ASTON VILLA and England Under-21 defender Craig Gardner is the latest soccer player to be bitten by the speedway bug ... and all thanks to a fight!  The 21-year old, who has made six Under-21 caps and scored three times for Villa in the Barclays Premier League last season, was a guest at Coventry's Elite League clash against Poole last Friday at the request of Castle Cover Pirates co-promoter Matt Ford.

Ford met Gardner at the recent Amir Khan top-of-the-bill fight at the NIC at Birmingham where Ford's close friend, boxer Steve Bendall, won the English middleweight title during the evening in one of the support contests to the main event. The Pirates chief admitted: "I met Craig ringside at Birmingham and we talked about speedway and he said he was very keen to watch a meeting. I gave him my number but didn't expect to hear any more from him. But he has was true to his word and I suggested he meet me at Coventry last week for the Pirates match at Brandon. I would like to thank the Bees management for looking after Craig so well."

Gardner was impressed, admitting: "After my conversation with Matt, I didn't know what to expect. But I really had a great evening and cannot believe how skilful and competitive speedway racing is. I would like to thank Matt and Coventry Speedway for providing such a wonderful evening for me. I'm genuinely hooked."

Ford added: "Craig is the sort of player you hope will succeed in the game. There is so much bad press for Premier League football, here is an extremely humble bloke who couldn't have been more appreciative. He's a terrific example for any kid starting out in the game today"

Gardner has already booked Bees' Knock Out Cup semi-final date with the Castle Cover Pirates on August 11 at Brandon as the next date on his racing calendar and - with the permission of the Coventry management - hopes to be able to bring along some of his Villa team mates.

"I've told Craig, I'm expecting a far tougher Coventry side in the cup in a month's time after the problems with injuries and Grand Prix commitments they had last week," said Ford.