Little Thumper

I think the problem here could be determining what a senior is - 60, 65, 66, 67? At some meetings, 90% of the punters would qualify for a senior discount. A season ticket for Stoke in 2016 was advertised at £185. As far as I can see, Stoke managed to put on 12 home meetings so the loyal season ticket holder would have been paying £15-42 per meeting. I think anyone who thought that this represented good value for money would either be very poor at arithmetic or a few bricks short of a load. With many speedway operations running on a financial knife edge and reluctant to honour their advertised end of season fixtures, buying a speedway season ticket is probably riskier than buying shares in the National Tiddlywink Stadium.

Pipe Remains At The Helm So it looks as though the gallant Hitmen have decided to hang in there for another year. Mr Pipe informs us that he has got a good No1 signed up and there are several other riders poised to break cover and pull on the Buxton race jackets for 2017. Mr Pipe's statement that "one or two signings may shock" is a little worrying in the light of some of the previous occupants of the Buxton pits. Hopefully, some of last year's team will get a chance to make further progress and we wait with bated breath for the first team announcement. Anyone like to hazard a guess who this out and out Numero Uno is likely to be? Perhaps a refugee from the Gorton Gallopers?

I beg your pardon?

I think I might give Norbold's Hole a bit of a wide berth, lovely though I am sure Norbold is.

Clearly, you have a valid point in that there seem to have been quite a large number of people who were employed by the organization. Possibly one of the complications may be involvement of Manchester City Council and it may well be the case that the contract stipulated that certain "standards" must be met and therefore certain people had to be employed. When I have been to the venue, there were always loads of bods in hi-viz jackets who wanted to have a nosy in your bag and tell you where you couldn't go. Why were all these hi-viz bods employed? Possibly there was some stipulation in the contract that laid down the number of stewards that had to be in place in respect of the planned audience of over 2000 customers. As you say, it all felt as though you were going to the Manchester City FC ground rather than little Belle Vue and that is probably because Manchester Council's other tie-up with a commercial sporting organization is with this footballing giant and clearly, somebody has tried to make the modus operandi of MCFC fit BVS and that was clearly illogical nonsense. Anyway, to the small players in the office who answered my emails to the best of their ability, my best wishes.

Yes, someone has tipped me off that there might be another fine venue opening at Slough. Wow! It's hard to keep up with all these new tracks.

I am sorry to hear that. I shall keep my fingers crossed for them.

What's happened to the good people who worked in the office? I never like to hear about people at risk of losing their job, as I've been there myself and it isn't a barrel of laughs.

Well, the best I can come up with on the BSPA site regarding a National Speedway Academy is this:- http://www.speedwaygb.co/speedwaytrainingprogramme Now this appears to be some kind of commercial apprenticeship type of thing and seems to based in Norwich. Possibly, this is the blueprint for the syllabus at the Academy and it could be that the BSPA is allowing a third party to get the thing up and running. Hopefully, we will hear something before we get too close to next season.

I'm not entirely sure calling a Council-Funded Residential Site for Members of the Travelling Community a "Gypo Site" would score top marks in the politically-correct stakes, but there you go! As you instructed, I have had read the fascinating information about caravan racing and when I woke up I concluded that your "Gypo Site" idea would probably be the better option. Bring it on.

I'd be careful if this involves humour....Skid Sprocket will be popping up to give you a verbal lashing! So, spill the beans - what is going on at Slough? I am led to believe from the wallahs in the National League Room that Crawley are having a new speedway track but if Slough is coming on board as well, then that is fantastic news! I look forward to hearing all about it. Be careful out there.

Yes, gustix, a lot of people are talking balls.....but I haven't seen many of them on the centre green. Perhaps the school sprogs come and thwack something round from time to time. Keep the ideas coming - we're bound to find a winner before too long and then the new entrepreneurs can flounce in and claim all the credit. Make it so. Friend pugwash, I'm probably being a little slow here, but what has Slough got to do with anything?

Did I not read on another thread that yellow and black helmet covers were being replaced by Pink rather than Green? Perhaps, I imagined it but I thought that it said that the rider in the Pink helmet would be getting a 15 metre start. I'll have a dig and see if I can find it - I DO hope it wasn't a wind-up!

What like some kind of a site for the travelling community? Now we are thinking outside the box! They would have to keep their dogs well under control on speedway nights and stop them trying to bite the riders' legs. But hey, as Tesco say, "Every Little Helps".

It was a key point in the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee document that there would be an Academy to, "nurture new talent for the sport". So, it must be up and running by now and you would have thought it would have been discussed at the recent Promoters' chin wag. Even if it is not quite fully operational, I would imagine that there must be a strategy document at BSPA Towers explaining it's purpose and objectives and suggested budget. I'll perhaps drop them an email and enquire. These are commendable objectives. How many extra bums on seats do you estimate that there will be as a result?

THE DEAN MACHINE, I am sure that your proposal is not without merit but there is probably more chance of me becoming the Pope than this getting off the ground. I somehow feel that the council tax payers of Manchester would rather their elected representatives and their officers devote their time and efforts to keeping the libraries open, looking after the sick and aged and providing some kind of education for the sprogs. It could be suggested that if experts like BVA/BVS supported by the BSPA cannot make the venture pay, what chance would a load of paper-shufflers and paper clip counters stand? Sooner or later, someone is going to find the golden nugget that saves the Crown Jewel of British speedway.

Major re-engineering work would surely be needed to bring the stadium up to the necessary safety standards for 4-wheeled action. The original strategy agreed between the City Council and BVA/BVS didn't include stock car use and I am not sure that they would be too receptive to the idea of their multi-million pound investment being used for such a purpose. But hey, perhaps now is the time to start thinking outside the box and perhaps pugwash's suggestion might provide some kind of a lifeline. The National Stock Car Stadium sounds pretty good to me and I am sure someone could convince Manchester City Council that it would be a Centre of Excellence. And what's more, perhaps the new (joint) tenants might like to set up some kind of training facility? Perhaps they might call it the National Stock Car Drivers' Academy and get it sponsored by Halfrauds? I wonder if our chums, the stock car tifosi, would fancy buying a few engraved breeze blocks to get the wheels turning? I love these brain-storming sessions and I'm sure that with all our combined brain-power on the case, we will come up with a great solution before you can say, "Lady Bangers' World Championship!" Make it so.

Sadly, although 2 teams are rumoured to be keen to move up into whatever the 1st Division might be called next year, as far as I am aware they have not yet been named. On one of the other threads, it has been suggested that the likely candidates are Buxton Hitmen and Crawley Heathens. So with this knowledge to hand, clearly we can rest easy in our beds and be confident that the promotion/relegation system will be transparent and well-organized. .........and if at the end of all the end of the season's hostilities, Kings Lynn are the team in the drop zone, how would you rate the chances of the relegation actually happening? And if a team does not accept it's fate will the BSPA put their foot down with a firm hand and impose discipline on the miscreant?

To potentially lower costs by a few quid is fine but as you say, wealdstone, at the end of the day, it is all about bums on seats and once again this issue has been filed under "too difficult". Surely, this is one of the primary functions of BSPA's National Speedway Academy based at the Belle Vue Arena? In cycling, we used to have taster sessions and junior leagues. The promising youngsters would be taken into the Talent Team and mentored and guided accordingly. I feel sure that the National Speedway Academy will be operating a comparable system.

That will be the secret of the club's profitability! Having to pay your landlord several million quid can prove to be a bit of a handicap for some tracks.

Calling me "daft" is surely defamation. Yes, I know what I wrote and I do not believe that expressing a personal opinion could be construed as denigration. Google most certainly is not my friend as I never use it. I prefer to use a search engine such as DuckDuckGo, which does not track it's users. Now that matter has been cleared up, I am off to my bed chamber. Good Evening to you nw42 and to all the other contributors to this evening's lively discussion.

I am sure that your confidence will prove well-founded and the sponsors and income streams that have to date proved so elusive will now emerge into the bright light of day. I had not realized that the previous management had deterred previous sponsors, so thank you for sharing that information. You are of course assuming that any new management team will be superior to their predecessors. Unless you are aware of the identity of the new tenants, then this judgement must remain an assumption and we await their arrival with eager anticipation.

How exactly have I denigrated the locality? Who is Sheik Mansour? Is he a resident of the area which you claim that I have denigrated?

Halifaxtiger, I admire your tenacity! I feel confident in saying that the chances of sane people wanting to have their wedding ceremony at a speedway track in Gorton are slim to nil. I am not aware of any pop concert having been held there. Who was playing? There are restrictions with regard to noise so I don't think a firework display is likely to happen. Besides November the 5th only tends to come once a year, so probably not a lot of scope there. There used to be two motorbike shows in Manchester, both obviously inside. One of these has gone down the tubes, the other is keeping going once a year at the exhibition hall at the Trafford Centre. Manchester is awash with venues touting for corporate business and the big hotels can offer very attractive deals for companies. I am not sure what Belle Vue Arena is able to offer that would entice big corporate spenders to hold their events there. I do not wish to appear negative but I am not yet seeing this unidentified income stream that will transform Belle Vue Arena from a loss-maker to a profit-generator. And it is very well, people chirping away about marketing the place better, sticking posters up, handing leaflets out but all these things require both funds and vision. I am not sure that either of these commodities are readily available in this situation.

We are all agreed that nobody in their right mind would want to get married there, businesses have shown no interest in having bonding and team-building sessions there, nobody is going to be having their birthday party there and pop groups and beat combos aren't forming a queue to stage performances there. Nobody is going to pay more than £5 to play with their balls on the centre grass and the Council's rules, regulations and restrictions will put a stop to many activities before they even get off the clip board. So, Halifaxtiger, can you suggest any other revenue streams that should be investigated? And let's not forget that the venue is in Gorton which I am sure is an area that many may find appealing but personally, it is not a location that would attract me to visit whatever the activity that was being offered!