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No... It was cancelled last week due to the poor forecast...

If the Colts at the NSS were the "only ticket in town" for Speedway they would get very decent attendances... When they started at the NSS they got 800 and sometimes more at a tenner a time... And that was with the Aces getting around 1700 on average.. The sport is down very much to its "die hards" who will attend "any" Speedway locally... Oxford have shown by choosing to run in the 2nd tier, rather than the first, that the cost v return of the top riders doesnt make for a great business decision... And Plymouth have shown that running on a Saturday, with all the same riders in attendance, can circa double their attendances from a Tuesday night... Workington also changed their starting times on Saturdays and saw a significant increase. Same riders, just a more convenient time for fans to attend. I notice they didn't try and run Monday or Thursday afternoons... The Peterborough team involved in any possible comeback have said crowds were similar for them whether they were in Div 1 or Div 2... The unpalatable truth for some is that paying £20k out for two heat leaders for two meetings from your home meeting, (regardless of whether sponsors pay it or not), is simply ridiculous for a sport that, even in the top tier, can often deliver crowds of less than 1000, (and that alone shows their presence isn't pulling too many in)... It also massively reduces jeopardy in the league as those "few" who can pay that kind of money will always be in the play offs... (And that level of sponsors money would be better used marketing the club, and nationally, the sport)... Poole are the perfect example of a team that simply haven't missed the "top stars" and run on the night they need to, to deliver their best crowd level.. Speedway is a tiny, tiny sport, with my lad playing amateur/semi pro football in front of bigger crowds than many Speedway teams get.. You can see by the fact no one is willing to move up that the top tier operating and business model is not fit for purpose... To keep flogging a dead horse is madness...

Why do you think? Because clubs are for sale, clubs are closing for housing, crowds are down, riders haven’t been paid, the TV deal has gone, whilst promotors want to continue with the same structure, that quite clearly isn’t working and isn’t sustainable and that’s just the Premiership.

IMO Monday night Premiership racing is the worst decision ever made. Thursday is slightly better. Who wants to really go out on a Monday night especially parents with kids. And if you’re trying to attract a younger early 20s audience, generally they’ve spent out over the weekend. The majority of our meetings should be on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and if that means we have to lose the ‘stars’ then so be it, the sport is or needs to be bigger than any individual rider.

Then eventually the whole thing will go broke so the choices are Overpay and go broke Pay what you can afford and reset the whole sport on a semi professional basis if that what it takes. It might not work but it's much better than going skint

Hey. As it stands Kings Lynn are in the play offs...😄

Surely doing the right thing is ensuring league Speedway in GB continues for the next decade. Not ensuring GP riders can race over here?

well run clubs don't call off a fixture cos the pit gate needs fixing!

One thing I really don’t get is the obsession to why we need a premier league, 1 league would just make the championship the top league with more variety for fans, I could understand up till now because of tv money which selfishly the didnt want to share with the championship clubs but that’s not there anymore, the thought of belle vue riding against Poole or Glasgow or Workington is something different for the fans and personally find exciting, the championship has a hell of a lot to offer and imo a lot more than the premier for a couple of years, so I say to the top 5 teams embrace it for a year and if in a years time a couple more teams are back on the scene look at 2 leagues again, we have an opportunity for a reset of the sport here but again we will probably miss the opportunity like we always do

I'll play devil's advocate As you and your team have no interest in being a part of it what the f@c£ has your opinion got to do with it

I, personally, cannot wait for one league... Loads of new tracks to visit, several weekends away... My concern is we end up with two leagues of Mickey Mouse, contrived, same old/same old, bollox.. Like we have had for 20 Years and more... What an opportunity for the sport to reset itself, relaunch itself, and make a UK Speedway Brand...

Reset and Relaunch.... Invest the money saved on "top stars" and employ a marketing company to nationally promote the sport... I would be amazed if 95% of the 80m population have ever heard of any GP rider... Run on nights you get your best crowds.. In short... Learn from your mistakes that has led you here, and start the sport again!!!

Who are these Northampton fans that would go to Leicester or even Oxford ? They don’t exist, what’s the point of having a new team that doesn’t have any fans or a track or any history of fans that would still be alive, inventing a team and expecting fans that don’t exist to attend a track miles away from the town it’s supposed to represent is stuff of the matrix

There is a lot of talk about teams like Belle Vue and Ipswich (if they run) having to "drop down" next season, but, of course, if the Premier League as it currently exists is no longer, the new single league will, de facto, be the top league, so, actually, it is a matter of the other teams moving up! It's just that the standard won't be so good.

A shredding machine to put your hard earned cash straight into and what you have left the bspl will send their special magician round to mysteriously make it all disappear in to the pockets of the few, just incase some think I’m posting an in the know post, it’s just a bit of fun, you don’t get a shredding machine

I like Louis, but he’s been one of the 4 who’s been making the decisions all these years that’s sadly got us into this position, so he’s got to take some of the blame

So it’s one league then, good, not the proper way to get there but we are there, so let’s make it work, welcome the 5 teams from above and their sulking promoters and make the damn thing work, you have the basic tools, the product is there just work damn hard to make it succeed

And both will be as well known as each other to the vast majority of the local population... Watching Dan Bewley fly around the fence at the NSS is great, however, watching him cross the finishing line as two rising stars are still getting around bends three and four doesn't make for much of a spectacle... Even four "Superstars" in a race, most times, ends up with the winner being half a straight ahead of fourth... At the NSS. You can basically pay £25 to watch the "Superstars" on a Monday or Thursday, deliver similar racing to what you can see the NDL lads do, for £15, at the weekend... With the vast majority of the local population not knowing their "Dan Bewley's" from their "Will Cairns'".. Or even who Belle Vue are, or what Speedway is... With any title victory for the Aces or the Colts meeting a similar level of recognition locally from the vast majority of the 2.75M who live within 45 mins of the track.. In any business, if you can find a way to deliver a similar standard of product, but for less cost, and then pass that saving onto your customers in a lower price point, then surely that has to be good for your business...? Or even use some of the cost savings to invest in marketing, to get what you sell out into the consciousness of those living within your catchment area...?

Only "superstars" can have top quality races??? Look up Heat 14 from the Glasgow v Edinburgh playoff semi (British Speedway Network posted it on their Facebook page on 27th September) It was a fantastic race between Perry, MPT & Flint swapping places. Then contrast that with the dross that was GB v Poland at the same track which had Bewley, Woffinden, Zmarzlik and Janowski, 3 of the 4 riders that had just competed in whatever they call the World Pairs final these days, and next to no passing all night. It was one of the worst meetings ever at Ashfield. The only worse ones I can think of were ruined by rain. Glasgow fans are very happy with the entertainment on show at Ashfield every week. Star names do not mean better races. Glasgow fans want to race Fridays, and the promotion fought long and hard to get it. They also have the derbies with Edinburgh and Berwick and rivalry with Poole, and to a lesser extent Redcar and Workington. They also have a competitive team. And they run with (what the promotion deem to be) acceptable losses each year. All of which would be lost propping up the failing Premiership. The Facennas are working hard to build up the speedway at Glasgow but that move would not make any sense and could jeopardise the future of the Tigers.

The riders can ask for more money but they most likely won't get it... They will then have four options... Give up speedway and get another job.. Keep riding and get more sponsors.. Keep riding and ride in other countries.. Get a job alongside riding Speedway.. I would suggest giving up Speedway would be very much the last option for the vast majority.. There clearly isn't any "best option" for the sport given the state it has been allowed to end up in, just the "least worst"... Having a top league of so few teams won't engage too many to keep turning up In reality, what do they have to offer? At least a six figure increase in costs? Restricted race nights which most likely will actually reduce crowd levels given the change of nights? An increase in admission fees for the fans to pay the higher costs?.. A chance to put an uncompetitive team together as other teams have already sewn up the most wanted "top riders"... "Top riders" who, after any novelty wears off, won't make much of a difference (if any), to the crowd numbers anyway.... Not exactly a "winning formula" is it? There is a perfect example of which level is more suitable for the current UK issues... Oxford.. They had plenty of World Class riders in attendance last season. but have decided to drop the top tier and keep their second tier position...

There was a match presented to the paying public last week at Leicester. It was a double header Leicester vs Belle Vue in the NDL followed by Leicester vs Kent in the NDT. In the first match Leicester tracked 2 guests and R/R, Belle Vue 1 guest and R/R In the second match Leicester tracked 5 guests 1 of which didn't start and Kent R/R In the second match Leicester tracked 3 riders who were riding for Belle Vue in the first match. In the second match Kent tracked 1 rider who was riding for Belle Vue in the first match. The 2nd match was scheduled to start at 20:30 but didn't start until after 21:00 and the 2nd match was abandoned after heat 14 due to the curfew. I was toying with the idea of attending this as my last match of the season as it's a long close season. I asked Leicester Speedway a simple question on TwitterX of how much the admission price was only to get no reply... so I didn't bother. Everything that is wrong with British Speedway encapsulated in 1 night! And the powers that be are proposing business as usual as the cure... the sport is finished!

British Speedway has two options. A) make sure it is the one other league that riders choose or B ) strike out on its own. Remove the fixed race day and rebuild its own product. Short term the big names will stay in Poland but if we focus on developing our own riders in the long term we won’t be as reliant on Poland propping the sport up as it apparently (according to Poland) does right now. The bubble could always burst in Poland. It did here after all. It is in our best interests to have our own sustainable model here in the event of that happening.

Let's take one of the best ran clubs and make them completely change their operating model and business plan, and make them follow an operating model and business plan that has shown it clearly isn't fit for purpose, nor sustainable... What a great idea....

Garbage (the highlighted bit). A well run club will be able to attract and maintain sponsorship of the level required to operate profitably. Other clubs struggle to do this, as well as pay riders on time, act professionally to gain local prominence and get 1.5k to 2k fans to attend. So I'd say it has been well run, it's not luck!

It’s just not good enough, it’s destined to fail, fans don’t want it, it doesn’t interest me at all

I just love all these business experts popping up on here, and giving 'advice' on something they have absolutely no clue about. Hilarious...😂

Fair play if he can afford to buy Poland just by pulling his sponsorship of Sheffield.

Really sad news. Nothing positive about this. When i think about Ipswich, as a kid. When Newport reopened and getting into Speedway, watching the Elite League at Swindon. I remember the Ipswich team of 1998 as having a special aura and Ipswich being a special club. Chris and the team have done so much to rebuild Ipswich back up to be that well run professional club in the last 4/5 years because they have been ambitious, invested, obtained sponsors and wanted to grow. As a neutral it's one of the things i have most enjoyed. I think dropping down leagues and that model for Ipswich, didn't really work in the past. So i can see why he will have made this decision. If Chris is not involved in club speedway that is a massive loss for the Sport.

Totally disagree with that. It obviously got to the stage where Louis can’t work with the others in the BSPA. Everything he does is ultra professional & runs a well supported & stable club. He proves it can be done. For years he has been trying to drag the show up to the levels he feels it should be at. You get to the point where you can’t carry on otherwise you’ll go insane. As for playing the Sandu card, remember Louis is someone who has been involved at Ipswich in a professional capacity since 1989. The Louis family have been at Foxhall in some capacity since 1969.

For me... Pretend no one knows about the sport... (Won't be too difficult).. And launch it as if were brand new... Build a profile for it, make it a brand, get its name out into YouTube etc, with 10 mins behind fhe scenes vlogs, focus on making riders the personalities of the sport, share all merchandise costs and profits using a generic look but with each individual club having their insignia on their version of the merchandise.... Employ people who can influence and hype up the sport to a younger demographic, make websites look like they were designed today not when the internet was invented, use an interactive UK Speedway App, with clubs having their own individual interactive versions... Stop being so insular, staying sat within a "Speedway Bubble Echo Chamber" and instead open yourself up and bring in people much younger from outside the sport (if the skill set doesnt exist within it already), who can bring fresh ideas that white, middle aged men wouldn't even consider... Put the fans' "match night experience" front, back and centre of everything you do... In short. Look at what successful sports do and use as many of their ideas as is possible to help grow Speedway.. But, most of all, run it on the bloody nights that your fans find are the best ones for them to attend with their kids!!! And also find a way to get a fair few dozen away fans in attendance to add some bloody atmosphere!!!

The blame is to be shared all around. 1.Riders demanding too much wonga 2. The BSPA running the sport poorly and unprofessionally 3. Losing Sky tv contract 4. Poland 5. The Grand Prix 6. TNT being rubbish 7. Poor crowds 8. Poor advertising/lack of modernizing 9. Lack of investment from clubs 10. Houses being built I could go on forever!!! There's plenty more.

You said that Tigers will not win any silverware with Cami Brown as Team Manager, I pointed out that they won with the Playoffs with him as Team Manager in 2023. They topped the league this season with him as Team Manager. And almost won the Playoffs this year with him as Team Manager. Basically, my point is that you're talking mince.

Whilst many advocate keeping today’s top riders gainfully employed in the UK at a cost that no club can afford without generous sponsorship, that is a questionable position hold in the overall scheme of things. All who dismiss the lesser known riders and those coming through the ranks at NDL level as not being worthy, please explain where tomorrow’s top star riders are going to come from. Doyle, Lambert, Bewley etc. will not go on forever so where are the stars of the future coming from in the UK. The sport in this country does not have the facilities that the likes of Poland have who are able to have a conveyor belt of talent. Something has to give as the sport means diddly squat to all but a few thousand punters, it does not make good live TV and from an investment aspect you have to be a raving lunatic to put money into a business model where the terms of running are dictated by people and factors over which you as the club owner rarely have control. The sport can survive and rebuild itself but it will never attract a mass audience in the UK to warrant big pay days for the top riders in the world so it needs to cut its cloth accordingly and all the banging on about the need to keep the top tier and top riders and TV deals are just topics that can be debated to death but the reality is that outside the loyal followers no one is interested or listening and while many ideas put forward on here have some merit it is it is not going to influence the way the sport is run now or in the future.

Britain competing PL on a Mon/Thu is a relatively new thing and has just about killed off the sport, and the PL in particular, in this country. I take it you're a relative newcomer to Speedway and Ipswich? Personally I think new punters are more likely to want to come and see young Johnny Local making his way to better things in the sport rather than Johan Foreigner who flies in for his pension fund top up.

And be 100% correct to do so..? A business is only successful when you meet what your customers want.... And isn't, when you don't listen to them and ride rough shod over their wishes... A sport is only successful when built on crowd sizes and atmosphere... So run it when the most people want to be there..

TTT this and almost all your other posts assume that prem Clubs have some cards to play, they really don't, they're almost in a beggers can't be choosers position.If belle vue/ipswich owners/promoters decide they'd rather sell then so be it

I agree... and as a Leicester fan I'd be more than happy to see us in the CL... the PL has failed

Was it rained Off!!!!

This isn’t true, Max is still racing next season

Meanwhile... if true, there's riders in the PL on guarantees who don't care one jot about British Speedway. While Trigger and Perry may not have been the next Bartosz Zmarzlik they could well have been the next Simon Lambert's and without them the sport is dead.

You talking from experience.

It's simple, you hit the ground running from the mid March to the end of August with league fixtures (Just like the Premiership do). Would be 16 home league matches, plus at least one KO Cup fixture, making 17 meetings to fit into 24 Race nights, allowing for rain offs/rider availability. The BSN series is a nonsense competition. While we are on the subject, Mark Lemon's comments on the same page in the SS were tone deaf as usual, speaking about the Championship clubs not to think about themselves being okay (I'm alright jack was what I think was quoted). If he wants to mess about thinking that clubs like Poole and Glasgow should move up to save the Premiership, then he needs to give his head a wobble. The crowds both clubs get provide the best business model to run a sustainable sport with a future. Getting the biggest names in the sport to ride over here is not sustainable in the long term apart from 2/3 clubs unless Lemon is quite happy to see clubs go to the wall. He wants to try promoting speedway outside a major city then he will see how hard it really is.

According to one promoter... "The No 1's".... Who all then pretty much effed off to Poland and Sweden as soon as the UK gravy train ended for them.. Personally I wasnt ever convinced bringing "the top stars" back a few years ago was going to be a "Golden Ticket" given the fact that when pretty much every single top rider (maybe apart from Tomaz Gollob), rode over here week in, week out, during the "Sky years", the crowds didn't grow, in fact, they kept declining overall... Which suggested the "top names" were not deal breakers as to whether fans were attending or not... Plymouth is a perfect example of where "the cast of the production" hasn't changed, yet the number of people now watching them has increased considerably, just by changing their "opening hours", which are now obviously more aligned to people's leisure time...

I have been going to speedway since the mid 60s and I'm gutted at what is happening at Ipswich speedway I hope it continues to operate but am not holding out much hope. Chris standing down as Promoter must have been a really hard decision for him to make considering how long he and his dad before him have been associated with the club but I respect the decision he has made whatever the reasons maybe. It was well run and well supported and with a really good supporters club as well. I loved going there and will really miss it if this is the end as Oxford, Kings Lynn, Leicester, the next nearest clubs to me are between 2 to 3 hours traveling each way which will make going on a regular basis impossible. The question is why did I start going to Ipswich, the answer is simple it is not because of what league it was in it was because all the other clubs within traveling distance on a regular basis closed down and I would imagine there are many more fans like me who go to a club on a regular basis that just want to see 4 riders doing 4 laps round the track. I loved watching Emil and Doyle but I also enjoyed watching Dan T and Jordan along with the rest of the team just as much. Whether you call it Premiership, Championship, NDL or something else it still boils down to 4 riders doing 4 laps round a track. I don't want to see GP riders disappearing from UK teams but more than that what I really want is to see speedway in the UK continuing not dying a gradual death and that is what Promoters need to consider above all else when making any decisions and they need to make those decisions based on what is going to help the sport not on decisions that will benefit them personally. .

They think the Premiership is in trouble... it is now...

I think most on here seem to want one league, so plenty of variety of visiting teams, ran at current Championship level,, either with or without "World Stars", and done on nights that you can generate the best crowd levels for your business... It seems the fans of just one team want to keep the current operating model...

Let's be honest... The sport is proper "Donald Ducked" isnt it? Decades of using Guests at the drop of a hat, so riders got more meetings, rather than finding a way NOT to use them, and thus hugely negatively impacting the credibility of its own competitions, and making Doubling Up a fundamental part of the operating model, has resulted in too many ageing riders, with too many jobs, and not enough riders being developed to allow squad systems and "one rider, one team"... Whatever sticking plasters they apply (yet again), will then need to be removed, and something else then applied next year when/if Poland kick in their one extra league rule... The chickens have definitely come home to roost...

I really don't understand why some teams should "move up" for the "good of the sport"... Which basically translates into "so my team can ride on Monday or Thursday meaning I can watch some GP riders".... Why don't the Prem teams "drop down for the good of the sport"? Not enough riders? Then run in a reduced level top tier, with five rider teams, at Championship level, "for the good of the sport"? They can still do it on Mondays and Thursdays if certain teams want to.. With GP riders too, using a Championship level team average...

I wouldn’t read too much into that.

I would scrap all of the GPs. I am not sure that British Speedway has benefitted too much from having them. The old World Final was a much better way of deciding the World Champion than the GPs. However, we have what we have and I suppose we will have to put up with it.