Veteran promoter Bob Dugard has plunged the future of Eastbourne Eagles into doubt by revealing plans to step down.

Dugard, 67, has told The Argus he will call it a day at the end of the season but has pledged his full backing, including sponsorship, to his successor should one come forward.

He cites various reasons for his decision, including increasing problems with speedway’s congested fixture list, difficulty in keeping home-produced young riders and financial concerns.

However he insists Eagles have the infra-structure in place to offer a younger, ambitious top man the chance to run a thriving Elite League club.

In a lengthy statement handed to The Argus ahead of Saturday night’s shock 49-41 home defeat to lively Belle Vue, Dugard admitted there were no guarantees Eagles would continue to race beyond this autumn.

He wrote: “If a replacement cannot be found and, heaven forbid, Eastbourne closes it may be not such a bad thing.

“Most stadiums seem to benefit from a two or three year sabbatical by which time the GPs may have lost their appeal (if the current level of entertainment is any yardstick).”

He admitted: “At the age of 67 I cannot maintain the level of interest required to win leagues.

“There are too many complications involved for me at this stage, fighting against clubs that want to win at any financial cost by buying a team which fits the maximum averages and then drop riders at will to improve by a fraction of points.”

Dugard was angered recently when Coventry went against what he felt was the spirit of the Elite League with team changes which included a return for GP rider Scott Nicholls.

He was also disillusioned by the loss of Edward Kennett in the close season, claiming in the statement it demolished his team plans.

Eagles are on course to run at a loss greater then the £50,000 for which Dugard initially budgeted and he admits competition from the Grand Prix series and other international meetings makes it tough for the club to run with their first choice team on their preferred Saturday nights.

He has called for a drastic cut in the number of Saturday night Grands Prix and argues qualifying meetings for the following year’s series should always be staged at the same time as the current season’s GPs.

He also wants the World Team Cup for under-21s to be scrapped The Dugard family, who own Arlington Stadium, have been synonymous with the Eagles for generations.

Dugard took a more low-profile role to allow first Bob Brimson, then Martin Hagon to make a go of running the club.

However neither man lasted more than one season in charge, leaving Dugard as the front man again with team manager Trevor Geer as his co-promoter.

Privately Dugard has been keen to bring in a new boss for months but now he has chosen to go public.

He will tell fellow Elite League bosses of his plans at a promoters’ meeting tomorrow.

The former rider remains passionate about the club.

He said: “I sincerely hope a replacement can be found to keep speedway at Eastbourne.

“The new promoter would find himself in a fantastic position.

“We have a great management team headed up by Trevor Geer and that is why I’ve devoted so much time and effort.

“The new promoter will be stepping into a ready-to-race stadium and can have free use of my rider assets.

“They would, however, have to stand behind any losses or gains, be responsible for all promotional activities and must be prepared to give a lot of time to the project.”

Dugard’s chances of bowing out with a play-off appearance receded as, in the absence of Lewis Bridger and with Simon Gustafsson struggling through injury, Eagles were well beaten by lowly Belle Vue.

Bridger was away qualifying for the World Under-21 Championship final by finishing fourth in his semi in Hungary while Gustafsson never recovered from various knocks incurred in a heat-two crash.

No home rider got near Krzysztof Kasprzak as he scored five wins out of five while Charlie Gjedde was a key man in his first meeting down at reserve and former Eagle Ulrich Ostergaard chipped in well.

The night started badly when Kenneth Hansen, guesting for Bridger, broke the tapes in heat one and ended worse when Lukas Dryml fell under no pressure on the final bend of the last race, gifting Aces the 4-2 they needed to take a four-point haul.

Davey Watt and Dryml managed to impede each other in heat 13 and victory beckoned for Aces in heat 14 when Cameron Woodward clipped Gjedde’s back wheel and was excluded.

Only Ricky Kling emerged with any credit from the evening and fans probably thought things could not get any worse.

They didn’t know the half of it.

Eagles: Dryml 9+1 (6), Watt 9 (5), Woodward 8 (5), Kling 8 (6), Gustafsson 5+1 (5), Hansen 2+2 (4), Norris r/r.

Belle Vue: Kasprzak 15 (5), Gjedde 12+2 (7), Ostergaard 10+1 (6), Risager 7 (5), Wright 3+1 (4), Ashworth 2+1 (3), Hougaard r/r.

Standings: Swindon (17 meetings) 40pts, Wolverhampton (15) 35, Peterborough (18) 31, Lakeside (19) 30, Coventry (18) 28, Eagles (18) 26, Ipswich (14) 15, Belle Vue (15) 15, Poole (17) 11.