Wee Eck

The current “owners” of Belle Vue Speedway have never owned the stadium and neither did the previous owners. It was built and paid for by Manchester City Council and is built on their land. Looking at the detail behind Greenwich Leisure Limited, it looks like they have huge experience of running council owned sports and leisure facilities. It also looks like BV’s only involvement at the NSS is as day (evening) use tenants. They don’t seem to generate any income from the bars and catering facilities, including the Peter Craven suite. A far cry from what the previous owners envisaged. And, if they are just turnkey tenants, as the old BV were at the previous stadium, why are there people on permanent payroll?

I think the goal posts have moved on that one and there’s nowhere now for him to go within speedway

I think there will be mixed views on this. He’s certainly been part of the team that has kept BV alive since the bankruptcy of the previous promotion, but they’ve not really moved things forward, have they? Part of the original concept for the NSS was that it was to be a training hub for young riders, operated by BV. That never happened and it was only because of the hard work of Ian Sinderson (ATPI) Richard Cotton (Rentruck) and a whole host of others through “No Limits” that any training took place at the NSS. Ultimately, the bulk of the training took place away from the NSS as the rent requested by BV made it non-viable for No Limits. If you look at what Glasgow, Berwick and Isle of Wight have done in the last few years, and compare that to the efforts of BV, the picture, to me, is one of under achievement. Perhaps if there is a change of management, and at the moment, it’s not clear if Mr Smith has just stood down as a promoter, then progress on all fronts - promotion, community involvement and training - will be made.

Covid or work permit restrictions?

But that’s not how it works. The Star prints the teams’ press releases then has further contributions from the likes of Peter Oakes, Phil Lanning and some others. If Birmingham don’t “feed” the Star, then the Star won’t do their work for them.

Has Ellis not moved back to Australia and set up a personal training business? That was certainly the direction he took in 2020 and 2021

That’s been a rumour floating for some time…..but is it a misunderstanding and it’s Kyle, not Kye? And is the Dan, DanThompson rather than Dan Bewley? Whatever it is, I suspect that Thomson/Thompson is right

Which Championship team in 2021 “put together a good side to begin with”?

Nope

I think you missed the irony

I think you’ll find arnieg is correct. As at 31 December 2020, the company had £1,000 of share capital and £633,975 of accumulated losses leaving it with a net deficit of £632,975. This was made up of business assets totalling £185,144 and total liabilities, most of which will be monies owed to the owners, of £818,119. The business lost approximately £271k in 2017, £153k in 2018, £94k in 2019 and £115k in 2020. As the club only ran a handful of meetings in 2020, my assumption is that it is fixed overheads that are causing the huge losses rather than day to day running of meetings

I’m not sure if you’re being ironic matching David Gordon with the pits….. But certainly some acknowledgement of the importance to Belle Vue of Chris Morton and Peter Collins is long overdue

I’m not sure I’d go as far as saying he’s a danger to others, and perhaps “terrible” is too strong a word to use. In my view, he’s a terrific grass and long tracker, sports that require riders to sit on the seat all the way through, but can’t adapt his style to speedway where the top riders move off their seat during the race to switch between grip and speed. If you watch Zmarzlik for instance, he never stays still. I watched the 1980 (I think) Intercontinental Final on YouTube recently, won by Chris Morton and you could see him doing the same thing, working the bike for the whole race. James just seems to let the bike work him. I had hoped that riding in the same team as Chris Harris would have helped him by spotting how the Bomber changes styles for different disciplines but maybe James is too set in his ways to change? After all, he’s been riding grasstrack since he was 6!

Hardy “lads” with a 30 year old and two who are 28. But, Edinburgh have a habit of putting together good teams and this could well follow that route. A few will have to up their game, though

Which State title was he second? Or does the Australian under 21 title meet the criteria these days?9

I don’t usually waste my time but, as it is Christmas: Mr Courtney, it is my opinion, shared by many I know, that you are the biggest waste of space that walks the earth. Your negativity is only exceeded by your ignorance and Newcastle speedway is far better off since you were given the bum’s rush by its owner. Apparently

I think that bridge has already been crossed…..

Yeh, I know. One thread to be avoided for exactly that reason.

You’re not allowed to speak ill of “a certain regular commentator” or else you’ll get three pages of abuse. Apparently

I think Mason was after the Denham era?

Is this just more of the nonsense that was peddled about Newcastle last season?There is nothing in the UKVI regulations to prevent a start up from applying for a sponsor licence.

What is also interesting is that, although much was made of a VAT liability, and the statement of affairs makes reference to a debt to HMRC of £158,048 it says that no claims were received for that amount which remained part of the statement of affairs at the final part of the winding up. Does that mean that much of the commentary made about the “mess” left by the previous promotion didn’t exist?

I apologise that recurring eye problems mean that I don’t always spot typos.

Although I’m pleased that some thought has been put into the 2022 NDL, unlike the mess of 2021, does Belle Cue’s immediate announcement of their 1-7 suggest that everyone already knew what the rules were going to be and many had already completed team building? If that’s the case, then no wonder there was no room for Northside and IOW - there’s no riders left!

By whom?