Andersen in Panthers dispute

Andersen: Set to leave Fotospeedway.pl

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Hans Andersen looks to have ridden his last race for Peterborough Panthers.

The Panthers have been hit by financial in-security after co-promoter Mick Bratley - who is also Andersen's manager - stepped down from his role at The East of England Showground.

A takeover of the club also failed to materialise and boss Colin Horton was forced to offer revised terms to his number one.

But Andersen has gone public over monies owed to him and now he has been handed a 14-day ban for withholding his services, although he insists he wants to continue riding in England - with a host of Elite League clubs likely to open talks with the popular Dane.

"At the end of the day I have my set-up over here, so I might as well use it. I enjoy racing in England and I would love for that to continue," he said.

Panthers' problems

Horton has addressed Peterborough's fans to reveal the current situation at the club.

"The financial cost of running an Elite League speedway does not come cheaply and we do need to reduce our general running costs, we are not the only speedway club in this situation but we have been badly affected by crowds being down and having had several meetings rained off," he explained.

"One of our inherent problems has been arranging a fixture around the many other events that go on at the Showground; this has led to us having very few home meetings recently, with only 3 in the last 3 months. Obviously this has played a major part in our finances as without home matches we have very little income.

"All the riders in the team bar Hans are paid up to date, and I am taking steps to ensure he receives every penny that he is owed, as a result of our current finances I can confirm that we have offered Hans Andersen a new contract and this is being discussed at the moment.

"We do not want or wish to see Hans leave the club, but if he does choose to leave he will be greatly missed and we wish him all the best for the future. We have had to make this hard decision to ensure the survival of speedway at Peterborough in the future.

"I have recently spoken to a third party with regards to taking over ownership of the club, it's fair to say we discussed the matter at length and we got very close to agreement, but his value of the club and mine were different and we were unable to agree a deal which was acceptable to both parties.

"I can assure everyone I have no intention of walking away and letting the club go to the wall, and I am confident we can move on from here, with the support of the riders and its supporters Peterborough Speedway can get through this difficult time and get back on track."