Northampton 2026

[Racin Jason 72]

2 hours ago, ouch said:

They only need six riders as they could run R/R for the entire season and win the league. I wouldn’t bet against that with the current mickey mouse way of doing things. Why can’t we get back to the halcyon days of the 70’s.

White City used rider replacement all season in 1978 I believe 

[noaksey]

4 hours ago, Bash said:

I did think about Tai, as the rumours were he was going to Ipswich and we were getting a gp star, but maybe the promotors agreed it would be better for him to go Northampton

No recognised no 1 for Northampton and Tai mentioned specifically in this weeks Star 

[szkocjasid]

On 3/12/2026 at 12:56 PM, KevtheRev said:

Given the importance of this new venture, they are going to need a big star to front the team.

Got to be Tai surely.

If they are looking to attract new fans to Speedway to make it a success, would Woffinden make much difference to crowds?

[Teromaafan]

1 hour ago, szkocjasid said:

If they are looking to attract new fans to Speedway to make it a success, would Woffinden make much difference to crowds?

In a word, no! 99% of the population would not know the name of or recognise any speedway rider if they stood at a bus stop. This is why I have previously said that if British speedway were brave enough organise an affordable sport structure without trying to retain certain riders as a top priority, the current so called stars will not be missed in a few years time. Being blunt, get rid of doubling up. If riders can’t afford to stay in the sport, go part time or quit. Targeted new followers of the sport (which are vital) will not give a damn, so long as racing is competitive and their own new hero’s will emerge. Common business strategy I would have thought.

[Racin Jason 72]

1 minute ago, Teromaafan said:

In a word, no! 99% of the population would not know the name of or recognise any speedway rider if they stood at a bus stop. This is why I have previously said that if British speedway were brave enough organise an affordable sport structure without trying to retain certain riders as a top priority, the current so called stars will not be missed in a few years time. Being blunt, get rid of doubling up. If riders can’t afford to stay in the sport, go part time or quit. Targeted new followers of the sport (which are vital) will not give a damn, so long as racing is competitive and their own new hero’s will emerge. Common business strategy I would have thought.

Instead of doubling up and down why not double the fixtures instead like we used to have. 
a meaningful league with promotion and relegation settled via play offs while the team who tops the league are crowned champions would mean every meeting meaningful. 

[1 valve]

13 hours ago, Teromaafan said:

In a word, no! 99% of the population would not know the name of or recognise any speedway rider if they stood at a bus stop. This is why I have previously said that if British speedway were brave enough organise an affordable sport structure without trying to retain certain riders as a top priority, the current so called stars will not be missed in a few years time. Being blunt, get rid of doubling up. If riders can’t afford to stay in the sport, go part time or quit. Targeted new followers of the sport (which are vital) will not give a damn, so long as racing is competitive and their own new hero’s will emerge. Common business strategy I would have thought.

If your idea of doubling up was adopted then five or six clubs would close as there would be insufficient riders of competitive compatibility available. 
However, you could dumb down the sport and have 5 riders per team or even allow a mix of established & NDL level riders to feature in the same meeting. Whichever alternative you choose the competitive element would be reduced & just accelerate the decline of quality speedway in the UK. 

[1 valve]

13 hours ago, Racin Jason 72 said:

Instead of doubling up and down why not double the fixtures instead like we used to have. 
a meaningful league with promotion and relegation settled via play offs while the team who tops the league are crowned champions would mean every meeting meaningful. 

Not enough quality riders available of a comparable ability to run two leagues without doubling up. It’s just the math of the situation. 

[Racin Jason 72]

22 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Not enough quality riders available of a comparable ability to run two leagues without doubling up. It’s just the math of the situation. 

Depends what levels you set the leagues and how many riders in a team I guess. 
doubling up is killing the sport in this country. We have to either limit it to uk residents first and then get rid or the whole system in say 5 years time. 
for the sport to grow it has to have credibility. 

[Hawk127]

22 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Not enough quality riders available of a comparable ability to run two leagues without doubling up. It’s just the math of the situation. 

It may be the case at this time and the situation will only get worse until those riders starting out and those still learning their craft are given more track time. To continue to deny those on the bottom rung of the ladder the opportunity means the sport will end up with the self fulfilling prophecy of of end of UK speedway as it was once known unless the intention is to get the overseas nations to train these riders and bring them to the UK to fill team places at higher costs and result being you maintain the status quo of not enough British riders coming through the ranks. Something has to give and people need to look elsewhere if the ambition is to watch world class riders week in week out, UK speedway cannot afford to entertain these guys or continue to use doubling up as a long term option.

[1 valve]

36 minutes ago, Racin Jason 72 said:

Depends what levels you set the leagues and how many riders in a team I guess. 
doubling up is killing the sport in this country. We have to either limit it to uk residents first and then get rid or the whole system in say 5 years time. 
for the sport to grow it has to have credibility. 

The chosen level doesn’t really matter as there are insufficient numbers available of any section of rider ability to offer equality across the current number of teams. 
Doubling up isn’t actually killing the sport, after all it’s keeping clubs alive due to the sharing of riders. It is however removing any real opportunity for growth because as you say the sport needs credibility and doubling up acts against that concept. 
For speedway to grow in the UK, what’s needed first of all is some pruning to give eight full time professional clubs with the remainder running on a (lower cost)semi-pro basis. 
Unfortunately there’s too much self interest involved by promoters to make this an immediate possibility hence unfortunately the demise will in all probability continue. 

Edited 5 hours ago by 1 valve

[1 valve]

20 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

 

Edited 5 hours ago by 1 valve

[Racin Jason 72]

22 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Not enough quality riders available of a comparable ability to run two leagues without doubling up. It’s just the math of the situation. 

Depends what levels you set the leagues and how many riders in a team I guess. 
doubling up is killing the sport in this country. We have to either limit it to uk residents first and then get rid or the whole system in say 5 years time. 
for the sport to grow it has to have credibility. 

[mikebv]

2 hours ago, Racin Jason 72 said:

Depends what levels you set the leagues and how many riders in a team I guess. 
doubling up is killing the sport in this country. We have to either limit it to uk residents first and then get rid or the whole system in say 5 years time. 
for the sport to grow it has to have credibility. 

100%...

And the vast majority of 80 million people have never heard of the sport, never mind any rider...

What an opportunity for a reset...

5 rider teams, and play with the heat system so the disparate levels of ability, from one to five, race more against each other of the sane level..

Or six rider teams with both reserves very much "junior level"...

Drop the level, drop the price...

If a track does a "special" the crowds rise significantly, with those extra people being fans who no longer rgularly attend, but come back for one night only, thus suggesting twenty five quid per visit isn't seen as worth paying...

But (insert price here), is.......

Reduce costs, and invest the money in price reduction..

And start UK Speedway again, from scratch...

But don't do the same thing you do now because it clearly isn't fit for purpose....