Arch Stanton

Nothing could be further from the truth unfortunately.

You’re being harsh here. The whole idea is to give young British riders a helping hand to make their way up the speedway ladder. It’s not as black and white as you’re making out. Jenkins has been mentioned so let’s use him as an example. He had to be careful what he said, but he all but admitted Birmingham approached him but he wanted to stay with Ipswich in the main due to local sponsorship he’d acquired there. Ipswich were realistically never going to sign him in their 1-6, so rising star it had to be. So you’re saying, that he should have had no say in where he went, gave up the sponsorship he’d have got at Ipswich, and either accepted Birmingham’s offer or missed out completely? How is that helping the young British riders? Extremely harsh. All the rising star’s should have been left to negotiate with whoever they wanted. It wasn’t a bad idea in theory, but poorly executed and if the rising star system is kept then the priority “picks” part of it needs to be removed. Edit: Found the article in question https://ipswichwitches.co/2025-signing-jordan-jenkins/ “It’s probably been the most stressful two months of my career. I’ve always been in a fortunate position where I’ve had a club to go to no matter what but after riding for Ipswich last year I wanted to be back and made no secret of that. Before the season was finished, I was injured and was speaking to Chris (Louis) and Ritchie (Hawkins) about how much I wanted to be back, but it wasn’t confirmed that I would be eligible to be a Rising Star, so it was a bit up in the air. Chris and Ritchie will be glad to get it done as I have been hounding them every week for the past two months! It shows what a good club Ipswich are. “With the draft system and the way it is, it means Birmingham had first pick. When a club and a rider want to work together, and you have developed a fan base and sponsors in and around that club I don’t think it should be able to be dictated that way. But that’s all ifs and buts, I’m at Ipswich now and I couldn’t be happier.”

Under CURRENT rules, Edwards is eligible for a rising star birth. You have to be 23 or under on January 1st (Edwards isn’t 24 until September) and have a Premiership average of 4.00 or under. Edwards qualifies on both counts. Again under current rules, Ipswich have the option of “protecting” their rising star if he qualifies for the following season so the option would be there for Ipswich to retain him regardless of priority “picks”. With changes to the structure of the leagues heavily mooted, I’d be surprised if these rules on rising stars stays exactly as it is. I’m not even convinced there will be a “rising star” for the Premiership next season but we’ll have to wait and see on that. Last I heard a week or so ago, with the AGM a month away, several meetings have already taken place and literally none of those involved can agree on anything! It could be a long winter…

Well he clearly wasn’t just talking about the podium they were standing on was he 🙄 it’s obvious he was talking about the supporters and the atmosphere around it. They weren’t supplied by British Speedway.

I’m sorry but this just isn’t true and I disagree with Taps here for once. Edwards has been “ok” at best. Certainly wouldn’t say superb. He was outstanding against Birmingham, but that was an exception rather than the rule. He’s had some dreadful meetings. Yes he’s a rising star and nobody should be expecting too much, but he’s now one of the more experienced rising stars and has been riding fairly well in the championship. Jenkins didn’t start the season fit. He then had further numerous falls which completely ruined his season. Often riding through the pain barrier and being strapped up to the eyeballs, he’s tried to battle through it before another fall made him call time on his season early. Despite this, Jenkins from his 13 meetings has still averaged MORE than Edwards has from his 18 meetings this season. Certainly isn’t any kind of “Brucie bonus” to have picked up Edwards instead of Jenkins. Definitely fortunate though that he was available to fill the vacancy I’ll concede that! The other options would have left Ipswich badly exposed in that area.

Well you can count me out if that’s the level of speedway served up. I’ll be washing my hair Thursday evenings! 🙄

😲 well you ain’t getting none ever again if she’s sees that! 😂

But the season isn’t “Over” is it? 🙄 Couldn’t have said that better myself. This sport collectively attracts the most miserable buggers on earth unfortunately. Whinge after whinge after whinge. Speedway in Britain has always had a finishing date of October 31st. There’s plenty of time to fit in any remaining fixtures. We at Ipswich used to run fixtures right up until Halloween in the not too distant past, with people dressing up in Halloween costumes and prizes awarded to the best outfit!

Based on one off the cuff comment by Doyle on Monday evening. Pretty sure thats not exactly what he meant.

Belle Vue will be fired up to hit us early. We need a strong start to eat in to their lead from the get go to take the wind out of their sails. The quicker we overhaul that 6 point deficit and build a bit of a lead ourselves, the more relaxed everyone will be. If we start sluggishly like we have at times, and that 6 point deficit becomes 8 and then double figures fairly early on, we’ll then all start getting twitchy especially fresh from that poor performance at home last week. You can then start chasing a bit too hard and that’s where mistakes can crop up. Need Emil to do a number on Kurtz in heat 1 and King to beat his opposite number for a heat advantage to set the tone for the evening. Let’s hope the rain doesn’t spoil it…

Because our record there with this bunch of riders has been absolutely wretched in recent years. Consistently battered there the last few years until a victory there in the cup (when the track was wet and heavy and a bit of a leveller) and a draw when you were missing a strong home heatleader. The one time we did face you this season when you were at full strength and the track was like it normally is, it was an all too familiar outcome and we lost by 14! Despite spurious claims that we should be disappointed we didn’t win and win easy, everybody connected to Ipswich Speedway including Chris Louis and Ritchie Hawkins, would have snapped your hand off if a six point defeat was offered up before the meeting.

But if they did have a “bonafide No1” rather than a 6 point number 1, they wouldn’t then have had a 6 point reserve either. You cant just chuck a top line number 1 on top of the strength in depth strategy they went with.

Yes, really. It’s clear what you’re trying to do here Mike and it isn’t working. The result isn’t what you were hoping for tonight, and it’s obviously stung a little. No. What I’m saying is nobody was tipping Ipswich to win this meeting, unless I missed it? And yet now Mike is saying we should have pi$$ed it because you’re so cr@p. We were all told ad nauseam that the only reason you lost in the very first meeting, was because you “always start slow every year and get caught cold”. The two league meetings since were a draw (when you weren’t at full strength), and a 14 point home win which was more typical of an Ipswich performance at the NSS in recent years.

Was well worth his team place this year so disagree. Comfortably upped his average and been consistent. Next year though, different kettle of fish now his average has risen again close to the 7 mark but that’s a discussion for a few weeks time when this season is done.

We were poo last week at home. Wouldn’t give up hope yet if I were you. Pray for rain.

Well you’re not are you Mike? Behave, nobody is buying that nonsense. You’ve only lost once at home this year, to Ipswich in the cup first meeting. The closest anyone has come since, was the draw, again against Ipswich. Nobody was tipping an Ipswich victory today. A six point defeat is an excellent result.

They’ve been messing around with the track the last six weeks or so, purposely preparing it differently each time to experiment according to the manager, to find a sweet spot for all the riders going in to these play offs. Of course when it rains, all that goes out of the window. As for the tie, if we don’t make it through from here we deserve to win absolutely nothing. That’s the simple truth of it.

Ipswich were expected to win at home last week as well. Taking nothing away from Sheffield, but it was such a flat performance and none of the home riders seemed up for it which is a concern. Been all sorts of speculation around average reduction etc etc, well I guess we’re about to find out if there was any substance behind those theories. Doyle and Emil’s averages have tumbled this year, yet we still find ourselves two and a half points above the starting points limit! I’m with Gavan here. There’s no excuse to be had for Ipswich this time around. Leicester are the closest in terms of combined points limit, at just a shade under a point lower than Ipswich. Everyone else significantly lower. Ipswich always were, and remain the strongest team on paper, and it’s time for them to deliver

Don’t be daft. Don’t follow your sheep at all costs it’s embarrassing. Nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. Facts hurt you Rob? Where are you separating Facts from “excuses”? You know full well the extent of the problems Ipswich have faced, you’d just choose to ignore them and pretend they’re “excuses” to protect your own team so if they end up vulturing the pot again you can pretend you deserved it again like all the other Belle Vue “cult”. Your cult leader Phil, couldn’t give a toss. Ain’t that right Phil? 😉😉

https://ipswichwitches.co/raceday-guide-oxford-a-2/

Agree with others good meeting on an excellent race track. Seems to have settled down a bit now with a bit more rain recently getting down to the base which will help no end. When you see a good meeting like this it whets the appetite and makes you look forward to the next one even more. Was impressed with Sheffield and particularly the attitude of their riders after a poor showing against Leicester. Determination was evident so fair play to them especially Jack Holder. Not a favourite track of his and on the eve of a GP could have had his mind elsewhere, but he dug in and battled hard for his team. Another huge fan of the superheat here. Excellent addition that creates a buzz around the whole stadium like nothing else quite frankly.

https://ipswichwitches.co/raceday-guide-sheffield-h/ Masters in for Doyle, Mountain in for D Thompson.

Had some rain this morning, stopped now though and it’s a bit of a scorcher. Taps, have you got any of that factor 50 I can borra? Don’t wanna burn me bald bonce 😁

Oh I’m with you Telly, you can’t sit around waiting for teams to be at full strength of course. I’m just saying, we all prefer to see meetings when teams are both at full strength, so hopefully this is the case when this meeting eventually gets run…😉

If they have any sense, yes. We all like value for money so surely all of us would prefer to see a meeting with two full strength teams, wouldn’t we? 😉