bellevueace

Im going to be travelling down tomorrow, hope the weather is like its been here today. We never seem to do well at Leicester and Lakeside have done us no favours as the pelters the Lions riders recieved from their promotion after that meeting will no doubt have them more fired up. Zagar does not like the track at all so Bomber appears a better fit for us, wonder how Matej would find the track now its been altered?

Well after the PC shambles and now this all the opportunities of showcasing the sport in the brand new stadium have been lost. You only get one chance to make a good first impression and immaterial of the circumstances the first impression is not a good one. After all the hard work trials and tribulations getting the new stadium what a great pity the season has got off to such a start. Our first home match now is nearly into May by which time I think any potential new fans who had their interest sparked would have lost interest. I fully intend going to Leicester tomorrow but if theres a slight hint of rain probably wont bother as its not worth the risk travelling following this sport nowadays if theres even a slight risk. Another thing I bought my ticket online for tonight and for Poole, I wont be doing that again. Before the build even started on the new stadium I said the promotion have done a fantastic job getting the stadium to fruition but I doubt they actually have the professionalism to run it. I thought when entering the stadium for the PC meeting this is looking very positive perhaps I was wrong and we are going to start on the front foot and bring in a new level pf professionalism that has long been missing from this club. Now im sad to say im feeling like my initial thoughts could be right.

Great news Plymouth remain open, I now hope the people of the city really get behind the club so it can move forward. It really is a case of support your local club or lose it. Im looking forward to a visit down there later in the year.

Great performance by the Aces, thought the inclusion of NKI would have made it difficult, good job we hadnt ridden prior to this one eh?

Was wondering when the silly little Englander tag was going to come out, Woffinden is world champion and as such should promote the sport in this country at a time when speedway needs all the publicity it can get. He benefited massively thanks to British speedway going back to his NL days through to being world champion. First he turns his back on the league, then the national championship, I now wouldn't pick him for the national side, much prefer to go with up coming riders who have that real passion for GB. As for workload if speedway is too taxing he cab always get a real job in the real world. Another thing as a world champion and ambassador for the sport his image takes the sport back to pre Ivan Mauger days, he looks a mess.

As Scott Nichols stated at the beginning of last season, an English world champion with an Australian flag tattooed on his back, he now dosent need domestic speedway, I wont miss him.

Starman is correct the work has been done but with the weather forecast being for heavy rain to move in this afternoon and over the rest of the weekend the track is being left to take what the elements are going to throw at it and allow more time to settle. After waiting for years to bring the stadium to fruition it would have been better to perhaps wait a few weeks longer as regards the track thus possibly avoiding the shambles of last week. It really has to be ready next time.

The BSPA would have reaped the benefit if things had not gone pear shaped but were quick to distance themselves from any negativity, they issued a statement without first gaining all the facts hanging one of their members out to dry. Belle Vue in return issued their own twit for tat statement to defend themselves and all both bodies have done is make matters worse. If there were any doubts whatsoever the meeting should have been called off early enough to stop anyone from travelling, Considering its a new build im sure most people would have understood and appreciated being saved a wasted journey. Whats happened cant be undone, it was a bad day for the club and the sport, the only thing now is to recompense fans even though those that travelled still lose out sadly, sort out the 3/4 bends and set about giving the sport nationwide some good publicity.

Firstly the stadium is a fantastic achievement and was way better than I was expecting, the track also when issues are sorted is going to produce great action and like Hyde Road I can see it becoming one of the best in world speedway. Now onto the night, if the track had such issues this would have been known days before so why not an early cancellation? Im sure fans from places like Edinburgh, Somerset, and Plymouth would have appreciated that. It was obvious with the delay after the practice laps we would be getting no racing what was unforgivable was the lack of info. I really felt for David Gordon and Chris Morton having to come out in front of a packed house to announce the meeting was off, that must have been difficult for them. Its such a shame a great opportunity to attract many new fans has been lost, there were many angry comments around me when I was leaving the stadium. On my way out im sure I heard David state you can come to any future meeting of your choice which was met by some boos. Now onto the riders, surely they knew the track would be difficult, its never been raced on for gods sake, rather than destroy an event that not only put Belle Vue in the spotlight but the whole of British speedway couldn't something have been sorted to at least give the paying public something? Im sure riders of the calibre that were there would have been able to stage manage something, put on a show that like WWF for example was contrived but in some way entertaining without the risk of serious action, just a thought. As for ticket refunds well with a programme it cost me £26,00 if I can use my ticket for a league match that's still £9.00 out of pocket, a very small price considering what the promotion have lost, if they offer a refund in full I will E-mail the club telling them to keep it, that hopefully in some small way shows support. I cant see Friday being on now as theres no way the track is going to be ready, bet the Colts would give it a go though, the only way the track is going to settle is to race on it, whenever that is the first races are going to be somewhat dicey. A great shame and its going to take some great PR and great understanding from fans but this track is going to provide some great racing when its fully bedded in. Obviously im a Belle Vue fan so will support my club, but I can also understand and agree with many of the posters who have given pelters to the whole thing which sadly turned into a debacle for the whole sport. The ones I feel for are those that travelled from afar and find themselves well out of pocket from petrol, food, and accommodation, it really shouldn't have happened and that's the bottom line.

David and Chris have done an excellent job in providing the club with a new home, as Mort was instrumental in the plans for laying the track it should provide some excellent racing as he based it on his vast knowledge of Hyde Road. But like any new track its going to take time to settle down and bed in, when it has done then we can judge the quality of racing.

Imagine todays riders on the deep tracks of yesteryear? For me there was far more trackcraft in the 60,s 70,s 80,s rather than todays mainly gate and go, appears most of todays riders could learn a thing from the past as regards to team riding for example, an art that has all but died out nowadays.

As with our new home the planning process takes an age and then some, our promotion got pelters for the time it took but delivered in the end, it will be the same for swindon, i certainly wont mind another trip to blunsdon anyway

The rainwater that runs off the track is being collected in an underground storage tank and that is going to be used for watering, im sure that's what was explained at the open day,

A state of the art drainage system and track covers are going to be used in the new stadium.

No suprise Boxhall is unprofessional and unreliable, it was a bit of a suprise we went for him after our last experiance of him, welcome JJ hope he does well even though this change does weaken us.

The SWC final was a victim of the timeline that Swindon are now encountering, but that dosent mean you doubters were right at all, come march next year all you doom mongers come along and see the venue you all said would never materialize. No doubt all the saddos that take exception to any hint of good news happening in the sport will find something else to moan about, wether it be the track, the pies, the coffee not hot enough etc, there seems to be more anti speedway people on here nowadays putting down the sport, sitting behind their keyboards throwing out insults, no wonder so many decent posters have abandoned this site, im glead to say i will now be joining them. One other thing those that were deriding BV would have been better off worrying about their own club wouldnt they? It makes me laugh when those who said the national stadium wouldnt be built are so deluded they still think they were right.

Belle Vue got all sorts of negativity thrown at them with how long it took to get all the authorization through people are now realising how difficult planning regulations can be, Cradley have been looking for years, Swindon are encountering red tape and Coventry will no doubt go through the same frustrations. Ive no doubt both Swindon and Coventry will get new stadiums its just the timeline that is going to be difficult. I hope both clubs dont get the harbringers of doom that seemed to take great delight in predicting we would fail.

Congratulations to Poole on retaining their title and a massive well done to the Aces for getting so close. To lose out by just two points is really gutting especially when you look at the points we threw away in the first leg with falls exclusions etc, but hey thats all part and parcel of professional sport, swings and roundabouts. As for the goggle discussion i have to admit it makes it a tad harder to take but to say poole cheated is silly, if anything it was the oifficial at fault. When man utd lost out in the champions league to an offside Porto goal they didnt cheat the ref made a mistake it happens in all sport. More telling was the number of points our reserves were outscored by, i just think the occasion got to stefan and steve but the experiance will make them stronger. I just hope that this is a stepping stone for us to re-establish our club to what it used to be, weve just had a successful season, we have a new stadium, the best manager weve had in many a year so lets take the positives, wish Poole all the best and go again next year and aim for one place higher. Pity i couldnt get down tonight as im going away but overall a great final rode in the right manner with some superb racing, rather than see us as losers i look at speedway being the winner, on nights like monday and tonight its by far the best sport out there and needs to be promoted as such. Roll on March

Bet you Poole fans couldnt believe you were in Manchester on a nice warm sunny day who is going to believe that when you get home

First of all a massive well done to Matej, i was worried how he would be with his fitness but as well as Bomber and AJ did for us they wouldnt have got near that performance, i dont think there can be any questioning his committment to the club now, he didnt score the points when riding for himself in the world championship but put on the Ace Of Clubs and we got a world class performance. Cookie too was magnificent, it was a great comeback but sadly too little too late, theres no way you can have your reserves outscored by such a margin and win any speedway meeting let alone a grand final so to secure a draw was in the end a good result from 13 points down. The reserves were totally dire and lets be honest have cost us big time here. We resembled Swindon early doors with throwing points away through falls, and exclusions, im just glad that with such a big crowd in we were served up some terriffic races. And as for the track walk what a joke! Cancelled on health and safety grounds, yeah right, i had more chance tripping on the fourth bend navigating the steps in total darkness, having survived that i could have been knocked down in the car park or crossing the road, a well lit track seemed the safest option to me. Disappointing, having survived years of dog excrement i would have taken my chances on the track. Rather than a H&S issue was it the stadium management just being peevish as they have now lost the speedway business? Anyway Weds now appears a pointless exercise, but many years ago so was a certain trip down to Wolverhampton, could there be one last sting in the tail to this season? Having said all that im firmly in the camp that believes the team finishing top of the regular season league table should be declared champions and im not changing my tune just because my side made the final, yes its a disappointment but knowing we actually finished fourth its much easier to accept, fair play to Poole they came and did a job on a track they are not keen on, hope we can be at least entertaining for the fans down there on weds. I hope this is the first step for the Aces to return to better days.

Hmm Cook has not really stepped up in these meetings that really matter, i too fear he could be a weak link, we got away with it at Wolves we wont at Swindon.

I dont think this is over by any means, Belle Vue need to make sure they keep the last places to a minimum but if the Robins come out of the blocks all guns blazing a few early heat wins can build up momentum and put the Aces on the backfoot. We need to ensure we keep up our record of scoring 40 points away from home, Swindons heat leaders will no way be as bad as they were at KL and are a different proposition on their own track. I remember the Aces some years back pulling back a 22 point deficit against Exeter in the KO cup, fair enough it was some years ago but they did it within 13 heats and with no T/R rule in place. I hope we can progress but would never count my chickens, hope its a good meeting, if Swindon pull it back they deserve to go through, if we cant defend a 14 point lead we dont simple as that really.