Supporters thanked as speedway axed

With the current 2020 season cancelled without a wheel being turned, Parrys International Wolves are counting the cost of significant improvements to speedway facilities at Monmore along with the usual pre-season expenditure.

Van Straaten said: “We can look ahead to speedway at Monmore in 2021 because of the support of our season ticket holders and sponsors who have ensured that we are in a position to settle our regular contracted monthly payments before any income before tapes up next spring.”

And he admits the decision taken by the sport’s bosses to scrap professional leagues this year was inevitable.

“We viewed the announcement as inevitable following the government announcement in regard to spectators not being allowed into sporting events at stadia until October,” he said. “In one sense it brings relief to a frustrating time during which there have been dark moments while trying to keep a positive frame of mind as we listened to somewhat confusing government announcements on an almost daily basis.

“We have been in uncharted waters since March and we must pay tribute to the directors and in particular Rob Godfrey at the rudder who have investigated every option during this time but unfortunately we have now run aground. Now we can look forward to the 2021 season and hopefully there may well be a vaccine in place which would restore everyone’s confidence which understandably has suffered during this terrible pandemic.

“At this moment we cannot say whether there will be a possibility of any speedway at Monmore in October and we will be giving this consideration in the coming weeks.”