Daniel Smith

Keep the insults coming, love these 😘 True though what I've said isn't it?!? Sheffield & Ipswich are almost a parallel over the last few years with the same sponsor but different owners.

Do I seriously have to answer this?? Seeing as you asked, Guy Nicholls is a local business owner with a multi millions turnover, who is/was a fan of the sport/club. He chose Ipswich because that's where he's from. Zero to do with Ipswich being 'well-run'. I hear you ask, why did he sponsor King's Lynn & then Sheffield?? Because it was his best route to try & expand he brand, who are also located in Loughborough. The same questions can be asked of Sheffield, it's no coincidence with the standard of rider's signed under the TruPlant sponsorship. Without them, Sheffield could never afford both Holder's & Woffinden. Sheffield was well-backed, not well-run. Nicholls pulls his sponsorship, then all of a sudden Sheffield is up for sale. Could be coincidence but is it though?? Ipswich are not the Real Madrid of British Speedway. Ipswich are (to a point Sheffield) lucky feckers to have TruPlant around. If Guy Nicholls wasn’t a fan of the sport/club, the size of his business would go nowhere near it.

Again, it's nothing to do with how Louis, Hawkins & others work for Ipswich Speedway. They have done what needs to be done, they all worked bloody hard. That's not in dispute. The issue for me is this belief (mainly by the fans) that it's 'well run', rather than the actual fact that Ipswich is fortunate to be 'well backed'. They're not one & the same, especially in British Speedway.

That highlighted part, but sorry 🤣🤣 I suppose it's great to know that Jason & Emil put themselves out for £20 per point then because they were ravaged with their treatment 🤣🤣 In terms of sponsorship in more professional sports, it cannot be compared as these sponsors are getting something back from it. 99% of British Speedway sponsors are throwing money away because they're fans & no they'll get nothing in return. It is not the same at all.

Jealousy of what exactly. There's nothing in British Speedway to be jealous of. Hate towards Louis?? Nobody is hating on Louis, Hawkins, Nicholls or Ipswich as a whole. People are just highlighting the delusions of Ipswich fans, believing that Ipswich is well-run, where, in fact, it's just well-backed. How do we know it's about backing rather than the running of the club?!? Seeing as you asked, here's some basic maths to wrap your head around. Let's say Ipswich has around 1400 through the gate every meeting. 700 at full (£24), 600 at concession (£22), 100 at child (£1). That's £30,100 per home meeting. Half that to also cover the away fixtures (£15,050). What's the chances that Sayfutdinov & Doyle almost swallowed that up between them?? Highly likely isn't it?? Now it's about guesstimating the costs of Brennan, King, Ellis, Thompson & Edwards. Would £10,000 seem a fair guess for those 5?!? That's a basic 30% needing to be covered by sponsorship in salaries. None of the above has taken in to consideration the costs of medical cover, insurance, track materials, staff etc, all the costs outside of the septet. When 30%-40% of expenditure needs to be covered by Sponsorship, that's not a well run club, that's a well backed club. I'll say it again. It's in no way "Chris Louis hate", it's just to highlight this best-run, well-run nonsense. It is absolutely fact, Ipswich would be also-rans (like King's Lynn) without TruPlant.

With the help of deep pockets from Guy Nicholls. There's a lot of delusion as to how well run Ipswich is. Without TruPlant, Ipswich would be also-rans alongside King's Lynn. Absolutely no chance Doyle & Sayfutdinov would be in the team. Louis himself has said Nicholls has done way way more than people know.

Which, as we've all said many times about Promoters, it's 'all about me' & never what's best for British Speedway. Louis could well be right about the direction the sport should go, but he's been part of the collective that's taken this sport down with the Titanic for decades. Here's the thing. Why should any other p promoter trust him? Why should any promoter trust Lemon? Why should any other promoter trust Ford? That's it, they all can't trust each other because they've no interest in British Speedway, just self serving. The only way this sport can be saved is a totally independent body. Doesn't matter the route that gets taken without that, as has continually happened over many decades, the sport is just going to continue to devour itself.

There is not 1 Speedway Club not for sale. The problem is, there are no buyers.

As Speedworth owns the stadium, you'd be mad to spend £1000s you'd never get back for fresh air. Buy or rent, you need millions in your back pocket.

His money was keeping the club afloat, running a club is a totally different thing. No ordinary businessman is buying a Speedway club in 2025. You'll need a guy with a £10m+ bank account without care for their finances to be in this sport. British Speedway is absolutely in the sh!te.

How about this for an "Outside The Box" idea. Premiership continues with 5 teams, home & away twice. 2 Championship clubs have a 2nd team on a Monday or Thursday were they just have 1 round of fixtures except against each other, allowing them to put their feelers out with their supporters as to whether they go Premiership in 2027 or 2028. Could Championship clubs like Glasgow & Poole finance just 10 extra fixtures??

Not really the same, as everyone had averages to build to. Also, teams wouldn't get thrashed every week. If Belle Vue & Ipswich have 5 GP/Ekstraliga rider's, King's Lynn & Leicester have 2 GP/Ekstraliga rider's & the rest of the league has none, it's still a competitive league most weeks between the rest of the other 10 clubs. It may even be competitive for those 4 teams away as the superstar rider's would mostly be unavailable so to other commitments. It's a choice to make, allow clubs to spend too their own budgets. No average restrictions. Maybe, over time, other promoters / potential new promoters that have money to burn could come in & challenge. It's happened before with the Ford's, Frost's & Sandu's etc & to some extent Jonathan Chapman who was lifting the sport as a whole with his 'Super Sevens' but the 'Old Man Brigade' put the road blocks up against him. Again, these only failed due to self interest.

Thing is, having read most of this thread, absolutely everyone's ideas are right. Everything & anything would work. The Big League, 2 leagues, 5-6-7 man teams, it's can all work. The problem?!? It's all doomed to fail regardless of the January outcome, simply because every single club is self-serving. None of the promoters have any inclination to have a 'All Together' 10 year plan. Any idea get squashed because the teams that swim around the bottom of the pond always throws their toys out the pram eventually & all plans gets scrapped. Unity is a must for anything to have sustainability. For me, if 'The Big League' was to come to fruition, averages need to be scrapped & all teams build sides to their means. If a side can have Zmarzlik, Lambert & Lindgren as a top 3, then so be it. It would be terrific for the fans when they travel away. If another team can only afford Masters, Batchelor & Morris as a top 3, then again, so be it. Have teams built to what clubs deem fit for themselves, not to what everyone else deems they "Can't Have."

It intregues me that so many say Ipswich is a well run club. Personally, they're run no better than King's Lynn, they're just very fortunate to have 'Superfan' Guy Nicholls 'Tru Plant' money. They wouldn't be where they are without this guy. Absolutely couldn't afford Sayfutdinov & Doyle without him. With Sheffield too, it's no surprise they'd been able to have some big names having the same sponsor. The Premiership is in a financial pickle but they cannot afford to lose the big names also.

Could this work?! We have the "Big League" with all teams included. Also, a reintroduction of the "Elite League" with 5 man teams, 40pt limit, 13 heats, home & away once. Any teams from the "BL" taking part in the "EL" just don't take part in "BL" cup competitions.