Peterborough Panthers: Premiership club to stay at East of England Arena in 2023

Plans by the site’s owners AEPG for a £50m regeneration of the area have been delayed, so the club will not have to move out for at least another year.

Panthers owner Buster Chapman has identified two potential new sites and will now continue assessing them.

The club were formed in 1970 and won the Premiership title for the first time in 15 years in 2021.

“After a lot of negotiation with AEPG, the stadium operators, I’m pleased to say that next year we will have a full season running at Peterborough speedway,” said Chapman.

“It gives us time now to look for a new permanent base and hopefully we can have the time to get a new venue ready and built to keep Peterborough speedway going.

“The search is on, there are places we could go to, but you have to get the planning (permission), that’s the hardest part, but the fight will go on and I do believe Peterborough will find a new venue.”

AEPG (Asset Earning Power Group) and the East of England Agricultural Society plan to transform the entire 165-acre East of England Showground site with a leisure village, conference facilities and housing.

It is expected to create 400 new jobs.

“We knew the importance of allowing the Peterborough Panthers and the speedway track more time to plan their future, and when the land development plan was accelerated in June, it appeared to require the closure of the speedway facilities much earlier than the previous development agreement had anticipated,” said AEPG chief executive Ashley Butterfield.

“We have worked tirelessly with the Panthers, and other stakeholders, to secure everyone’s agreement on a change to the development plan that allows the team to use the speedway track and grandstand until the end of the racing season in 2023. I’m grateful to everyone involved in reaching this decision.”

Following their title success last year, the 2022 campaign has not gone according to plan for the Panthers.

They lost 46-44 at home to Belle Vue on Thursday in their final meeting and will finish bottom of the table.

Source: BBC Sport