Premier League 2009 - Round Up

[Merlin]

Tuesday, 23 December



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Birmingham: As with Carl Stonehewer (see Redcar below) Poole have officially announced that Tomasz Piszcz will be doubling up with the Pirates at reserve on occasions when his Premier League fixtures allow. They have appointed Tomasz as the rider to share one of the reserve berths with Carl, but as he will be riding for fellow Wednesday night club Birmingham most weeks then Poole fans will see much more of Stonehewer.

Redcar: Poole have now officially confirmed that Carl Stonehewer will double up with the Pirates next season. He will come in as reserve on a converted 3.64 average and will share the doubling up role with Tomasz Piszcz but will be racing in the majority of the Poole side’s home matches since Piszcz has re-signed for Birmingham who race on the same night as the Pirates.

Somerset: Last night’s big news came from Somerset as they announced four of their seven team members plus a new signing who will double up in one of the reserve berths. The first four signings were Steve Johnson on a whopping 10.70 average, Emil Kramer on 7.64, Cory Gathercole on 6.55 and Simon Walker on 6.52. These four riders use up 31.41 points leaving the Rebels with 11.09 to fit in the last three.

They also signed Brendan Johnson as a Somerset asset to double up at reserve on his 3.00 point average leaving them looking for another three pointer and another rider to complete the top five with an average of 5.09 or less. Brendan, who won’t be 17 until next June, has ridden many second halves at Somerset and rode for Weymouth in the Conference League last year. He was thinking of re-signing for Weymouth again next season when he received an offer to join the Rebels.

Steve Johnson, twice a third place finisher in the Australian National Championships and three times winner of the Western Australian State Championship, was a member of the Coventry team that won the Elite League Championship just over a year ago. Rather than see his move to Premier League racing as a backward step, Steve views it as a fresh challenge. He said “I love racing, and I felt that the Premier League would give me more opportunities than the Elite League. The top riders were starting to drop out of the Elite League citing that they needed a less hectic schedule, but I have always put my UK racing commitments top of my list of priorities, and I just felt that the Elite League wasn’t going to give me the racing schedule that I would enjoy.”

Emil Kramer and Simon Walker return from last season’s side although Simon missed a large part of it through injury. The other ‘new’ man is Australian, Cory Gathercole, who rode last season for the Isle of Wight Islanders in 25 league matches. He also rode for Elite League Swindon managing a 3.02 average from 5 league matches.

[Merlin]

Christmas Eve



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The approach of Christmas Day means that there’s only a week or so of the old year left. During that period will there be any more signings? Well Stoke are hinting that another name will be released on Boxing Day but will anyone else confirm the rumour mill - Kai Laukkanen to Newcastle maybe, Gary Havelock back at Redcar perhaps, Andrew Silver filling the remaining reserve berth at Rye House, Ritchie Hawkins going to Sheffield possibly or will it all turn out to be a load of baloney? Time will tell.

Sheffield: Lakeside Hammers have officially announced that local Essex rider, Chris Mills, who joined Sheffield from Reading will double up with them next year sharing a reserve berth with Phil Morris.

Stoke: Stoke have added two more names to their team list for next season. Returning for his second season for the Potters is young Danish rider Jesper Kristiansen on a 4.67 average. Jesper will occupy one of the two reserve berths. With Klaus Jacobsen filling the other reserve berth on a 4.87 average Stoke look likely to have the highest average reserve pairing in the League having invested 9.54 points to fill the two spots.

The other rider announced for the Potters is Phil Morris who moves from Birmingham after a dreadful season marred by serious injuries. Phil comes in on a 5.88 average to join Lee Complin, Jason Bunyan and the two reserves leaving the Potters with 12.73 points to fill the remaining two places. Phil will also double up with Elite League side Lakeside Hammers next season.

Ben Barker who rode for the Potters last year has now officially been confirmed as having signed for Coventry in 2009. With his Premier League average sitting at 8.04 it was just marginally too high to allow him to double up next year.

Finally I was going to compile a list of Christmas gifts I hoped Santa would deliver to each track. You know the sort of thing - a gadget for Berwick that would switch Dick Barrie’s microphone off 20 seconds after he started speaking; four new perfectly shaped corners for Glasgow so they could unsquare the track; changing rooms and lockers for the Redcar fans so that the BSG (Bears Supporters Group) could change into their costumes in comfort; Magnus Zetterstrom and Jason Doyle on 3.00 point reassessed averages for Somerset to complete their team. However I decided against it since I’d probably get pelters from one and all!

However I do wish everyone a fabulous Christmas, a rip-roarious Hogmanay and a New Year filled with injury free meetings and sensational racing to excite us all.

Best Wishes.

[Merlin]

Saturday, 27 December



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The latest activity in the signing market means that five teams now have their full septet for next season - Berwick, Glasgow, King’s Lynn, Scunthorpe and Workington while five have only one signing to announce - Birmingham, Newport, Rye House Sheffield and Stoke. Of the other four Redcar and Somerset have two places yet to fill while Edinburgh and Newcastle have three each.

Berwick: The Bandits became the latest side to complete their line up for the new season by signing William Lawson from Edinburgh. William joins on a 7.84 average so will take the number 1 spot in the team as Berwick’s highest average rider. The full Berwick team reads: William Lawson 7.84, Michal Makovsky 7.65, Josef Franc 7.44, Tero Aarnio 5.49, Paul Clews 5.41, Guglielmo Franchetti 4.43 and Danny Warwick 4.09 for a team total of 42.35.

Stoke: The Potters have made their sixth signing for the new season. Tom P Madsen, who rode for Reading last season, joins their ranks on a 6.04 average leaving them with 6.69 for their remaining rider. Tom joins Lee Complin, Jason Bunyan, Phil Morris, Klaus Jakobsen and Jesper Kristiansen. This means that Lee Complin will be Stoke’s highest average rider so he will fill the Potters’ number 1 race jacket for the start of their 2009 campaign.

[Merlin]

Sunday, 28 December



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Newcastle: The Diamonds have seen the old year out by signing two heat leaders for the new season. Returning to the side after a successful first season is Kenni Larsen who made an immediate impression following his arrival on Tyneside late last season, and has been one name firmly on the "wish list" of both Diamonds’ fans and club officials.

Newcastle co-promoter Darryl Illingworth said "I'm absolutely delighted that Kenni's coming back to Newcastle in 2009. I'm over the moon. He is a fantastic find and we're sure the supporters will be equally as happy as we are with the news. Kenni is involved in an educational apprenticeship over in Denmark, and there's been a lot of hard work gone in to try and reach agreement with those concerned to allow him to postpone part of that apprenticeship in order to race for Newcastle. We owe a great amount of gratitude to Team Denmark, who stepped in and did the necessary on our behalf with those involved to ensure Kenni - and we - got what we wanted."

Newcastle have also signed 21 year old Steve Boxhall who rode for Rye House from 2004-2007 before moving to Belle Vue in 2008. Illingworth said “ We're chuffed to bits about Steve - we've been talking to him and looking to bring him to Newcastle for quite some time now. We are aware that at least four other clubs were after him for 2009, so we're very pleased he's chosen us."

This brings Newcastle’s signings to six leaving just one rider to be signed with around 7 points to spare. Larsen and Boxhall join Craig Branney, Jason King, Casper Wortmann and Trent Leverington.

Redcar: Gary Havelock has finally ended speculation about his future by signing on again for the Bears for the 2009 season after agreeing terms with his father, Brian Havelock, the Bears’ team manager. Gary has ridden at number 1 for the Bears since Redcar joined the league in 2006 and joins Carl Stonehewer, Ty Proctor, Ben Wilson, Robbie Kessler and Benji Compton. He is Redcar’s sixth signing on his 8.73 average which leaves them with 3.63 for their remaining rider.

[Merlin]

Hogmanay



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Newport: The Wasps have announced that Chris Kerr will be joining Newport after all for the new season with his 8.00 point average having been reassessed as 6.47 allowing him to fit into the Wasps’ lineup for the new season and completing their septet. The team now reads: Mark Lemon (7.41), Craig Watson (6.89), Chris Kerr (6.47), Jordan Frampton (6.33), Brent Werner (5.57), James Holder (5.22) and Nick Simmons (4.16) for a team total of 42.05.

This team will need to be ratified by the BSPA however and Chris Kerr will need to clear any work permit hurdles (if any remain) with the Department of Work and Pensions (or whatever Government body now deals with work permits).

Sheffield: The Tigers have become the latest team to complete their lineup by signing Ritchie Hawkins for 2009 having agreed a deal with his parent club Somerset. 25 year old Ritchie, who was crowned British Under-21 champion in 2004, has plenty of experience on the Owlerton track as he raced for the club’s former Conference League side between 2000-2002. He missed all of last season because of a broken thigh sustained in an indoor meeting in Germany last winter.

Co-promoter, David Hoggart said "Ritchie is fully recovered from his crash and got back on a bike at the end of last season after waiting for the all-clear from the medical people. He's more than keen to come to Sheffield and we feel he is much under-rated.

I was at Workington when Ritchie was with the Comets a couple of years ago and I'd class him as a nuisance racer, who never gives up, can hold people and will get points for the club. He was one of my personal targets and I'm delighted we've got him. Our critics felt the 2008 team had become stale and lacked entertainment value. We have addressed that for 2009, every recruit has the potential to improve and more importantly each of them has a reputation for all-out effort and entertainment. I'm confident that under Ricky Ashworth's captaincy and Eric Boocock's management we will see some fine racing at Owlerton next season.”

The complete Sheffield team now reads: Ricky Ashworth (Captain) 7.57, Richard Hall 6.83, Joel Parsons 6.06, Paul Cooper 5.51, Ritchie Hawkins 5.44, Chris Mills 4.93 and Josh Auty 4.55 for a team total of 40.89.

[Merlin]

Sunday, 4 January



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As the New Year finally arrives we find that seven of the fourteen Premier League teams have completed their line ups. With only ten team spots in total still to be announced this thread will reach the end of its natural life fairly soon. All team line ups have still to be sent to the BSPA to be ratified but, subject to Chris Kerr’s average being confirmed as 6.47 for Newport, Richard Sweetman’s average being clarified at Birmingham and Steve Boxall’s average being confirmed as 7.45 for Newcastle, the position is as follows:

Berwick: Team complete on 42.35 points (William Lawson, Michal Makovsky, Josef Franc, Tero Aarnio, Paul Clews, Guglielmo Franchetti and Danny Warwick).

Birmingham: One rider left to announce with 3.79 points left (Jason Lyons, Tomasz Piszcz, Ludvig Lindgren, Robert Ksiezak, Richard Sweetman, Ben Taylor). There is some suggestion though that Richard Sweetman’s 5.00 point assessed average might be reduced to his finishing average of 4.74 in light of the reduction of Chris Kerr’s average to fit into the Newport team. If that happens the Brummies would have 4.05 for their remaining rider.

Edinburgh: Three riders left to announce with 13.68 points remaining (Ryan Fisher, Thomas H Jonasson, Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully).

Glasgow: Team complete on 41.74 points (Shane Parker, James Grieves, Peter Juul, Josh Grajczonek, Ross Brady, Anders Andersen and Mitchell Davey).

King’s Lynn: Team complete on 42.18 points (Tomas Topinka, Christian Henry, Chris Schramm, John Oliver, Kozza Smith, Darcy Ward and Jan Graversen).

Newcastle: One rider left to announce with 6.90 points remaining (Steve Boxall, Jason King, Kenni Larsen, Trent Leverington, Craig Branney, Casper Wortmann).

Newport: Team complete on 42.05 points (Mark Lemon, Craig Watson, Chris Kerr, Jordan Frampton, Brent Werner, James Holder and Nick Simmons).

Redcar: One rider left to announce with 3.63 points left (Gary Havelock, Ty Proctor, Carl Stonehewer, Ben Wilson, Robbie Kessler, Benji Compton).

Rye House: One rider left to announce with 5.41 points left (Chris Neath, Linus Sundstrom, Tommy Allen, Robert Mear, Joe Haines, Luke Bowen).

Scunthorpe: Team complete on 42.33 (David Howe, Magnus Karlsson, Carl Wilkinson, Simon Lambert, Viktor Bergstrom, Byron Bekker and Jerran Hart).

Sheffield: Team complete on 41.36 points (Ricky Ashworth, Richard Hall, Joel Parsons, Ritchie Hawkins, Paul Cooper, Chris Mills and Josh Auty).

Somerset: Two riders left to announce with 8.09 points left (Steve Johnson, Emil Kramer, Cory Gathercole, Simon Walker, Brendan Johnson).

Stoke: One rider left to announce with 6.69 points left (Lee Complin, Jason Bunyan, Tom P Madsen, Phil Morris, Klaus Jakobsen, Jesper Kristiansen).

Workington: Team complete on 42.43 points (Kevin Doolan, Adrian Rymel, Adam Roynon, Tom Hedley, Charles Wright, John Branney and Richard Lawson).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 4 January (continued)



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No sooner had I posted the above Edinburgh announced the signing of Sean Stoddart as their fifth signing. The Press Release reads -

Edinburgh-born Sean Stoddart will be back in Monarchs’ ranks for the 2009 season following 2 years with Newcastle. Sean is just a couple of weeks away from his 22nd birthday and has been racing since 2003. He rode for the Dale Devils in the Conference League in 2003-5 and was a Monarchs’ regular in 2004 and 2006, before spending the next two seasons at Newcastle.

He said “I’m ecstatic to be coming back to Armadale. It was a little bit unexpected, when I first got the call from John Campbell.” Sean comes from a speedway family and grew up watching Monarchs. “My dad was watching Monarchs as far back as Meadowbank, and going to Powderhall was something we did on a Friday night.”
Having done well with Newcastle in 2007, Sean realises things did not go so well last season. “My first year at Newcastle was fantastic, I really felt I showed I could ride competitively in the Premier League. Last year started with a lot of potential but fell flat on its face really.

“I had a lot of bad luck with machinery, and a few nasty crashes as well. It was a bit of a stop-start year, every time I started to get going something else would happen to take the wind out of my sails. One of the frustrating things was that you never really knew what the track was going to be like. At Armadale you always know it is going to be great.”

“There were a lot of factors last season, the team losing a lot of home matches had a knock-on effect on team spirit and by the end we were glad to see the back of it. There are two new bikes waiting for me, I just have to clear some space in the garage for them. I’ve been selling a lot of my older stuff which was past its sell-by date in terms of competitiveness in the Premier League. I’ll be starting at reserve with Monarchs whereas I was up in the team for probably three-quarters of last season, that came perhaps slightly too soon. At Armadale I know the track well, you know what you are turning up to every week and I am really looking forward to it. Last year I lost a point to a point and a half on my average so I am expecting to put at least that back on and hopefully more.”

Announcements regarding the remaining two places are expected early this week.

Sean arrives on a 3.59 average which leaves the Monarchs with 10.09 for their remaining two riders.

[Merlin]

Tuesday, 6 January



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Edinburgh: Waiting for news of Edinburgh signings has been a bit like waiting for a bus - you get none for ages then three come at once! The Monarchs have completed their team for the new season by signing, firstly, Sean Stoddart on a 3.59 average then Aaron Summers on a 5.00 point average and, finally Michal Rajkowski on a 4.37 average. This takes the team total to 41.78.

Sean Stoddart will be back in Monarchs’ ranks for the 2009 season following 2 years with Newcastle. Sean is just a couple of weeks away from his 22nd birthday and has been racing since 2003. He rode for the Dale Devils in the Conference League in 2003-5 and was a Monarchs’ regular in 2004 and 2006, before spending the next two seasons at Newcastle. He said “My first year at Newcastle was fantastic, I really felt I showed I could ride competitively in the Premier League. Last year started with a lot of potential but fell flat on its face really. I had a lot of bad luck with machinery, and a few nasty crashes as well. It was a bit of a stop-start year, every time I started to get going something else would happen to take the wind out of my sails.

One of the frustrating things was that you never really knew what the track was going to be like. At Armadale you always know it is going to be great. There were a lot of factors last season, the team losing a lot of home matches had a knock-on effect on team spirit and by the end we were glad to see the back of it. There are two new bikes waiting for me. I just have to clear some space in the garage for them. I’ll be starting at reserve with Monarchs whereas I was up in the team for probably three-quarters of last season, that came perhaps slightly too soon. At Armadale I know the track well; you know what you are turning up to every week and I am really looking forward to it. Last year I lost a point to a point and a half on my average so I am expecting to put at least that back on and hopefully more.”

Aaron Summers will return for his second full season with Edinburgh Monarchs in 2009. He made his Monarchs’ debut in 2007 during a short visit, and in his first full season last summer he recorded an average of over 5. He quickly adapted to Armadale and also did well on many away tracks. He was the hero of the Premier Playoff Final victory over King’s Lynn in October. Aaron will move into the main body of the team for the first time.

Michal Rajkowski has been in UK speedway for the past two seasons, riding for Newport in 2007, then Belle Vue and Mildenhall in 2008. He was particularly successful with Newport and scored 11 points in their colours on his only previous appearance at Armadale. His efforts for the Wasps encouraged Belle Vue to take him into the Elite League last season, though he didn’t hold his place and actually made his debut for Mildenhall against Monarchs last May.

All of this means that there is no room in the side for Derek Sneddon who finds himself a casualty of the points limit. Last year Derek was the most successful captain in the Monarchs’ history and his omission from the side has caused many of the supporters some dismay particularly since his options at this stage of the winter signing spree leaves him with few options.

The complete Edinburgh side reads: Ryan Fisher (7.40), Thomas H Jonasson (7.32), Matthew Wethers (7.30), Andrew Tully (6.80), Aaron Summers (5.00), Michal Rajkowski (4.37) and Sean Stoddart (3.59).

Newcastle: The Diamonds have had it confirmed that Steve Boxall’s average should be 7.45 - his old Premier League average less 2.5%. This means that they have only 6.90 left for their remaining rider ruling out any new Swede or Dane who would have come in on a 7.00 point assessed average.

Redcar: The Bears have tied up a new club sponsorship deal for both their Premier League and National League sides with Simpson Racing UK, a company run by the club’s starting marshall, Barry Simpson. Bears boss Brian Havelock said “To have finalised our team sponsorship with someone whose heart is so much in this club and region is very welcome.”

[Merlin]

Thursday, 8 January



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With Newcastle becoming the ninth and latest team to complete their team for next season there are only five sides still to announce their final signings. They are Birmingham, Redcar, Rye House, Somerset and Stoke. All bar Somerset have just the one vacancy while the Rebels have yet to declare two more full signing plus another rider to share one of the reserve berths with Brendan Johnson. This means that there are only six places left to be filled in the Premier League.

Birmingham: New Brummies’ signing Richard Sweetman has been confirmed as number 8 for Elite League Swindon Robins next season.

Edinburgh: Andrew Tully has been added to Peterborough Panthers’ squad for the coming season to double up as reserve along with Stoke’s Lee Complin.

King’s Lynn: The Stars will host a Testimonial meeting for Stoke new signing Tom P Madsen on Friday, March 20. Tom rode for the Stars between 2000 and 2004.

Newcastle: Derek Sneddon has been named as the final rider of the Diamonds in 2009. Newcastle co-promoter George English said, "I'm delighted we've been able to bring Derek back to Tyneside He's hugely popular with the Newcastle supporters and we all know what he is capable of. Once it became apparent he could not be included in Edinburgh's squad, we were very eager to get him back."

The completed team is Steve Boxall (7.45), Jason King (7.24), Kenni Larsen (7.00), Derek Sneddon (6.44), Trent Leverington (6.33), Craig Branney (4.58) and Casper Wortmann (3.00) for a team total of 42.04 .

Newport: The Wasps have confirmed Kyle Newman as their number 8 for the new season.

Scunthorpe: Elite League side Peterborough Panthers have announced that the Scorpions’ new signing Simon Lambert will be their number 8 next season.

Somerset: New Rebels’ signing Cory Gathercole will double up with Swindon Robins next season.

[Merlin]

Thursday, 15 January



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There’s not a lot to report since my last post last Thursday. This is not surprising since there are now only five team places to be filled as 10 of the 14 Premier League teams have completed their line-ups for the new season. Still left are vacancies at Birmingham for a reserve with 3.79 (4.05?) points left, at Rye House at reserve with 5.42 points left (presumably either Andrew Silver or Daniel Halsey), at Somerset for two riders - at reserve and in the main body of the team with 8.09 points left and at Stoke in the main body of the team with 6.69 points left.

Birmingham: The Brummies will soon be submitting a renewed planning application to continue speedway at Perry Barr. This season will be their final one of the current three year arrangement. Birmingham owner, Tony Mole, said “We expect to be supported by the planning department and by the committee who were recently most supportive. We have brought national recognition to the city with our achievements.”

Glasgow: The Tigers’ young Australian Josh Grajczonek has been announced as number 8 for Elite League Belle Vue next season.

Redcar: The Bears finally completed their team with the re-signing of Arlo Bugeja at reserve for a second season with the club to give them a line up of Gary Havelock (8.73), Ty Proctor (7.63), Carl Stonehewer (7.28), Ben Wilson (6.44), Robbie Kessler (5.79), Arlo Bugeja (3.03) and Benji Compton (3.00) for a team total of 41.90.

Somerset: The Rebels have signed Jay Herne as the team’s second ‘double-up’ reserve rider alongside Brendan Johnson in their 2009 line up.

“Jay is delighted to be joining Somerset,” said the club’s General Manager, David Croucher, “and has already stated that it is his ambition to finish the season in the main body of the team and not as reserve. After spending the best part of the last two seasons at Weymouth, Jay had a taste of life in the Premier League with Birmingham in the latter half of 2008, both of which has given him a good grounding in British speedway as well as helping him to learn some of the tracks.”