Eastbourne Eagles join new league

Eastbourne HG Aerospace Eagles are delighted to be rejoining the National Development League (NDL).
Joining the NDL will enable young talent to thrive at Eastbourne Eagles / Picture: Mike HinvesJoining the NDL will enable young talent to thrive at Eastbourne Eagles / Picture: Mike Hinves
Joining the NDL will enable young talent to thrive at Eastbourne Eagles / Picture: Mike Hinves

It means the club will have three teams on track next season in three different leagues:

* Championship – the club's senior team;

* NDL – the next step on the ladder of progression; and

* MSDL – the junior team for riders just starting out on their career.

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Eastbourne managers are working hard to finalise a strong and competitive NDL team. It will have some outstanding and more experienced mentors, plus some exciting and emerging young talent. Rider announcements will begin early next week when the team name will be confirmed, plus some early fixtures.

It means the Eagles will once again be able to lock horns with Mildenhall, a club with whom they have enjoyed epic clashes over many years.

A number of Championship teams are also running NDL teams and Eastbourne will seek to run some "double header CL/NDL Fixtures" on Sunday afternoons, providing a cracking 30 heats of exciting Speedway. There will also be some NDL only home fixtures.

Director Ian Jordan said: “Our avowed intention when running a standalone NDL fixture is to deliver what many see as the "Holy Grail" of development level Speedway – a fixed £10 maximum admission fee.

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“We will also make the double headers (CL/NDL) pro-rata; exceptional value for 30 heats of Speedway.”

All 2020 Season and 10-match tickets will be valid for all CL and NDL and double header fixtures. In terms of 10-match tickets, a double header will count as ONE match. These standalone NDL fixtures will also include MSDL action too.

Eastbourne have confirmed that at least in the early season, that for their Championship only matches; there will be a 1970s/80s era four-heat “Junior Dash” second-half. This is being introduced for a number of reasons.

It will boost the enjoyment and value for money for all spectators, help ease crowd dispersal at the end of the meeting with Covid-19 in mind and give experience to unattached NDL level and the club’s MSDL level riders to optimise their track and racing opportunities.

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The Coronavirus regulations mean it will not be possible to allow the public into the pits before or after the racing for the foreseeable future, so the added four heats will aid easier transition and stagger the timing out of the Stadium and car parks.

Stand by for some more EXCLUSIVE and exciting Eagles news on this website in the coming days

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