Ipswich Witches 2026

[YeOldPitGate]

1 hour ago, Aries said:

His attitude at Foxhall was quite telling. Polar opposite to Sayfutdinov who obliterated the Foxhall track record pretty quickly. All riders are different and have different mentalities. It wasn’t just Foxhall where Laguta’s “effort” was called in to question either, there were others. 

Spot on there's probably ten or so riders that have that attitude I would rather have a tryer in at who got 4-5 points a meeting than a fella who could get 13-15 one week and then blatantly show zero interest the next meeting. KK was another case when riding, unbeatable when in the mood and then looked like he had never been on a bike when he didn't fancy it.

[IainB]

At last! This must have been the "Wow!" news that Rob Godfrey was referring to back at the beginning of the season, it took a little longer to be announced than expected but a massive well done to Rob and his management team 😉😁

Without wishing to pour water on Ippo's flame, one swallow does not a summer make and without similar link ups with the remaining 5 PL clubs, and as we've seen this season a 6 team PL isn't big enough, it crucially needs buy in from other Polish clubs and not just with UK clubs.

In my opinion the Poles need to ditch their U24 league as it has sucked in riders from across the globe with stars in their eyes and leaving their domestic leagues dry of talent. It'd be far more beneficial for these younger riders to be riding in their own domestic leagues than missing meetings to attend practice sessions or sit in the pits and get no rides.

Ipswich do seem to still be very much a lone figure at them moment and for all the call of other clubs likely to follow they are still wantonly and willingly staging fixtures when they know that riders will be missing due to "commitments" elsewhere... and that certainly isn't the Polish way.

[SPEEDY69]

5 minutes ago, IainB said:

At last! This must have been the "Wow!" news that Rob Godfrey was referring to back at the beginning of the season, it took a little longer to be announced than expected but a massive well done to Rob and his management team 😉😁

Without wishing to pour water on Ippo's flame, one swallow does not a summer make and without similar link ups with the remaining 5 PL clubs, and as we've seen this season a 6 team PL isn't big enough, it crucially needs buy in from other Polish clubs and not just with UK clubs.

In my opinion the Poles need to ditch their U24 league as it has sucked in riders from across the globe with stars in their eyes and leaving their domestic leagues dry of talent. It'd be far more beneficial for these younger riders to be riding in their own domestic leagues than missing meetings to attend practice sessions or sit in the pits and get no rides.

Ipswich do seem to still be very much a lone figure at them moment and for all the call of other clubs likely to follow they are still wantonly and willingly staging fixtures when they know that riders will be missing due to "commitments" elsewhere... and that certainly isn't the Polish way.

Richard was quite clear last night that he thinks it can't really operate properly without 8 teams and that the gap between PL and CL needs to be bigger - he cited Poole and Glasgow as the obvious choices to join but that we'd then need to race on Wednesday as well but he didn't think that was an issue.  He also dissed the fact that we've had three home meetings against King's Lynn this year!

He wants independent leadership as no sport which runs itself is successful and too many navel gaze about how it affects their track, which doesn't move the sport forwards.

Overall I was impressed with his views, he's also badgering the FIM about developing careers of young riders - just having and SGP3 or 4 doesn't generate the riders in the first place.  Given he's only been involved this year he seems to have spotted a lot of the flaws/things which need improving and apparently his children can't stop watching speedway!

[SPEEDY69]

2 hours ago, YeOldPitGate said:

This all sounds positive and the kind of path the sport in the UK desperately needs , I'm not taking the p-ss here but was there any mention of if Harry and co have actually achieved anything yet ?

Yes and he intimated it was a waste of time and the contract ends I think at the end of this season.

[ouch]

50 minutes ago, Dave_minall said:

All this talk about "poaching" riders like they don't have a say in the matter. At the end of the day it's the riders choice whom they race for, as ultimately they're the ones signing the contracts 🙄

I agree but it’s the unnecessary Dutch auction when poaching, sorry discussing contracts with riders from other teams that I don’t like. It leads to even more money leaking out of clubs coffers at a time when they can least accommodate it. 

As you say, it’s the riders choice and it matters not if a Polish club asks a rider to sign for this or that team. It’s very on brand for witches fans to be rubbing their hands at the prospect of discussing contracts with another of The Aces No1 club but I just don’t see Colman aligning himself with this backwards thinking. We will of course be happy to sit down with any like minded promotions to forge a better future for our league as a whole. To this end, if it means having to offload more of our stars to help others, we will. 

[spin king junior]

This could be one of the smartest moves a club has pulled in years. It's always better to work with rather than against Poland in terms of speedway. Only time will tell, but  creating a connection like this could be huge for Ipswich, and who knows? If it proves to be successful other clubs could follow suit.

[YeOldPitGate]

24 minutes ago, SPEEDY69 said:

Richard was quite clear last night that he thinks it can't really operate properly without 8 teams and that the gap between PL and CL needs to be bigger - he cited Poole and Glasgow as the obvious choices to join but that we'd then need to race on Wednesday as well but he didn't think that was an issue.  He also dissed the fact that we've had three home meetings against King's Lynn this year!

He wants independent leadership as no sport which runs itself is successful and too many navel gaze about how it affects their track, which doesn't move the sport forwards.

Overall I was impressed with his views, he's also badgering the FIM about developing careers of young riders - just having and SGP3 or 4 doesn't generate the riders in the first place.  Given he's only been involved this year he seems to have spotted a lot of the flaws/things which need improving and apparently his children can't stop watching speedway!

Spot on we have to accept we are no longer top of the pile and if we could be a feeder league for the poles that would be a far better outcome than we have currently, the poles recognize that the UK, Sweden and US need building back up so things don't become boring with them steam rolling everything.

Wouldn't it be great if something was done with Steve Evans and say Hancock and Hamill to find the next generation of Herbie and Bullet, Moran Brothers, Cowboy Cook, Penhall, King etc the Americans brought so much to the UK scene in the 80's and 90's there must be 10-15 riders somewhere in a population of 300 million who if some effort was put into them could make the stars and stripes a force again.

Same with Sweden lets find the next generation of T.Ricks, Henka's, Lindgrens etc get them over here whilst young and hungry and ideally send some of our best youngsters over to Swedish league to broaden their learning/track craft.

I really hope all this isn't crushed as I'm feeling a very small bit of optimism for the first time in over a decade.

[IainB]

Will Wroclaw be buying Ipswich a new blade? 😉

 

[Byker Biker]

Overall this is a sensible move and hopefully the commitment is there to see it through. Like many before him Coleman will not be fully embraced by the BSPA//L and will become a disruptor because of his passion, innovation and commercial interest all of which antagonise the status quo. The backstabbers will be sharpening their steel and rinsing their bobble hats, I can't wait to be proved wrong

[Hawk127]

1 hour ago, Byker Biker said:

Overall this is a sensible move and hopefully the commitment is there to see it through. Like many before him Coleman will not be fully embraced by the BSPA//L and will become a disruptor because of his passion, innovation and commercial interest all of which antagonise the status quo. The backstabbers will be sharpening their steel and rinsing their bobble hats, I can't wait to be proved wrong

History says you are probably right but because he is first and foremost a business person and will not take any nonsense from the fools that run the sport over, if pushed to the point where it directly affects his investment he might think outside the box and counter any threats with a possible withdrawal from the British League and apply for Witches race in the second tier of the Polish league on a Thursday night guaranteeing regular meetings once a fortnight and on Sundays they could set up a large screen at Foxhall to show Ekstraliga matches live. No problem with noise levels and extra income for the stadium. You never know but at least someone has come in to get things moving forward because we all know what a great spectacle speedway is and if marketed by those with a eye for selling, it could be the new beginning it needs in this country rather than continue to rely on the cozy speedway masons cartel who run the show now.