The current Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor Stefan Long, will attend the second leg of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Play-Off final at Foxhall on Thursday.

The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches face the Lions on October 9, and the Mayor recalls the last time the team were crowned league champions back in 1998.

“I am massively excited to be there on Thursday; I was there as a young child in 98 on that eventful night so it will bring back a lot of good memories.

“My Nan and Grandad used to take me up there every Thursday and, in the days before the fence was up, we used to jump over and grab all the old tear-offs that were kicking around on the stock car track!”

Stefan keeps up to date with the Witches’ fortunes and has happy memories of watching some of his favourite riders at Foxhall.

“I don’t go as regularly as I would like to, but I still go up occasionally and I watch it on the TV. A group of friends go up there but with work and shifts it makes it difficult. Whenever I bump into my friends we are always talking about it and there is a real sense of excitement in the air for Thursday.

“You have got to go with the local heroes back in the day, Scott Nicholls and Chris Louis! There was Tony Rickardsson and Tomasz Gollob, some big names of the sport, some are still around like Chris!”

The Mayor of Ipswich (George Hamilton Clarke MBE) was also in attendance back in 1998 to see the team lift the trophy and the current Mayor believes the town should be proud of the current crop.

“I think it is massively important for the people of Ipswich to have two professional sports clubs who are performing right up there. The speedway club are right up there at the top of their game beating teams all over the country and it should give everyone in the town a massive sense of pride.”