cowboy cookie returns?

But it is. Look at the reported crowd numbers. Most tracks 500 to 800 with a few exceptions. No one interested in a tv deal. No sponsors coming forward. Decreasing number of riders year on year. Louis proved you can make a club work & at least break even, in Louis case turn a profit. However you have to be ultra professional & there aren’t many that come across that way.

The major issue is that clubs like Ipswich have fixed costs like stadium rent. You can run an NDL/champ hybrid in terms of strength but then are People going to fork out 25 quid for that I doubt it. Louis is getting out on a high & at the right time. As for me & the rest of the Ipswich fans if no one steps in then we’ll miss our speedway but let’s be honest it’s only happening a couple of years earlier at Ipswich than the likely outcome for the uk.

For Louis to want out something is seriously wrong around the table. The guy has been at Ipswich since 1989 either as a rider or promoter the club is his life. The louis family have been involved in some capacity since 1969. He obviously can’t see any future given events over the past few weeks. Something has gone very wrong since the last meeting at Foxhall in October. At that point he was talking about next year & even after that was speaking to sponsors about next year. Louis wanting out tells you all you need to know about the state of the sport in the uk. A sad day for Ipswich & uk speedway in general. Louis walking away is a hole that can’t be filled & possibly spells the end of the best run & supported club. But I can’t say I blame him.

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 Louis to want out something is seriously wrong around the table. The guy has been at Ipswich since 1989 either as a rider or promoter the club is his life. The louis family have been involved in some capacity since 1969. He obviously can’t see any future given events over the past few weeks. Something has gone very wrong since the last meeting at Foxhall in October. At that point he was talking about next year & even after that was speaking to sponsors about next year. Louis wanting out tells you all you need to know about the state of the sport in the uk. A sad day for Ipswich & uk speedway in general. Louis walking away is a hole that can’t be filled & possibly spells the end of the best run & supported club. But I can’t say I blame him.

I think it’s going to be a long & frustrating winter. The last couple of years the side has been buttoned up by now. I think the delayed AGM & Emil not returning are probably signs that the sport at least top flight is in all sorts of problems.

What I meant was the uncertainty. After the 1990 season it was all set to be the same again a 9 track BL & 17 track NL in 1991. Then whispers of something changing started to happen. Just before Christmas the two leagues merged giving use BL division 1 & 2. A winter that was all over the place that’s the feeling I get this winter. The big difference between now & then is the amount of clubs & there was no lack of riders who wanted to ride in the uk.

Again spot on I would say. This winter does have a feel of 90/91

Again spot on I would say. This winter does have a feel of 90/91

Spot on I would say

Looks like who ever comes in to run the club will need to secure a new sponsorship deal.

Really where did you pull that from? Did make me chuckle

If Thompson does go it’s possibly the right time to be honest. He has been a real Trump card for us but could possibly struggle a little in the main body of the team with little chance of dropping back down. It’s true he had issues at home after his injury but up until that point had been on fire. Like Rew I’m sure the parting of the ways will be amicable to allow a return in the future.

And they say Ipswich buys the league 😂 Fair play to Thompson if that’s the case he has been awesome for us these last 3 years. Equally Louis stands his ground & won’t bust the budget so fair play to him too.

I am aware of someone who came on board in the last 12 months as a sponsor & he has been blown away by Louis attitude & professionalism.

2026 will certainly be interesting. The league currently looks a bit of a shambles. If true that the agm has been put back to January then something drastic must be going on. If the premiership runs with 6 or 7 teams are we looking at a rebuild at Ipswich? No Emil that’s been confirmed, rumours of Thompson going to Leicester & Brennan possibly up in the air. I think is certain that Doyle will return & most likely King. Are we then looking at 1 of Ellis/Rew with Edward’s as the R/S or number 7. Then 3 newcomers?

At the time they dropped down the club was at a low point. Several years of poor teams the club had gone stale. When Louis junior took over the day to day running was when he made the decision to drop down. The position Ipswich find themselves in today is down to the hard work put in by Chris in rebuilding the club over several years. The ironic thing is even when we dropped the attendance levels were still quite good but it needed a reboot. sounds daft but Ippo must be happy with their attendance figures I guess most weeks it 2000

It’s quite easy to do that in speedway to. Take Ipswich everyone who has an interest in going knows first race is 7:45 & it will be finished by 9:30

To be honest I’ve never totally understood the argument about weekend racing being the answer. If the overall product was decent & people wanted to see it live race night to a certain point doesn’t make any difference. League football outside the premiership runs on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening. My experience of that is the place is full of kids watching and the game doesn’t finish until at least 9:30. Also Ipswich seem to attract plenty of youngsters on Thursday. Race nights, GPs Poland etc etc have all been blamed for British speedways problems . GPs & Poland were not an issue 40 years ago when the the problems began to take hold. Make the sport something that people can buy into & want to attend.

Ipswich dropped down as they were in a bad place. Crap teams poor crowds. It was also the time that Louis junior took control. At the time he said it was done to stabilise the club. I think they got forced up when Chapman came a long and was going to buy the club. Subsequently thank god that fell though but Louis grasped the nettle to make it work. Louis has proved that with the right mindset & professional approach you can make top flight speedway work.

I keep seeing it written that the TV deal is vital. I remember reading that the Eurosport TV deal was only peanuts at best. In some circles it seemed that they covered the transmission costs & very little else. The TNT dealer was the final 2 years of the Eurosport dealer following the take over. Unless I am missing something the last TV wasn’t putting a great deal in the coffers.

I keep seeing it written that the TV deal is vital. I remember reading that the Eurosport TV deal was only peanuts at best. In some circles it seemed that they covered the transmission costs & very little else. The TNT dealer was the final 2 years of the Eurosport dealer following the take over. Unless I am missing something the last TV wasn’t putting a great deal in the coffers.

If that’s the case then surely the premier league sides have got to have 2nd teams in the championship?? Can’t run 3 home meetings a season

After years of poor quality top flight sides Louis seems to have nailed in over the last 4 seasons. From the emergency re direction of Harris in 2019 to the dodgy Jason Crump signing of 2020/21 Louis brought in Doyle in 2022 maybe he was a little lucky because Swindon closed there. He then followed that up with the box office signing of Emil & enticing Rew to Ipswich. Last winter saw the arrival of Brennan so I have no doubts we now have a guy who is no afraid to chase the best.

On the other in 22/23 Louis spent all winter chasing Emil when no body gave it a hope in hell of happening! Ended up doing 3 years as a witch. Louis & Ipswich are slighty different to Schroeck & Oxford.