mikec

Totally agree Phil. Lifelong Aces fan, remember she wrote pieces for the BV programme while still very young. Thought she did an excellent job as centre green presenter at Kirky Lane, conducting decent rider interviews too. Think she'll do a great job - good luck Natalie.

Cheers R&R. Admire the guy still racing & looking competitive too at that age. Excellent tussle in heat 8 with Jeleniewski just holding off Pedersen.

Great ride from Trzensiok there to pass Czaja in heat 6. Piotr Swist rolling back the years in heat 7 - he must be pushing 50 years old now?? Still looking quick though.

Will be interesting to hear DG's comments on the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Manchester at 7.50am tomorrow..

That's a good point Joe - the local schools, colleges & unemployed have to benefit from using the sports village for education & recreation as a condition of part of the funding for the BV Sports Village, as well as other sports being involved. Hopefully Coventry City Council will have a look at projects like ours & help the Bees secure their future.

There is a Belle Vue train stop, but services are few & far between. If you get the train to Manchester Piccadilly, you can get a taxi to the stadium for 6 or 7 quid. Alternatively you could get the 201, 203 or 204 Stagecoach bus outside Manchester Piccadilly station on London Road & get off at Showcase Cinema on Hyde Road the stadium is at the back of the cinema. The buses are every 10 mins or so, the bus ride takes about 15 minutes.

I was down at the stadium at Christmas & like some of the more pessimistic posters on here, I couldn't see any way that it would be ready for March 19. The wet winter we've had up here won't have helped either. However I'm happy to admit that I was wrong, huge credit to the promotion who've had plans in place for stuff most fans, including me, wouldn't have even thought of. Hopefully the test event today will be a success & then a week of dry Mancunian weather to get the track into pristine condition for the likes of Woffy, Nicki P, Cookie et al to blast around next Saturday night.

It might not be on the scale of the Aces stadium, but the basic principles still apply. A track with good racing lines, combined with comfortable facilities you can invite friends/family/business to, has to be a winner. I've got friends coming to the new stadium this year who would never normally attend speedway. Two of them own local firms in north Manchester, & if they enjoy it they may well come back, & maybe bring their staff along too for a Xmas do or something like that. I'm sure other joe-normal Aces fans like me are doing the same, telling their mates. No reason why that formula can't work in Swindon, or Cov, or Essex etc.. Enjoy my trips to Swindon (especially last Sept ), hope the Robins are sorted soon.

Just hope your stadium project (& Coventry's too) gets going soon. Be brilliant if the Swindon promotion could get some of the Wiltshire 'movers n shakers' up to the Aces v Robins match. To show them what a positive effect a new stadium, with top facilities, & most importantly a quality track can have.

Just a thought on what I saw today. There's been a lot of discussion about pricing & comments that it's quite expensive, especially in the grandstand. I was concerned about the pricing structure when I first saw it published, & to a degree I'm still not sure BV have got it quite right (e.g in terms of the £8 for kids in the grandstand). But to be fair to the Promotion they are offering top quality viewing, & from a business point of view, that shouldn't be undersold. Will be really interested to read the thoughts of both home & visiting fans in the weeks to come, know the Aces promotion will be very interested in constructive feedback too.

Been in the stadium this morning, had a look around the grandstand concourse & the Peter Craven Suite, brilliant facilities & views of the track simply awesome. Tractor was scooting round bends 3 & 4 & the tarmac job in the car park at that end was in full swing too. Some final touches being carried out in the pits area as well. Season ticket ordered too, £444, all EL & PL fixtures in fantastic seat overlooking the first turn - left the stadium buzzing. Just 7 more sleeps til this Aces fan's "Christmas Day" - that at times I admit I thought would never happen - I can't wait!!!

Concerns me too. Great opportunity to combine following your teams with a mini-break in a lovely part of the UK. Fingers crossed that the IOW aren't affected too badly by any re-arranged Pirates fixtures for Sky, though sadly it's inevitable that one or two matches will be moved. Seems a lot of good feeling around the Warriors launch & hope as many fans as possible (including those of EL clubs across the water the night before) support the venture. As someone with travel plans already made, hoping Sky leave the Pirates/Aces May clash as it is!

Yes really pleased with how the fixtures have panned out. The Colts' May trip to take on the Warriors conveniently sandwiched between the Aces matches at Poole & Coventry on consecutive nights. Time off work booked, all the ingredients for a cracking speedway road trip, then home for the Bank Holiday weekend. Really looking forward to my first visit to the island now.

The Aces have got a solid looking side but a potential lack of practice on the new home circuit, due to the seemingly endless rain up here & getting the track bedded in, must impact on any early doors home advantage we might have hoped to enjoy. Reckon Pete Adams will be rightly seeing that as an opportunity. Expect this Wolves side to give BV a serious run for their money on Good Friday..

Got the potential to be a brilliant weekend, just hope the powers-that-be make the pricing of the speedway/camping attractive for fans. As an Aces fan already going to Swindon on the Thursday & Coventry on the Friday, really tempted to head to this one too - will be watching developments with interest. If it's sensibly priced will definitely be there, always enjoy my racing fix at the Showground.

Apologies if this info is detailed on other topics, but is there any definite date when the NL fixtures are due to be released? IOW fixtures on Thurs 26th May & Thurs 1st Sept are of particular interest to me (as they follow the Poole v Belle Vue clashes the night before) & I'm looking at hotels for doing one of these trips.

I'm looking forward to seeing Cookie there too. The way he rides the likes of Edinburgh, Wolves & the old Kirky Lane, I'd expect him to go well at Lakeside.

It's a good point you make Tocha, there are plenty of options. Tons of places to stay in and around Manchester. I'd like to think that special buses from the city centre (probably Piccadilly Gardens) to the stadium would be laid on, especially for the SWC final. Anyone needing any help, whether now or nearer the time, you're welcome to message me on here or DM me via Twitter. Plenty of other Aces fans on here, I'm sure they'd help as well.

Boxall's got talent, seen him have some decent races in the past. But surely a huge gamble, in terms of having machinery for a full season, been injury issues too, retiring mid-season etc. Would love to be proved wrong, not got a great feeling about this option though.

Hope Stefan Nielsen continues to develop & improve in Robins colours in 2016, an excellent signing I think. He was a real trier for us & has a great attitude too, was popular with our fans. Sad to see him leave the Aces. I wish him every success in the future.

Thanks Bryn/CM, appreciate your posts. From a selfish point of view, I hope the fixture planners will schedule the Aces at Poole on the Weds, followed by the Colts on the Isle the following night. Either way, look forward to visiting in 2016, hope the re-launch of the IOW club is a big success.

Apologies if this info is elsewhere on the forum, but can anyone advise when the Warriors race night is likely to be - wasn't it originally a Tuesday? Planning a trip down to the IOW at some stage next season, any advice would be appreciated.

Really enjoyed my trips down from Manchester to the Arena Essex Raceway over the last couple of seasons, so for both selfish reasons & for the loyal band of Lakeside fans, hoping it's good news from the Hammers fans forum tonight.

Kyle Newman throwing his goggles into the Aces fans was in response to some good natured stick from us Aces fans heading down to Poole on the coach. You'll see from the photos from the coach on Twitter that the Aces fans were having the craic with him over "Gogglegate" & were more than happy with their "present" on the way back north. Thanks Kyle, great sense of humour, all the best for 2016 & onwards!

Just home from Wimborne Road, what a night, despite it ending in narrow defeat for us. Big crowd, great atmosphere & terrific racing. Congratulations to the Pirates on their victory. Great effort from the Aces, never gave up at any stage. We may not have gone home with the trophy this time, but it's clear that Belle Vue have regained a great deal of credibility & respect from their efforts over the tie, that had been lost somewhat over the club's recent barren years. We're no longer a soft touch. Hugely proud of my team tonight, glad I made the trip, we're heading in the right direction, roll on 2016!