CHAMPIONSHIP COUNTDOWN: TRANSFERS TO WATCH

AS ever during the winter there has been plenty of transfer activity with a number of riders set to be wearing different team colours when the action gets underway next month.

Today we put the focus on the Cab Direct Championship and some of the key moves which have taken place.

Intriguingly, two of the riders who competed in last season’s Grand Final between Glasgow and Poole have now switched to the other club for 2024!

With a new points limit along with a new club in Workington, who step back to this level following the successful launch of racing at Northside last year, plenty of interesting moves have been made.

Here’s ten of the winter transfers to look out for this season…

Steve Worrall – Poole to Glasgow

There wasn’t much more that Worrall could have achieved during his three years at Wimborne Road, which included two league titles, two KO Cups and even in what was regarded as a below-par campaign in 2023, the Pirates still took the BSN Series.

Much of their success had been at the expense of Glasgow before the Tigers turned the tables in the Grand Final last autumn, but by the end of the season Worrall had already confirmed he would be leaving Dorset.

A fresh challenge awaits at Ashfield where, on paper, he forms one of the Championship’s strongest top two spearheads as he combines with Chris Harris.

Lewis Kerr – Oxford to Berwick

With an impressive average of 8.60 Kerr ended 2023 as second heat-leader for Oxford, but it was clear that under the new points limit the Cheetahs would have to shed one of their top three riders.

That presented an opportunity for Berwick, now under the management of Stewart Dickson, to move in and make Kerr the marquee signing for their rebuilt team.

The 33-year-old will come in as No.1 for the Bandits, who lacked top-end support for captain Rory Schlein throughout much of last season and would now appear to have solved that problem.

Craig Cook – Edinburgh to Workington

Cook’s return to Edinburgh after his stint with the Monarchs’ local rivals Glasgow didn’t go entirely according to plan for a number of reasons, but he still ended 2023 with a Championship average of 8.74.

The move back to his ‘home’ club Workington, where he started his career at this level at Derwent Park in 2009-10 and also rode for the Comets in 2017, could just come at exactly the right time for both rider and club.

There’s no doubt that if he enjoys his racing at Northside and steers clear of misfortune, Cook could reclaim his position at the very top of the league’s averages.

Kyle Howarth – Plymouth to Scunthorpe

Since Sheffield’s move up to the Premiership in 2021, Howarth has ridden for Leicester and Plymouth in the Championship, with his average just under eight after an up-and-down season last year.

Now he faces the considerable task of stepping into the boots of Ryan Douglas at the Eddie Wright Raceway, with the Scorpions’ former No.1 having recorded the highest league average of 9.56 last year before announcing his decision to step away from the league.

But Howarth and Scunthorpe also appears to be a good fit, and it takes the 30-year-old back to where it all began in the NDL in 2009 as the Scorpions look to build on last year’s KO Cup success.

Justin Sedgmen – Birmingham to Edinburgh

After two seasons with Birmingham, Sedgmen heads back north in 2024 and back to the club where he enjoyed massive success with back-to-back league titles in 2014-15, for what will be his third spell with the Monarchs.

An interesting feature of the Australian’s ’23 campaign was the fact that his away average was much higher than his home figure at Perry Barr – on the road, he recorded 8.59, and a repeat of that form at Armadale would be exactly what the Monarchs need to back up Josh Pickering.

Sedgmen will have additional incentive to score heavily as despite a solid season with Leicester last year he has so far been overlooked for a team place in the Premiership.

Tom Brennan – Glasgow to Poole

Every winter there is a transfer which nobody saw coming, and this one falls into that category as Brennan makes the switch from Ashfield to Wimborne Road after two and a half years with the Tigers.

Rumours had circulated that Brennan was looking to sit out the Championship this season, and that meant the Pirates themselves were surprised when he approached them with the midweek home race night being useful for his schedule, and seemingly readjusted their team plans to bring him in.

Brennan was a key figure in last season’s Grand Final, with scores of 9+2 and 9+1 including the vital 5-1 in Heat 1 of the second leg, and he is another rider whose away average was higher than his home figure in 2023.

Leon Flint – Berwick to Glasgow

Having ridden for his ‘home’ club Berwick ever since coming into the Championship in 2019, this is another intriguing move as Flint makes the switch to Ashfield to link up with the defending champions.

Flint sees the change as an important step in his career in order to experience new tracks and new challenges, and his initial responsibility will be to hold control of the middle-order with the Tigers having a strong spearhead of Chris Harris and Steve Worrall.

The former British U19 and U21 Champion won’t have long before a reunion with his old club, as the Tigers visit Shielfield Park in the BSN Series on April 6.

Troy Batchelor – Birmingham to Workington

Batchelor spent the second half of the 2023 season with Birmingham after initially missing out on places in both leagues, although a team spot with Leicester in the top-flight turned out to be short-lived.

The 36-year-old had previously scored heavily in the Championship with Kent, prior to his switch to Oxford in 2022, and of course pre-Covid he was also a big part of Swindon’s success in the Premiership.

Now he comes into the Comets’ line-up where there will be responsibility not only for points scoring but also to provide the benefit of his considerable experience to a team which includes several UK newcomers.

Drew Kemp – Scunthorpe to Berwick

Kemp was arguably the difference between Scunthorpe and Poole in the KO Cup Final last autumn, as he frustrated his former club with scores of 10+1 and 10+2 as the Scorpions lifted the silverware – and that came after a 13+2 haul at Wimborne Road in the play-offs.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey has admitted leaving Kemp out of the 2024 team was a tough decision as he’d certainly done his job after coming in as part of changes early in the campaign.

But that could also turn out to be good news for Berwick as they bring jn a rider who got things moving the right way last year, and who will actually have the same team manager in both leagues as he also continues with Stewart Dickson at Leicester in the Premiership.

Kyle Newman – Poole to Plymouth

Having increased his average from 4.40 to 5.65 last year, Newman could probably count himself unfortunate that he found himself out of Poole’s plans for 2024, especially as he made several high-scoring contributions over the course of the campaign.

The move to Plymouth takes Newman back to the club he represented in 2014-16, and the later campaign saw him involved in arguably the greatest success in their history as they won the Premier League Fours at Peterborough.

This year’s Gladiators team has been built around strength in depth, with Newman due to start as third in their averages, although the serious injuries suffered by Nico Covatti in Argentina last week leave the club with a major gap to fill.