IainB

British Speedway is saddened to hear of the passing of former rider and promoter Brian Havelock. Brian, father of 1992 World Champion Gary, enjoyed a successful racing career of his own starting in the early 1970s, including spells with Newcastle, Workington and Middlesbrough. He went on to be team manager of both Newcastle and more latterly Redcar, where he also spent time as owner and promoter. Current Bears co-owner Ben Duffill paid tribute: “Brian was a huge character – the kind of person who always leaves an impression on you. I have lots of fond memories of our time together. “This is a very sad day for our club. His legacy will remain a lasting part of our history.”

No more than they deserve 😉😂

... Meanwhile over at King's Lynn, happy birthday to Dale Allitt 😂 https://x.com/KLSpeedway/status/1992966691706314976?s=20

Radio silence has been broken by Leicester! LIONS 2026 UPDATE LEICESTER Speedway wish to provide an update for our supporters on plans for the 2026 season. The club is fully committed to racing at Premiership level once again, and although the full structure and team composition of that league has yet to be finalised, normal winter work is taking place including discussions with potential team members. British Speedway’s AGM, where regulations are ratified, was recently postponed but several league meetings between club promoters have taken place. It is known that the league will take on a different look in 2026 due to the sad closure of Birmingham and the fact that Oxford have elected to scale back to Championship and NDL racing having previously operated at all three levels of the sport. Elsewhere, champions Ipswich – who defeated the Watling JCB Lions in the Grand Final – were put up for sale recently, as were Sheffield prior to the end of the season. But Leicester wish to dispel any rumours as to their own involvement, as they seek to build on the last two seasons which have seen them finish as league runners-up on both occasions as well as winning this year’s KO Cup. Co-promoter and team manager Stewart Dickson said: “I can only speak from a Leicester perspective, but obviously I know our fans are keen to hear what’s happening, and we hope things can be finalised soon. “We are having regular Zoom calls with the other Premiership clubs, and there is very much a will to continue with this league. “Leicester are committed to the Premiership, along with the other clubs which remain from last season, and obviously we’re hopeful of satisfactory outcomes at Ipswich and Sheffield, hopefully the sooner the better for all concerned. “We still envisage there will be a Premiership next season although we do recognise time is moving on, and ideally we’d like to have our team finalised and announced, and to be getting season tickets on sale by now. “What I can say is that we do know what the likely structure will be in terms of team building, and therefore tentative talks have been taking place with riders. “There are plenty of riders who have expressed a desire to be with Leicester next season, and I’m very confident we will be able to put a competitive side together once again. “So at the moment, and on behalf of myself, Paul (Cairns) and Jen (Crossland), we thank everyone for their patience and we hope to have some more news in the near future.”

I would suspect it would fit nicely in the bin 👍😂

Looked worse at Leicester 😂

Not unless they can run CL and/or NDL

In their "for sale" statement it said the current promotion had run their last top flight meeting

Probably wouldn't be accepted back by BSPL after his previous 2 and a half month stint as a promoter 😂 Mind you they are desperate!

Wasn't there also rumours at the time that he'd only been signed to ride at home... followed by a string of non appearances away from home due to dodgy burgers or something 😂

And almost taking the club to the brink of financial collapse in the process

... assuming all PL clubs come out of 2026 unscathed and operational

Not sure how the cake was split Sky during the Sky years but let's not forget there was also a fair old sprinkling of 2nd tier coverage.

This is the point I'm making 👇 This is the point I'm making 👆 If he were an actual Sheffield "balance sheet asset" I doubt he'd be "signed" to Scunny at this stage.

Not ideal is it?

Same old aggressive sociopaths on here (in the middle of the night 🕯️) shooting somebody down who has taken the time and trouble to sit down and work out a possible future, I wonder if they actually have any friends in real life 🤡

Yes, It's been a long time since a rider transfer fee was paid due to the worthlessness of it all... but I do believe that loan fees were paid until relatively recently, not 100% sure though as like so many things in the murky world of Speedway finances it's a closely guarded secret.

What I'm getting at is if Sheffield now join the CL for example they would probably have wanted Josh Pickering but wouldn't be able to have him due to him having signed for Scunny, you'd probably say, at this point, he's more of a Sheffield rider than a Scunny rider, he may not be a balance sheet "asset" but he's a riding asset of Scunny in the CL for 2026 until his contract ends (for whatever reason)

In theory they could be sold while midway through that 1 year (more likely 6 month) contract... though the contract is probably that full of holes, it's probably not worth the paper it's probably not written on.

I think the del boy the wheeler thing was an ai image I created to do with Ben Trigger wasn't it? Lol 😂 To your point though... it was all very believable

Ahh, that old chestnut... didn't stop them for the previous 95 years. And as we've stated countless times before the riders are not employees, they are contractors and the law will only apply to what is in their contract. Footballers are employees and yet an asset system still operates there. We now have a situation where all the CL clubs have been free to plunder PL "assets" in their closed shop league and to hell with the rest, leaving the 5 PL clubs high and dry to form a CL team even if they wanted to... nicely done 👍🏻

I bet there's a number of clubs regretting ditching the asset system! It's almost as if it were planned! Nobody in power clever enough to think up of such a devious cunning plan though.

... I hope he's kept the receipt 😂

It seems it's far from decided though, although CL teams are announcing signings are there any season tickets available for purchase yet anywhere?

This is my point... to have to run your business relying on the buffoons that run British Speedway is not a wise long term investment. They're currently missing the Christmas market, as are all clubs, which is notoriously a good time of year to do business.