Peterborough Panthers have returned to Alwalton....for one night only

And fans, starved of seeing their speedway team in live action, have the chance to relive one of the biggest trophy celebrations in the club’s long history.​

A specially edited film of the famous ‘Dad’s Army’ team being crowned top-flight league champions after their two-leg Grand Final victory against Belle Vue in 2021 will be premiered at a special ‘Speedway Returns to Alwalton’ night later this month.

The team has been booted off their East of England Arena base as developers planned for a multi-use leisure village and 1,500 homes, but included no provision for Speedway. There will not be Peterborough team racing competitively in 2024.

A consortium of fans has been set to up to challenge that decision with hope they might one day see Panthers race again in the city. They have received some city council support.

The ‘Dad’s Army’ event has been organised by Panthers Speedway Supporters’ Club, whose chair Katy Lewis said: “We might not have racing at the Showground this year, but we want to keep our fans involved and fully up to date as to what we are doing and what better way than looking back at that stunning 2021 season?”

The Panthers team of Ulrich Ostergaard, Chris Harris, Scott Nicholls, Bjarne Pedersen, Hans Andersen, Michael Palm Toft and Jordan Palin began the season as rank outsiders for the title. They were dubbed ‘Dad’s Army’ because of the average age of the squad.

But they defied the odds, finished top of the regular season table, beat Wolverhampton in the play-off semi-final and then set up a night to remember at the Showground after holding the powerful Belle Vue side to only a two-point lead from the first leg of the Grand Final.

In the return at Alwalton, Panthers ran out easy winners to clinch what was their third top-flight league title success, following on from championship winning seasons in 1997 and 2006.

They are still the only professional Peterborough sports team to win the league at the highest level.

Katy Lewis added: “The film has been produced in partnership with English Media Productions and will show all the highlights along with exclusive interviews with the riders who made it all possible.

“It would be great to see a big audience with our fans in their red, black or purple to show everyone on Peterborough City Council that the desire for speedway is stronger than ever.

“It’s also a great opportunity for our fans to meet up again and I am sure there will be members of the consortium fighting to keep the sport alive in Peterborough there to update everyone on what has been happening and what is planned for the future.”

The event is at the Colonel Dane Memorial Hall in Church Street, Alwalton – a mile or so from speedway’s home for more than 50 years – at 7.30pm on Friday, May 31.

Tickets (£3 for members, £4 for non-members and under 15s free) are by e-mail from [email protected].