Champions Ipswich Witches under new ownership

British speedway champions Ipswich Witches are under new ownership after being bought by Mayfield, the parent company of the sport's World Championship.

The Suffolk side won their fifth Premiership title last season but were put up for sale by promoter Chris Louis in November.

Louis won the title as a rider with the Witches in 1998 and replaced his father, John as promoter in 2019, also winning the Knockout Cup during his time in charge.

Mayfield announced in September they were taking over as global promoter of the FIM Speedway World Championships until 2031 and Ipswich's new co-promoter Richard Coleman believes they are in a good position to push the sport forward.

"It's taken a lot longer than all parties had planned but we're relieved to get it over the line and we obviously had to do some planning ahead of time to make sure Ipswich are ready for when the season starts," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"There wasn't exactly a queue of people looking to take it on but, given our role in speedway in a wider way, I'd like to think we're able to influence where the sport is going in the UK perhaps more than other people may have been able to."

Former Ipswich rider Paul Hurry has been named as the club's new team manager, replacing the title-winning Ritchie Hawkins.

Ipswich expect to name their team line-up next week with fixtures to be released in the near future, although so far only five teams have been confirmed for the new Premiership campaign.

"At the moment it looks like it'll be six teams (next season)," added Coleman.

"There are a lot of voices saying that merging the Premiership and Championship is the thing to do but the problem there is there's a gulf in class, finances and set-up between those two leagues, but ultimately there needs to be some reform along the way."