Fans relish return of speedway

THE eagerly-awaited return of speedway in the city will see a bumper crowd watch the newlook Plymouth Gladiators in their first meeting of the season on Tuesday, writes Stuart James.

The club were yesterday granted oermissionm to admit more spectators for the fixture after a meeting with Plymouth City Council, who agreed to increase capacity of their stadium from 500.

Gladiators promoter Mark Phillips has worked hard to put together a team of genuine quality following the club’s return to the Championship.

Three-times World champion Jason Crump is the stand out name and he is joined in the side by Danish World Cup star and Grand Prix rider Bjarne Pedersen.

The popular ‘Devon boy’ Henry Atkins, from Exeter, is back for another season at the Coliseum, along with Alfie Bowtell, who was contracted to ride of the club in 2020.

The rest of the team is made up of promising youngsters from across the globe with Australian Zach Cook, who rode for Somerset in 2020, joining American Dillon Ruml and Frenchman Steven Goret in the Gladiators’ septet.

On paper, Phillips has certainly built an exciting-looking team and such is the level of interest in the club this year that it did not take long for the initial allocation of 500 tickets to be sold. Now, theer are a limited number available on the club website.

Supporters are reminded that admittance is strictly by way of a pre-booked ticket only and there will be no pay at the gate facility on the night of the match.

Fans are advised that tickets for the KO Cup clash against Poole Pirates at the Coliseum on Tuesday, May 25 are also on sale.

They are priced at £20 for the new seated NHS Stand and £18 for all other areas. Disabled tickets are priced at £18 with one free carer, while child (aged 12-16) prices are set at £10. Under 12s are admitted for free, but proof of age may be requested and tickets MUST be purchased in order for the club to manage numbers compliantly.

All Plymouth Speedway fixtures will be online ticket events only until further notice due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions that are compliant with national and local government regulations at the time that ticketing has been made available. There will be no card or cash admission on the night.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting the club website www.plymouth-speedway.com.