THERE will be no place in next year's Swindon Robins line-up for Simon Stead.

The Yorkshireman has been a popular figure at Blunsdon since he arrived for the 2009 season, but struggled to capture his best form for the majority of this season just gone.

He came close to being axed from the line-up not long after his testimonial meeting at the Abbey Stadium in August, but kept his place.

The former captain went on to play a crucial role in the play-offs as Swindon defeated Birmingham in the semis and Poole in the final.

Stead tweeted: “Just been told Ive been released from Swindon,can't believe it.To the fans, thank u,u have been amazing.”

Robins boss Alun Rossiter revealed it had been a tough to tell Stead his services were not required for 2013.

Rossiter said: “It’s never nice to tell a rider he’s not required for next year, especially one who has been loyal to the club as Simon has been, but we have decided to go in a different direction with our team-building.

“I would like to thank him for his services to Swindon over the last four years, and we hope he’ll get fixed up elsewhere quickly.

“We’ve already had other clubs on the phone enquiring about him and we wish him all the very best.

"It was a very difficult decision especially after the way we won the grand final, but these things do happen in speedway.”