NEWSDESK

Scott Nicholls in action for Eastbourne at Iwade. Picture: NIALL STRUDWICK

from the Sussex club, who ran just the one ‘Eastbourne’ meeting at the Iwade circuit this term, had spoken to him about their plans.

He added: “We have been kept totally in the dark over this and one has to assume, unless they’ve really jumped the gun, that they’ve done a deal with Graham Arnold because, as far as I am aware, you cannot apply to join the BSPL without a written contract with the track or land owner.

“If so, that’s a real stab in the back for the Kent Kings club after all the efforts to keep going and the great support from the public that we’ve enjoyed.”

EAGLES MAKE KENT BID

EASTBOURNE campaigners have revealed plans to revive National Development League speedway at Iwade next season.

They want to enter a team, likely to be called Kent Eagles, in speedway’s third-tier competition, who would draw on support from across southeast England.

The Sussex Eagles Motorcycle Club say they have an agreement to run at Iwade and have been in contact with the British Speedway Promoters Limited. A decision is expected by the end of November.

A club statement read: “We would like to form a new club...bringing the Eagles and Kent together. We think at the present time this will benefit both clubs and be good for speedway in general.

“Bringing league speedway back to Iwade is a positive move and we as a club are fortunate to be in the position that this may be possible.”

SEMC’s ultimate aim is to restore speedway to the Eagles’ historic Arlington Stadium home, which last staged the sport in 2021.

“The door is shut but like we have always said, all the time there is a track it is always possible to return,” they said.

SEMC successfully staged an Eastbourne v Thurrock match at Iwade earlier this month, attracting a crowd approaching 500 to watch an Eagles team led by Scott Nicholls.

Iwade last hosted NDL racing in 2023, when Kent Royals finished seventh in an eightteam league. There is currently no BSPL-administered speedway in the south-east.

IN shock at the announcement made at the track and then backed up on social media, Kent Kings promoter Steve Ribbons responded: “I stepped in this year to keep speedway going at Iwade for the good of the sport in the south-east and in general.

“Under the NORA umbrella, and with thanks to the riders, many of whom had been squeezed out of regular league racing, our volunteers and the loyal Kent supporters, we have put on and enjoyed some cracking meetings.

“I’d been told from the start that I was ‘in the chair’ in terms of first options for next season and the track owner Graham Arnold had said he’d be making no decisions himself about 2025 until November. And to be fair to Graham, he is still saying that nothing firm about the future can be announced until then.

“So the announcement made by David Graveling of SEMC over the microphone at the meeting that his club ran at the Old Gun Site on the Sunday before last, that they’re applying for an Eastbourne team to run out of Iwade in the NDL in 2025, was both perplexing and, frankly, a kick in the teeth for all involved with Kent Speedway.”

Ribbons says that no-one

In the week that all at Kent are reeling from the sad loss of the club’s founder Len Silver, the Kings management say that the prospect of having their track taken away by their rivals from Sussex is an extremely bitter pill to swallow.

Brummies are in

CEO Nigel Tolley says togetherness was key to ensuring Birmingham will be back at the tapes in 2025.

Last Wednesday, Brummies released a statement confirming they had ‘met conditions recently agreed’ following a cash-flow crisis at the end of the season which would enable them to compete in next year’s ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.

It bought an anxious near two-week wait to an end for supporters who helped contribute financially via an online crowdfunder, which continues to run with some outstanding payments still to be made.

But Tolley insists all is in hand and is now firmly focussed on the future.

“It was made possible by all of the club’s directors working together as a team,” Tolley said.

“We made many, many phone calls and an enormous amount of effort was put in by everybody.

“I said it time and time again, but I was determined not to throw in the towel – even more so when it seemed like some people wanted us to.

“In terms of the debts from this year, we got to the stage we needed to be at last week. We’re not quite fully there yet and the rest won’t be cleared just yet either.

“We’re 90 per cent there with paying the riders now; we’re working through them and the path is becoming clearer.

“The most important thing is we’ll be back at the tapes in 2025 and I’m hopeful we can look forward from that.

“The problem is there’s never enough time to look at the year after next, which is why I’ve got somebody on that project which will hopefully see us stay at Perry Barr beyond next season.”

Brummies announced the arrival of Jason Edwards as their new Rising Star last week, with Leon Flint moving on to Sheffield.

And despite initial doubts about their future, Tolley feels they haven’t been on the back foot as much in terms of team-building this time around.

“We’ve been working in the background, so we’re not that far behind at all,” he said.

“As soon as we got that announcement out, it made everyone absolutely sure that we were running next year.

“You have to get rid of those doubts and since we’ve done that, it means we can make concrete offers and people can accept them knowing they’ll have a team spot with us.”

4 speedway star June 1, 2024