STOKE are close to completing the 2019 Pride of the Potteries field with the news that veteran racer and former Potter Jon Armstrong and former Buxton captain Tom Woolley have been added to the list of competitors.

Both Armstrong and Woolley will be on the side-lines awaiting a call from clubs once the season gets underway having missed out on a team berth mainly due to the situation with team averages more than anything else and will be eager to put themselves in the shop window.

Armstrong, knows his way around the Chesterton circuit having represented the Potters in various spells at Championship level (formerly Premier League) and the National League and he also won the National League pairs for the Potters back in 2014. He has also won the National League title, Trophy, KO Cup and Fours titles as well as the Riders Championship in the leagues various names over the years. He has also ridden for various other clubs over his career such as Belle Vue, Coventry, Newport, Mildenhall, Buxton, Sheffield, Dudley and Birmingham and has been popular wherever he’s ridden.

Woolley is also another popular rider who has spent almost all of his career with the Potters former local rivals Buxton with only one year spent away from the Derbyshire track when he spent a season with the Belle Vue Colts. Woolley is Mr. Dependable and scores wherever he goes and is a regular high scorer around the Loomer road track and may well cause an upset on his day.

Potters promoter Dave Tattum said “I’ve always got on with Jon (Armstrong) and Tom (Woolley) and it’s unfortunate they have missed out on places for the start of the 2019, but you can always rely on them both getting stuck in and working hard to score points and I’m positive they will want to put in solid performances to make sure they are not forgotten especially as inevitably injuries may happen that allow them to slot in somewhere, unfortunately it’s the nature of the sport and injuries happen.”

The announcement of Jon Armstrong and Tom Woolley leaves just two riders remaining to complete the line-up and the club can confirm that the draw for the event will take place on Saturday March 30th.