wants it to prosper despite the dire circumstances it finds itself in. 

Very well said. There’s no need to get personal and single out certain clubs and fans just because their opinions don’t always match your own.

[Fromafar]

4 hours ago, 1 valve said:

Calling it mediocre sure is putting some positive spin on it! 
It wouldn’t be that good ☹️

Really!!!🤔

[Roger Jacobs]

1 hour ago, Phannan said:

Lily Savage is in the room … talking the usual bollox 

Which bits?  Maybe you don't agree with the opening two lines by Gavan, but there's nothing else in what he said that's wrong.

Other teams don't agree with the vision (Gavan didn't say all other teams), and Louis has dedicated a huge part of his life to the sport as well as to the Witches.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's exhausted both physically and mentally.

[IainB]

1 minute ago, Roger Jacobs said:

Which bits?  Maybe you don't agree with the opening two lines by Gavan, but there's nothing else in what he said that's wrong.

Other teams don't agree with the vision (Gavan didn't say all other teams), and Louis has dedicated a huge part of his life to the sport as well as to the Witches.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's exhausted both physically and mentally.

What is Louisvision? Do we know? Is it the forcing a CL club up to the PL vision, the force Peterborough to come back PL if they come back at all vision, the open Northampton and make them run PL vision, the make them run at Oxford vision, the keep the top stars and continue to pay them top dollar with no TV deal vision?

[cowboy cookie returns?]

What I would really like to see is.

Louis pairs up with Dean Wood at spedeworth, Guy Nicholls & another sponsor like Halo.

They then run a breakaway league with Ipswich other spedeworth venues & bring in Belle Vue, Lynn, Leicester & Sheffield.

Only one venue would need infrastructure works. Halo provides the money ( a drop in the ocean) compared to their outlay in football & F1 Nicholls provides the track work equipment.

The league 

Ipswich (Spedeworth

Mildenhall (spedeworth)

Northampton (spedeworth)

Eastbourne (spedeworth)

Belle Vue

Kings Lynn

Sheffield 

Leicester 

The difference being that sponsors would bank role the club’s & an independent chairman would oversee the league. 
 

Harry Redknapp & futures Ltd sorts out the tv coverage.
 

The BSPA could then run the championship & NDL

Happy days.