SWINDON Robins' wait to defend the league and cup double they won last year could last for months.

That is the view of co-promoter Lee Kilby, who says the return of speedway in the UK is not financially viable without supporters.

Such a move is taking place in Poland, where the sport is making a behind-closed-doors comeback during the coronavirus crisis.

Meanwhile, the SGB Premiership season – due to start in late March – remains on pause.

Kilby said: “What speedway can’t afford to do is run behind closed doors.

“We don’t have the freedom to have any social distancing connected to speedway. To all intents and purposes we have to wait until that is completely removed from any sporting arena.

“There’s talk of restricting the amount of people into the stadium, all of those are just massive question marks.

“As a sport, we can’t do anything if we have to social distance or run behind closed doors, it doesn’t work.”

The Auto-Cycle Union, one of the organisations behind the sport, has given Kilby and the club a potential timeline for when they might be able to restart.

Lee added: “They’d like to think sports might be able to see activity in July with a view of August for the likes of speedway.

“They’ve given us a potential timeline to look at but it all comes back to getting the supporters in there safely.

“The bottom line for us as a club is the safety of everyone connected to the club – supporters, riders, volunteers.

“We won’t be setting foot in the stadium unless it’s safe for everybody to do so.”

One of the additional problem that the team might have to face is the loss of some of their star riders.

Jason Doyle, Troy Batchelor and Rasmus Jensen are in Poland, where the season is about to restart.

This could cause issues if the 2020 season does get under way in the UK, as the trio might not be able to return.

“One of the things that is causing supporters and ourselves concern is the fact that Poland is going to start racing again very soon,” Kilby explained.

“They’re racing behind closed doors but they have an incredible TV deal which allows them to.

“It essentially leaves us with three of our riders in Poland and we don’t know whether those riders would have the freedom to come back and race.

“If we’re able to go to track and not get those riders back then we’ll have to look at a plan B.”