\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for a horror run of injuries which decimated our original one-to-seven, I feel we could\u2019ve been pushing for playoffs and even silverware.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt was never going to be forever but stepping down from this unique club, which continues to punch above its weight while so many others with so much more in their favour in terms of catchment area and access to big business have fallen by the wayside, is a wrench.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn other ways it\u2019s pretty straight-forward and one thing I am certain of is that the club\u2019s present and future is so much more secure going forward than when we took over.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI knew what Berwick Speedway meant to so many people, the town and the surrounding area. Quite simply we had to give it a go and make sure it survived \u2013 and I\u2019m so glad we did \u2013 but now is the time for both myself and the club to embark on a new direction.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMaking my decision last winter allowed us to ensure the club has the right people in the right places moving forward and on the face of things, I expect things to appear largely unchanged with a few new faces where required.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t be signing off and leaving my part of the club in better hands than with Jamie and the people I\u2019ve worked so closely with over the years.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t be a stranger and will happily muck in when I can on race nights, remaining a proud supporter of the Bandits, spreading the word and most importantly, enjoying the speedway.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Under the watch of the brothers the club, despite failing to reach the play-offs, has been put on a sound financial footing thanks in no small part to the branding and sponsorship work of Scott Courtney along with the hugely successful 5-1 Draw which has raised \u00a355,000 \u2013 and paid almost as much out in prizes \u2013 since being launched by the brothers in 2019.<\/p>\n Part of the money has been used to widen the racetrack, the biggest in Britain, and upgrade the speedway facilities at the venue which first saw speedway in 1968.<\/p>\n The also constructed a training track at nearby Duns and are now looking for someone to take over the running of that facility.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough we haven\u2019t achieved a huge collection of trophies we\u2019ve done lots of progressive, forward thinking, positive things together and I will be forever grateful that I took the opportunity to do my best for my home town club”,<\/em> Courtney added.<\/p>\n Words by Berwick Speedway – Images by Keith Hamblin\/Nia Martin<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scott Courtney is stepping down as co-owner of Berwick Speedway after seven years at the helm. Along with brother Jamie the 41-year-old bought the club from John Anderson during the winter of 2016. The son of Berwick legend Mark, Scott acted as mechanic for a number of riders and as Bandits\u2019 team manager before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,51],"tags":[36,8,100,9],"class_list":["post-2680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-british-speedway","category-speedway","category-the-championship","tag-berwick-bandits","tag-british-speedway","tag-championship","tag-speedway"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/speedwayhub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Scott-reflects-1024x704.jpg\")
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