Ipswich to be renamed the NEW NATIONAL STADIUM ?

[Fortythirtyeight]

Now it’s official that Ipswich is to host the 2027 British GP then one has to assume Belle Vue is no longer the ‘ National  Stadium ‘ ?

Never understood why the National Stadium ( Belle Vue ) has not staged the likes of the Riders Championship Finals ( all 3 divisions ) , Fours final ( when we had them ) U-19 and U-21 finals etc etc but now it is only to stage the British Final ( I assume ? ) then it hardly deserves the title of ‘ National Stadium ‘ with it only hosting a dozen Aces meetings and a British Final.
 

 

 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

25 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

Now it’s official that Ipswich is to host the 2027 British GP then one has to assume Belle Vue is no longer the ‘ National  Stadium ‘ ?

Never understood why the National Stadium ( Belle Vue ) has not staged the likes of the Riders Championship Finals ( all 3 divisions ) , Fours final ( when we had them ) U-19 and U-21 finals etc etc but now it is only to stage the British Final ( I assume ? ) then it hardly deserves the title of ‘ National Stadium ‘ with it only hosting a dozen Aces meetings and a British Final.
 

 

 

The title was nothing more than a council vanity moniker wasn't it?

Purely to attract/enable certain grants

Never anything official from the Speedway hierarchy 

That said a development of that kind should've been the sort of project a significant proportion of the TV money previously garnered was put towards

[Fortythirtyeight]

51 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

The title was nothing more than a council vanity moniker wasn't it?

Purely to attract/enable certain grants

Never anything official from the Speedway hierarchy 

Motorcycles

 

That said a development of that kind should've been the sort of project a significant proportion of the TV money previously garnered was put towards

You might be right but wouldn’t the top table have a say in calling it ‘ The National Speedway Stadium ‘ ?

Why put TV money into something that the sport is only going to use for one BIG meeting a season ?

 

[Mick Bratley]

They needed to call it The National Speedway Stadium to get the project over the line with Manchester Council. I was present at the meeting when the request was made by David and Chris. I never had a vote at this time and from what I recall it never went to a vote, the consensus was that it was in the best interests of the sport (leave it lol) to agree to the request. I suppose you could say Wembley is the home of the England team but they do play the odd match at different stadiums in England on occasion, and u21/u19 sides rarely play at Wembley. I don’t see much difference with the GP at Ipswich rather than Belle Vue, but I take your point about it.

[P T Preece]

Ipswich, Cant understand this, not the greatest stadium in the country and very poor racing, a bit of a come down for British speedway. What next WTC at Iwade.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

15 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

You might be right but wouldn’t the top table have a say in calling it ‘ The National Speedway Stadium ‘ ?

Why put TV money into something that the sport is only going to use for one BIG meeting a season ?

 

Well the idea if centrally backed would be to use it for all big meetings

Rather a mute point now anyway - bothe the opportunity and the money have gone!!

[ouch]

If not having a GP is the criteria for not being called The NSS why have you waited until now? We’ve only had GP’s this year and last. 

Naming it the NSS helped get it over the line and follow the Polish model of council funded speedway. I think it’s a good thing that should be replicated by other clubs but as with most things Belle Vue they are not and the sport is where it is, unfortunately. 

At least Richard Coleman has observed what we do and seems keen to replicate. He has more to do and I sense he likes the race track element and the long term team building ethos, so they should be next.  Whether he’s bothered about renaming his stadium is debatable. 

[ouch]

If not having a GP is the criteria for not being called The NSS why have you waited until now? We’ve only had GP’s this year and last. 

Naming it the NSS helped get it over the line and follow the Polish model of council funded speedway. I think it’s a good thing that should be replicated by other clubs but as with most things Belle Vue they are not and the sport is where it is, unfortunately. 

At least Richard Coleman has observed what we do and seems keen to replicate. He has more to do and I sense he likes the race track element and the long term team building ethos, so they should be next.  Whether he’s bothered about renaming his stadium is debatable. 

[Sir Sidney]

5 venues in Manchester carry the 'national' prefix

I can't speak for all the sports but plenty of major cycling events take place at the London and Glasgow velodromes. 

It's just a funding and prestige thing for Manchester City Council. I don't know why people get so worked up about it. 

What all clubs should be doing is building relationships with the relevant local Government bodies to explore partnerships and funding opportunities, and to explore how the club can be beneficial to the Council

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+sports+arenad+in+Manchester+carry+the+title+'national'&oq=how+many+sports+arenad+in+Manchester+carry+the+title+'national'&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTM1MjIzajBqNKgCAbACAQ&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&source=chrome.ob&ie=UTF-8

[1 valve]

On 9/27/2026 at 9:13 PM, Mick Bratley said:

They needed to call it The National Speedway Stadium to get the project over the line with Manchester Council. I was present at the meeting when the request was made by David and Chris. I never had a vote at this time and from what I recall it never went to a vote, the consensus was that it was in the best interests of the sport (leave it lol) to agree to the request. I suppose you could say Wembley is the home of the England team but they do play the odd match at different stadiums in England on occasion, and u21/u19 sides rarely play at Wembley. I don’t see much difference with the GP at Ipswich rather than Belle Vue, but I take your point about it.

At least The FA own Wembley. So yes it is the home of football in England. 
Maybe the BSPL could buy Coventry in due course?