Mythman’s 2017 Preview

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, our 50th season of Berwick Speedway is almost upon us, and what a season it promises to be. Before we get into that though, let me express what an honour and privilege it is to be writing for you all on our new look website, so without further ado, let’s get started!

Before we get ahead of ourselves looking forward, it would be fairly safe to say that 2016 simply didn’t go to plan, a combination of injuries, subsequent poor results and off track issues eventually led to the club being put up for sale and to be quite honest, the threat of speedway being no more in Berwick seemed very real. John Anderson had announced that he felt he had taken the club as far as he could and it was time for someone else to step in and take the club forward. While John and the rest of the previous promotion had their fair share of frankly, unjust criticism at times, I don’t think many would argue the fact that they brought the club forward massively during their tenure and while the results on track didn’t reflect the effort off it, they undoubtedly made it a far more viable and attractive proposition than it was when they first took the club over from Peter Waite. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact that shouldn’t be forgotten and it is something we should all be very thankful for.

As we all now know Scott and Jamie Courtney announced that they would be taking over the club alongside Gary Havelock and suddenly the Bandits were back! Great news for all and the vibes coming from the club since then have been largely positive. Two sponsors on board, a full team snapped up fairly quickly and the news of track covers and continued double medical cover to allow smooth running of meetings are all huge steps in the right direction. On the note of the team itself there are a few surprise inclusions, namely Lewis Bridger, a signing nobody could have predicted, Dimitri Berge coming to the club he probably should have joined in the first place and the return of Claus Vissing to the Black and Gold have all been met with both raised eyebrows and excitement. They are joined by the returning trio Liam Carr, Dany Gappmaier and the evergreen Kevin Doolan, whilst another newcomer, at least to second tier speedway, Ryan Blacklock slots into the final reserve spot. Now I know for a fact that the “experts” won’t be tipping us for glory and that has always been a tag that has suited us just fine. One thing I do know for certain though is that on Saturday nights at Shielfield in 2017, you are going to be entertained.

Over the next few weeks I hope to bring you a detailed lowdown on all the Bandits riders and of course, it wouldn’t be a Mythman column if I didn’t poke a little fun at all of our rivals as well. I will be looking at all the movers and shakers as well as taking a look at who I think holds the key to each teams potential success in 2017. Something of a preview for you all to mull over until the season starts. I would say until winter is over but we all know it’s going to be absolutely freezing on the opening night of the season, but we do it because we love it! Writing for you all on here is a fresh challenge for me and it’s something I am massively looking forward to, and I hope that you are too. Here’s hoping for an entertaining, exciting and more importantly safe season for you and your team.

As has always been the case, if you wish to agree, or disagree with the Mythman you can email Mythman666@hotmail.com

Until next time…and there will be a next time.
Right I’ll hae’tae gan

Mythman