Aces' boss vows to bring in top riders

Richard Frost

June 19, 2009

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BELLE Vue supremo David Gordon has emphasised his commitment to the future of the club, despite the present difficult economic conditions.

The One51 Aces are even willing to venture back into the transfer market to splash out on a top-end rider if the right man becomes available at the right price.

But Gordon warned that if the credit crunch ever reached the point where the club's 81-year history was threatened, he would not hesitate to take a step down the pyramid and apply to join the Premier League.

For the moment he is confident the club will maintain top-flight Elite League racing but, like other sides in the nine-team competition, he is keeping a close eye on a difficult financial situation.

It's a problem not helped by rain-offs after riders have jetted in from Europe.

Even so, under the rules governing team strengthening, the Aces can bring in a quality rider to boost a team languishing at the wrong end of the table and Gordon is unhappy with the level of criticism being aimed at the management by fans who don't know the situation.

Mark

Teams cannot bring in new men until they have completed 12 league matches so Poole and Coventry snaffled key targets Hans Andersen and Scott Nicholls while the Aces were waiting to reach that mark.

Gordon said: "We were in contact with both riders but weren't in a position to bring them in because we hadn't done 12 matches. It's a very unlevel playing field.

"It's early to say things haven't worked out because we've only ridden five home league matches.

"Certainly, we've got a lot of improvement to do but it would be unfair to write us off because of our current position. We have ridden the fewest number of home fixtures in the league.

"We want to keep top quality racing for our team and fans as long as it is sustainable.

"But if the day comes when Elite League racing can't be sustained then we will apply to join the Premier.

"I think change will come because I believe there are three or four clubs who want to get away from the Elite League."

What do you think? Have your say.

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manchesterpaul, Manchester (19/06/2009 at 20:57)

Fantastic news and sincerest thanks to David Gordon not just for his future commitment to the club but stating it publicly.

The moaning minnie supporters really need to take on board the age old truth about not knowing what you've got until it's gone. Hell! look at Belle Vue leisure park (and Hyde Road speedway) as a prime example. If the owners of that had stuck through the 'recession' at the time, in this day and age they'd be sitting on an absolute gold mine. Especially, despite these tougher times, people's disposable income being so high nowadays.

Plaudits to the management at Belle Vue for putting so much effort, and MONEY into the club. It must be very dispiriting at times when there are so many who constantly snipe and criticize no matter what is done. You know the sort, if you find a fiver in the street and rush up to them with the good news, they'll respond 'i knew someone who once found a tenner, pity you didn't find a tenner'.

Whilst i've often wished they would take on board or prioritize certain ideas that have been expressed by fans, i have always recognized one thing, whatever they do they are genuinely doing with the interests of the club in mind. Also, they have implemented some excellent schemes to attract newcomers.

Please everyone try and bring a friend to Belle Vue the racing is improving. It must be soul destroying to have seen some of the attendances this season. Unfortunately, even sports that are ingrained into us from birth to death in our national consciousness actually have appalling attendance figures. This despite having blanket coverage in the media every day of the year.

At least with the Sky coverage the sport is gradually seeping in to the general public's awareness. If one looks at the viewing figures for speedway, it will more often than not outdo Rugby's Super League, Cricket, Tennis and lots of others. A remarkable feat when every day of your life you are exposed to the sports pages of the press being filled up with those sports, as well as TV and radio etc. Even Sky themselves barely promote speedway on their trailers and sport news programmes.

As for dropping down to a lower level, hopefully, that will not happen and the two leagues will combine. There are so few teams in the Elite League now anyway. An amalgamated league would give a greated variety of opponents and with local derbies once again available increased revenue from visiting fans.

manchesterpaul (yep from manchester)

stephen (20/06/2009 at 09:46)

I applaud DG's comments.There are a few suggestions i want to make.Poole,who have been the centre of controversy just lately, always seem to get to the 12 match mark swiftly and perhaps BV should try and do the same.The EL should be governed by a single independent body rather than the promoters as this encourages the "scratch my back" ethos that goes on currently.The Elite League,in it's current state is dying and in my opinion the whole league structure MUST change next season.I have always been of the opinion that The Aces should be in the top flight league.That has changed.The Premier League,which is much larger would mean a greater variety of visiting teams and variety is the spice of life.During the what i call the golden age of the sport 1975 to date you had a massive variety of visiting teams,unlike what we have this month when a team visits twice in June.Admission costs are really excellent value at BV,a family of 5,that being 2ad and 3 kids is only £38,which top flight professional sport can offer that?.One seat at say City or United can be nearly that much.It's a no brainer.
The fans that criticise need to get the bigger picture,the promotion are doing all they can in difficult circumstances and they need the support this institution that is the Belle Vue Aces deserve.I am frustrated as sometimes every fan is and want to see Belle Vue lift trophies every season, but this takes time and is sometimes not possible.Lean times are part of every club and given time the glory years of this proud club will return.

East Yorks Exile, East Yorks! (20/06/2009 at 15:46)

Thanks for your comments David and the infomation that you and the management team are trying to get the best available riders to Belle Vue. I appreciate the time and efforts all the management team put into keeping Speedway in Manchester but regarding your comments about criticism by fans "who don't know the situation" maybe if we were given more infomation there would be less compaints, for example a statement of "we have been in talks with one/various riders about joining us but obviously were are unable to comment further" is better than silence. I am aware that it's not always possible to give too much infomation away until a deal is done but keeping the supporters in the dark means they will think nothing is happening, better communication between supporters and the management team would resolve this.
Thanks again for your work and let's hope the rest of the season is a good one for the Aces.

Roger Turning the Holme Valley Blue (21/06/2009 at 10:38)

I criticesed the manaegement in the first year for putting out a side that we could see was way below standard. They have altered that gradually, and even though we have not started well this season, it is a team with potential and a lot right with it. Things are changing gradually and we gained another away win last night at eastbourne to go with the one at Ippo recently. A bit of tinkering and a return to form of Gjedde and I think we can come good still.
A winning team always makes it easier to get supporters in.
Hopefully they'll be a change in structure of the league, but we have tried many different things over the years in Speedway,including a merging of the leagues, with varying degrees of success.

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