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Mildenhall Fen Tigers set to return on 50th anniversary after resounding vote of approval from supporters




Mildenhall Fen Tigers are set for a return to the track on their 50th anniversary following a resounding vote of approval from supporters.

The news comes after fans were recently called upon to help raise £10,000 to get the club back racing for the 2025 speedway season with a proposal set up for a Supporters’ Trust.

At a public meeting packed full with 140 people at West Row Village Hall on Sunday, supporters voted in favour to officially form the trust with fans agreeing to contribute towards the funding mechanism put in place via a community trust.

Steve Ribbons and Kieran Phillips. Pictures: Derek Leader
Steve Ribbons and Kieran Phillips. Pictures: Derek Leader

The Fen Tigers, who were formed in 1975 and are based at Mildenhall Stadium in West Row, last raced in 2023 after sitting out for the season last year.

A steering committee of Steve Ribbons, Keiran Phillips, Jeremy Reader, Diane Farmer and Derek Barclay have been charged with responsibility for progressing the application for Mildenhall to join the National Development Trophy (NDT) competition for 2025 and to confirm a team to bring the Fen Tigers back to action for their golden jubilee season.

Ribbons said: “We have secured, thanks to the cooperation of track owners Spedeworth International, 10 weekends across the speedway season and the plan is to have a meeting on the Saturday night, followed each time by a practice/training session on the next morning.

Following a resounding vote of approval from supporters, Mildenhall Fen Tigers look set for a return this year
Following a resounding vote of approval from supporters, Mildenhall Fen Tigers look set for a return this year

“We feel this is the perfect model for developing riders, so youngsters and others who come along to the training are able to graduate to second half racing.

“The practice/training on Sundays will provide a vital income stream to subsidise the Fen Tigers’ promotion.”

It is the second time in three years that fans have been asked to dig deep to get the West Row-based outfit to the tapes after an appeal was launched to secure £15,000 to help them line up in the 2023 National Development League (NDL).

However, unlike on that occasion, those pledging cash would then part own the club with their funds going straight into the Supporters’ Trust, which is Ribbons’ brainchild.

From left to right: Henry the mascot, Di Farmer, Steve Ribbons, Kieran Phillips and Derek Barclay
From left to right: Henry the mascot, Di Farmer, Steve Ribbons, Kieran Phillips and Derek Barclay

Club legend Rob Henry, who was present at Sunday’s meeting, said: “When I started my speedway career with Mildenhall the track hadn’t long been laid on what had been a potato field.

“Now it’s vital for all who care about both this club and the sport in general that we don’t ever go back to seeing potatoes growing there again.

“In those early days we thrived on flat out enthusiasm which was felt throughout the town and wider area and I can feel that same sense of enthusiasm in this room today.”

Henry added: “There’s clearly a future here and that the sport as a whole needs clubs like ours to be up and running today.”

Fans gathered in West Row Village Hall on Sunday
Fans gathered in West Row Village Hall on Sunday

Ribbons has a background in bringing clubs back into speedway, having done so in the past at Rye House, Wimbledon and Sittingbourne.

On the community trust model, he said: “This is a first for British Speedway. A club owned entirely by its supporters, with all posts and decisions not made by a promoter, but voted on by shareholders.

“The enthusiasm and support shown at our launch meeting on Sunday bodes very well for a sustainable and promising future.

“All monies will stay within the trust, which needs a capital outlay at first for the licence to run which involves a bond paid to the British Speedway Promoters Ltd company and some infrastructure at the venue.

“With the commitments received on Sunday by those signing up to the trust, we are very close now to reaching the necessary target for that initial outlay.”

On the agreement he reached with the owners of Mildenhall Stadium, Ribbons added: “We have secured the track for the rental cost agreed for the whole weekend when we run – so that’s the Saturday evening for our meetings and then for practice and a training school the next morning on Sunday.

“We also plan to launch a charity with a working title of the ‘Suffolk Motorcycle Rehabilitation Scheme’ whereby working with other charities and statutory organisations, we’ll give opportunities for young people who may have got involved in anti-social behaviour around the riding of bikes to channel that instead into a positive training and rehab programme.”