SCUNTHORPE STAGS NAME NL SIDE FOR 2025

Jan 5th, 2025
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SCUNTHORPE and Sheffield have confirmed the seven riders that will represent the two clubs in the 2025 National League.

As in 2024, the two clubs have entered a joint side, that will compete as the Scunthorpe Stags when home meetings are held at the Eddie Wright Raceway and the Sheffield Tiger Cubs when racing at Owlerton.

Experienced 36-year-old Adam Roynon will join the side as skipper and the Cumbrian will form a potent spearhead with 17-year-old local lad Luke Harrison. Harrison will again ride for both Scunthorpe sides in 2025 – both the Scorpions in the Cab Direct Championship and the Stags in the National League.

Elsewhere, 26-year-old Luke Harris returns to competitive speedway for the first time since he rode for Cradley in 2019 and will be third heat-leader.

20-year-old Mickie Simpson has been retained from the 2024 Stags/Tiger Cubs and is one of two second strings, along with 37-year-old Luke Muff, a latecomer to speedway at Mildenhall in 2021.

15-year-old Jamie Etherington – a notable performer in the 2024 British Youth Championship – made a few appearances for Stags towards the end of the 2024 and he is joined at reserve by 17-year-old Harrison Rogers, a newcomer to National League racing.

Simon Lambert – the skipper of the Scunthorpe Scorpions – will again manage the Stags/Tiger Cubs in 2025.

Lambert says: “We had a few difficulties putting the team together, but I’m very happy with the side that we have – there’s a good mixture of youth and experience within the team.

“We were let down by Vinnie Foord, who agreed to ride for us. Once you’ve done a deal with a rider, you don’t expect them to change their mind, but Vinnie did, which was disappointing.

“Our apologies go to Jack Smith, who was in our originally planned team. But piecing together a speedway team is a jigsaw puzzle and one you’ve lost one rider, it leads to other changes elsewhere.

“Another rider we were very much considering was Harry Fletcher, but we ended up with a side where we didn’t need a third rider on a 3.00 average.”

Lambert is delighted to be working with Roynon.

He adds: “Adam, like myself, has never lost his enthusiasm for speedway – you can tell that when he’s commentating on BSN.

“He feels he still has a lot to give, and there’s so much that he can pass onto the rest of the side.

“He’ll form a strong spearhead with Luke Harrison. For quite a while, we didn’t think Luke would be part of the team.

“Luke loves riding for Scunthorpe and he’s a huge talent, but he thought it would be good for his development to have different clubs at different levels. That fell through, but it’s very much our gain. Luke is top notch around the Eddie Wright Raceway, while he knows he should be scoring double figures everywhere this year in the National League.”

Looking further down the side, Lambert insisted no pressure will be placed onto the riders.

He says: “As I told our riders last season, it’s not about winning or losing at this level, it’s about them giving their all in every ride and developing as riders.

“I believe the change of track will help Luke Muff, while Luke Harris has continued riding grasstrack and will keen to build on where he left off with Cradley in 2019.

“For me, Mickie Simpson was our rider of the season in 2024, because he learnt so much. He had one bad meeting where he got hurt, but I couldn’t ask any more from him.

“So much about speedway is about confidence, especially in the National League. We saw Jamie Etherington getting track time with us at the end of last season and that will prepare him well for this season. Harrison Rogers has good backing and good equipment and that will be a big help for him.”

Lambert concludes by saying: “We pay the riders what we can at this level, but it’s not a fortune by any means. If anyone wishes to come forward and help any of the lads with sponsorship – to cover costs for oil, tyres, fuel or whatever – it would be greatly appreciated.”

Scunthorpe Stags / Sheffield Tiger Cubs 2025 confirmed line-up:

Adam Roynon 8.84

Luke Harrison 7.66

Luke Harris 5.36

Luke Muff 4.83

Mickie Simpson 4.49

Jamie Etherington 3.00

Harrison Rogers 3.00

Team manager: Simon Lambert

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