NEWPORT Wasps fans are set for an early Christmas present – confirmation of the return of their beloved speedway team in March following a near 12-month absence.

Father Christmas comes in the shape of Newport-based businessman Steve Mallett, who has earmarked December 12 as the day he hopes to accept the keys of Hayley Stadium - Wasps’ purpose-built home ground near the Llanwern steelworks.

Newport Wasps’ name was accepted for the 2009 British Premier League season by the British Promoters Association at its annual general meeting, which ended last Sunday.

“There are a few Is to be dotted and Ts to be crossed, but hopefully the deal will be concluded on December 12,” said Mallett, managing director of Mallett Transport.

“I’m delighted to be on the verge of bringing speedway back to Newport and I know Wasps fans will be thrilled by the prospect of the possibility of once again seeing their team in action.”  The roar of speedway engines in a competitive fixture has not been heard at the venue since the death of Newport Speedway Ltd owner and promoter Tim Stone, who died in April aged 54 while visiting his ill mother at the city’s Royal Gwent Hospital.

All of the seven-strong riding team left to join rival BPL clubs with the BSPA  eventually confirming the Wasps would not run again this year.  Now Mallett is set to end months of negotiations to become the new owner of Newport Speedway Ltd and last night exclusively revealed more good news for Wasps followers.

“We plan to run an Academy team in 2009, but with a view to reforming junior side Newport Mavericks the following year,” he said.

“It’s crucial speedway club has a conveyor belt designed to produce riders for its senior line-up.”

Mallett had strong links with the previous regime at Newport, often ploughing much-needed sponsorship cash into the club as well as financially backing Austra-lian ace Craig Watson – one of the most popular Wasps riders of the modern era.

Stone, helped by an army of volunteers, built Hayley Stadium in time for the 1997 speedway season to bring the sport back to Newport for the first time in 30 years.

The move was an instant success and by the time the club lifted the BPL Trophy with a thrilling second-leg home win over Edinburgh Monarchs in 1999, crowds were in excess of 2,000.

In recent years, the team’s lack of success has resulted in more modest crowds passing through Hayley Stadium’s turnstiles, although it would only take one good Wasps team to witness a huge resurgence.    * The Newport Wasps Supporters Club’s next meeting will be held on November 30 at a venue yet to be confirmed.