Peterborough Panthers' future at showground 'not viable'

Thousands of fans said goodbye to the showground racetrack on Saturday

Calls for a speedway team to be allowed to stay at its home of 53 years have been dismissed as unviable.

Peterborough Panthers are set to be without a base for 2024 due to a multi-million pound redevelopment of the East of England Showground.

The club's supporters held a rally on Saturday to demand the speedway track be included in plans to build new homes and leisure facilities.

The site's operator said it had lost money hosting speedway over the years.

The top-tier team has been operating from the popular East of England Showground track since 1970

Asset Earning Power Group's (AEPG) plans for the showground include a leisure complex, up to 1,500 homes, a hotel, primary school and a care home.

A six-person consortium is in negotiations with Panthers owner Keith Chapman to buy the club and hopes to continue racing there.

Carl Johnson from the consortium said: "We were the second biggest sporting club in the city and we will fight for it. We know it's viable. There's real passion for the sport.

"We want to know why we can't be included in those leisure plans."

He confirmed the consortium did not yet have an alternative plan for the team.

The development for the site includes plans for mixed sports, including bowling and mini-golf

AEPG chief executive officer Ashley Butterfield said there was a lot of "misinformation on speedway's viability".

"We have lost loads of money staging speedway over the years", he said.

"We told the team in 2019 of the plans. In fact, speedway was given an extra year and we continued to support them until the 2023 season. It's now come to an end and it's not viable."

"Panthers supporters had a rally and it's great but we can't spread false hope. We want speedway to continue but it can't at the showground."