Speedway: Sheffield announce first signing for 2026 season as GP star Jack Holder
Sheffield have announced their first signing for the 2026 speedway season, with a big name confirmed.
Just under a week after the club confirmed they would be racing in the Premiership again next year, the club has announced world number five Jack Holder will be riding for the Tigers again.
Holder has been a Tigers rider since they returned to the top level of British speedway in 2021, and is now rated as one of the best riders in the world, having been a grand prix regular for three years.
The Australian star has scored nearly 1,000 points for the the club in that period.
Sheffield team manager Simon Stead believes his signing for the coming season at Owlerton is a boost for both Sheffield and the Premiership as a whole, after two of the league’s biggest stars, Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov recently announced they would not be riding in the British league next season.
Stead said: “It’s been a very uncertain time across the board since the end of the 2025 season.
“There’s been quite a sense of angst from the speedway community, which is understandable under the circumstances I suppose, but the Premiership is still going to consist of top quality riders next year - and our signing of Jack is just one example of that.
“He’s genuinely world class and he’s a points scoring machine who has won numerous key races for us at key moments.
“He’s a proper out-and-out number one, he’s fully committed to Sheffield and we can’t wait to have him back again in 2026.”
Sheffield confirmed that they would be riding again next season in an announcement last Thursday. There was uncertainty prior to that, after the club had been put up for sale at the end of last season.
But the current owners decided to remain in charge though, after securing new investors.
The points limit for teams will be 37 for riders one to six, plus a rising star, next season.
There are four teams now confirmed for the premiership in 2026, with six teams hoped to be competing in total, according to officials.
The Tigers’ STAARS fans meeting at the New Barrack Tavern last week was told there were verbal agreements made with some riders even with all the uncertainty at the end of last season.
Holder is the second GP rider to confirm he will be riding in England next season, with Kings Lynn having announced the signing of Max Fricke earlier.