2026 Premiership is Go! - At least 5 teams

[Hamish McRaker]

Ffs this is getting like The Prisoner.

Who is Number 5?

Who is Number 6?

Ipswich is Number 5! No! Ipswich is Number 6!

Who is Patrick McGoohan?

Who is the all-seeing Controller? Round the Boards? The Top Drawer? (or they actually the same person)?

And what is the giant white bubble that comes out of the sea? Why - of course - it's Northampton, complete with Brady Kurtz at Number 1!!

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

1 hour ago, YeOldPitGate said:

Harry actually putting a shift in Dean ?

No he doing FA 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

55 minutes ago, Diamonds85 said:

I'm sure there are promoters 'trying' but in reality... what are the chances? Genuine question? Where are the most likely sites which are actually realistic to be ready in time, bearing in mind it's just under 4 months until the season starts and absolutely nothing is known, not even any rumours leaked...

And this is the reality, at least 2 ongoing possible situations are at the mercy of courts and could be years away, at least another 1 is at the mercy of the council and planning, and there is one other that is trying a new approach but getting blood out of stone comes to mind at the moment, so what’s left is mildenhall Bradford,Northampton, iwade, Isle of Wight, who all have up and running tracks but all have issues to overcome, the last option is a championship team running another premiership team, I think it will be 5 with Ipswich 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

43 minutes ago, Hamish McRaker said:

Ffs this is getting like The Prisoner.

Who is Number 5?

Who is Number 6?

Ipswich is Number 5! No! Ipswich is Number 6!

Who is Patrick McGoohan?

Who is the all-seeing Controller? Round the Boards? The Top Drawer? (or they actually the same person)?

And what is the giant white bubble that comes out of the sea? Why - of course - it's Northampton, complete with Brady Kurtz at Number 1!!

I genuinely think the cost of Northampton is issue there, the money being banded around is £150,000 with no gaurentee of a crowd, that’s a big cost and a gamble for someone with money and no tolley isn’t interested 

[IainB]

23 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

And this is the reality, at least 2 ongoing possible situations are at the mercy of courts and could be years away, at least another 1 is at the mercy of the council and planning, and there is one other that is trying a new approach but getting blood out of stone comes to mind at the moment, so what’s left is mildenhall Bradford,Northampton, iwade, Isle of Wight, who all have up and running tracks but all have issues to overcome, the last option is a championship team running another premiership team, I think it will be 5 with Ipswich 

Eastbourne, Sittingbourne... Newcastle, Skegness?

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

15 minutes ago, IainB said:

Eastbourne, Sittingbourne... Newcastle, Skegness?

Newcastle doesn’t have a track anymore,Skegness has failed once because of low crowds and isn’t it tarmac now ? Eastbourne is I believe a family feud on top of money owed from last promotion and sittingbourne as in Kent doesn’t have a track anymore,sittingbourne as in iwade does but premier league status, there are a few stock car tracks scattered around but are tarmac, one of the tracks I mentioned is Rye house, we all know the situation there but I have heard snippets from a couple of people,don’t know if that would happen in time for 2026 though 

Edited December 28, 2025 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

Anyway we have 9 days to wait to find out what shambles is being presented to us to part with our money, I’d like to say I can’t wait but that isn’t the truth 

Edited December 28, 2025 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[IainB]

58 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Newcastle doesn’t have a track anymore,Skegness has failed once because of low crowds and isn’t it tarmac now ? Eastbourne is I believe a family feud on top of money owed from last promotion and sittingbourne as in Kent doesn’t have a track anymore,sittingbourne as in iwade does but premier league status, there are a few stock car tracks scattered around but are tarmac, one of the tracks I mentioned is Rye house, we all know the situation there but I have heard snippets from a couple of people,don’t know if that would happen in time for 2026 though 

Yes, I'm well aware of the different "situations" surrounding the tracks I mentioned, but as far as I'm aware, they all have an oval track within a functioning stadium and are to all intents and purposes "ready to go" should anybody be foolish enough to stump up enough money. 

[old bob at herne bay]

all this  suspense and intrigue.... it must be good for the speedway media to get some publicity and boost  sales of the Speedway Star. 

 

But oh no this is speedway .....  don't use this as a publicity opportunity to spark interest in the sport to get the name Speedway into peoples minds ... 

 

KEEP IT A SECRET. 

[Teromaafan]

31 minutes ago, old bob at herne bay said:

all this  suspense and intrigue.... it must be good for the speedway media to get some publicity and boost  sales of the Speedway Star. 

 

But oh no this is speedway .....  don't use this as a publicity opportunity to spark interest in the sport to get the name Speedway into peoples minds ... 

 

KEEP IT A SECRET. 

Let’s be honest, ‘Speedway Star’ is probably the most credible thing associated with the sport in the UK. A superb publication doing its best to make the sport appear to be more professional than it actually is!

[Teromaafan]

31 minutes ago, old bob at herne bay said:

all this  suspense and intrigue.... it must be good for the speedway media to get some publicity and boost  sales of the Speedway Star. 

 

But oh no this is speedway .....  don't use this as a publicity opportunity to spark interest in the sport to get the name Speedway into peoples minds ... 

 

KEEP IT A SECRET. 

Let’s be honest, ‘Speedway Star’ is probably the most credible thing associated with the sport in the UK. A superb publication doing its best to make the sport appear to be more professional than it actually is!

[DaveWayne]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

Yes, I'm well aware of the different "situations" surrounding the tracks I mentioned, but as far as I'm aware, they all have an oval track within a functioning stadium and are to all intents and purposes "ready to go" should anybody be foolish enough to stump up enough money. 

Absolutely no chance of shale going down again at Skegness. The shale track was massively off putting for the midweek holiday crowd for stock car meetings. What they have there now is one of the best tarmac stock car tracks in the country in terms of a mix of speed and action, with minimal track preparation required, and far cleaner for the 'once a year' holiday makers to have a family night out.

[old bob at herne bay]

Lakeside Arena Essex Thurrock Raceway 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

12 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Lakeside Arena Essex Thurrock Raceway 

Again nothing is going to happen there in the near future 

Edited December 29, 2025 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[Col]

TBH the points limit is pathetic considering the surplus of riders from last year with two less teams.  I also wish there were no rules that highest on the averages has to be #1.  RS & lowest average of the other 6 have to be 6 & 7.

Otherwise position completely at discretion of TM... bring some craft back to it.

[ShanoXtra]

Surely if there are only five teams you could only do either of the two options, run the league as a championship so the final standing are the results and scrap play offs. Or if they are hell bent on some kind of play offs at least lessen it so for example 1st position gets automatically placed into the final and gets to choose where to have the first/second leg, and only 2nd vs 3rd races for a chance to play the winners of the league.

I see no point in 1st-4th being placed in a play offs, personal opinion which may be an unpopular one, I don’t know everyone else’s feeling.

[Bagpuss]

10 minutes ago, ShanoXtra said:

Surely if there are only five teams you could only do either of the two options, run the league as a championship so the final standing are the results and scrap play offs. Or if they are hell bent on some kind of play offs at least lessen it so for example 1st position gets automatically placed into the final and gets to choose where to have the first/second leg, and only 2nd vs 3rd races for a chance to play the winners of the league.

I see no point in 1st-4th being placed in a play offs, personal opinion which may be an unpopular one, I don’t know everyone else’s feeling.

I completely agree, I think the 2nd v 3rd to face 1st system would work better.

[ouch]

Me too.

This has been  done before and it’s not popular with the top team as they miss out on a lucrative semi final. That is all the play offs are about, creating welcome extra income for a few teams at the top. It goes some way to balancing the books due to the lack of interest/attendance for the qualifiers. For the teams not in the play offs, it’s tough and they just have to suck up the losses created by the implementation of the play offs. 

[Garry1603]

Having three rounds of fixtures, plus playoffs will test the patience of the most ardent fans. If I miss a match, it will be a case of 'oh well, they're here again in a few weeks'.

What if the 'third round' had a different race format with six or five rider teams with no guests allowed? At least it would bring a little more interest as we get to the peak spectator time of July / August.

[YeOldPitGate]

15 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I genuinely think the cost of Northampton is issue there, the money being banded around is £150,000 with no gaurentee of a crowd, that’s a big cost and a gamble for someone with money and no tolley isn’t interested 

Agreed eye watering risk level and even if there is someone willing to risk dropping £100-£200k on one season .

The other big question is who will they actually get to ride for them given from the handful of top riders that rode in the UK this year Emil, Woffy, Doyle have all said they aren't coming back. So you could end up risking six figures on an unknown venture with a Birmingham like team plus if to believed no tv money either to offset part of the loss.