BELLE Vue have signed top Polish junior Kamil Zielinski as part of a blueprint for the future which is based on the way Sir Alex Ferguson shook up the Manchester United youth set-up when he took over in 1986.

Aces' chief David Gordon, head of Highland Group based next to Old Trafford, had a close-up view of the Ferguson revolution through contracts with the club.

Now he is aiming to put Belle Vue's long-term future on a firmer footing by strengthening the asset base with young riders such as Swede Billy Forsberg, who has come straight into the team, and 20-year-old Zielinski, who is seen as one for the future.

Gordon said: "I know there is a lot of difference between soccer and speedway, but the principle is the same when it comes to finding young talent and attracting it to your club.

"When Chris Morton, Gordon Pairman and myself took over the club a year ago, it was our Grand Plan to build up our assets and lower the age profile.

"We have formed working links in Sweden and Poland which have helped us to bring in riders such as Forsberg, Lukasz Jankowski, Michal Rajkowski and now Zielinski.

Rider

"At the same time, through our new relationship with Polish club Tarnow, we were able to offer young English rider Steve Boxall the chance to join them when he signed for us. He has just signed a two-year contract with them."

Gordon had a close-up view of how Ferguson established a United academy.

He added: "My company, Highland Construction, did some building work for United and Sir Alex set about building up the academy when he took over.

"He realised the need to provide better facilities and we were called in to upgrade their training ground facilities at The Cliff in order to attract young players and parents.

"The result was that the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville filtered their way through from the academy into the club's famous Class of 92.

"That was Ferguson's vision and it moved up to the next step when the club had state of the art facilities built at their Carrington training ground.

"In our own way we want to make Belle Vue attractive to young riders. For example, it is good for us and for Steve Boxall that he has got this deal in Poland which will help his development as a rider."

"There isn't an abundance of young English riders around and we can't sit around waiting for them to appear," said Gordon. "It would be great for British speedway if we could set up a proper academy like they have in countries like Denmark and Sweden." Tweet