Sheffield Speedway: Club up for sale as owners of elite professional sports club announce they're leaving
One of Sheffield’s most successful professional sports teams has been put up for sale, just two years after their most successful season ever.
Just two years ago, Sheffield Tigers speedway team lifted the top flight Speedway Championship Trophy at Owlerton Stadium for the first time in their 96 year history.
But now there is uncertainty around the club after owners Damien Bates and Peter Mole announced they were putting the club up for sale after 11 years.
They have made the announcement ahead of the club’s last racing night of the current season, tonight against Ipswich.
The club has announced it has been put for sale with immediate effect.
The current Sheffield speedway owners took over the club in 2014 and along the way have taken the Tigers into the Premiership, winning six pieces of silverware in that period.
But the Bates family and Peter Mole have decided that they will leave at the end of the current campaign with any interested parties urged to declare their interest as soon as possible.
Co-owner Damien Bates said: “There is a hell of a lot of work involved in running a speedway club and with other ever-growing work and family commitments that we’ve all got away from the sport, we’ve just got too much on.
“The club is in great shape and there’s so many good things going for it; great facilities with a great stadium, brilliant, accommodating landlords and an excellent racetrack.
“It’s got a core of loyal supporters and we’ve got a set-up with a team of riders who genuinely love being a part of this club who want to be back year-on-year.
“Sheffield has got a great team of staff and volunteers who help things run seamlessly on racenights - for me, there’s no club in a better position for someone to walk into and take on.
“When we took over, it had some very good foundations in place, we’ve built on those and taken Sheffield to the next level - now it’s someone else’s turn to keep on building it up and keep moving it forward.
“It’s something we knew was coming and as much as we wanted to make the announcement before now, we didn’t want it to have a negative impact on the team going into the play-offs.”
Co-owner Peter Mole added: “We’ve had so many good times since taking over Sheffield Speedway and we’re immensely proud of how far we have brought the club.
“But for us as owners, we’ve got busy lives away from speedway, even if I am now semi-retired.
“The journey from the Midlands isn’t as smooth as it once was and everything added up, it’s started to take its toll.
“Maybe some people are right, maybe we have taken our eye off the ball more recently and maybe it does need an injection of new ideas with some fresh enthusiasm from a new set of owners - that opportunity is now out there.
“We all feel that now is the right time to finally sell Sheffield Speedway and we aim to sell it to the right person, or people, who we feel can help the club continue to thrive and prosper.”
Any interested parties should e-mail [email protected]