Ipswich Witches 2026

[FAST GATER]

16 hours ago, Tim G said:

Like when certain Ipswich fans were demanding teams moved up and were going to lose tons of money just to keep the failing premiership going? Were those Ipswich fans going to cover the costs of that team? I don’t think so, so it’s a stupid thing to say about an individual covering costs.

I agree it’s his right to do but would he have been selling up if he got what he wanted? He would have been happy if we had another sacrificial lamb in the top flight.

Last year’s premiership was basically a 5 team league as Oxford and Birmingham were so uncompetitive it’s not really changed that much.

We even had an Ipswich fan on here having a pop at Plymouth because they didn’t win a trophy so the season was unsuccessful. That club had a great season imo as they got bigger crowds and the feel good factor returned.
 

It has never really bothered me who wins a s/way match as long as it is a close scoreline plus  decent racing ,winning the league seems to have very little relevance  on the  attendance figures .

Star riders have a limited appeal in getting punters through the gate ,it's the whole package that matters and the blind love of the sport demonstated by the vast majority of fans .

I can't understand the criticism of CL in any shape or form he has been wonderful servant to the sport ( I am certain it has not made him any wealthier ) and has decided he has had enough .

 

 

 

Edited Friday at 09:05 AM by FAST GATER

[89buttons]

23 hours ago, norbold said:

Nor was Vic Huxley, Tom Farndon, Bluey Wilkinson, Vic Duggan, Jack Young, Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger....it's just impossible to compare riders from different eras and although it gives us fans hours of endless fun speculating, it really is an impossible task to say who was the greatest rider ever. The greatest you've actually seen maybe, but not of all time.

Agree with this in all sports really it’s impossible to compare across eras.

personally I’d say Rickardsson is the best of the Grand Prix era over zmarzlik based on the level of opposition, Bart has rarely been pushed as hard by genuine rivals for the title, and when he has generally it’s only been one in the form of laguta or Kurtz. Whereas Tony won 6 world titles over crump, Nielsen, pedersen, Hancock to name but a few

[IainB]

1 hour ago, 89buttons said:

Agree with this in all sports really it’s impossible to compare across eras.

personally I’d say Rickardsson is the best of the Grand Prix era over zmarzlik based on the level of opposition, Bart has rarely been pushed as hard by genuine rivals for the title, and when he has generally it’s only been one in the form of laguta or Kurtz. Whereas Tony won 6 world titles over crump, Nielsen, pedersen, Hancock to name but a few

Add the usual What ifs of how many more would Laguta have won, Emil? IF Darcy Ward hadn't got injured? BZ has been fortunate to be relatively unchallenged in recent years.

Edited Friday at 04:50 PM by IainB

[Steve Irving]

So Sheffield now join Belle Vue, Leicester, and Kings Lynn in confirming their place in the Premiership in 2026.

Complete radio silence from Ipswich way leaving their supporters completely in the dark as to whether they’ll see any speedway next year.

Meanwhile, the clubs owner has buggered off to Australia, at the most crucial time in the clubs history. 
 

Louis has treated the Ipswich supporters abysmally here I’m afraid.

[cowboy cookie returns?]

19 minutes ago, Steve Irving said:

So Sheffield now join Belle Vue, Leicester, and Kings Lynn in confirming their place in the Premiership in 2026.

Complete radio silence from Ipswich way leaving their supporters completely in the dark as to whether they’ll see any speedway next year.

Meanwhile, the clubs owner has buggered off to Australia, at the most crucial time in the clubs history. 
 

Louis has treated the Ipswich supporters abysmally here I’m afraid.

Not really.

we know that unless the club is sold there is no speedway at Foxhall next year. These days a sale can be completed with him half away around the world.

A little hard to report on anything when there is simply nothing to report. 
 

Sheffield were completely radio silent too. Up until last night.

The sport is an absolute mess!

[Steve Irving]

3 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Not really.

we know that unless the club is sold there is no speedway at Foxhall next year. These days a sale can be completed with him half away around the world.

A little hard to report on anything when there is simply nothing to report. 
 

Sheffield were completely radio silent too. Up until last night.

The sport is an absolute mess!

Yes, really.

We’ll agree to disagree.

[cowboy cookie returns?]

9 minutes ago, Steve Irving said:

Yes, really.

We’ll agree to disagree.

We can but as an Ipswich fan I don’t feel let down & neither do any that I’ve spoken too. 
 

 

[Big Al]

If there is no suitable buyer for Ipswich in place by a certain date (whatever that date is - maybe the BSPL AGM?), then does the BSPL's legal constitution permit it to run Ipswich for a period, under a licensing agreement with the current owners? 

The BSPL's recent statements about next year's Premier League seem to be conveying a sense of certainty it will happen, and it's hard to imagine team no.5 being anything other than Ipswich. 

And if such an arrangement does come about, would Mr Doyle have second thoughts over not riding in the UK?

[cowboy cookie returns?]

3 minutes ago, Big Al said:

If there is no suitable buyer for Ipswich in place by a certain date (whatever that date is - maybe the BSPL AGM?), then does the BSPL's legal constitution permit it to run Ipswich for a period, under a licensing agreement with the current owners? 

The BSPL's recent statements about next year's Premier League seem to be conveying a sense of certainty it will happen, and it's hard to imagine team no.5 being anything other than Ipswich. 

And if such an arrangement does come about, would Mr Doyle have second thoughts over not riding in the UK?

Who knows. Doyle seems to have said that he would only ride for Ipswich in the uk. Prior to his announcement of giving the uk a miss was happy to speak to new owners if it was someone he could work with.

I suspect if it’s sold to someone local then it’s a possibility.

[IainB]

Must be something in the water down Ipswich way... all these people praising Mr Louis for potentially closing a perfectly viable speedway club down because he couldn't get his way... quite unfathomable. 

[LagutaRacingFan]

Surely an accountant can value the company?

The BSPA should step in and appoint KPMG or Deloitte.

[Hawk127]

28 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Who knows. Doyle seems to have said that he would only ride for Ipswich in the uk. Prior to his announcement of giving the uk a miss was happy to speak to new owners if it was someone he could work with.

I suspect if it’s sold to someone local then it’s a possibility.

I suspect that Doyle may consider riding for either Ipswich or Swindon if someone comes along with the readies to fund the operation. Therefore what if the Ipswich licence was transferred to another track/stadia? Perhaps CL has gone abroad knowing a deal is done. Frankly no one here has any idea as to where the club stands and for all he has said I doubt he would leave Ipswich without a speedway team. As to what level that team is remains to be seen but I am sure speedway will feature at Foxhall in 2026 and beyond. Even a year out as NORA affiliated track simply to keep the track open should not be dismissed as an option. It depends on so many factors such as the rent for the stadium facilities etc. Let’s hope bikes are heard come March 2026.

[spin king]

For the record has Chris Louis gone public on the real reason for putting the club up for sale?

Has he actually stated that he does not agree with the way the sport has been run?

Or could it be that there are other reasons, which would be private like family/ health reasons.

Chris Louis comes across a proud man, could he live with the idea that he was the man to possibly shutdown Ipswich speedway.

Or does he have a buyer waiting to takeover the club. 

[ouch]

On 12/17/2025 at 9:09 PM, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Because Bartoz Zmarzlik is by quite a long way the most naturally talented exciting speedway rider that has ever to set foot on a speedway bike and soon to become the greatest rider of all time too, he rides the bike like nobody past or present does and that’s where I stand, him being the ONE rider, quite simple really, I am in no way saying any British club should sign him even if the got him cheap ,I shall go to Poland to watch him if I want to see him race, I’m merely making the point he is the one rider who I would happily pay to see race multiple times a season 

That gives me a greater understanding of there you’re coming from as up to now I’ve thought a repetitive small league with a lack of variety was off putting for you and yours. The fact that a top rider or riders could entice you to attend is more alined with my thinking. You like the gold medalist and I like the silver & bronze. I think potentially losing these top guys and being unable to persuade others to come over will have a negative effect on UK speedway as as you put so well seeing the top man more often than not is a big pull. 

[noaksey]

2 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Who knows. Doyle seems to have said that he would only ride for Ipswich in the uk. Prior to his announcement of giving the uk a miss was happy to speak to new owners if it was someone he could work with.

I suspect if it’s sold to someone local then it’s a possibility.

This weeks Speedway Star suggests that Doyle is restricted to the Polish league and 2 other leagues in 2026 (Polish league and 1 other league in 2027)

Hasn't he already signed in Sweden and Denmark?

[noaksey]

1 hour ago, spin king said:

For the record has Chris Louis gone public on the real reason for putting the club up for sale?

Has he actually stated that he does not agree with the way the sport has been run?

Or could it be that there are other reasons, which would be private like family/ health reasons.

Chris Louis comes across a proud man, could he live with the idea that he was the man to possibly shutdown Ipswich speedway.

Or does he have a buyer waiting to takeover the club. 

He is the not just the owner of the company but the custodian of a sports club with thousands of fans.

He owes them an explanation at some point but presumably he'll wait and see how the various possibilities pan out before he does that which is fair enough 

[Iamnotanumber]

34 minutes ago, noaksey said:

He is the not just the owner of the company but the custodian of a sports club with thousands of fans.

He owes them an explanation at some point but presumably he'll wait and see how the various possibilities pan out before he does that which is fair enough 

He has done so much for speedway, especially in Ipswich. He owes nothing to you or anyone else!

[TB1]

2 hours ago, IainB said:

Must be something in the water down Ipswich way... all these people praising Mr Louis for potentially closing a perfectly viable speedway club down because he couldn't get his way... quite unfathomable. 

Surely people in the inner circle must know what's happening?

[mikebv]

3 hours ago, IainB said:

Must be something in the water down Ipswich way... all these people praising Mr Louis for potentially closing a perfectly viable speedway club down because he couldn't get his way... quite unfathomable. 

With many of the same being those who questioned the Aces fans for supporting Brady Kurtz by not calling out his play off final performance in the 2nd leg of the final, but instead, the Aces fans said he was right to put his focus on the GP taking place 48 hours later.....  

I think what Ipswich and Sheffield have both shown is that selling a Speedway club isn't an easy thing to do in the current state, and trajectory of the sport...

[ouch]

19 minutes ago, mikebv said:

With many of the same being those who questioned the Aces fans for supporting Brady Kurtz by not calling out his play off final performance in the 2nd leg of the final, but instead, the Aces fans said he was right to put his focus on the GP taking place 48 hours later.....  

I think what Ipswich and Sheffield have both shown is that selling a Speedway club isn't an easy thing to do in the current state, and trajectory of the sport...

And let’s not forget Brady’s  incredible foresight to save himself of the GP by riding sh**% in the KO cup back in March.