1 valve

You are correct, outside of the speedway world very few folk if any will care. But maybe that also is the same for those within the sport too. Its interesting to note circa twelve of the clubs listed were lost to development with great sadness expressed by many at the nasty workings of developers and the greed of land owners. Yet here we are with folk shrugging their shoulders at the possible demise of five, (definitely three) clubs who have perfectly good viable stadiums, two of which have been built from scratch in the last fifteen years.

Not entirely true. Granted new clubs have found it tough in the last couple of years but when in 2023 the Lions rejoined the Premier League they finished level with Ipswich in fourth place on 34 points which was fourteen & twenty four points more than established clubs Peterborough and Kings Lynn respectively.

It would be very much an option for the BSPL. As for any claims for "restraint of trade" That would be a non starter as the ACU have, like other national federations (FMN's) "legal standing" recognised by courts in countries where sanctioned events take place. By obtaining an FIM or ACU (FMN) license, riders commit by contract to a specific set of rules, which typically require them to seek "start permission" from their home FMN to compete in events abroad, even those which might be sanctioned by another FIM-recognized body. Competing in an entirely unsanctioned rival organisation's championship without any authorisation is a clear breach of these terms. Ultimately, the FIM and FMN's maintain control over the sport's structure by ensuring all participants operate within their approved framework, using the power to issue and globaly revoke licenses as the primary enforcement mechanism against rival organisations "poaching" their riders. Of course riders not holding a license issued by a FMN are completely free to ride wherever they so wish to do so, but would exclude FIM/FMN events.

If it comes to it that there is to be no Prem in 2026 but one league the general consensus is that there will be an insufficient number of riders to field a league of More than nine teams at an absolute push. No one should be surprised if none of the Prem clubs come to the tapes in 2026 especially if they are expected to make do with “left overs” for team building. Much better to spend 2026 planning ahead for a seven or eight team Prem in 2027 - if at all. Otherwise it’s a sad farewell to the Aces, Lions, Tigers, Stars & Witches with special thanks to the surviving promoters who really will reap what they sow.

ACU licenses can be withdrawn & the FIM. Would support such actions. small “ankle biter” riders and events are not of a concern. Different matter if clubs want to promote & riders want compete in significant alternative league and solo events in opposition to BSPL organisations.

As they do now.

Yes indeed, and none of the riders who ride for those teams will be able to ride speedway, grass track & long track on any other tracks anywhere in the world. Not sure the Aussies, Danes, Poles etc would like that ever mind Brits who ride abroad in speedway and similar.

And what punishment will be heaped on the said accountable’s and by whom?

The Leicester promotion does not own the stadium. It is owned by a company with one director, David Helmsley who was the original promoter when speedway returned to the City. I believe the current promoting company has a long term lease agreement for use of the facility.

Yes, for £1.00 he purchased the clubs name and £1.5 million of trade debt & banking liabilities. The purchase did not include the freehold of Stamford bridge itself which the then majority owners (a development company) wanted to develop. To his credit, Bates took on the developers, obtained the full leasehold and saw the developers go bankrupt. When he sold the club for £170million he made £17million profit. Today Chelsea FC have debts of circa £1.2 billion having had the benefit of former owner Roman Abramovich writing off £1.5 billion personal loans to the club.

My post was a response to a previous thread.

My post was a response to a previous thread.

Err don’t the riders use the same bikes, vans & mechanics for both Prem & Championship meetings? Im really talking cost v benefit. Championship clubs feature significantly less top stars than the Prem but by comparison do not reduce their prices accordingly.

I don’t think so. That means 25 years of trading to get the original cost of purchase back. If a business is being sold as a going concern the rule of thumb is to establish a suitable multiple of the companies EBITA. The majority of deals fall somewhere between a paltry four whilst x ten is possible for a company owning decent IP and growth prospects covered by a believable plan. If it’s an asset sale the buyer gets everything but the accounts, customer list & purchase records of the company.

You are correct, but only until the rider makes that choice which for next year all three have done so. The outcome therefore is the same as per my post.

They cant just "join" as there will be insufficient riders to make up a team...Take Leicester's 2025 team as an example. Fricke, Douglas & Becker, gone from the UK if one league comes along as Poland has first claim. Howarth, Masters, Kemp & J Thompson ride for existing clubs. A similar scenario exists at the other remaining 2025 Prem clubs Remember doubling up disappears in "one big league" and the only source of new riders is at the bottom of the capability chart - NDL riders - some of whom cannot get anywhere near place in a current championship club.

How does 9 teams running in 2026 make it larger than the 9 team league in 2025? I guess you could build teams of 3 or 4 established riders plus 3 or 4 NDL riders and then presuming the ensuing watering down of team strengths is evenly spread across all teams then mathematically there could be eleven teams.

The directors (or the top table as you refer) are five (now four) folk out of a collective of fourteen people (one club one person) who run the sport. However, rather than blaming the five/four you should look more closely at the majority of the members and their unwillingness to bend and work together to support the directors as to where the shenanigans are created. Speedway promoters as a majority - there are is a small number of exceptions. share common characteristics. 1. They can't promote the sport successfully at the local level to make their business profitable. 2. They steadfastly think of themselves first and endorse nothing that could potentially mean change for them. 4. They refuse to let go of the controlling strings to an independent commissioner. 5. They all think they can run the sport better than each other. 6. They actually shouldn't be promoters at all - Its a hobby to some and an ego satisfier to others. And this has been the situation for many years.

You have it the wrong way around. The directors decide and the members rubber stamp or not as the case maybe in which case it goes to a vote of the members. Notwithstanding, as of 18th November CL is no longer a director.

Good point. As we only see 30 or 40% of current Premier league riders in the Championship why do championship clubs charge so much I.e. 85/90% of Prem prices

You could well be correct but rather than quitting because he has failed to get his own way the likelihood is CL has stepped down because the alternatives proposed by his BSPL colleagues went well against his own beliefs and he has simply decided not to support such initiatives with his own hard earned money. Sometimes a person has to stand by what he believes is right. Ipswich can still go on, just need to find somebody who believes in the new super future of UK speedway far more than CL.

Calling it mediocre sure is putting some positive spin on it! It wouldn’t be that good ☹️

Thats because many sources of income achieved by NFL properties are amalgamated and divided equally amongst all teams. For those two teams getting a bye for week one of the playoffs they are more than happy because a) they have an extra week off to recover and prepare and b)they are guaranteed home field advantage for their remaining playoff games including the championship game itself prior to the SuperBowl

You are correct re the BT/Eurosport bit - but not because they were dissatisfied with UK speedway but because they were clearing their portfolio of none priority sports. Re the future. You are proposing almost, aka how the original deal with Sky was done...i.e. "if you give us a load of money this is what we will do". Well that boat has truly sailed I'm afraid. Speedway will need to demonstrate it has a useful current product worth promoting and - This is the biggy - a clear answer to the question, "besides just giving the money to riders what are you plans for using some of the funds to developing the sports infrastructure?" Believe it or not, TV companies and significant sponsors do not like to be seen supporting unworthy projects and getting blamed when their tenure ends.

Its absolutely applicable to your post where you said. "I just don’t understand why they insist 2 leagues when we are in the situation were in" So I have, at some length provided the answer.