PREVIEW: Spires aim to go out with a bang!
BETGOODWIN Oxford Spires are seeking to win their last-ever meeting, when they entertain the Leicester Lions in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Thursday evening (September 25) at 7.30pm.
Uniquely, Oxford Speedway have entered a team at all three levels of league racing in British Speedway for the last two seasons in both 2024 and 2025.
But with exciting changes to the league structure rumoured for 2026, the Spires will be discontinued, leaving the Cheetahs and the Chargers – the two teams who have been in operation since speedway returned to Sandy Lane in 2022.
Spires will finish sixth in the table, ahead of bottom club Birmingham, while Leicester Lions have reached the final of the play-offs, after defeating Sheffield Tigers by 90-89 in a nail-biting semi-final. Lions are seeking to complete the double, since they have already won the Premiership Knockout Cup for the first time in their history.
Erik Riss has moved to No 1 for Spires in the September averages. However, the German is still ruled out through a long-term illness, and Richard Lawson – a track specialist at Cowley – is set to come in as the guest replacement.
Oxford manager Peter Schroeck says: “The boys from the Spires want to go out with a victory in their last-ever meeting.
“Although this year has not gone as we planned, I hope our supporters have enjoyed the last couple of seasons for the Spires. The team has created some memorable moments, especially last year, when we seemed to win nearly every home meeting in a last-heat decider.
“We’ve decided we’re best served as a club to go back to what we know and run the Cheetahs and the Chargers. At the same time, it’s not a backwards step, since there are talks about how British Speedway could shape out for next season. I’ve not been privy to every conversation, but I’m sure exciting times are ahead for the sport in this country.
“Leicester may have one eye on their forthcoming play-off final, but for us, the Spires are concentrating on winning their final meeting. For both sets of supporters, we’re coming towards the end of the season, so it’s a chance to see what looks like a closely-fought speedway meeting before the long winter months.”
Tickets are already on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Admission is available at the early bird price of £23 for all adults, which increases to £25 on Race Day. All under-16s go free. A reminder that Oxford Speedway is online ticket sales only – tickets remain on sale on the website until the start-time of the meeting. Spectators are also reminded that they will need to pay £2 if they are planning to park in the Unipart car park.
The meeting was previously rained off on Thursday, September 4. Any tickets bought online for the original staging have automatically transferred across to the new date. Supporters will have received an email that also offered a refund if they cannot make the new date.
This is the final time that Season Passes will be valid this season. Once this meeting has been completed, all 29 meetings (13 Spires, 11 Cheetahs and 5 Chargers) covered by the Ultimate Season Pass will have taken place, since the passes did not include progression in any competition.
There are two meetings at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium this week, since the SD Timmo Car Sales powered by County Plumbing Supplies will host Redcar Bears in the second leg of their MAXiCab Knockout Cup semi-final on Sunday (September 28). Please note the start-time of 5pm. The first leg is up at Redcar on Friday (September 26) and the aggregate winners will progress to the final to face Poole Pirates.
Teams:
BetGoodwin Oxford Spires: Richard Lawson (G), Victor Palovaara, Rohan Tungate, Maciej Janowski (C), Charles Wright, Peter Kildemand, Luke Killeen (RS).
Watling JCB Leicester Lions: Max Fricke (C), Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson (RS).
PHOTO by Les Aubrey