Belle Vue Aces

Belle Vue Aces
Club information
Track address National Speedway Stadium
Kirkmanshulme Lane
Gorton
Manchester
Country England
Founded 1928
Team manager Australia Mark Lemon
Team captain Scott Nicholls
League Elite League
Website www.bellevueaces.co
Club facts
Colours Red, White and Black
Track size 285 metres (312 yd)
Track record time 56.8
Track record date 5 July 2008
Track record holder Jason Crump
Current team
Rider CMA
Slovenia Matej Žagar 8.31
England Craig Cook 7.08
England Scott Nicholls 6.80
Australia Max Fricke 6.71
England Richie Worrall 4.10
England Steve Worrall 4.85
England Joe Jacobs 3.00
Total 40.85
Major team honours
British League Champions1970, 1971, 1972, 1982, 1993
British League Knockout Cup Winners1972, 1973, 1975
Elite League Knockout Cup Winners2005
British League Pairs Champions1984
Elite League Pairs Champions2006
National League Champions1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1963
National Trophy Winners1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1958
Northern League Champions1930, 1931
Northern KO Cup Winners1931
National League Cup Winners1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1946
British League Cup Winners1983
English Speedway Trophy (Reserves)1938
Northern Trophy1975, 1976, 1977
Darcy Ward, as a guest, and James Wright

The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway team from Manchester in the north west of England.

History

Racing first took place in 1928 at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane before moving the following year to a specially built stadium nearby on Hyde Road. The club raced there until 1987 when the stadium was demolished. The club moved to a new track at its original home and remains there to this day.[1]

Hyde Road Stadium

Hyde Road had a 40,000 capacity with a track length of 382 metres (418 yards), and was built around an existing athletics and cycling track. It is alleged that Britain’s first open grass-track event took place here on 25 February 1928. Later, with the grass gone, it was claimed to be the first purpose built speedway track in Britain. The opening speedway meeting here was staged on 23 March 1929, when Arthur Franklyn won the Golden Helmet.

Belle Vue resigned from league racing (English Dirt Track League) in 1929, stating that it wasn’t popular enough. In 1930 they were leading members of the uncompleted Northern League. In 1931 Belle Vue reserves took over Harringay’s fixtures, after they had withdrawn from the Southern League. This meant the Aces had a team in both the Northern and Southern Leagues although they were often referred to as Manchester in the Southern League.

Belle Vue again had two teams in 1934, one in the National League and the other, known as the Goats, in the reserve league. Liverpool transferred their provincial league operation to Belle Vue in 1937, so again, Belle Vue had a team in both leagues.

Belle Vue was the only track to continue operating throughout the Second World War,[2] running a total of 176 meetings during the war years, which were attended by a total of 2,816,000 people. The winners of the wartime British Individual Championships were:

After the war, team racing resumed, with the Aces taking their place in the 1946 National League, and subsequently Division One the following year. There was sadness on 13 September 1947 however, when manager E.O. Spence died. Johnnie Hoskins took over from Alice Hart as promoter in 1953.

With so few tracks running, the Aces found themselves in the 11 team National League in 1957. A change in promoter occurred in 1960 with Ken Sharples taking charge. Harold Jackson took over as Speedway Manager in 1964, prior to the Aces becoming founder members of the British League in 1965. Dent Oliver became Speedway Manager in 1967, and remained in that position until 1973.

Frank Varey took over as Speedway Manager in 1974, before Jack Fearnley took up the reins in 1974. In 1982, former World Stock-Car Champion Stuart Bamforth became promoter. The stadium was also used for Stock Car racing right up to its closure in 1987.

Following the announcement that Bamforth had sold the stadium for redevelopment, the last speedway meeting was staged on 1 November 1987, when a double header took place. Firstly, Belle Vue defeated the Coventry Bees in a replay of the League Cup before losing to the Cradley Heath Heathens in the final league match ever raced at Hyde Road.

Kirkmanshulme Lane

Belle Vue Stadium, Manchester

The greyhound track at Belle Vue Stadium (Kirkmanshulme Lane) was the first to open in Britain when, on 24 July 1927, some 1,700 enthusiasts witnessed a dog called Mistley win the very first race. A grass-track meeting took place here on 5 May 1928, with Syd Jackson emerging as the winner. The dirt track was stated to be similar in size and shape to Wimbledon and Harringay, with the first meeting going ahead on 28 July 1928, when Frank Arthur won the Golden Helmet.

When the stadium at Hyde Road was sold in 1987, the Aces moved back to the Greyhound Stadium, under the promotion of Peter Collins, John Perrin and Don Bowes. The opening meeting of the new era of the Aces was held on 1 April 1988, and saw Belle Vue take on Bradford Dukes in the Frank Varey Northern Trophy. However, the match was abandoned after just two heats due to a waterlogged track (rain), with the Aces leading the match.

Due to other commitments, Peter Collins resigned from his promotional position in 1989, leaving Perrin and Bowes in charge of the Aces. With the amalgamation of the two leagues, Belle Vue became members of the British League Division One in 1991.

A further management change in 1994 saw George Carswell link with Perrin and Bowes as co-promoter. Both divisions of the British League joined together to form a 21 team Premier League in 1995, with the Aces becoming founder members.

A further promoting change in 1995 saw John Hall replace Don Bowes, to link up with Perrin and Carswell. The Premier League broke in two at the end of 1996, with the Aces becoming members of the new Elite League, where they have remain up until the present day.

A change of promotion occurred in late 2004 as John Perrin sold the club to Workington Promoters Tony Mole and Ian Thomas. This was Thomas's second stint in charge of The Aces. A further change in ownership occurred in December 2006 as ex-captain Chris Morton along with David Gordon bought the club from Tony Mole and Ian Thomas.[3]

Belle Vue still ride at Kirkmanshulme Lane and race nights are nearly always on Monday nights with an occasional Wednesday meeting. From 2016 Belle Vue will ride at The National Speedway Stadium after Manchester City Council granted Planning Permission on Thursday 11 September 2014.

Throughout its history the team has produced five world Speedway World Champions.[4]

National Speedway Stadium

The Aces are set to move to a new purpose-built stadium in Gorton in 2016, which will also serve as the national stadium for British speedway.[5]

2015 Line-up

Elite Draft Reserve Riders

Also rode for Belle Vue during 2015

2013 Line-up

Also in the line-up

Previous Teams

Famous riders

Individual World Champions

Individual Under-21 World Champions

Club honours

^ not completed

References

  1. ↑ Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
  2. ↑ James, T. & Stephenson, B. (2003).Speedway in Manchester, Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-3000-9
  3. ↑ Frost, Richard (2006) "Morton in Takeover", Speedway Star, 14 October 2006, p. 3
  4. ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  5. ↑ Ankers, Wayne (2014) "Work starts on Gorton's new National Speedway Stadium as part of £11m investment in Belle Vue sports village", Manchester Evening News, 16 October 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014
  6. ↑ Bamford, Robert (2008). Methanol Press Speedway Yearbook 2008. Methanol Press. ISBN 978-0-9553103-5-5.
  7. ↑ Bamford, Robert (2007-03-01). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 0-7524-4250-3.

External links

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