LEICESTER head to Birmingham in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership on Bank Holiday Monday (7.30pm) for what is sure to be an emotional night in the West Midlands.
It will be the Brummies’ final meeting at their Perry Barr home, which is set for redevelopment as the greyhound operation at the stadium switches to a new site in Wolverhampton.
With no venue in the area available to stage speedway, it means Birmingham will close at the end of the season in another savage blow to the sport in this area.
For the Watling JCB Lions, it is also bad news as it means they lose one of their nearest away-days, following on from the likes of Coventry, Wolverhampton and Peterborough in recent years, even before you consider their on-track record at Perry Barr.
Lions have won all four of their visits to Birmingham since the clubs renewed rivalries in the top division last year, and overall since 2019 they have only lost once out of eight when making the trip across the Midlands.
Putting sentiment to one side, the Lions have a job to do as they seek to put themselves back into contention for a top two finish ahead of the play-offs.
And they will be optimistic of securing a positive result with the majority of their team having had strong results at Birmingham in the past, whilst the home side are spluttering towards the end with nine successive defeats, and one more on Monday would secure the wooden spoon.
However, the Brummies did pull off one of the shocks of the season when they won 45-44 at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park back in May, and they will round off their campaign back at Leicester this Thursday.
Lions are at full strength, whilst Birmingham welcome Jonas Jeppesen back from illness but reserve Ben Barker is sidelined, and Simon Lambert comes in to replace him.
In-form Leicester heat-leader Ryan Douglas said: “No doubt they would love to finish with a win, but we want to keep the ball rolling as well.
“We will be looking for a win for sure. It sucks with the circumstances of Birmingham shutting, although to ride in the last meeting there is a cool thing for us, and I’m sure we’ll want to come out on top.”
BIRMINGHAM: Tobiasz Musielak, Jonas Jeppesen, Keynan Rew, Paco Castagna, Matej Zagar, Simon Lambert, Sam Hagon.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson
