WE can confirm that Sheffield Speedway is now up for sale with immediate effect – with Thursday’s (September 25, 7.30pm) home meeting against Ipswich the last top-flight fixture under the promotion.
The current owners took over the club in 2014 and along the way have taken the Tigers into the Premiership, with their solid backing also helping bring six pieces of silverware to South Yorkshire over 11 seasons.
But the Bates family and Peter Mole have decided that they will leave at the end of the current campaign with any interested parties urged to declare their interest as soon as possible.
Co-owner Damien Bates explained:
“There is a hell of a lot of work involved in running a speedway club and with other ever-growing work and family commitments that we’ve all got away from the sport, we’ve just got too much on.
“The club is in great shape and there’s so many good things going for it; great facilities with a great stadium, brilliant, accommodating landlords and an excellent racetrack.
“It’s got a core of loyal supporters and we’ve got a set-up with a team of riders who genuinely love being a part of this club who want to be back year-on-year.
“Sheffield has got a great team of staff and volunteers who help things run seamlessly on racenights – for me, there’s no club in a better position for someone to walk into and take on.
“When we took over, it had some very good foundations in place, we’ve built on those and taken Sheffield to the next level – now it’s someone else’s turn to keep on building it up and keep moving it forward.
“It’s something we knew was coming and as much as we wanted to make the announcement before now, we didn’t want it to have a negative impact on the team going into the play-offs.”
Co-owner Peter Mole added: “We’ve had so many good times since taking over Sheffield Speedway and we’re immensely proud of how far we have brought the club.
“But for us as owners, we’ve got busy lives away from speedway, even if I am now semi-retired.
“The journey from the Midlands isn’t as smooth as it once was and everything added up, it’s started to take its toll.
“Maybe some people are right, maybe we have taken our eye off the ball more recently and maybe it does need an injection of new ideas with some fresh enthusiasm from a new set of owners – that opportunity is now out there.
“We all feel that now is the right time to finally sell Sheffield Speedway and we aim to sell it to the right person, or people, who we feel can help the club continue to thrive and prosper.”
Any interested parties should e-mail office@sheffield-speedway.com.
