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Any chance you can explain to me your end game with your endless posting about how crap in your eyes one big league would be? Every time we go back and forth you agree with me that big changes are needed, you’ve even agreed with me that Ipswich don’t do everything right and that the top league isn’t sustainable as it is? We know you have disdain for the championship and the quality of it and of course Poole and Glasgow for not bowing down to Chris Louis and moving up a league. But I really don’t get your end game other than to act entitled and make on that you are cleverer than everyone else for thinking you’ve got the future of the sport sussed out?

What has this topic got to do with Newcastle?

I think Leicester should be congratulated for their use of social media in the last few weeks. They were the first, if not only club to update their supporters on what their plans were, then they announce the departure of their best rider (with Max confirming this 15 minutes later) but within 12 hours announce the signing of Thompson. Anyone would think they actually have put some thought into how they use social media & have a strategy. If this is the case can other clubs please take note....

I'd say there needs to be discussion much much earlier than mid year Ideally they need to start as part of the rearranged AGM in January

And this silly vendetta against all things NORA needs to STOP!

Anyone defending 3 home 3 away with the play offs is part of the problem. It's a shambles and I shall not spend a penny on it.

It's surely the other way around... all these riders have been signed up to CL clubs for weeks

What makes you both think that? On pure 2025 averages (across all meetings) alone, Mitch was higher... 6.18 - Mitchell McDiarmid 5.68 - Fraser Bowes Do you think Bowes will improve more than McDiarmid in 2026 - at a new home track, whereas Mitch is at the same track as in 2025? I can't it even see it being close in Mitch's favour. Each to their own though.

We as loyal fans (1981 was my 1st visit) all have opinions on what's gone on or going on at Ipswich, i enter my 44th season, give or take a couple i took a break from, and i totally back @Aries in everything he has said. We can all say about what if we were in a position on losing money, that situation i can't argue with, you would consider selling it, that's obvious, but the Radio Silence for all of us fans for me is simply poor, irrelevant at what he has done for the club as a rider and a promoter through the years, just be honest with the loyal supporters who has backed him and his family for years. His silence is painful for so many. As a very loyal Ipswich fan, i now can see all the frustrations that Wolves,Peterborough,Swindon,Lakeside and many more, to many to name, supporters feel at all the uncertainty surrounding their clubs. Now it's our turn, and i hold my hand up it's painful. There maybe 2 bidders on the table, there maybe more, but until Louis lowers his asking price, it's simply not going to sell. Yes its controversial, and yes there are Witches fans rolling their eyes at my post, but I've spent many evenings travelling the country Home and Away supporting Ipswich for years, and in my own honest opinion, my loyalty towards Chris and the situation is wearing thin. Not saying loads agree with me, just giving an honest opinion. Clubs already naming riders (That's the 4 teams that remain), but as we sit here this evening, there is NO guarantee Ipswich come to tapes, irrelevant of the Fine @PhilTheAce is talking about, that simply won't happen, as we all know rules and regulations in this sport are not worth the paper they are written on. I would say we are closer to NOT running than people think, unless as i read on here earlier today Chris is calling people's bluff and he remains in charge, but for me if he does that, he will have a lot of rebuilding to do with the Supporters. I hope i'm 100% wrong, and we race, but im nowhere near as confident as some. Many Apologies for the long post. Tomorrow is another day???

Disagree I’m afraid Jason. Why couldn’t he reassure the supporters that there will be Speedway next year? The fact is, his latest interview a week or two ago, he couldn’t guarantee that when pushed. Why couldn’t he say that he wanted to sell the club (no problem, his choice), but if no buyer came forward in time, he’d continue to run it whilst a buyer could be found for the longer term? Just like the Bates’ have done at Sheffield?? Instead, he’s gone on local radio and caused unnecessary stress to a lot of loyal supporters, by not confirming there would be speedway next year, all whilst jetting off to sunny Australia for a nice sunny Holiday with family. Just before Christmas too, nice! Anyone who has been a regular at Foxhall over the years, will know Margaret and her Daughter, Heather Lay. Two huge servants to Ipswich Speedway over decades. Working tirelessly selling draw tickets and helping running the supporters club over many many years. I caught up with Heather towards the end of the season and we had a chat. She was quite openly telling us that Margaret wasn’t in the best health these days and was struggling to get about. But she STILL makes a huge effort to attend Foxhall every meeting. She said if it wasn’t for her beloved Witches, she’s not sure she’d “still be here”. I wonder how they’re feeling right now and looking forward to Christmas? They won’t be alone either. For a lot of people, it’s not just something to do on a Thursday evening, it’s become a massive part of their lives going back decades. They’ll all be feeling worried sick that their Speedway is about to be taken away, just as Christmas is approaching. Look at the reception they got at the Town hall a few weeks ago. It’s was pi$$ing down, it was a lunch time, and was announced at short notice. And the people of Ipswich turned out in great numbers to celebrate, along with the Mayor. There’s great people who work at the club, most voluntarily, loyal sponsors who have backed him to the hilt financially, and of course, a core of loyal supporters. All been left totally in the dark and wondering what on earth is going on. I can only imagine how annoyed fans of Wolves, Arena/Lakeside , Peterborough, Swindon, amongst many others must feel, who have seen their speedway taken away from them due to track unavailability, see another club potentially not running despite a viable club and available track just sitting there. Ok, it may well break in the next days/weeks that he’s successfully sold the club on, OR, he’s staying and will continue to run it, but that won’t change the fact that he’s handled this very poorly. In my opinion! Obviously.

Chris Louis is 56…. He is married and has 2 daughters one of whom is married with children and lives in Denmark Chris and his wife Julie work tirelessly all season and the off season not only running the club but promoting it and actually doing an awful lot on race nights … they both spend a lot of days at the stadium it was their passion and livelihood …. Add on Chris’s tv commitments to this as well Yes Chris is not impressed with the way the sport is heading But do you not think at his age with a family that the time has come for him to perhaps take a rest and enjoy his personal life a bit more ? The loss of John obviously hit Chris hard and now his dad isn’t around probably sees it as the right time to make sure he is there more for his family I don’t think for one second his decision was solely based on speedway Seeing the team win the league finally …. In a year when he lost John … possibly would be the right time to just step back Sure he is annoyed at the sport and the authorities but I feel that was the final straw over something he has thought about for a while

I think we need to forget all this nonsense about extra teams because it ain't going to happen. Unfortunately the Premiership is like the cockroach that has been stood on but is desperately scuttling around the floor looking for survival. Logical thinking required here, why would any right minded businessman or persons invest in a dying sport? It ain't happening so people need to deal with it. One league is the only way forward and I believe eventually it will be forced upon the powers that be.

Birmingham closed due to development not self interest and having a pop at Oxford who have gone from three leagues to two is rich when Louis won’t even run a junior team, despite all the hype about a run of the mill, one off, end of season junior meeting being touted as the most innovative initiatives in decades. Spin at its finest.

100% agree, however... A fair few Ipswich fans, three weeks or so ago on here, were, post after post, calling out the Glasgow and Poole promoters for not running in the top league and being prepared to potentially lose money in doing so... I presume these people will now be urging Chris to do the same?....

Sadly you could say that about British Speedway for the past several years .... "always going to be fixed next season". Maybe this AGM in January 2026 really is "THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT" to quote the regular old chestnut trotted out in the Speedway satr to try and sell a few more copies. Dont think it is unfair to say the "one big league" has been suggested for a few seasons now - but what did the clever boys in charge do .... they started "doubling up" "doubling down" under some misguided belief that it would help riders progression. It has just developed into a money earning stunt for the mediocre riders and separated the 2 leagues further apart , making it nigh on impossible for teams to move up or down ... with so many doubling up riders. Sooperstars carried on regardless, and rabbits enjoyed the "rising star" charade. This also makes amalgamation nigh on impossible with the loss of sooperstars plus the loss of many doubling up riders who might just retire with only one teams income (albeit more meetings per season.) None of which solves the minor issue of getting MORE people through the turnstiles, something that has been continually overlooked !!

So as predicted, Berwick pick 28 year old Jack Smith rather than the young man who showed him the way round Shielfield Max Perry

Not just a top a rider though, just zmarzlik, he is the exception the others are no more enticing than riders like Vinny foord, speedway for me is about the team not the individual, my team, my club my affiliation and I want to see different teams come to my club not the same team every few weeks, sadly I don’t have a team anymore so I struggle to get motivated to follow the league structure but seeing different teams at least gives me interest but a 5 team league is just not appealing

Ok you stuck with the same team all season except for the 2 changes🤔

I'd like to know what is being put in place to ensure we're not in the exact same situation (but worse) in twelve months time. The number of clubs left makes one league more sensible. Clubs racing on a night that suits them also makes sense. What needs to be done is something to make that viable. The stumbling blocks all revolve around riders. Be it the international race nights which take preference and the lack of riders of a good enough standard to fill 14 teams without doubling up (impossible in one league). So there should be a big focus next season on getting British riders to a competitive standard at Championship level at least. A good pool of domestic talent will be important to mean sides can have carte blanche over their race nights (not a complete solution I'm aware). But, as we know the Championship teams are full speed ahead at building teams and there are no rules in place (rising star scheme for example) to promote British youngsters at that level. The Premiership isn't sustainable. The Championship sides haven't helped matters by not implementing a rising star scheme or similar. It needs to be changed for next season regardless of what has been signed already, or we're putting off change for good for at least another year. That's valuable time. Everyone needs to pull together in one direction for the good and future of British Speedway.

Like when certain Ipswich fans were demanding teams moved up and were going to lose tons of money just to keep the failing premiership going? Were those Ipswich fans going to cover the costs of that team? I don’t think so, so it’s a stupid thing to say about an individual covering costs. I agree it’s his right to do but would he have been selling up if he got what he wanted? He would have been happy if we had another sacrificial lamb in the top flight. Last year’s premiership was basically a 5 team league as Oxford and Birmingham were so uncompetitive it’s not really changed that much. We even had an Ipswich fan on here having a pop at Plymouth because they didn’t win a trophy so the season was unsuccessful. That club had a great season imo as they got bigger crowds and the feel good factor returned.

To be fair, Tolley's not perfect by any means but at least he's passionate about British Speedway. The same can't be said for certain CHAMP Promoters and Owners.

shall I put it this way... ...the Premiership only had 6 riders who were too good for the Championship, I know there were more who didn't tide in the championship but the likes of Becker, Brennan, Douglas and Pickering are hardly world stars. Excellent but not in the top 20 riders in the world. If you want a premium product it has to be that. This season at least two of those 6 won't be riding. Personally I don't think you can offer a premium product in this country because the infrastructure, apart from the NSS, isn't conducive to it. In terms of either the tracks or stadia. But if you do need a premium product find a format in which you can at least see a high % of those top 20 riders in the world.

Don't think Poole are big payers, Anders Rowe can probably vouch for that, it's more like a well run club, with good sponsors, no your going to get paid on time, and are always there or there abouts , when the trophies are handed out

I don't think it matters which track(s) he rides on/for, the boy is going to be a superstar.

actually getting paid and knowing you'll be there or thereabouts talks

Birmingham aren't running because their stadium was demolished from under them. Not because Nigel Tolley spat his dummy. If Birmingham stadium was still there, then Nigel Tolley would still be there.

Passion is controllable, that is just brattish behaviour.

So Sheffield now join Belle Vue, Leicester, and Kings Lynn in confirming their place in the Premiership in 2026. Complete radio silence from Ipswich way leaving their supporters completely in the dark as to whether they’ll see any speedway next year. Meanwhile, the clubs owner has buggered off to Australia, at the most crucial time in the clubs history. Louis has treated the Ipswich supporters abysmally here I’m afraid.

Nor was Vic Huxley, Tom Farndon, Bluey Wilkinson, Vic Duggan, Jack Young, Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger....it's just impossible to compare riders from different eras and although it gives us fans hours of endless fun speculating, it really is an impossible task to say who was the greatest rider ever. The greatest you've actually seen maybe, but not of all time.

Seems to be an annual topic this, is Craig Cook worth the risk? He's just about as good as anyone in this league on his day. But I've lost count how many last chances he's had, how many times he's gone AWOL and let people down. Ability - yes. Reliability - no.

Huge signing for Poole, bringing Cook back. It pains me to say it, but his performance at Ashfield in the play-off final was a captain’s performance. The resilience to bounce back from being bullied by Howarth in heat seven and passed by Harris in heat fifteen to win it for the Pirates in the race-off was remarkable. Excited for the season ahead. The Championship is shaping up to be competitive.

Poole have signed a fantastic rider so people have to start talking about the track, a track that has some of best racers around come back year after year, Holder Ward BenCook Harris. The track talk is boring, and is only a topic as Poole tweaked it to benefit them vs Glasgow

Birmingham have struggled for a couple of years with crowd levels and limped from season to season, unable to attract quality riders and then lost their track. Not quite the same as the Ipswich situation is it?

It's called passion, and speedway would be all the poorer if we didn't have characters who possess a bit.

I hope you are right, he's the next cab off the rank for GB so to see him flourish again in 2026 would be great. Exoect him to be in the SWC team. Its a pity when people just laugh at opinions on here without presenting their own argument as to why they disagree.

Or premiership promoters who throw out the toys when they don’t get there way.

Love or hate him but Cookie is still one of the best riders in the league that’s the fact here we can all probably agree with. For me and whatever the reason was he shouldn’t of left last season he’s realistically got a few years left in the tank he’s a local lad and has the best track and set up in the country on his doorstep, if he does put the blue and white on again I feel he will be fired up to do what he knows he can and with that it gives us a lot of strength and experience in the big heats. Craig and Troy are some of the best team riders in the league, I also agree with the comment above him and Tate team rode so well together and were 5-1 machines at 1 and 2. Lets see what’s announced next! Give us a C

Nothing is more precious and valuable than time and family - particularly when where you have been working couldn't give 2 sh!ts if you were there or not At 54 I've recently exited a job after 36 years and if I have any say in it have no plans to work again and if I do it will be on terms that suit me

But that is one of the major issues.. The majority of fans don't have any faith that the future will be better.. Simply based on what those in control have delivered over the last two decades... Even the die hards on the many Speedway related FB accounts (generic and club specific), take the pee at how poorly the sport is ran.. Why, suddenly now therefore, will those in charge improve things? The clearly, obvious, fundamental issues facing the sport have been there for a long, long time, with the answer, year in year out, being "Let's do exactly the same thing again"... Which, once again, they have chosen to do this year.. Well a "mini version"... The bottom line is... The Premiership simply doesn't work in its current guise, and is only there to give a few "quality riders" a fair few quid, (thus increasing costs much higher than crowd numbers) and the rest the chance to Double Up.. At least a 14 team league (at whatever level), looks, from the outside, like something with relevance, and makes the sport look at least "sizeable" and covers pretty much the whole country, which should improve sponsorship and marketing opportunities...

I think the fact they didn't speaks volumes....

Trouble with that is, if Batchelor gets stuck behind traffic, we all no what he does, Cooper would be late for the meeting

i thought we needed characters like this, cant fault him for speaking his mind..

It has never really bothered me who wins a s/way match as long as it is a close scoreline plus decent racing ,winning the league seems to have very little relevance on the attendance figures . Star riders have a limited appeal in getting punters through the gate ,it's the whole package that matters and the blind love of the sport demonstated by the vast majority of fans . I can't understand the criticism of CL in any shape or form he has been wonderful servant to the sport ( I am certain it has not made him any wealthier ) and has decided he has had enough .

http://sheffield-speedway.com/news.php?extend.3769&fbclid=IwY2xjawOxQeJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFKTHBCNVlZamRNTVFRRjJrc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHunOm4zFqbfHUiW6ZDpVcyCkaaKa4T9ePhurhI_oqx2L-5SU4PI4tODp4N9E_aem_eFfMT6JnqG9Nuux-2VtGLg

Maybe you would like to provide the £95,000 deficit out of your own pocket ? Chris hasn’t thrown out the toys imo. No threats of closure etc. purely I require a 6 team league for my business to be sustainable. That’s not possible so he is selling up as is his right to do so

Think you've got to put faith in Cookie. Vuolas just can't seem to adapt to the majority of British tracks but Cookie is a proven No.1 in this League, It's just his mindset that's the problem.

Still way behind Nielsen in my view.

Dan Thompson signs for Leicester. very sad to see him move on but it’s a great career move for him as he rides the track so well. been great to see him blossom from rising star to where he is now It was dans improvement which gained us the league title imo hope we get a chance to see you at foxhall

Max Perry, and about 8 years younger too.

Or belle vue could of joined 1 league with bewley or Kurtz (I explained this on the 360 podcast a few weeks ago )and given the fans a new variety of clubs to see and visit but no shortsightedness and possibly greed has prevailed and we get to see the same teams over and over again, it’s just not doing it for me and at £25 a pop I can’t see us bothering to attend very often