Max Perry

[Sargent10]

30 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

Only ONE NDL club paid its riders the ‘standard’ rate and even they paid more to their ‘stars’, whilst other clubs paid treble the approved rate. Even the ‘Trophy’ sides paid more and I know this through riders I assist.

Crazy if you say that is true, we excepted what was offered because track time and team place was and is more important than trying to make money at this level, imho 

[SPEEDY69]

As I said on a previous thread, rider pay is not helping the sport grow in the UK. 

[gjcone44]

On 11/8/2025 at 9:41 PM, Sargent10 said:

the fantasy days of (for the love of it) faded away years ago and now it’s about being professional first and foremost

i wonder why they do it these days, i always did it for the love of it. paid or not.

[ArthurRudge]

So is Max still riding be a shame to see him retire?

[Sings4Speedway]

On 11/12/2025 at 7:32 AM, gjcone44 said:

i wonder why they do it these days, i always did it for the love of it. paid or not.

There definitely has been a shift in mindset. There was a time when there was an abundance of youth/amateur/2nd half riders who were all happy banging in laps, racing each other with the hopes of improvement and potential NL opportunities. The pool of riders was large and competition pretty fierce. Today the pool is much smaller and places are handed to those who are competent and have the right kit. 

This has then driven the bigger issue of riders making the "next step" into CL racing. A rider (and family/assistants/mechanics) now has double the fixture list and more than double the expenditure. This turns a subsidised hobby into a financial black hole. Opportunities to work outside of speedway become reduced so where is the shortfall coming from? Sponsorships or asking for more money and/or a guarantee. Those costs are passed on to clubs and fans and the cycle or rising costs continues. 

Riders aren't Pirates (except that lot) they should be able to ask for respectable compensation in exchange for pausing careers, dedicating an extraordinary amount of time and sacrifice in order to simply participate. The reason riders don't want to share their income and expenditure is simply because if you viewed it on paper, calculated an hourly wage from it 90% would sell up immediately. 

[gjcone44]

yes and we all know its the promotors' who have caused this problem, and they are going to struggle to fix it,  i be leave its happening in other sports too, moto x,  grass track, rugby, the younger generation arnt interested that much in physical sports these days.

[RoundTheBoards]

On 11/11/2025 at 7:49 PM, Fortythirtyeight said:

Only ONE NDL club paid its riders the ‘standard’ rate and even they paid more to their ‘stars’, whilst other clubs paid treble the approved rate. Even the ‘Trophy’ sides paid more and I know this through riders I assist.

That's not true.  I know of several clubs only paying the standard rates this year. 

Payments to NDL riders have come down considerably, particularly over the past 2-3 years, with the vast majority of NDL/NDT teams now being second teams to higher league clubs.  (Only Iwade were a standalone club in 2025).

It's not like it used to be.   Going back to the days when Buxton were forced out due to wage costs, there used to be a lot more standalone clubs (Eastbourne, Cradley, Sittingbourne, Mildenhall, Isle of Wight, Stoke, Birmingham) and some of those were the clubs paying huge money to NDL riders.

[Fortythirtyeight]

1 hour ago, RoundTheBoards said:

That's not true.  I know of several clubs only paying the standard rates this year. 

Payments to NDL riders have come down considerably, particularly over the past 2-3 years, with the vast majority of NDL/NDT teams now being second teams to higher league clubs.  (Only Iwade were a standalone club in 2025).

It's not like it used to be.   Going back to the days when Buxton were forced out due to wage costs, there used to be a lot more standalone clubs (Eastbourne, Cradley, Sittingbourne, Mildenhall, Isle of Wight, Stoke, Birmingham) and some of those were the clubs paying huge money to NDL riders.

Oh but it is, and “ several clubs “ is more than there is in the league.

[KK62]

1 hour ago, RoundTheBoards said:

That's not true.  I know of several clubs only paying the standard rates this year. 

Payments to NDL riders have come down considerably, particularly over the past 2-3 years, with the vast majority of NDL/NDT teams now being second teams to higher league clubs.  (Only Iwade were a standalone club in 2025).

It's not like it used to be.   Going back to the days when Buxton were forced out due to wage costs, there used to be a lot more standalone clubs (Eastbourne, Cradley, Sittingbourne, Mildenhall, Isle of Wight, Stoke, Birmingham) and some of those were the clubs paying huge money to NDL riders.

It’s well known who pays what in speedway , if you speak to the right people. Riders talk to other riders and their mechanics and also their sponsors, who, in turn talk to others and so it goes on. As someone who did actually pay riders wages I can tell you no two clubs are the same and nearly every riders deal is different and that goes for NDL riders too. Whilst the NDL has reduced its points money rates at most clubs no club has FULLY followed the recommended NDL pay rates for their 1 to 7 as they simply would not be able to attract a competitive team and there's a reason why some clubs are always towards the top of the league and others are regularly towards the bottom, different attitudes and different pay rates. 
The days of the Buxton type attitude are dying if not completely dead as the sport has now become so expensive it almost demands to be treated professionally and not like something to do every other weekend.