TIGERS co-owner Damien Bates has welcomed two new competitions for the 2022 Premiership.

The Tru Plant-backed club will face Belle Vue and Wolverhampton in their season opening League Cup group which adds four more meetings.

And it’s been confirmed that every track will host a round of the Premiership Pairs with Tigers set to track Jack Holder and Adam Ellis to make them one of the pre-season favourites.

It means fans will have more speedway to enjoy next year despite the league only tracking six teams for a second successive season – something Bates wants to see addressed from 2023 onwards.

He said: “Last season with the Premiership just running the league and play-offs was fine because we didn’t start until mid-May. Here at Sheffield we didn’t host a home meeting until June.

“But there has been a general acceptance that for 2022 we need more meetings at Premiership level which is why we have come up with the extra competition.

“The Premiership Pairs will be an exciting addition through the season, there’s a round at every club and that’s an extra fixture so each club will stage a minimum of 13 meetings.

“At Sheffield we are looking at an open meeting or challenge match to add to that and then if we progress into the play-offs we could end up with 16 meetings plus Todd Kurtz’ testimonial.

“I’ve already said six teams isn’t ideal but we have a league of stable clubs who are all well run by professional people and there’s a lot to be said for that in these challenging times.

“I want to see the Premiership develop going forward and I’m pretty sure everyone else does, I’m sure a lot of attention will be on the revival of Oxford in the Championship and the development work at Swindon.

“It would be good to get another two teams in – and 10 in total would be my preference eventually.”