The day Kent Speedway fans always hoped to see but wondered if they ever would, is this Monday (May 20th.) with the return to track of the most popular rider ever to don the Invicta race jacket, Luke Bowen.
And talking of dons – the team the former Kings’ captain is leading out into action of Monday are indeed the famous Wimbledon team of that iconic nickname, making their annual reprise appearance to contest the John Cearns Cup.
The event (staged most years since Speedway opened at the Cearnsport owned stadium in Sittingbourne) acknowledges the links between Central Park and the now sadly demolished, but for decades a veritable palace of the sport of Speedway, Wimbledon Stadium – built in the late 1920s by WJ Cearns, grandfather of Central Park supremo, Roger. Roger's father, John Cearns, remembered in the name of this annual event, was a devoted employee of the stadium in south-west London his father built for 55 years, most of that time as General Manager.
The Wimbledon Dons’ team Luke will be heading up (returning after a 10 months lay off following a serious leg injury suffered in a track crash at Central Park last July) will be spearheaded also by two of the top stars of the National League [NL]: Tom Perry and Danyon Hume. Perry, who rides for Stoke this season, has been an NL title winner with Cradley and Birmingham. A team mate of his in the Brummies' side was Hume who now has moved to the East Midlands, riding for NL-newcomers, the Leicester Lion Cubs. They are joined in the Dons’ septet by local youngster James Laker (the likeable lad from Sandwich making his first appearance of the season at Central Park) and the ever-popular former Kings rider, Jamie Couzins.
For the hosts, Jordan Jenkins is absent due to sitting college exams, meaning that the TouchTec Kings will use Rider Replacement to cover his absence – with Jacob Clouting continuing in the side. Dan Gilkes is back after missing the last home match, with Alex Spooner’s own return from injury anticipated to be a week or so further away and so he’s not yet available for selection.
For fans of the former London club and others interested in Speedway history, they’ll be a display of Wimbledon Dons race jackets through the years in the main grandstand courtesy of The Dons Den and in the main entrance lobby fans are able to see one of the original Plough Lane W.T Ellison turnstiles – a piece of historic stadium iconography to be on permanent display now at Central Park.
The much more modern Central Park Stadium turnstiles open on Monday 20th. May at 5pm with the introduction of the teams on parade at 6.15pm and tapes up for the John Cearns Cup action at 6.30pm.