Hawk127

It’s postponed because of poor weather forecast😄

Unfortunately U K speedway cannot compete with the rest of Europe to attract or retain the top European riders. Brexit has been one issue with others including the movement of machines, parts and riders themselves plus you need bikes and mechanics spread across three or four different countries which is adding to a riders costs pushing up the return the riders need and the demands from clubs to pay and then put yourself in a riders position, do you drive from Poland to Sweden or Denmark or faff about with flights at unsociable hours simply to top up the pension by riding in the U K. and rely on the fickle riders as to whether a meeting will go ahead because of grey clouds and drizzle. Then you have how the sport is portrayed and promoted. Take a look at the Polish Ekstraliga official website which is in English and has so much going on both with news, rider profiles, past year’s events etc and lots of YouTube videos and when you see how they deal with the sport is it any wonder the Poles have stolen a lead on the rest of the world. Whatever supporters crave, speedway in the UK as it stands cannot currently compete with the rest of Europe and just take a look at this forum. All who follow the top league are so insular with what they want and what everyone hopes for 2026 whereas those in the lower leagues are getting on with planning for 2026 with what they have. Poole Glasgow, Scunthorpe etc are just getting on with preparations and then you question why should those teams bail out a failing business model which is the top league in the UK. I doubt many on here have the financial wherewithal to put a team in the frame in the top tier of UK speedway and why should astute businessmen in the lower leagues risk all because five clubs want to chase the impossible. The only shining light is the return of Buxton. If you could get the Isle of Wight back then from small beginnings who knows what will come of it. The reality is that no one on this forum knows what is planned for 2026, whether a new TV deal has been done, what the team points limit will be, whether riders from the lower echelons of the sport will have any progress because they are blocked by the double uppers and the fact that Joe Public and the main stream media neither knows about the sport nor gives a toss. Speedway UK lost its way a good few years back and really needs to take a reality check. 2026 is a big question mark.

Agree. Rye on a Sunday afternoon was a a good place to watch racing and I use to do the music at the track and did the same at Hackney on Friday night. Rayleigh on a Saturday night was always well attended and whilst the racing may not be up to today’s standards it was riders who raced from the heart and soul and you were always entertained and it just seemed to be less of a gap between the heat leaders and the second strings. You also had your characters and Brian Foote for example was was the arch enemy from Romford until he joined Rayleigh. Terry Stone was a real stalwart and Tiger Beech and Trevor Barnwell were great to watch as was Ivan Miller. I look and today’s racers and wonder how many will still be fondly remembered in fifty two years time. Dingle Brown was another character and Geoff Maloney was also up with the likes of Hughie Saunders where incidentally most doubled up with Hackney so doubling up is not new but because Len promoted both it was like lending a member of the family and a good opportunity to watch a riders progression. I am still young enough to remember Johnnie Hoskins at Rayleigh with his Canterbury team and Dave Lanning with Eastbourne. Great days and fond memories. I doubt many of today’s young supporters will have such memories fifty years from now unfortunately. I must stop reminiscing because some on here will come down on a contributor like a ton of bricks because you look back on what it was like back in the day.

Just an observation but my experience of Rye House from the early days of the open licence and the Ace of Hearts to the time that the Rockets moved from Rayleigh to Rye House (and many a rockets fan took the coach from the Weir), RH was a weekend track and Saturday, Sunday and the odd Bank holiday Monday but no way should it ever have been run as a week day track. It a great venture and a shame that it has been lost to the sport.

Second on the left was Peter Moore, Pete Wigley standing behind Bob Young, I think the one next to Peter might be Stan Stevens, and the one to the left of Pete Wigley may be Red Ott. I will dig out the old Rayleigh and Rye House programmes to get the full team line up. I suspect the year was either 1972, 1973 or 1974.

I think it depends on what company runs the sport at the respective tracks. Take a look at Companies House and the last set of accounts filed for the teams in each of the leagues and most file abbreviated accounts and few have a decent net worth despite the longevity of the trading and you question how much goes through the companies that run the sport at the relevant tracks versus those riders where the cost/expenses are picked up directly by sponsors so the cost and overhead never appear in the figures for each track operating company. It is difficult to get to the bottom of who is earning what. For example do a search of Ipswich and then the Directors and then the accounts and the resultant filed figures do not match the presumed costs of running the club. Who knows what the real cost is of running a club at the highest level in the UK so to suggest who can and cannot afford to participate in which league is pure conjecture. Financial Transparency is key but it does not exist. To suggest that the likes of Glasgow should move up has no foundation without financial information in the public domain to support that argument.

What a good rider he was for anyone who watched him. Peter Moore was another one with an unusual handlebar for his machine and one of the fastest away from the gate particularly during his time when riding for Rayleigh. Those were the days.

Agree, it is about what works for the local business model. Tracks/promoters/home teams can no longer rely on swelling the coffers with income from the opponents spectators attending away matches. Firstly you have the cost of travel, then the possibility of a call off because a dark cloud is expected at around the first race and add to this the fickle attitude of riders who cannot cope with damp tracks etc. and that is just a few of the reasons why racing from yesteryear does not work today. Week day speedway works for a number of clubs but others have seen increased support from weekend meetings when at least the chances of away support increases. Tracks need to promote what’s on offer when they can get the best number through the turnstiles. It is so difficult to come up with a formula that works for the speedway demographic given the self interest of the club owner/promoter and the influence of overseas competition where some riders can, assuming they are good enough, earn top dollar in places like Poland but I still wonder how many riders sit down and work out the risk factors should they end up on the sidelines because of an injury and are asked to repay the advance fees. it is a shame that so many on this forum have good suggestions on ways to improve the offering but no one is listening. Oh well we await the annual debacle in November and thankfully ignore the outcome and instead look forward to another season of racing from Poland which seems to be so much more organised.

All the thoughts and ideas on here have some validity but the unknown factors are the state of the TV coverage, the level of sponsorship for the sport and to a large extent the set up of the leagues which are largely determined by the self interest of the business owners who are ploughing money into a sport in decline. It seemingly has no major media coverage in the U K and is largely ignored by the average person on the street and or is unknown to the average sports follower in the UK nor does it have any profile beyond the anoraks. Despite this it can be one of the most exciting two wheeled sports and needs to be marketed correctly. Take a look at the recent Polish Gala event and watch some of the races of each season going back to 2016 and watch the likes of Gollob winning races and find another sport that can match it. Like almost all on here we do not put money into the sport other than the entrance fee and whilst some have the answers to its failings we are not the custodians and until the club owners work for the overall best interest of the sport it will stagger from one crisis to the next and without a major change in 2026 it is the same old same old followed by a further decline in attendees.

Some terrific races and anyone who wants to promote to a wider audience should show some of these races. That aside I was lucky enough to see Tomasz Gollob at Ipswich but those races from 2015 and 2016 are phenomenal. What a class act the man was reading the track and the riders to pick them off with apparent ease.

Agree with that and you would hope that the top table realise that. Perhaps I am missing the point but if you reduce the number of home meetings, stadium owners are still going to want a decent return on the asset or decide it is not worth leasing the stadia out to speedway if the revenue is not coming in from rent food and drink. I guess if you normally run a season of 16 meetings which is agreed under the lease and you end up running eight, the rental cost will remain the same as if it were 16 and so no real saving on that overhead. It may even go up because of the loss of the profits on food and drink. Unfortunately so many issues affecting a sport which is on its knees with no real appeal to joe public and the mainstream media having long since deserted the sinking ship. Fingers crossed someone somewhere can bring something to the table.

Following it on the updates was tense, congratulations to both teams for what was seemingly a cracking meeting. On to 2026 and more to look forward to. Chris seemed to do the usual in raising his game, never fails to entertain, a legend of British speedway.

Well done to the riders and in particular Cooper.

That was a great rider by Cooper Rushen

Yes you are right and all second half meetings should be using these riders. Take it for what it is, which is those trying to make a way in the sport. It has costs supporters nothing if you are watching the stream so I don’t see an issue. For the purist who only want league racing it is not for those followers. Credence for Ipswich and the mentors who have been on site offering help and advice and putting the meeting on. No different to some of the meetings in Poland with the junior riders. I really do not get those who criticise this level but each to their own.