Etheridge back at Berwick Bandits
Berwick Bandits have unveiled Jye Etheridge as their fifth signing for the 2026 season.
The Australian rejoins after spending 2025 at Workington, resuming an impressive career with the Borders’ club which has seen him score 798 points in Berwick colours – 600 at Shielfield Park alone – during his previous seven seasons.
Arriving in 2017 after short and unsuccessful spells at Edinburgh and Redcar, Etheridge is a former captain and number one of the Bandits and was voted the club’s Rider of the Year in each of his first three seasons.
Now aged 31, Etheridge hails from Newcastle, New South Wales, but lives just half a mile away from the pacy Borders circuit.
And he showed he still knows the fastest lines around the Shielfield Park raceway in 2025 with a paid 16 haul guesting for Edinburgh in the BSN Series and then paid seven, including a tapes exclusion when the Comets were well beaten Berwick’s last home fixture of the season.
He arrives on a 5.45 average to partner Peter Kildemand, Nick Morris, Victor Palovaara and Lasse Fredriksen and complete the club’s top five for the new Championship campaign, leaving Berwick with 6.8 points to complete their starting seven.
Bandits’ team manager Stewart Dickson said: “We are well aware of what Jye brings to the engine room of the side and he was a name I had discussed with (club owner) Jamie Courtney and co-promoters Steve Dews and Sarah Bulman even before it became clear he didn’t figure in Workington’s plans for 2026.
“I believe we have assembled a top five which gives us strong pairings both home and away and a side capable of challenging in 2026.”
Meanwhile, admission prices have been frozen for the forthcoming speedway season at Shielfield Park.
Adult admission has been pegged at £20, concessions for pensioners and students at £18 and the popular scheme where accompanied under-16s are admitted free has been extended.
Eight Championship fixtures, two BSN Series meetings and a leg of the Knockout Cup are guaranteed for the passes - £199 (£189) concessions – on sale via the club’s website.
“The cost of everything, including staging speedway, has risen dramatically over the past few years and it is a very expensive sport to stage,” Courtney said.
“But we are also aware that money is tight for people, especially in Berwick and the Borders, so we are trying to make a Saturday at Shielfield as affordable as possible.
“There’s not much that the cost of hasn’t risen sharply recently, watching Berwick Bandits is an exception.”