SPECIAL OPENER FOR DIAMONDS

NEWCASTLE will open the 2022 season on Sunday April 3 by hosting a Stoke Potters Guest Select side in memory of former promoter Dave Tattum.

And Diamonds promoter Rob Grant, a former Stoke rider, will make one final appearance on a bike as the Potters’ No.7 – with the visitors to be managed by their former boss Nigel Crabtree and Tattum’s son Lloyd.

Grant said: “Without Dave’s assistance last season, Newcastle may well have finished the season very differently.

“The inspiration and determination that Dave had for this club was second to none and I can’t think of a better season opener than to celebrate the life of the man who almost certainly stopped Newcastle closing.

“This is something I want to do for Dave, and it will be the last time I put a leg over a bike.

“Practice and training will start in January in order to make me fit enough to carry out the laps needed to fulfil my programmed rides as I intend to go out and help put on a good show.”