Carter calls it a day.

The 'Lincs FM' Scunthorpe Scorpions' club captain, Wayne Carter, has decided to retire from the sport after eighteen years.

The 35-year old Yorkshireman announced at the club's end of season Presentation Night that he had ridden his last race for the Scorpions after breaking his leg back in August. Carter confirmed that the injury was healing well but he feared it wouldn't stand up to anymore racing.

Carter's career started in the late 80's when he appeared for Wolverhampton in the country's top league. He won a league title in 1991 and stayed with the club until 1995. 1996 was split between Middlesbrough and Belle Vue before riding for three years with the Isle of Wight in the Premier League. 2000 saw him back in the Elite League with Wolverhampton for a season before stints at Belle Vue, Coventry, Berwick, Newcastle and Edinburgh. He won a Premier League championship with Edinburgh in 2003 but then ended up sitting on the sidelines without a team place for most of 2004.

After practicing at the newly built Scunthorpe Raceway in the winter he was signed by the Scorpions to lead the team in their first season. For the first time in his career he was the top rider in a team and he revelled in it, scoring 418 points in 2005. A runaway winner of 'Rider of the Year' he was quick to re-sign for 2006 and all was going well until the injury at Cleveland. Sadly, Wayne's retirement means he will not be able to fulfil his wish of riding for twenty years.

As a thank you to Wayne the 2007 speedway season at Scunthorpe is expected to kick off with a benefit meeting in his honour. Whilst no date has been set it is expected that riders from the higher leagues will want to take part and pay tribute to one of the sport's most popular riders.