Belle Vue 2019

[Gordon Pairman]

4 hours ago, ABS said:

Bjerre would have been very loyal to BV, given the chance. However, some years back, BV decided to build the team around an aging Joe Screen and not the up and coming Kenneth Bjerre. Not Kenneth's choice, but that is what happened. Despite this, he still never said a bad word about the club and was brilliant when he returned to he fold. I am sure his average will go up again riding at the best track in the country, once more.

If the “some years back” is referring coming in to the 2007 season, you have it entirely wrong. 

When Chris Morton, David Gordon and I bought Belle Vue late on in 2006, we were resssured by BSPA that the other teams had been told to keep their hands off the 2006 team until we had put together a strong 1-7. We already knew that Jason Crump was going to ride for Poole, a deal done during the 2006 season, so needed every rider we could get our hands on. 

Despite the assurances, the then Peterborough promotion defied everyone and signed Bjerre. I remember having a very heated phone conversation on Christmas Eve 2006 with the then BSPA Chairman, Peter Toogood about this but he basically said there’s was nothing that could be done.

Personally, I thought it all a shocking betrayal by the sports’ governing body and the rider. What I considered was particularly bad was that the BV faithful had supported the rider in 2005 after he broke his leg, a break that probably cost BV the league. 

Now, I know that no rider can be forced to ride where he doesn’t want to, but I do believe they need to understand that loyalty is a two way matter.

As a final point, the “ageing Joe Screen” you referred to was 34 during the 2007 season - Kenneth Bjerre will be 35 during 2019

[ABS]

Thank you Gordon for the inside track on this. All I did was to quote the words used by the Belle Vue promotion at the time, as regards the justification of what was done. Naturally, I am not party to the privileged information that you, as a Promotor, had. Not disputing a word you are saying, but perhaps you should have been more honest with your punters as to what really happened.

Relative to Bjerre's age at the time, I think it is reasonable to describe Joe as ageing.

[acef]

4 hours ago, ABS said:

Bjerre would have been very loyal to BV, given the chance. However, some years back, BV decided to build the team around an aging Joe Screen and not the up and coming Kenneth Bjerre. Not Kenneth's choice, but that is what happened. Despite this, he still never said a bad word about the club and was brilliant when he returned to he fold. I am sure his average will go up again riding at the best track in the country, once more.

A good friend of mine was one of his main sponsors at the time. I was privy to some of the happenings during that season and he was essentially forced out. Crump and Screen had full control of team affairs at that point. Said he’d never ride for that promotion again but was always happy to race at bv.

 

Hes alright is KB, had some terrible injuries but he seems more settled at bv than anywhere else.

[Sings4Speedway]

50 minutes ago, WestGorton1884 said:

I said he’s a capable International Speedway rider , I stand by that ....

I also said the GPS were a step to far for his talent level

however his failings  on the big Polish circuits were down to horsepower, not lack of ability 

in my opinion anyway 

Craig had plenty of horsepower in Poland and spent plenty with the big tuners who knew what they were doing. Lack of technique/setup technique cost him out there.

21 minutes ago, Aces51 said:

Any rider who gets through the GP qualifiers and qualifies by right and then the following year only misses out in a run off is, in my opinion, certainly good enough to be classed as an international rider. 

Certainly an international rider but in reality an international also ran. The SEC would benefit him if he can put in decent showings in that company.

[ABS]

7 minutes ago, acef said:

A good friend of mine was one of his main sponsors at the time. I was privy to some of the happenings during that season and he was essentially forced out. Crump and Screen had full control of team affairs at that point. Said he’d never ride for that promotion again but was always happy to race at bv.

 

Hes alright is KB, had some terrible injuries but he seems more settled at bv than anywhere else.

Maybe Mr. Pairman would care to comment on this?

[Gordon Pairman]

43 minutes ago, acef said:

A good friend of mine was one of his main sponsors at the time. I was privy to some of the happenings during that season and he was essentially forced out. Crump and Screen had full control of team affairs at that point. Said he’d never ride for that promotion again but was always happy to race at bv.

 

Hes alright is KB, had some terrible injuries but he seems more settled at bv than anywhere else.

What I have said is what happened. JC had no say in team building for 2007. Why would he? Tony Mole told me in July 2006 that Jason was going to Poole in 2007, which he did. By the time Chris, David and I bought BV from Tony, which was either late November or early December 2006, JC had already been named in Poole’s 2007 team. 

We bust a gut to keep KB but he’d already done a deal, behind our backs, with Peterborough. 

As far as referring to a 34 year old Joe Screen as “ageing” is concerned, I have no problem with that. We’re all ageing. But, out of courtesy and within the boundaries of consistency, perhaps you should refer to the “aged” soon to be 35 year old Kenneth Bjerre?!

One other point that I’ve just spotted - you say that “he’d never ride for that promotion again”. Which promotion? He’d never ridden for the Morton, Gordon, Pairman promotion and it was public knowledge that the Mole, Thomas promotion was selling up. There had been a series of articles in the Manchester Evening News, and, much to their annoyance and before a deal was agreed, Tony announced Chris and David at the end of season dinner dance as the future owners of Belle Vue.

So he wasn’t being asked to ride for “that” promotion. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by Gordon Pairman
Update

[acef]

2 minutes ago, Gordon Pairman said:

What I have said is what happened. JC had no say in team building for 2007. Why would he? Tony Mole told me in July 2006 that Jason was going to Poole in 2007, which he did. By the time Chris, David and I bought BV from Tony, which was either late November or early December 2006, JC had already been named in Poole’s 2007 team. 

We bust a gut to keep KB but he’d already done a deal, behind our backs, with Peterborough. 

As far as referring to a 34 year old Joe Screen as “ageing” is concerned, I have no problem with that. We’re all ageing. But, out of courtesy and within the boundaries of consistency, perhaps you should refer to the “aged” soon to be 35 year old Kenneth Bjerre?!

Opinions will differ GP depending on who’s point of view we are looking through. It’s no secret that he didn’t get on with Joe, and I think that was the main driver for his departure.

The damage was done before you arrived, and that potentially swayed his feelings towards you Chris and Gordon. The deal with Peterborough was done some time before I think, I’d heard he was going halfway through the season but that was purely speculation at the time.

It was the right time for him to go, but I think he’s always enjoyed racing for the club.

[ABS]

10 minutes ago, Gordon Pairman said:

What I have said is what happened. JC had no say in team building for 2007. Why would he? Tony Mole told me in July 2006 that Jason was going to Poole in 2007, which he did. By the time Chris, David and I bought BV from Tony, which was either late November or early December 2006, JC had already been named in Poole’s 2007 team. 

We bust a gut to keep KB but he’d already done a deal, behind our backs, with Peterborough. 

As far as referring to a 34 year old Joe Screen as “ageing” is concerned, I have no problem with that. We’re all ageing. But, out of courtesy and within the boundaries of consistency, perhaps you should refer to the “aged” soon to be 35 year old Kenneth Bjerre?!

Gordon,

 

Would it be fair to say that Kenneth never really got on with Joe (and vice-versa) and this might have been one of the reasons he left BV, given that you were building your team around Joe?

[ABS]

5 minutes ago, acef said:

Opinions will differ GP depending on who’s point of view we are looking through. It’s no secret that he didn’t get on with Joe, and I think that was the main driver for his departure.

The damage was done before you arrived, and that potentially swayed his feelings towards you Chris and Gordon. The deal with Peterborough was done some time before I think, I’d heard he was going halfway through the season but that was purely speculation at the time.

It was the right time for him to go, but I think he’s always enjoyed racing for the club.

You beat me to it!!!

[Gordon Pairman]

10 minutes ago, acef said:

Opinions will differ GP depending on who’s point of view we are looking through. It’s no secret that he didn’t get on with Joe, and I think that was the main driver for his departure.

The damage was done before you arrived, and that potentially swayed his feelings towards you Chris and Gordon. The deal with Peterborough was done some time before I think, I’d heard he was going halfway through the season but that was purely speculation at the time.

It was the right time for him to go, but I think he’s always enjoyed racing for the club.

My comments, though, are not an opinion. They are a statement of facts. 

How the ageing/aged KB chose to tell his side doesn’t matter. We wanted him, we believed he owed it to the fans to show loyalty after all the financial support he got in 2005.

He saw it differently. JC did not, could not influence us, Joe had no say in team building. 

To be honest, we were desperate to get a team, any team, together. Have a look at the starting 1-7 and you’ll see what I mean. I wouldn’t embarrass Joe by suggesting he’d any say in the 2007 team!

Edited December 13, 2018 by Gordon Pairman
Spelling

[acef]

18 minutes ago, Gordon Pairman said:

My comments, though, are not an opinion. They are a statement of facts. 

How the ageing/aged KB chose to tell his side doesn’t matter. We wanted him, we believed he owed it to the fans to show loyalty after all the financial support he got in 2005.

He saw it differently. JC did not, could not influence us, Joe had no say in team building. 

To be honest, we were desperate to get a team, any team, together. Have a look at the starting 1-7 and you’ll see what I mean. I wouldn’t embarrass Joe by suggesting he’d any say in the 2007 team!

Okay. Perhaps he didn’t have as much sway as I suggested but the team was being built around him and Kenneth just didn’t get on with him. That’s basically the top and bottom of it.

When he was talking to Peterborough there was no sign of Jason leaving for Poole. Joe and Jason had, and still have, a very good relationship so you can understand from KBs point of view, why he would want to leave.

Whether you felt he owed us anything is immaterial, 2006 was a poisonous season in terms of broken relationships and as I said above, the time was right.

Whats done is done. It was a long time ago. I’m glad he’s back.

 

[Gordon Pairman]

8 minutes ago, acef said:

Okay. Perhaps he didn’t have as much sway as I suggested but the team was being built around him and Kenneth just didn’t get on with him. That’s basically the top and bottom of it.

When he was talking to Peterborough there was no sign of Jason leaving for Poole. Joe and Jason had, and still have, a very good relationship so you can understand from KBs point of view, why he would want to leave.

Whether you felt he owed us anything is immaterial, 2006 was a poisonous season in terms of broken relationships and as I said above, the time was right.

Whats done is done. It was a long time ago. I’m glad he’s back.

 

Even though he’s “ageing”!!

[ABS]

2 minutes ago, Gordon Pairman said:

Even though he’s “ageing”!!

I was the one who mentioned ageing and it was relative to Kenneth's age at the time in 2007 compared to Joe's. Don't see much difference in the three years between Kenneth and Craig, that's all. Kenneth has kept himself fit, despite all of his injuries, as has Craig.

[Phil The Ace]

The remaining 5 riders to be revealed tonight

[bigcatdiary]

2 hours ago, Gordon Pairman said:

If the “some years back” is referring coming in to the 2007 season, you have it entirely wrong. 

When Chris Morton, David Gordon and I bought Belle Vue late on in 2006, we were resssured by BSPA that the other teams had been told to keep their hands off the 2006 team until we had put together a strong 1-7. We already knew that Jason Crump was going to ride for Poole, a deal done during the 2006 season, so needed every rider we could get our hands on. 

Despite the assurances, the then Peterborough promotion defied everyone and signed Bjerre. I remember having a very heated phone conversation on Christmas Eve 2006 with the then BSPA Chairman, Peter Toogood about this but he basically said there’s was nothing that could be done.

Personally, I thought it all a shocking betrayal by the sports’ governing body and the rider. What I considered was particularly bad was that the BV faithful had supported the rider in 2005 after he broke his leg, a break that probably cost BV the league. 

Now, I know that no rider can be forced to ride where he doesn’t want to, but I do believe they need to understand that loyalty is a two way matter.

As a final point, the “ageing Joe Screen” you referred to was 34 during the 2007 season - Kenneth Bjerre will be 35 during 2019

I remember it well and the furore afterwards, to be honest I think loyalty (on both sides) left the building well before 2007.

[Aces51]

Bjerre broke his leg and it was too late to replace him for the play offs in 2005. He had a very poor season for Belle Vue in 2006 but the fans were understanding after his bad injury and fully supported him. Without knowing the full circumstances now explained by Gordon Pairman the feeling on the terraces in 2007 was that he had let us down badly after the support he had received in 2006. The rumours were that he and Screen didn't get on, that one of them had to go and that the management decided to keep Screen. At least we now know what actually went on but it was a long time ago.  Bjerre did well for us in 2017 and I am looking forward to seeing him in Aces colours again next year. There's no point bearing grudges about what happened almost 12 years ago and people change anyway as they mature.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Aces51

[T.N.T.]

There seems to be a move by Belle Vue to provide a more balanced team and use Fricke 8.20, Bewley 7.13 and Bjerre 7.02 as the main three. Steve Worrall 6.16 is like a part of the family and injuries obviously affected this season but would they look at bringing Richie Worrall 5.46 back ? Those five would leave 8.53 for the last two which could be Berge 4.00 and Etheridge 4.33 and give a solid team even if its not eye catching, its affordable.

 

Are they going to shock us all tonight with a name no one expects ?

[Rob B]

Rest of Aces announced : Steve Worrall, Dan Bewley, Jaimon Lidsey, Dimitri Berge, Ricky Wells

[Panthers89]

Certainly not all doom and gloom!

Massive ask for Dan though, might take him a month or so to get race fit. 

Guessing will be:

Fricke, Wells, Bewley, Worrall, Bjerre, Lindsey and Berge.

[Rob B]

Bewley currently in Poland having intensive physio and is now walking and weight bearing on leg.