Ipswich has a new Rowe Motor Oil Premiership rival for 2026 after Northampton’s entry into the league was confirmed.
In a huge pre-season boost to the UK’s top tier, six teams will now compete, with Northampton joining the 2025 title-winning Witches, Belle Vue, Sheffield, Leicester and King’s Lynn.
Northampton’s opening meeting is pencilled in for April 30, with the club’s team line-up and management set to be confirmed in the coming weeks. The full Premiership fixture list will be announced on Friday morning.
Their addition to the league means the top four clubs will qualify for this season’s league championship play-offs. Each team will race home and away twice in the regular round.
In addition, clubs will take part in a Knockout Cup competition split into two groups, with Ipswich, King’s Lynn and Northampton in the southern area and Belle Vue, Sheffield and holders Leicester in the northern section. The winner of each group contests a two-legged final.
Northampton International Shaleway, situated within easy access of junction 15 of the M1 near the village of Brafield-on-the-Green, is one of Britain’s leading stock car venues and has staged racing there for over 50 years.
With the track converted to a shale surface in 2018, this opened the door to it being refined for speedway action.
Brafield briefly staged speedway in the mid-1950s as part of the Southern Area League, and low-level meetings also took place for a short time around ten years later.
Premiership CEO Phil Morris is delighted to see top-level speedway head to Brafield for the first time this spring. He said: “I would firstly like to thank all supporters, and the other clubs, for their patience whilst we worked on bringing Northampton into the league.
“We were determined that the Premiership would feature six teams if at all possible, and with the opportunity to include what is effectively a completely new club, I do feel it was correct to push the time window to give it every chance.
“We now have a six-team league, and I’m sure there will be a lot of interest in the new venue, along with the new ownership at Ipswich, who I know have some exciting plans.
“Our thanks also go to Deane Wood of Spedeworth, the landowners of Northampton, for their willingness to accommodate speedway racing at their stadium.
“There is still a substantial amount of work to complete, and this is why Northampton’s home fixtures will commence slightly later than the other clubs, but we are confident this will all progress on schedule.
“The people in charge of Northampton will make their own announcements in the near future, but I know they have been talking to riders, and they now have the certainty to be able to complete their team plans.
“We now look forward to the fixtures being released on Friday, and this is certainly now a time for positivity as we look ahead to the new season.”