Speedway: Richard Lawson is final piece in Sheffield Tigers' jigsaw

Lawson makes the switch from Premiership runners-up Ipswich in a move which makes Tigers a formidable unit on their home track.

And he’s pleased to finally link up with the newly promoted club for their first season in top flight racing in 30 years.

He said: "I've made guest appearances for Sheffield numerous times and I've got some good memories there.

"I've always enjoyed riding the track at Sheffield and it's one of those places where I've always seemed to score well at.

"I almost signed for them a couple of years ago, but it never happened for one reason or another.

"But to finally sign for them feels good and I'm looking forward to riding for them.”

Lawson says it’s an exciting time for everyone at Sheffield after a busy winter which has seen the club go from for sale to promotion and the arrival of triple World Champion Nicki Pedersen.

"The Sheffield promotion have always shown a lot of ambition and I think that's shown with everything they've done over these past few weeks,” he said.

"Stepping up to the Premiership is a big thing for any club, especially when you haven't been up there for a while.

"But they've shown they're not just going in there to make up the numbers and for me when you look at our team now, if we can keep that group together for the majority of the season then it's definitely play-off material.

"There won't be many better No.1s than Nicki (Pedersen), Josh (Grajczonek) and Jack (Holder) know this league well and can be solid back-up like I can.

"Kyle (Howarth) knows Sheffield really well and has been in the Premiership for a fair few years himself now and in Todd (Kurtz) and Ashley (Morris) we've also got a couple of guys there who can definitely kick on.

"It's a really exciting team and a really exciting club to be a part of and it should hopefully be a good year for us all."