Ipswich Witches 2026

[castrolargh]

6 hours ago, Arthur54 said:

Niels K Iversen has announced his testimonial at Kings Lynn next season 

That was this season, Nicolai Klindt is having his next march

[Youhave2minutes]

Looking more like Championship speedway next year at Ipswich if any.☹️

[Ray Stadia]

I suppose if Ipswich closes, it could be to Mildenhall's advantage. Different speedway for sure, but still 4 bikes riding an oval track. Somehow, speedway needs to reinvent itself. When you consider the number of tracks speedway has lost over the years and still losing, it really is on life support! 😪

[TTT]

Jason Doyle will only ride for Ipswich hence why he's not riding in the UK in 2026.

Basically if Ipswich come to tapes then we're leaving Plymouth in the mud.

[Hawk127]

If Ipswich do not come to the tapes next year then for the time being it is all over for the witches but like most on here we all hope it does not come to this but the reality is that at this stage in proceedings they have little or no hope of putting together a competitive team to grace either championship or premiership league and at best they could run an NDL team or if it still exists allow open meetings but I suspect the latter has been all but ruled out by the arseholes who allegedly run the sport. To my mind it is now all about keeping tracks open at whatever level because once they are lost it is game over. Permit tracks to put on meetings at whatever level until the authorities can decide what to do going forward. I would rather see a few good individual meetings at Ipswich rather than see the track lost to the sport. Over the years Rye house and many others have in the past survived on the basis of individual meetings but it really depends on what the overall plan is for the sport but at this stage that plan does appear not exist. Headless chickens, self interest and perpetual denial leaves the sport where it is today. Anyone that thinks you can afford to lose a club like Ipswich to the sport of speedway has lost the plot. 

Edited 10 hours ago by Hawk127
Minor amendments

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

51 minutes ago, TTT said:

Jason Doyle will only ride for Ipswich hence why he's not riding in the UK in 2026.

Basically if Ipswich come to tapes then we're leaving Plymouth in the mud.

Yes he shows the same loyalty in Poland too, keeps Częstochowa in the extraleague, celebrates like they won the extraleague them next day signs for someone else,don’t kid yourself as much as Jason has some loyalty to Ipswich and it would probably be his preference, he would ride elsewhere if the money was there 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

A consortium of local business men are taking over Ipswich, apparently they are motorcycle people and are well known in the area, what league they will be in I don’t know 

Edited 10 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[Phannan]

1 hour ago, TTT said:

Jason Doyle will only ride for Ipswich hence why he's not riding in the UK in 2026.

Basically if Ipswich come to tapes then we're leaving Plymouth in the mud.

How does it go ? If you cut him open he’d bleed black white yellow and blue etc. They’re all mercenaries at the end of the day . There’s no loyalty in professional sport. 

[Jonny the spud]

48 minutes ago, Phannan said:

How does it go ? If you cut him open he’d bleed black white yellow and blue etc. They’re all mercenaries at the end of the day . There’s no loyalty in professional sport. 

Loyalty works both ways. 
 

Are riders supposed to sit around waiting for the UK to pull its fingers out of its derrière ? 
 

it’s their job, not a hobby. 

[TB1]

1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

A consortium of local business men are taking over Ipswich, apparently they are motorcycle people and are well known in the area, what league they will be in I don’t know 

That wouldn't surprise me to be honest. There are a number of motorcycle dealers in the area that have always backed the club in many ways.

[TB1]

1 hour ago, Hawk127 said:

If Ipswich do not come to the tapes next year then for the time being it is all over for the witches but like most on here we all hope it does not come to this but the reality is that at this stage in proceedings they have little or no hope of putting together a competitive team to grace either championship or premiership league and at best they could run an NDL team or if it still exists allow open meetings but I suspect the latter has been all but ruled out by the arseholes who allegedly run the sport. To my mind it is now all about keeping tracks open at whatever level because once they are lost it is game over. Permit tracks to put on meetings at whatever level until the authorities can decide what to do going forward. I would rather see a few good individual meetings at Ipswich rather than see the track lost to the sport. Over the years Rye house and many others have in the past survived on the basis of individual meetings but it really depends on what the overall plan is for the sport but at this stage that plan does appear not exist. Headless chickens, self interest and perpetual denial leaves the sport where it is today. Anyone that thinks you can afford to lose a club like Ipswich to the sport of speedway has lost the plot. 

As many have said, one league could be done with 6 man teams and rookies at the bottom end of every team. As I've said before the hand will be forced I feel.

[SPEEDY69]

3 hours ago, Youhave2minutes said:

Looking more like Championship speedway next year at Ipswich if any.☹️

No thanks. 

[ShanoXtra]

20 minutes ago, SPEEDY69 said:

No thanks. 

Championship Witches would honestly be lucky to get 500 at the gate. If you think anyone would be excited to see Poole Pirates “AKA the best team” turn up with the likes of Lawson and Rowe as their big hitters and still expect you to pay £20+ it’s a dream land / nightmare scenario and really shows the state of our speedway in this country vs anywhere else. You’d be better closing the doors to British speedway altogether and start again fresh 2027. 

[FAST GATER]

7 hours ago, Jonny the spud said:

t’s their job, not a hobby. 

That's the problem it's ended up as a semi pro sport just the riders have not realised that yet ,even in the 70's Gulf league ( now PL ) riders except for the Mauger & Co had part/full time jobs !  

[Phannan]

7 hours ago, Jonny the spud said:

Loyalty works both ways. 
 

Are riders supposed to sit around waiting for the UK to pull its fingers out of its derrière ? 
 

it’s their job, not a hobby. 

Agreed . That’s why it’s ridiculous to say he’d only ride for 1 club . He’d ride where he’d get the most dough. Rightly. 

[Bagpuss]

7 hours ago, ShanoXtra said:

Championship Witches would honestly be lucky to get 500 at the gate. If you think anyone would be excited to see Poole Pirates “AKA the best team” turn up with the likes of Lawson and Rowe as their big hitters and still expect you to pay £20+ it’s a dream land / nightmare scenario and really shows the state of our speedway in this country vs anywhere else. You’d be better closing the doors to British speedway altogether and start again fresh 2027. 

Out of interest what were the crowds like 2011-18 in the second tier?

[Aries]

58 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

Out of interest what were the crowds like 2011-18 in the second tier?

Decent by championship standards, but nothing like we’ve seen in recent years which I guess is to be expected. 
 

From a personal point of view, I picked and chose the odd meeting here and there when we were in the second tier, more for the nostalgia to be honest. Things like just being in and around the stadium that I’ve been in since I was a nipper, and to see old friends. 
 

When we moved back up, I never missed a meeting, and when Emil signed, I brought a season ticket for the first time ever and have had one for the three seasons he was here. 
 

I doubt I’ll go to many next year IF we even run. Some people love the sport so much that they’ll go whatever the level, and good luck to them. I’m certainly not one of those.