GregoryM

No Belle Vue heat leaders there anyway, and with Tungate probably missing too its not much of a Belle Vue team.

So its not just Belle Vue that ignore emails then?? There are several email contacts at the NSS, but from my own experience and talking to other fans, you're extremely lucky to get a response.

Jason Doyle scored 9 points from his 5 rides in the IMME meeting at Gdansk on Monday night (14th). That put him in the semi-finals, where only the winners proceeded to the final. The top two scorers qualified directly to the final and the next 8 highest scorers contested the two semis. In his semi Jason was leading, but was passed by Kacper Woryna and so was eliminated. The final was 1st Leon Madsen, 2nd Kacper Woryna, 3rd Bartosz Smarzlik and 4th Patryck Dudek. Woryna passed Zmarzlik on the run to the line to claim second place.

I read but don't post on the Belle Vue Army fans site and I'm hoping nobody minds me quoting what I've just been reading on there. So what follows are not my written words - but I do agree with all that's here and would have made the very same points anyway. With thanks to the author. Originally Posted by Badge "Think it's a good signing, particularly at second string" Mark Lemon states it is for the good of the club and, after Belle Vue were slated somewhat in both 2015 and 2016 for not making changes when others did (thinking Poole and Wolves for the play-offs here), it might not exactly be the change some fans were wanting / expecting. On most visits to the NSS Tungate has, though, been superb, and maybe this is gamble for further down the line. Tungate will probably score more points at home than Sedgy would have done - and IF Rohan can match at least what Justin did / might have done on the road, then it ought to make us stronger for home and away aggregate matches. And Badge's comment is really enhanced by this one fact in isolation. The only visiting team to win at Belle Vue this year were Somerset when their Number 1 Heat Leader scored 13 points. Now Belle Vue have that very same rider as a Second String. On the bare face of it, it makes this a fantastic signing. The caveat to this is 'but Tungate is............' (complete the gap as you read the situation).

The decision to have Andy Mellish as one of the reserves rather than Dan Bewley was made before yesterday. On Friday night at the Colts match Andy was interviewed by Hayley Bromley during the meeting, and one subject discussed was his participation as a British Final reserve.

Saddlebow Road produced some terrific racing for many years after the white line was taken in (1970s ?) I visited several times a season whenever Belle Vue were there and during the summer months when I stayed with relatives in Norfolk. The racing between the likes of Terry Betts, Malcolm Simmons, Howard Cole for the Stars and PC, Mort for Belle Vue was fantastic. I last visited about two years ago and I was very disappointed.

You, me and probably most other people who turn up week in-week out Gresham. It certainly helps having tracks like the OTA and at the NSS (where I go) that produce top quality racing. I might well have given it all up had we still been at the Greyhound Stadium.

As I'd mentioned elsewhere me - and 3 mates - are not travelling from Rochdale to Leicester now. Also another Aces fan I was talking to at the NSS last week said he'd planned to detour to Leicester on his way home from a trip to the Lincolnshire, but isn't bothering now. And another fan put on here elsewhere that he and his lad are not going now as planned after being made aware of Cook & Fricke being away. With admissions, programmes and some food and drink that must £200 approx. that Leicester won't be getting on Saturday just from the folks here. I wonder how much more potential income they'll lose just because of idiotic fixture scheduling.

It certainly is. Belle Vue have had hardly any matches in May and now have two away in four days in June when the GP qualifiers are scheduled. Surely the fixture planners must have realised that the few top riders remaining in the UK would more than likely be entering the GP qualifying process and schedule around those dates. As it is Aces will be missing Bjerre at Rye House and both Fricke and Cook at Leicester. Three mates and I had planned to go to Leicester this Saturday from Lancashire, but as soon as we knew this we're now not bothering. With admissions, programmes and some food & drink no doubt we'd have spent £100 between us at the stadium - so it wouldn't take too many to stay away for a lot of potential income to be lost due to idiotic fixture planning. You could argue that this takes a bit of pressure off King and puts a bit on Kurtz. If King scores, say, around 9 then Rye House fans ought to be delighted given King's score for Leicester - and it might be easier for King to do that that for Kurtz to emulate the 16 he scored for Poole. Aces fans won't be very chuffed if Kurtz ends up scoring only 5 or 6.

That would make it interesting. There are 90 points to be scored between the two teams in a match, so are we going to see some mysterious engine failures and a few 5-0s and 3-2s if both teams in the same match are trying to keep their scores down? Some clubs may be disadvantaged too on making team changes. If one team finds themselves having the odd rain off or two and end up being the last team to have raced enough matches in order to re-declare, their preferred replacement rider(s) may already have gone elsewhere.

I think ray c is alluding to the fact that teams will have spaces to fill and, whilst there are unemployed riders around to fill them, their averages won't fit. Perhaps with so many 'false' averages around this was the year to have a grading system to build 2017 teams. Not perfect, but it might have done the job this year until everyone has established a new average from the same race format in both leagues and have averages back for 2018 team building The questions then, of course, would be how to convert one league average to another, and how would a rider be assessed for 2018 if he hasn't ridden in 2017? I suppose there is no perfect solution.

Like you I'm no business man, but this sounds like what should really happen. And presumably, at the same time, the new promoter would not be liable for any of the arrangements etc BVA had with fans such as 'Buy A Brick'/ refunds to anyone still holding Grand Opening Meeting tickets and honouring the benefits of the Belle Vue 500 Club? Perhap the latter ceases to exist if / when BVA is dissolved? Maybe someone with legal knowledge can throw some light on this?

That's a very good question as there doesn't seem to be anything about it in yesterday's BSPA release (or did I miss it?). If it does continue then what will be criteria for deciding where the rider rides in the event of fixture clashes. And with the Promotion / Relegation decider at the end of the season, we could well see one club having 'Billy Blogs' in their team whilst the other club has a guest for the very same 'Billy Blogs'. Now that would look rather silly...but then, this is speedway!!

Its great news for season ticket holders that they are getting their regular seats for the Final, but its probably not going to be 'free'. At the outset of the season the season-tickets were meant to cover - if the Aces got there - the semi-final but not the final itself. However the season ticket also coverered a minimum of 20 Elite League standard meetings - and so far there's only been 16 after last night (at least I think with 14 Elite League, 1 World Championship U-21 quailfier and the semi-final). So unless there are 4 more Elite League standard meetings after the Final it won't have actually been 'free'.

I've heard that is going to be the first and only rule in the new rule book after Buster Chapman said last winter that he'd like to tear up the rule book and start again. With just this one easy-to-understand rule everyone would know exactly where they stand and obviously no one could then call the Pirates 'cheating scumbags' anymore either.

And if it happens to be Belle Vue v Poole in the Grand Final then the same will happen at the NSS with Tungate I presume? I've been reading a thread on the Belle Vue Fans Forum about the lack of coverage the Aces (and Colts) get in the Manchester Evening News. Perhaps, with such as the above going on; the chosen restaging date of our Elite League Play-Off semi-finals is the same night at the Swedish Play-Off Final meaning rides are missing; only twice in 14 Elite League matches at the NSS was there a full declared Belle Vue 1-7 v a full Opponents declared 1-7 and that one of the Aces heat leaders will have actually raced only 7 out of 15 home matches after tomorrow night, the folks who run the MEN and decide what to include in their newspaper have concluded speedway is just too much of a mickey-mouse sport to be taken seriously?

Naturally that should read 'everyone else'.

Of course the BSPA could save all non-Poole fans from having to endure all the 'Matt Ford stuff' performed every single season (and save him the bother of doing it) by stating herein that every season starts with Poole Pirates being declared as the automatic Elite League champions and everyone is contesting second / runners-up spot.

True, the Aces have stuck to the 1-7 that started the very first match at the NSS - unlike Poole & Wolves - and that's very rare and commendable in this day and age. I think we must acknowledge, though, that after the first match v Swindon the following 13 Elite League matches at the NSS only saw that Aces 1-7 all present, correct and riding together 5 more times. Max Fricke only rode in 50% of the home fixtures and Craig Cook and Scotty Nicholls each missed a home match.

Thing is 'ouch' it isn't just block D. If you read the thread on the Belle Vue Fans Forum you'll see one of the guys called BV72 sits in Block C. Talking with my works hat on for the moment, this has real health & safety issues if more tickets are sold in an area than it is licensed to hold (fire risk etc) And also some of the duplicate tickets were sold at the ticket office as well as by the internet sales.

I wouldn't go with Bomber at the NSS - he's not done too well at all on his visits there.

Line 1 : NO. Line 2 : Stating facts and quoting the concerns of these fans is hardly 'sensationalist'. Line 3 : There certainly is. If there are, say, 150 - 200 season ticket holders in the 1900 seater Grandstand and these seats all 'sold twice' in a possible sell-out for the Lakeside semi-final, then I doubt the 300 - 400 people involved would agree with your observation that there is 'nothing to see here'.

Here's another first season 'niggle' at the National Speedway Stadium. I was reading the Belle Vue Fans Forum today and came across these. I can see why this would p*ss off the folks concerned. POSTED BY SEASON TICKET HOLDER 1 Lil ace perhaps you can help me seeing as you work in the ticket office i have rung B/vue twice and they said they would get back to me but never have.My problem is i am a season ticket holder and twice now they have sold my seat and i have had to sit elsewhere can you give me any idea how this is happening and is it an easy fix to stop it happening.Not to bad when there are free seats but if the semi is a sellout and it happens then it could be a major problem P S has anyother season ticket holder had a problem.I have been a season ticket holder for years but after the problems i have had this year i will think twice about getting one next year.B/vue never seem to be able to sort out any problems. Re word that its not the problems that p me off its the fact the staff either can't or can't be arced to solve any problems. POSTED BY SEASON TICKET HOLDER 2 On the 'National Speedway Opening Night - Tickets on Sale' thread I was interested to see the comments of BV72 for Lil_Ace's attention re: his season ticket. BV 72 wrote: 'My problem is I am a season ticket holder and twice now they have sold my seat and I have had to sit elsewhere'. I too am a season ticket holder and this has happened to me on THREE occasions (I'm in Block D) that my season ticket seat has been sold again. All was well until the Kings Lynn match on 24 August when four people appeared with tickets for the three seats alongside me and mine. No problem for the next match v Poole on 29 August, but for the match v Coventry on 2 September two people appeared with tickets for the seat next to me and my seat. After a visit to NSS Reception, two phone calls and several emails, Christine Simcock (the Website Manager amongst her other jobs) kindly dealt with the problem for me, but not before she asked if I'd mind moving seat for the Leicester match on 7 September as, again, four seats had been sold together with one of them being mine. Christine is checking for me again when the tickets go on sale for the Play-Off semi-final, but my fingers are crossed that all will be fine. Did you get things sorted BV72? I've also spoken to another supporter who has had the same problem in Block D. Whilst it has not been confirmed in anyway, he mentioned that he'd heard it was allegedly connected to the Coventry match on 2 September. That was originally the last scheduled regular Elite League home match of the season and, for some reason, Block D tickets were not on sale via the on-line sales (all the seats had been crossed through as unavailable including the season tickets seats). Then in mid-August Block D seats were all unblocked for sale, and it appears that this unblocking included the season tickets seats, and all became available for sale for the remaining matches from Kings Lynn onwards. (I know this first part to be true at least because I had family visiting for the weekend of 2 - 4 September, and I tried to get them tickets for the Coventry match in Block D as far back as June - but had to get them tickets in Block C because the on-line sales was showing none available in Block D). Anyhow, it certainly seems to be a feasible explanation, but perhaps Lil_Ace could kindly use her position / contacts to throw some light as to whether there is any truth in this suggestion? And it would be interesting to know just how many season ticket holders have had similar problems - is it just a Block D problem or has it been happening elsewhere throughout the Grandstand?

From my own experience of visiting the new National Speedway Stadium a few times, there is certainly some great racing to be seen. On coming across this posting by a season ticket holder (worked this out by another posting by the same person) on the Belle Vue Fans Forum it seems, though, that this first year hasn't seen too many meetings held on their regular race night, and a match involving the full Belle Vue 1 - 7 v the opponents full 1 - 7 has been extremely rare indeed. You have to hope that a clean start in 2017 with the first year niggles behind them, there will more meetings scheduled for the regular race night where both Belle Vue and their opponents can track their proper teams - certainly more than the twice out of 14 meetings this season. "For a number of reasons our first year in the National Speedway Stadium hasn't panned exactly as planned after the well documented opening night problems. We then had the subsequent delay in getting the home Elite League schedule underway; the back-log of matches to rearrange; fixtures clashes both at home and abroad and injuries / illness and these have all resulted in teams having riders missing from their declared 1-7. Infact Belle Vue fans have neither enjoyed the new race night of Friday on a regular basis nor seen full strength teams in action very often. In the 14 home Elite League matches the Aces themselves were at full strength on just 6 occasions, whilst the opposition teams were at full strength on just 2 occasions!! As it transpired the Aces were at full strength in those matches - but it still means we saw full a strength Aces v a full strength opposition on just TWO occasions. The 14 home matches have been held on:- 3 x Monday; 6 x Wednesday; 4 x Friday and 1 x Saturday Would we have had higher attendances had more Friday nights been able to utilised? As far as team strengths go, here is a breakdown of the team line-ups:- Match 1 on Wednesday 11 May v Swindon Robins Aces used R/R for Max Fricke (riding in Danish League) and Robins had Chris Harris as guest for Jason Doyle (injured) Match 2 on Monday 30 May v Coventry Bees Aces were at full strength and Bees had Ashley Morris as guest for Josh Bates (injured) Match 3 on Saturday 4 June v Lakeside Hammers Aces used R/R for Max Fricke (riding in World U-21 Cup) and Hammers used R/R for Edward Kennett (riding in Premier League) Match 4 on Friday 17 June v Wolverhampton Wolves Aces were at full strength and Wolves used Kenneth Hansen as guest for Peter Karlsson (injured); Ashley Morris (no. 8) for Max Clegg (riding in Premier League and R/R for Sam Masters (riding in Premier League) Match 5 on Friday 1 July v King's Lynn Stars Aces used R/R for Craig Cook (riding in GP Qualifying Round) and Stars used Kenneth Hansen as guest for Mads Korneliussen (riding in Danish League); Jacob Thorssell as guest for Robert Lambert (riding in GP Qualifying Round) and Kai Huckenbeck (squad member) to replace Niels-Kristian Iversen (riding in Danish League) Match 6 on Wednesday 6 July v Wolverhampton Wolves Aces were at full strength and Wolves used Nicolai Klindt as guest for Joonas Klymarkorpi (injured) Match 7 on Friday 15 July v Leicester Lions Aces were at full strength and Lions used Hugh Skidmore as guest for Aaron Summers (riding in Premier League); Michael Palm-Toft as guest for Ludvig Lindgren (riding in Premier League) and R/R for Paul Starke (riding in Premier League) Match 8 on Wednesday 3 August v Lakeside Hammers Aces use Danny King as guest for Max Fricke (injured) and Hammers use R/R for Andreas Jonsoon (late withdrawal due to illness) Match 9 on Wednesday 24 August v King's Lunn Stars Aces use Danny King as guest for Max Fricke (riding in Danish League) and Stars use Fredrik Lindgren as guest for Niels-Kristian Iversen (riding in Danish League) Match 10 on Monday 29 August v Poole Pirates IT HAS TAKEN UNTIL LATE AUGUST AND THE 10th of 14 HOME MATCHES BEFORE WE CAN SAY : BOTH TEAMS ARE AT FULL STRENGTH!! Match 11 on Friday 2 September v Coventry Bees Aces use Patrick Hougaard as guest for Max Fricke (riding in GP Challenge) and Bees use R/R for Krzysztof Kasprzak (riding in GP Challenge) and Matt Williamson as guest for Josh Bates (injured) Match 12 on Wednesday 7 September v Leicester Lions Aces used Danny King as guest for Max Fricke (riding in Swedish League) and R/R for Scott Nicholls (riding in Swedish League) and Lions use R/R for Szymon Wozniak (late withdrawal) Match 13 on Monday 12 September v Poole Pirates Aces use Patrick Hougaard as guest for Max Fricke (riding in Swedish League) and Pirates use Rohan Tungate as guest for Hans Andersen (injured) Match 14 on Wednesday 14 September v Swindon Robins BOTH TEAMS AT FULL STRENGTH I suppose it depends on your standpoint, but it seems to me that maybe British Speedway has got its priorities wrong when you see how many times we've not seen riders at Belle Vue (Elite League) because they've been riding at a lower level (Premier League). I'm aware that riders now ride for the club of which they are an asset should there be fixture clashes but, in the main, Premier League clubs and supporters seem to do pretty much ok. As well as getting priority over the Elite League in the many cases, the Premier League also get priority when there's a clash of fixtures with the National League. Of course we have seen some brilliant racing at the NSS and that's exactly what we've been wanting. As people have commented elsewhere, when done right speedway is a fantastic sport - but, solely from a commercial standpoint, Belle Vue spectators would seem to have had raw deal this year e.g. one of the few GP riders competing in the Elite League, Niels-Kristian Iversen, missed both King's Lynn visits to the NSS - and on one occasion he was only replaced by, with the greatest respect to him, a no. 8 squad rider. The powers-that-be of British Speedway seem to think they can have it both ways with guest riders. On one hand we see teams using guest riders at away tracks (often where the guest goes better than the rider he's replacing) in order to make it an even contest. So we sort of 'accept' that - even though it does the sport's integrity no favours - but then it was allowed (in this example) for King's Lynn to turn up at the NSS with a rider of vastly inferior quality to the one he replaced. The result a totally one-sided contest which was halted after 11 heats with Aces leading 45-21. No even contest for the fans who paid good money that night eh? Still never mind, it was only at Belle Vue, where nothing that happens is ever the fault of the BSPA!! Anyhow, how have fellow supporters felt about things have gone in the first season in our new home?"

Well maybe there'll be less strange noises eminating from Nigel & Kelvin and maybe even less actual commentating - they'll be too busy explaining why so-and-so is missing from the team and why he's been replaced by so-and-so from another team and at the same time trying not to make it sound like the absolute farce it is.