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SCUNTHORPE have taken the decision to concentrate on Premier League racing only next season.The Scorpions entered a team in the National League this year, with home matches raced as double-headers, but the second-tier side will take full priority in 2015 with a greater focus on running regular Friday night meetings.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “A year ago we had a health bank balance and everything looked rosy. We were optimistic about the future and able to commit to a youth development programme through our National League side. However, due to a number of factors we have had an ‘Annus Horibilis’, as the Queen once said, and we can’t afford for it to be repeated.“We have some plans for cost-effective promotion and I believe running regular Friday night meetings will make a difference. I had quite a lot of people come to the track on a Friday night last year, when we were running on a Sunday, because they had got into a routine.“Naturally I am upset about the Stags side and gutted for Richard Hollingsworth who had put so much into running them. He had certainly put the building blocks in place for it to go from strength-to-strength and we had already seen it produce some quality assets.”

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BERWICK promoter John Anderson has stressed the club will be working on attracting new sponsorship in order to secure their long-term future.2015 will be the Bandits’ 48th season of racing but with their main team sponsorship deal having now expired, Anderson and his colleagues are set for a busy winter.He said: “At Berwick we found 2014 tough economically, like almost every club. We put together a decent team, finished fourth and made the play-offs, yet crowd levels were not brilliant. We charge the lowest admission price of all Premier League clubs, being in a rural area - we do have to be sensible.“In the past two seasons the club’s Associate Sponsorship scheme has worked very well for us and I feel this could be the way forward. We will be looking at speaking to companies, groups of fans and even individuals with a view to say having at least 20 Associate Sponsors (the club had around 12 last season) with a ballpark figure of £500 from each for the season.”

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CRADLEY bosses have confirmed they are in talks to try and keep the club on track at an alternative venue next season.The nomadic club have spent the last five seasons racing at Wolverhampton – but Monmore is only available to Elite League Wolves next year.Chairman Nigel Pearson said: “We are doing all we can to secure our immediate future although we do realise what a worrying time this has been for our supporters. We have our end of season presentation this Saturday, there will be 300 people at the Copthorne Hotel in Brierley Hill and we don’t want it to be the last supper.“It’s fair to say we are working overtime to try and reach agreement with an alternative track to race our home meetings next season, but at the time of doing this interview there is nothing in place.“That’s not to say things will change by the weekend, all we can tell our fans is we are doing our best but there are several obstacles to overcome. We are in a weak position, we have no home and we need to do something quickly.”