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We must surely be approaching the point where they say it's too late to get this done. This waiting isn't fair on the riders, it's not fair on the other clubs who have declared they're running but can't get properly organised, and most importantly it's not fair to the supporters who can't be blamed if they decide that after the farce of this winter it's finally the time to walk away from the sport. I hope Northampton do start. The circumstances in which it happens isn't ideal but it would still be exciting to see a new track enter, and wouldn't it be great if we were all here in 7-8 months time looking back at a successful first season. But you can't keep everyone waiting around forever, there has to be a deadline.

Well, that'll have probably gone down like a turd in a swimming pool at BSPL towers. A few home truths delivered which historically haven't been listened to, most notably from the previous Ippo promoter and various other here today gone tomorrow promoters. The majority of the current crop just ain't up to the job, most notably the guy at the top. Coleman will have his work cut out to make any change but let's hope he can succeed where so many others in the past have failed. At the moment we'll have to take him at face value 🤞

Have had BSN for my elderly parents for the last 4 years and can't fault it for the cost, yeah had a few teething problems with some streams from time to time when it first came along but its got better year on year tbf, my parents who are both 85 love their speedway and have been going regularly to local tracks since the Norwich speedway days, and were season ticket holders at Ipswich, Lynn, P'boro and Mildenhall for many a year before Covid stuck, it's just an easier option for them these days then driving to a meeting and having to sit about in all weather's at their age.

Ipswich were more than happy to take Tom off Birmingham and see them “make up the numbers”. Tom had ridden part of their season at number 1 after we released him. When you consider the top two the witches had in place, tapping up Tom seemed unnecessary if looking at the bigger picture. It did however achieve what Louis wanted with his league win, and that’s all that mattered to him.

Now posting as tapewrecker

I look at streaming as an opportunity to see away meetings. I’m self employed so taking a whole day plus fuel to attend an away meeting is quite costly. Streaming has its place, I don’t think I can justify travelling away but I’m happy to pay to watch it on my tv.

I don’t buy that. The vast majority of fans switch off at the end of the season & come back at the start of the new one. It’s only us on here that get our knickers in a twist, a small percentage of those who actually attend. If the side ends up getting beaten week in week out then yes the attendance will drop, but the goings on this winter won’t make much difference to the attendance at the start of the season

Have the bspl become so desperate and tunnel visioned in their quest to get Northampton running they have forgot what their actual job is ? They have practically isolated and ignored the fans and even the other 4 teams to a degree since November to the point now where even the most loyal fans are getting fed up and if like me thinking is it worth it anymore, this winter has been one of the most damaging to its credibility winters the sport has ever had

Fortunately there is absolutely nobody looking, outside of the Speedway bubble

The 4 team league to be run in September & October with the top 4 going to the semi finals

I think he's sponsored by Thames Water.

New presenter, and new press officer too. BOTH current incumbents will be sorely missed.

Surely that's the way it should be? Despite the frustrations and worry over delays there is one thing that has been in my view a positive and unusual for speedway The transaction has been conducted in a professional and rightful way No one speaking out of turn, blaming another party or getting one up by making comment for selfish gain Hopefully in time Chris will make a further statement to clarify his position and answer some of the questions many people still have Some things may however be better left unsaid

Stifles aspiration, and ambition,and is clearly open to manipulation.. If must be quite annoying for a rider to miss out on a team place by a few decimal points, knowing one of his team mates last year let him finish in front of him, which, ultimately put his average "too high"... Even more so if a "bonus point king" gets the place he could have had!!!

I hate the averages system and also the idea of not having riders as assets. It kills the motivation to develop young riders as if their average gets to high, you have to lose them for nothing or lose another top rider. It also doesn't really keep teams that fair either

They stopped this test 2 years ago, now they hold out a fifty pound note and which hand snatches it first is the predominant hand.

Problem is the play offs are at the wrong time for mainstream broadcasters as in September and October the Premier League and EFL is in full flow and the European Champions, Europa and Conference League has just started so they have plenty of content. I did make the suggestion back in December when it became clear they had no Premiership broadcast to BSPL that maybe they would be better to look at running a short separate SuperLiga series of matches just one Home and Away . This needs to take place late May until end of July then Sky and Others would be interested in broadcasting it Maybe also may attract more GP stars for a short period season. This needs to be a more modern format with DJs, lights , smoke , Cheerleaders etc However this suggestion was turned down as promotions didn’t want to clash with Euro football games as thought attendance will be down but they will whichever way and also had concerns that fans would not attend the Premiership fixtures at start and end of season instead just going for SuperLiga matches . This is exactly how Cricket has moved forward clubs make big money and attendance for 20-20 and the Hundred during peak summer which purest supporters don’t like but they can get their traditional cricket early and later on the year

He was fantastic wasn’t he? Had an aura, the X factor. His form dipped in his final year here by his high standards but it wasn’t through lack of effort or commitment. I’m sure I wasn’t alone when he first signed wondering how many meetings he’d miss and how much effort would he put in, but I needn’t have been concerned! Class act.

Santa Claus you c#nt , wheres my f@cking team Kevin Bloody Wilson

A sport, in the UK, simply set up for a few dozen riders so they can earn money... And set up so some people, with enough money, can have an expensive hobby which they love being a central part of... The fans being invited along to help subsidise the costs, and keep them within reason for the person whose hobby it is... UK Speedway is no more than this.. The BSN package looks excellent value for money for "generic fans", who just enjoy watching Speedway without bothering too much who wins and who doesn't.. Hope they have a good season with plenty of subscribers.

Which shows how quickly any agreement can change/disappear Until the announcement nothing is guaranteed Whilst I expect it to happen I'm almost of a mind that it may be best that it doesn't so that the whole house of cards collapses and forces a real reset

It's not his team to announce though is it! If you were negotiating a sale worth tens of thousands of pounds to you would you be disclosing the planned new owners team against their wishes? That doesn't seem the best way to conduct the process to me....

Whoever wins the "league" there is no kudos to it is there? I think attendences are going to be woeful after this close season, its difficult to see how the sport recovers from this now.

The six everyone knows and Bartek Zmarzlik on a 4.50 point average... This average is based on his one match for Birmingham in 2014, and the ensuing 11 years worth of reduction for not riding over here during that time.. An extremely new rule which only six times World Champions qualify for.. (And all done in the interests of Speedway obviously)..

Bartosz would still win.

Interesting reading that old Reading press release. Reading the “Eleventh” club to come to tapes in the old Elite League. Now down to Five. How sad and demoralising.

I was pondering this just this AM - at some point CL would have ‘retired’ anyway and was there a natural successor in the family to take over - the answer is probably no! I wonder if this is perhaps the start of a more professional era for the league and perhaps the sport in the U.K. - I won’t hold my breath but let’s hope so for all our sakes! Of course in 20 years we might be moaning it’s all gone too far and the elite league has gone the same way at the PL in football! for now the witches come to the tapes in 2026 which I was always confident they would! wont lie going to miss Doyley and Emil!!

https://ipswichwitches.co/new-ipswich-co-promoter-richard-coleman-writes-to-witches-fans/

Can't disagree with what's been said by the new owner. At least hes acknowledged how bad it's been for the fans this winter. Best of luck to all involved.

CL didn't worry too much about change when he put together, clearly, the best septet by far last year did he? Nor did he worry too much about Birmingham when he made them weaker by signing Tom Brennan as a third heat leader did he?... The time for change was a long, long time ago... CL, and others, have had plenty of time to make those changes... However, they chose, season after season, to not make any...

It is a bit curious though, isn't it? The last time i went to Cardiff I paid £18 (early bird price). And the place was more than half empty which lead to no more GPs there. I have to say though that I went to the Friday meeting at BV last year and as we left I did say that the meeting we'd just seen was a real candidate for the best GP ever. Perhaps real fans want to see real racing eh? [edit] P.S. I've just bought two day tickets for this year.

Did they replace them with "Guests"?

A bit harsh.... He was only one month out.... Not a bad effort really when it comes to the history of Speedway promoting in the UK.....

The Lemon who sent an email out advertising the sale of GP tickets on the 27th of March instead of 27th of February? 😮

Shame can't be said the same for you then 😂

So.... Basically, promoters thought that an authentic and relevant league, that had some resonance, and ran during the warmer months, would negatively impact their unauthentic, and largely irrelevant league, with minimal, if any, resonance, (that they would still run), using the colder months too?... In summary... "This product would deliver what many fans want, and would engage them to attend, but then they wouldn't turn up to watch the usual contrived stuff we cobble together each season".. They probably wouldn't be wrong would they?

Are any of fhe riders mentioned left handed? I think there may be a sub reg which allows a further reduction in averages of left handed riders... Just as long as they can a) prove they are left handed and b) prove it by the end of February.. All that needs to happen is for a BSP Official to hand the rider a pen and see how he writes with it... Mickey Mouse has just looked at his BSP watch that he got for Christmas off Minnie, and confirmed officially that today is the 26th of February, so still time left...

Rip off

Agree with the ‘live’ sentiment but that is becoming increasingly more costly and those with limited disposal income will forsake that and frankly with the way some meetings are drawn out, I would suspect many would rather be at home than standing on a chilly terrace in stadiums with poor facilities, expensive food and drink plus toilets that are some of the worse you can find and you can have all that for an entry fee of £20+. That’s probably why some people no longer attend because the supporter is a secondary inconvenience to the people who run the sport. Just look at the way they have conducted themselves in the close season.

Yes, King Edwards just about sums that team up🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔 😂

The fact someone is signing Scott Nicholls in 2026 in a “Premiership” team says everything really. That’s no slight on him either. He’s been a fine rider for many years but come on now the bloke is on the slippery slope to 50 and just spent nearly a year out injured. It’s all a bit desperate.

Speaking as a speedway fan and not the parent of a rider. I would not be attending a meeting this year. To be left in the dark to this extent yet expected to pay my hard earned and turn up to watch god knows who on a random date yet to be determined…. I’d have found another sport to follow weeks ago.

Let’s get things in perspective, he’s been around British amateur meetings for quite a few years, rode in a few second halfs and would struggle to hold down a NDL team place so let’s not call in Trumps ICE army just yet.

Definitely that no one has heard of it. I think the only people that knew about it when I was at school was the people I forced to come along with me, most of whom never went again

Congrats to Drew Kemp for winning the Argentina Championship.Think most fans would have liked him back at Shielfield.

Was his old account banned, or was it just the fact that, as so many put his account on ignore, he wasn't getting any attention? Well both his accounts can go on ignore now.

Not John Perrin. 2013 vs Poole in the David Gordon era. Two riders, Zagar and Zetterstrom (allegedly) missed their plane, and the track was deliberately over watered. Darren Hartley was dispatched by SCB to investigate as he lived locally. My recollection was that BV were fined and told in future they needed to have a referee’s inspection before a meeting was called off

I predict the draw for the PL Cup will be made...