Cameron Woodward’s testimonial plans have put on ice – because of a £600 payout.

The Eastbourne Eagles asset, who will ride on loan at Coventry next season, has been told he must wait for his big day.

Woodward had planned to celebrate a decade of riding in this country with a gala meeting at Arlington next year.

But he has now been told the meeting cannot take place until ten years after his move from Edinburgh to Eastbourne, which was in the early weeks of the 2006 campaign.

Woodward took a 10% cut of his transfer fee when Jon Cook took him to Arlington to replace the injured Brent Werner.

The Aussie racer revealed: “You can take the 10% when you change clubs but it means the clock is reset back to zero in terms of the ten years until you can have your testimonial.

“I’ll have to wait until ten years since I joined Eastbourne rather than ten years since I came to this country.

“My cut was only £600 but I really needed the money at the time and I never thought it would affect a testimonial ten years later.

“If I could give it back now and have the testimonial next year, I would do.”

Woodward had lined up former world champion Chris Holder as his first entrant.

He reckoned the fact Eagles had dropped to the third-tier National League would have helped him attract fans to see the return of big name riders to Arlington.

Woodward is thrilled to have secured an Elite League place for next year and is now working on deals in Europe.

He heads home on December 8 and has entered for the four rounds of the Australian Championship.

But he admits he is still struggling after breaking his thigh in Poland in the closing weeks of last season.

He said: “I’m not running yet. I can cycle but I’ve still got a fair old limp.

“Even now, I sometimes have to go back to using one crutch so it’s by far the worst injury I’ve ever had.”

Woodward had talks with Wolverhampton and Lakeside over a team spot next season.

Bu he admitted: “Once I got a firm offer I went for it. Coventry are a good club and I’m relieved to get something. I’ve had nine weeks of feeling sorry for myself since the injury so it’s nice to get a signature on a bit of paper.”