I can remember when Lynn closed for one season in 1996, we had grand plans to go to either the EoES or the Foxhole most weeks.....ended up doing both just once plus the Overseas Final at Coventry. It's not the same as your own club and the reality is most P'boro fans will drift away if they don't run next year.
Every team wore them in 1998, pretty sure they were a Simon Wigg innovation. They began as stretchy oversuits but as the season went on riders had their own kevlars made. Lynn then took it a step further in 2000 with the silver 'machine' bike covers.
It's a matter of opinion of course but to me using your squad is preferable to borrowing riders from other clubs, although I appreciate that in this instance the final is likely to be very one sided.