Northampton Speedway to roar into action for the first time at King's Lynn next month
The new Northampton Speedway team will take to the track for the first time on April 20, when they travel to King's Lynn Stars for a Premiership KO Cup fixture - with the first home clash at the Shaleway Stadium in Brafield 10 days later.
Following the shock announcement that a Northampton team has been formed and will compete in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership this season, the fixtures for the campaign were released on Friday morning (March 6).
The rest of the teams begin their campaigns at the end of March, but Northampton have been given more time and their first fixture will be that KO Cup Southern Section trip to King's Lynn, with Northampton then going to Ipswich Witches on April 23.
The return leg against Ipswich will see Northampton ride at home for the first time on Thursday, April 30, before the new club's Premiership fixtures begin with a double away day on Monday, May 4.
They travel to Belle Vue in Manchester for a midday start, before heading south to Leicester Lions for a 7.30pm start.
Northampton then host King's Lynn in the KO Cup on May 7, go to Sheffield Tigers on May 14 befoe they host their first Premiership showdown on Thursday, May 21, with Leiester Lions the visitors.
There are no details yet as to who will make up the Northampton team, either on or off track, but ROWE Motor Oil Premiership chief executive Phil Morris explained the reasoning behind the decision to set up the club.
“I would firstly like to thank all supporters, and the other clubs, for their patience whilst we worked on bringing Northampton into the league," said Morris.
“We were determined that the Premiership would feature six teams if at all possible, and with the opportunity to include what is effectively a completely new club, I do feel it was correct to push the time window to give it every chance.
“We now have a six-team league and I’m sure there will be a lot of interest in the new venue, along with the new ownership at Ipswich who I know have some exciting plans.
“Our thanks also go to Deane Wood of Spedeworth, the landowners of Northampton, for their willingness to accommodate speedway racing at their stadium.
“There is still a substantial amount of work to complete, and this is why Northampton’s home fixtures will commence slightly later than the other clubs, but we are confident this will all progress on schedule.
“The people in charge of Northampton will make their own announcements in the near future but I know they have been talking to riders, and they now have the certainty to be able to complete their team plans.
“We now look forward to the fixtures being released on Friday and this is certainly now a time for positivity as we look ahead to the new season.”
The full structure of Northampton Speedway, including promoters, team manager, riders and team identity, will be revealed over the coming weeks in the build-up to the start of their season.