STEPHEN CRAIGAN has faced and beaten the likes of footballing icons Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Xavi and Fernando Torres.
But the ex-Northern Ireland captain reckons he might just feel as nervous when he presents Glasgow Tigers’ new streaming coverage on QTV which launches tomorrow (Friday) in their home clash with Kent Kings.
Craigan, 44, was a central defender in the NI teams that beat England and Spain in major tournament qualifiers but is swapping offsides for biking slides on the shale for Glasgow.
The former Motherwell and Partick Thistle stalwart is already part of BT’s Scottish football coverage but he doesn’t aim to be too outrageous behind the mic reporting on Craig Cook and co.
He admitted: “Will I be more Roy Keane or Laura Woods? I think I’m more Darrell Currie to be honest, who presents BT’s Scottish football!
“It’s not something I’ve done before. But it will be good fun and there will be plenty of talking points, there always is with speedway.
“It will be different for fans to watch it on QTV to start with. Obviously we all want fans back as soon as possible.
“Over the past few years Glasgow have been a club who want to be best on the track and with this TV coverage, the best off track as well.
“I’m definitely out of my comfort zone. It will be new and nerve-wracking.
“But when you’ve faced up to world class footballers over the years, you wonder what else can make you as nervous. Well I think I’ve found it, presenting TV for Glasgow Tigers!
“On a personal level nothing reaches beating England and Spain. But to be part of something that becomes successful for Glasgow fans, I can relate to that feeling of elation.
“If I see the Tigers win the league it will definitely remind me of how I felt those nights. Especially how the riders feel, that sense of achievement, the journey you’ve been through, the tough times you’ve had.
“For a speedway rider there’s the engine blows, the costs, the injuries. Then you get the success and you think that was worth it. No matter how tough it has been, when you are successful. You ask yourself, would you do it again and you say yes you would!
“I personally miss that changing room camaraderie. I know that Glasgow focus on getting the riders to generate that togetherness and to operate as a team.
“These guys are risking their lives every time they go on a bike. It’s a unique sport as well because you race on your own essentially but in a team, no matter what you get paid differently. You’ve got to be so strong mentally to deal with that.
“I feel that rush of adrenaline when the tapes go up. So many things can change in a split second, a bad start, wrong move, a wrong decision.
“People have said to me do I fancy ever going on a bike. I always say no chance!”
Craigan will be the spearhead of a state-of-art new streaming production for Glasgow as they open the season behind-closed-doors at Ashfield. The opening fixture against Kent will be fronted by Nigel Pearson but then Craigan will be in place for the next clash against Poole on June 4.
Ironically Craigan started his football career at Blantyre Victoria, a name so steeping in Tigers history.
He added: “I started watching speedway back in 2000. I was at Partick Thistle at the time and Michael Max was there and Alan Dick was promoter.
“They always said come and watch speedway. My late father and brother’s backgrounds were both in motocross. I never rode a motocross bike, I was never brave enough. But I used to go and follow my elder brother, he was racing from the age of seven or eight.
“So motocross was in our family breakdown and we’ve always had an interest in motorsport. So as soon as I went to Glasgow, I was like ‘wow, I just love this’.
“There’s something exhilarating about it. It was fast and everything about it sort of grabbed me. I couldn’t wait to tell my dad because every time he came over he said he wanted to go to speedway, God rest his soul.
“I then had my daughter in 2010 and I fell away from speedway because my days off were taken up with having a young family.
“I always watched it on TV with the Grand Prix meetings. But I said to my daughter Chloe a few years ago do you want to go to speedway and we’ve been going to Glasgow together for a while now.
“The Facenna have changed Glasgow beyond the wildest dreams of the fans. They’ve invested in the stadium and team and want it to be successful for everyone involved.
“It would be a nice reward for the hard work that has gone in behind the scenes for six years for them to get some success.
“Supporters have been there for years and years through thick and thin and suffered the tough times. It’s nice that they can be proud of their club now.
“There have been times where fans have travelled away and known they are going to get beaten and the same at home. But now there’s a lot of optimism around the club. The next step is being successful trophy-wise.”