LEICESTER Lions have confirmed plans to return to the top flight of British speedway next year.

The Lions, who will face Poole Pirates in this year's Championship grand final later this month, last competed in the Premiership in 2018, finishing bottom with just seven wins from 24 meetings. That followed the two previous seasons, where the Lions also ended at the foot of the table.

They won the Championship title in 2019, before losing out to Poole in the semi-finals last year.

Leicester then topped the league standings this season, and will hope to end their stay in the second tier with victory over Pirates over two legs on October 21 and 22.

Lions co-owner Damien Bates explained the decision to move up into the Premiership, and confirmed Stewart Dickson would be staying on as team manager.

Bates said: “We’ve given this matter a great deal of thought throughout the year, and having stabilised and grown the club over the past few seasons, we do feel this is the appropriate time.

“With the way the leagues have evolved in recent years, we feel that at the moment the Premiership is better suited to our own business model, and we’re confident the club can thrive at that level.

“In addition, the travel costs of racing in the Championship have escalated and we incur significant costs with matches against the likes of Glasgow, Berwick, Edinburgh, Poole and Plymouth – and it’s also expensive for our supporters.

“It also feels like there are now even more counter-attractions on Saturday evenings with the Grand Prix, and then in the football season the 5.30pm game is often a prominent one, plus there’s further competition on occasions with the rugby.

“The club is now far more equipped to compete at Premiership level."

Dickson added: "I understand supporters might be a bit sceptical about returning to the Premiership given how tough it was for them the last time the Lions raced at that level.

“But I do very much concur with the views of the owners, and I think the supporters will know me well enough by now to understand that I don’t ever plan to go into a season looking to make the numbers up."