Could 2025 be the year for the Stars and Linnets?

In his weekly Your Local Paper column, Gavin Caney predicts a 2025 to remember for the King’s Lynn Stars and King’s Lynn Town Football Club.New Year, same old me.The town’s speedway fans will certainly be hoping that expression isn’t the order of the day for King’s Lynn Stars when the clock struck 12pm last night.Lynn’s shale heroes haven’t made the play-offs since 2018 and it feels like every year there’s plenty of upbeat chat about ‘finishing in the top four’.But there’s a serious chance that any New Year’s Resolutions around reaching the end-of-season shootout for silverware won’t be broken at the Adrian Flux Arena in 2025.The next 365 days will require some of the bad luck to disappear from Saddlebow Road for it to happen. Yet I’m quite confident in stating that the top four will be reached again when ‘next year’ becomes ‘this one’ tomorrow.The New Year period offers plenty of reflection but the chance to look forward to and a bright future for the Stars would appear in most crystal balls. The return of the Young Stars, a junior development pathway, is another step forward in the club getting its house in order for the here and now – and the future. They might have to finish in the last slot available to make the top four, but Rob Lyon, Buster Chapman and Dale Allitt have built a powerful side that will take some beating, especially at home.It’s not always been as dominant on home soil for King’s Lynn’s other major sporting outfit, its football club Town. Over 1,200 people, myself included, watched another disappointing home performance to a lowly side on Boxing Day, this time Needham Market.But National League North is throwing up plenty of twists and turns already and as long as Adam Lakeland’s men can keep picking up points on the road their little slip-ups at The Walks shouldn’t be too damaging. Let’s not forget that 12 months ago this side were in a relegation scrap and now they’re firmly in the hunt for reaching the play-offs – which is where I believe this side will end up come the campaign’s conclusion.They couldn’t quite land the title under Tommy Widdrington and my gut feeling suggests top spot remains a little out of reach; especially if holding midfielder Cody Johnson returns to parent club Stockport after this afternoon’s trip to Lincolnshire. Championship celebrations may still arrive if Lynn can really build up a head of steam and Gold Omotayo can have the same sort of impact he had during 2022/23.Yet it still feels like another heartstopping play-off campaign seems to be just around the corner for the boys in blue and gold. Given the results and final standings throughout 2024, supporters of both would probably be happy with play-off finishes now, regardless of what happens thereafter. Here’s hoping it’s a Happy New Year all round!The soap opera that is The Walks is spinning out another fascinating storyline.The talk on the terraces is that the club’s yet-to-be-officially confirmed new commercial director and investor Joseph Phua are running things at King’s Lynn Town.The latter’s investment seemingly kept the Linnets afloat in late 2023 but as to how much was pumped in to steady the ship is anybody’s guess. The same goes for whether it’s given the Singaporean more control.However, Cleeve’s silence and lack of clarity from official media channels is only fanning the flames of the rumour mill. Lynn’s owner used his column in a rival local newspaper to state “Jo has bought in a new commercial director with Football League experience” and it would be “announced shortly”. That was published online on November 23.What’s the delay? Why does everyone around town know about ‘Bal’ but nothing has been officially confirmed about his arrival and role?Cleeve’s deleted post on LinkedIn seeking further investment poured further confusion around the state of play. What is going on?Lynn Football Club, old and reformed, has long provided enough drama to rival EastEnders. Yet it really doesn’t need to be this cloak and dagger. Some transparency would just quieten all the noise and let everyone get behind, and understand, the vision for the future. It may have been tighter than the judges scored it, but they still made the right call.Only the most biased or uninformed can lay claim to the fact that Tyson Fury beat Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch just before Christmas.It certainly wasn’t the daylight robbery that poor Dave Allen suffered on the undercard when he turned his bout on its head and battered Johnny Fisher.It wasn’t even a robbery. Usyk won fair and square. So what next for Fury, the self-coined Gypsy King? A trilogy must be off the cards given he’s lost to the Ukrainian twice. So is now the time to finally lock horns with fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua?Unfortunately, it all feels a case of too little, too late with the pair coming towards the end of their careers and suffering from a number of defeats and poor performances.Across the last five to eight years, there was genuine momentum and excitement about both – especially AJ. The public were engaged, there was belief and everyone was rooting for the mother of all UK showdowns.But it never happened. And now it might – for one final pay day for two men who are not the powers that they once were.Usyk is streets ahead of both, which is nothing to be ashamed about, so it’s hard to wonder where either’s next challenge lays – well unless Fury does decide to hang up his gloves.