Redcar Bears boss Gavin Parr believes the club can look forward to 2025 after the Redcar “Agilia” Bears class of 2025 was announced in front of a packed clubhouse at the ECCO Arena last night.
The Redcar promotion have retained the services of Charles Wright, Danny King, Jason Edwards and Jake Mulford whilst Erik Riss makes a welcome return to the Bears as a heat leader. Additionally, the club have secured the services of the exciting Ace Pijper whilst Tom Spencer makes his Cab Direct Championship debut with the Bears at reserve alongside Pijper.
The headline signing was the return of Erik Riss to Redcar with Parr revealing he was desperate for the German to don Bears colours again. Parr said, “ When the points limit was set at 40 points, I wanted Erik back in the side, he has been a huge part of the club since 2019 and he is someone I enjoy working with. When he was last with us in 2022, he had his health problems and with the points limit being 38 last season, we couldn’t fit him in which we were naturally disappointed with.”
Parr is also delighted that he has retained the services of his two top stars from last season, Charles Wright and Danny King. Parr said, “ My relationship with Charles has developed really well in the last couple of seasons, Charles is Redcar through and through and I couldn’t imagine Redcar without him. Danny didn’t have his best season last year, he struggled with his injury but with that getting sorted before the new year, I am confident he can increase his average.”
The passionate team boss is also ecstatic to welcome back Jason Edwards and Jake Mulford to the club. Parr said, “ Jason’s average has increased season on season for the Bears and if he can do that again, then he will be pushing the three heat leaders. In Jake’s (Mulford’s) case, he moves into the main body of the side from reserve. Jake has so much ability but he just needs to believe in himself more, there is absolutely no reason why he cannot go from strength to strength in 2025.”
The club promotion have refreshed their reserves this season with Ace Pijper returning to the Cab Direct Championship after his 2024 mid-season release from Glasgow whilst Tom Spencer makes his full-time second tier bow with the Bears and Parr is excited to see what the British duo can offer. Parr said, “ There is absolutely no pressure on either of our reserves, we tried to sign Ace after the Silver Helmet in 2019 but with him still being at school he moved to Glasgow, partly for logistical reasons. Ace upped his average last season so if he can do that again for Redcar I will be a happy man. In Tom’s case, he is making his full debut at this level so there will be no pressure on him. I used to ride against Tom when he started in speedway, I think he is a bit of a slow burner, a little like Jason Edwards but if he can go out there and win heat two, I will be over the moon.”
Finally, after the Bears have been hit with pre-season injuries in recent seasons, Parr is keen to keep his chosen septet together. Parr said, “ I don’t need any good luck, just no bad luck. I would like a bit of Poole’s luck as they seem to be able to keep their sides away from injuries so I would like a little bit of that to come our way.”
Redcar “Agilia” Bears
Charles Wright ©
Jake Mulford
Danny King
Jason Edwards
Erik Riss
Tom Spencer
Ace Pijper
™: Gavin Parr
Words and Feature Image by the Redcar Bears
