CO-OWNER Damien Bates has thanked the people around Sheffield Speedway for revitalising his enthusiasm ahead of tonight’s Owlerton opener (Thursday, April 2, 7.30pm).

The Tigers host Belle Vue in the Premiership Knockout Cup, Northern Section in the first fixture back in the Steel City since the Bates family opted to stay on board as sole owners.

After initially putting the club up for sale last September, Bates didn’t expect to be in charge for the 2026 campaign.

But after a series of unexpected events over the winter and with the turnstiles set to open for yet another season, Bates admits he’s looking forward to what the year could have in store.

“At the end of the day, I’ve been coming to Owlerton to watch Sheffield since I was a little lad myself,” he said.

“And as tough as it is being a promoter and all that comes with that behind the scenes, both financially and in terms of responsibility and organisation and things like that, I’d rather have that to deal with than there being no speedway in Sheffield at all.

“Thankfully, we’ve got a lot of good people around this club; we’ve got a really loyal core of supporters, and their support and backing is invaluable to keeping us going, but not only that, we’ve got staff and volunteers who step up year-on-year, who go above and beyond for this club and we wouldn’t be able to do it without them.

“Because of what I’ve just said, that has helped revitalise our enthusiasm quite a lot over the winter and despite us starting everything a lot later, I actually think we’re in a pretty good position all considered.”

A full column from Damien Bates, plus much, much more can be read in Issue 1 of ‘Tiger Talk - The Official Racenight Programme of Sheffield Speedway’, available for £4 trackside tonight.