Peterborough Panthers: Farewell meeting confirmed after final Showground league match win

Peterborough Panthers boss Rob Lyon has seen his side finish the Premiership season strongly

Peterborough Panthers will stage a farewell meeting on 7 October after winning their final league match at their East of England Arena.

Panthers are not expected to race next year because the entire 165-acre Showground site is set for a £50m redevelopment by its owners, AEPG.

The team beat King's Lynn Stars 49-41 to finish the season with a sixth successive victory.

"It'll be sad not to be involved with these guys," said manager Rob Lyon.

"These fans are special, this place is special, the track staff do a tremendous job, have done for many years, and it's one of the best supported clubs in the country," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

The Panthers were formed 53 years ago and have won the national title on three occasions, most recently in 2021.

They finished the 2023 Premiership in sixth, outside the play-offs, despite a strong end to the season, but they face an uncertain future, with owner Buster Chapman yet to find a new site that would be suitable for relaunching the club at some point.

Looking back on his three years in charge, former Great Britain boss Lyon said: "2021 was a special year, so many memories from that one.

"2022 was difficult, we went with the same team and probably the heart ruled the head a little bit in that respect, but hindsight is always a wonderful thing.

"I think the emergence of Ben Basso in '22 was a highlight and in '23 we've seen a team that competed with anything in the league."

Asked if he would like to return should the club somehow be able to race next year, he added: "You never say never. There's a lot to happen before then but we have to be realistic and say that's potentially not going to happen. If it did, we'll see what our situation is at the time."

The East of England Arena is regarded as one of the country's best speedway facilities

Reserve Ben Cook was Peterborough's leading scorer against the Stars, after declaring himself fit to ride despite a crash riding for Poole just 24 hours earlier.

"It was touch and go, and then he rang this morning and said, 'I want to go for it, I don't want to miss the last meeting,'" said Lyon.

"It shows the commitment of him, and the boys have been great in the last few weeks, we couldn't have asked for any more from them."

Should the farewell meeting be unable to take place on Saturday, 7 October because of the weather, the club say the Sunday has been scheduled as a reserve date.