ouch

The agreement to sort the south side was done before the GOM & SWC problems. Without those, debt wouldn't have been an issue, south stand or not. Things were agreed to just to get the show on the road and keep Sky on board but with the promise of negotiations taking place in November between DG and MCC to sort out responsibility for the various costs. That was scuppered by Buster and we now find ourselves still awaiting confirmed owners and team. One thing you can blame Belle Vue for is endeavouring to do the best for the sport and the club when it would have been so much easier to just stop running or drop down a league when things get hot in the top tier. Not our style though and thankfully we now have the NSS. Shame we don't have the SWC this year. Go figure.

It's always the case that when The Aces top the league a big drop in the team building average follows the next season.

Are you just publishing the article bit by bit on here. Nice one.

You're coming over as one of the cranks who wear a sandwich board declaring the end is nigh. One day they will be correct but that in no way validates their behaviour up to that point. You missunderstand. Read or re read my post dated 02/01/17 re the practice session.

It's COMPLETELY lost on you that even after extensive testing and the track being given the thumbs up by all involved the very next meeting was cancelled due to the unpredictable nature of the problem. TBH this topic is far too complicated for some, you included to comprehend. We understand your simplistic take on it all but please, please stop repeating it. I've asked the mods to contact you with regards to who I am not as this is another topic where your ignorant unsupported beliefs lead to the tedious repetitive nature of your posts.

Even people with a passing interest in this forum know by now I’m not Fred, indeed the last contributor to continually harp on about it was reported (by me) and removed. I love it when Orion goes to his mind palace to think up his repeated nonsense on all things…… well on all things. I imagine he enters through the window having lost his keys, steps in a sink full of soapy pots, slips on the floor before stepping on a garden rake and hitting himself in the face with it. He then steps back into the cat litter tray whilst placing his hand on a red hot ring on the oven top, falls back against the ironing board which prompts the hot iron to wobble furiously before planting itself on the baffled looking poor chaps face. Then the eureka moment for us all to enjoy via the BSF. Never change mate, wrong you may be but you do it with style.

Belle Vue sell them and have done for years, in fact we often sell out. If it helps speedway as a whole then count us in. For a sport on it backside like ours is currently then we think there is no room for petty jealousies and grudges.

Correct. A bigger crowd would have hopefully meant more spent in the shop and at food outlets that would go straight to Belle Vue to help keep things afloat. Some didn't want that.

Looks like the BSF is in Chapmans pocket as well. Great shame.

I thought his nickname was Buster?

You'd think DG would have washed his hands with this sport after the way Buster behaved and the massive losses he's had in getting the jewel in speedways somewhat tarnished crown up and running. He brought these guys into the sport to be part of his team and he see them finally at the helm following his retirement. Looks like his executive seat will kept warm for him, where he can survey his achievement every week without all the nonsense chipping away at him. Cheers sir, and if you can find it in your heart to forgive and forget we'd all like to see you replicate this and get new stadiums up and running finally in all these towns and cities sadly currently lost to the sport.

Nice little earner for Buster. Whoever meets the bees in April will be on to a winner as Coventry will obviously have no home track advantage. Let's have a look. Kings Lynn Leicester Poole It does give you a nice warm feeling that at least something's in the sport never change.

It would be a good idea to rejig the fixtures so the four league encounters are early in the season as this would help with the crowd levels. They could even alter the KO Cup to draw them together (if they are not already). I'm no talking the same fixture every week but not far off.

Jason Doyle; Nicki Pedersen; Tai Woffinden; Matej Zagar; Max Fricke; Scott Nicholls; Richie Worrall; Craig Cook; Chris Harris; Niels-Kristian Iversen; Danny King; Peter Kildemand; Hans Andersen; Andreas Jonsson; Krzysztof Buczkowski; Maciej Janowski.

The only thing to come out of this sorry tale is the fact riders no longer need to ride substandard track surfaces. Up to that night I've seen some terrible adverts for the sport and sometimes it's been down right dangerous. Thank god it's a thing of the past, as it should be. Rider safety is paramount. I also think fan power can kick in now as well. If you turn up to and event where the product on show is going to be the same or worse than the dreadful night at The NSS then you should be entitled to your money back, no question. Good times ahead.

Great shame but expected.

I think the problem with the announcement made eleven weeks ago that we were to run this season was the fact it didn't include details of the new promoters nor who would be lining up in the team. Great day today. Up The Aces!

Not surprised at all about that.

"And theres good news for fans of troubled Leicester and Belle Vue with both clubs, who boast a rich heritage, ready to come to the tapes again and at the top level." That was 11 weeks ago. In other breaking news DFS have a sale on.

We'll run this year I've no doubt of that it's just the long planned for legacy is gone. We are just tenants now not owners. MCC can decide if the back straight opens just at easily as when the GRA decided to knocked down the Chieftain stand. If Monsters trucks are a better option on a BH then they will run instead of us. Down the line 5, 10 or 20 years it might suit MCC to see the dog track levelled and be replaced by council tax paying homes. Belle Vue dogs and stock cars would be attractive financially as fellow tenants in the NSS (if that's still its name) so we get sidelined still further. The thing is now it's out of our hands. As has happened many times over the last few decades this knee jerk reaction to have a pop at Belle Vue has long term repercussions for us and the sport in the U.K. Considering it took so long to achieve it's a crying shame to see it lost over petty jealousy and envy. British Speedway fuelled by .......

It shouldn't matter that Mark has no promoting experience as there'll be plenty of help available. I wouldn't be surprised if kind hearted Buster took an active role in running the show. He'll probably have his own office. He's making up for the fact he as Chairman he never once visited The NSS last year. Is there anyway we can convince him that if he "saves" Coventry he can have a bit of that pie too? He'd be on it like a shot. £300,000! The business plan was based on crowds of 1800 which was achieved so for this to happen..... "New East Manchester had forwarded the Belle Vue business plan to top business planners KPMG who had given it their approval". something must have changed at a later date. Did the council renegade on the original deal or did The Aces ask for the increase?

The council requested an investigation and report into the track issues. The comprehensive report was compiled by Arup's. It's filled with very technical jargon but the main problem was the tarmac from the hockey pitch that wasn't removed and the geotextile membrane used was not as specified nor the same as the rest of the circuit. This as you say effected the ability of the track to accommodate moisture in the most unpredictable and frustrating way. In certain environmental conditions all was well in others the surface became soft and boggy. Due to the unique nature of the problem and the fact it has never been encountered before conventional solutions were adopted to solve the problem and these were only to do with the top surface. To frustrate matters further work carried out on the shale seemed to do the trick but in reality it was just favourable environmental conditions lulling us into think all was well. The best illustration of the unpredictable conditions was around the time of the full behind closed doors team practice. This lasted several hours with Aces, Colts and others taking to the track and giving it the thumbs up. A press release with comments from Mark Lemon saying all problems were sorted and the track was good to go followed. Two days later people congregated around turn three near the track maintenance gate to witness water bubbling up from below. The following meeting was then called off and bends three and four fully ripped up and the investigation put in place. There are many photos in the report with one showing an amount of used nappies used to fill the base. This isn't a key issue but illustrates the level of workmanship in this area. I think the contractor was keen to finish and therefore not receive any penalty payment requests due to missed deadlines. The main contractor employed a sub contractor to carry out the track groundworks. The council own the report and have since placed an embargo on its publication. The council and contractor have many multi million pound projects in place in the city. To put it mildly the council were not keen on rocking to boat with their preferred contractor and anyone instigating such action was seen in a very dim light indeed. When the option to sweep them, oops I mean things under the carpet was presented to them by a third party they jumped at the chance. There has been many pages of discussion about the opening night and I don't wish this to restart it all again. If you want to stick with your opinion then great, I won't be debating this matter any further.

What's needed is a promotional team so passionate about the venture that should the council refuse to pay for items that they initially agreed to pay then this promotion steps in to keep the ship sailing. If there's any problems at the stadium during the season that are directly the fault of the council and/or its contractors who then refuse to take any financial fall out, it would help to have a promotion who would temporarily shoulder the burden whilst negotiating with the council on the rights and wrongs of the situation and also to keep the fans onboard and not out of pocket. After all that its important that should the promotion experience difficulties of this nature that a plan is in place that would see all outstanding bills paid by the beginning of November. The icing on the cake would be a promotion that can assemble a team that would see The Aces sat at the top of the table. All a pipe dream I know as who could find a promotional team capable of all that? Oh I forgot the most important bit, the promotion need to be buddies of Keith Chapman as if not the whole thing will appear to be a failure.

The quality of racing and the view you get at The NSS is really special. Bucking the trend and doubling the crowd figures made for an excellent atmosphere. Watching the Brits from young Kyle and Dan though to Scotty, with Craig and the Worrall's in between was a joy as was the GB performance in the SWC on that memorable night. The Ace flying high at the top of the table plus having the chance to meet and chat with the riders after meetings. Forget the politics and back biting etc, speedway is still the most passionate, adrenaline fuelled sport you can get.

We averaged 1800 for EL meetings. This was pumped up by the BH fixtures and the final. Had the track been ready we could have factored in PCM & Easter and that would have pushed the average attendance over 2000. This was done without any marketing budget due to outside influences so next season done properly I'd expect attendances to average between 2000 and 2500. If Buster keeps pushing it won't be done properly and the long term future won't be good, as is the case with British speedway as a whole. The truth will come out.