Berwick Bandits announce another new face as Danyon Hume signs up for the 2024 season

Danyon Hume, seen here in the colours of Glasgow Tigers, is Berwick Bandits' third new signing. Picture: Ian Adam

The 27-year-old Buckinghamshire-born speed star becomes the third name revealed by the Shielfield Park management, joining skipper Rory Schlein and Lewis Kerr as new team manager Stewart Dickson looks to assemble a side capable of reaching the end of season play-offs.

Hume, who was a Championship double winner with Poole in 2021, also won a Premiership runner-up medal in Ipswich colours last year.

He has previously ridden for Glasgow, Birmingham and, in 2023, Redcar, and has been a consistently reliable scorer around the pacy Berwick bowl.

Dickson said: “My task is to put the last couple of hugely disappointing seasons behind the club and build a Berwick team which, as a minimum, qualifies for the play-offs.

“Riders such as Danyon, those who score consistently home and away, are key to that and we are delighted to have him on board.”

With four riders still to reveal, preparations for the new season are continuing apace behind the scenes. Season passes – £199 for 12 home fixtures – are on sale now via the club website and each one sold before close of business on December 24 will go into a Christmas Day draw, with the winner having his or her money reimbursed.

The club is also in the middle of a major sponsorship drive to ensure that the future of the club remains on a sound footing.

Co-owner Scott Courtney, who is driving the campaign, said: “As the last surviving small town British speedway club, we do a mega job selling our sponsorship and advertising packages.

“The simple fact is that we have to as it is the only way a club with Berwick’s small catchment area – not to mention one in which families have been especially hard-hit by the ongoing cost of living crisis and low wages – can compete with the Edinburgh, Glasgow, Plymouth, Poole and Oxfords of the Cab Direct Championship.

“Our valued sponsors and advertisers, in addition to the club’s monthly 5-1 Draw ensure that we not only can enter the Championship, but that we can put out a competitive team on-track.”

Details of sponsorship and advertising opportunities, which begin from £300, are available by emailing [email protected]