Belle Vue Aces


The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier League championship 14 times. They currently compete in the SGB Premiership, racing at The National Speedway Stadium, with home matches usually taking place on Monday evenings. They also run a second team in the National Development League, known as the Belle Vue Colts.

History

Origins

Racing in Belle Vue first took place on 28 July 1928 at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane. Mr G. A. Hunting, manager of the International Speedways Ltd was the promoter but the season was restricted to various open meetings and there was no league structure. The season ended early in September following problems with the track surface.
The following year in 1929, the North Manchester Speedway Club, who had previously arranged fixtures for the International Speedways Ltd moved the speedway to the recently built 40,000 capacity Hyde Road stadium nearby on Hyde Road, which was the home ground of Manchester Central F.C. and which formed part of the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens.

Hyde Road Stadium

The purpose built track was laid around the existing athletics and cycling track and the club secured the services of leading rider Arthur Franklyn as captain coach. The opening speedway meeting here was staged on 23 March 1929, when Arthur Franklyn won the Golden Helmet and the first league fixture was on 4 May, against Preston.
Belle Vue resigned from the English Dirt Track League) in 1929, stating that it wasn't popular enough but in 1930 and 1931, they were regarded as the champions of the Northern League on win rate percentage. In 1931, Belle Vue reserves took over Harringay's fixtures, after they had withdrawn from the Southern League.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.

National league domination

The team joined the National League when it was formed in 1932, racing against the big London teams on a regular basis. They became the leading club in the country winning the title four times from 1933 to 1936, in addition to claiming five National Trophy wins and five A.C.U Cup wins. The Belle Vue team included riders such as Eric Langton, Frank Varey, Joe Abbott, Max Grosskreutz, Bob Harrison, Bill Kitchen and Frank Charles. Both Langton and Charles were winners of the Star Riders' Championship.
In July 1937, the Liverpool Merseysiders promotion dropped out of the league and was replaced by the Belle Vue Aces promotion, led by Mr.E.C Spence and because Belle Vue already had a team in the National League they renamed the Provincial League team to Belle Vue Merseysiders.

War years

Belle Vue was the only track to continue operating throughout World War II, 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, the team racing resumed, with the Aces taking their place in the 1946 National League and subsequently winning another National Trophy and ACU Cup double but then the domination was ended by Wembley Lions. There was sadness on 13 September 1947, when manager E.O. Spence died. Johnnie Hoskins took over from Alice Hart as promoter in 1953.
From 1946 to 1960, the Aces finished runner-up in the league no less than eight times, being denied by Wembley Lions for five of them. Jack Parker starred for the Aces during the period and he was joined by Ron Johnston and Peter Craven, the latter being crowned as world champion in 1955 when a Belle Vue rider.

1960s

A change in promoter occurred in 1960, with Ken Sharples taking charge and Aces rider Peter Craven won a second world title in 1962. The Aces experienced a year that they would never forget in 1963, glory and tragedy ensued when the team won the league title but Peter Craven died, following a challenge match at Edinburgh's Old Meadowbank stadium, on 20 September 1963.
Harold Jackson took over as Speedway Manager in 1964, prior to the Aces becoming founder members of the new British League in 1965. Dent Oliver became the speedway manager in 1967, and remained in that position until 1973. Belle Vue Ove Fundin

1970s

The team had signed world champion Ivan Mauger in 1969 and supported by top Swede Sören Sjösten the Aces easily won the 1970 championship before going on to win three consecutive league titles and two Knockout Cups. They had been joined by Peter Collins for the 1972 title win.
Frank Varey took over as Speedway Manager in 1974, before Jack Fearnley took up the reins in 1974.

1980s

In 1982, former World Stock-Car Champion Stuart Bamforth became promoter and the stadium was also used for Stock Car racing. The year of 1982 resulted in the Aces winning their 11th league title, the team was led by Chris Morton, although Peter Collins was still an integral part of the team.
Following the announcement that Stuart 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

When the stadium at Hyde Road was sold in 1987, the Aces moved back to the Belle Vue 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, with the Aces leading the match. Due to other commitments Collins resigned from his promotional position in 1989, leaving Perrin and Bowes in charge of the Aces.

1990s

The next significant success arrived in 1993, when the Aces won the league title, led by 21-year-old, Joe Screen and well supported by Americans Bobby Ott and Shawn Moran and the Australian Jason Lyons. A further management change in 1994 saw George Carswell link with Perrin and Bowes as co-promoter and the following season a promoting change 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.

2000s

The next decade saw minimal success and 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. In 2005, the team won the Knockout Cup led by Jason Crump and the pairs championship the following season before 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.
The team nearly ended the search for another league title after reaching the play-off final in 2015. It was also the team's last season at Kirkmanshulme Lane before moving to the newly built National Speedway Stadium in 2016.

National Speedway Stadium

The Aces moved to a new purpose-built stadium in Gorton in 2016, which also served as the national stadium for British speedway. Following early teething troubles with the track surface which led to meetings being postponed, the Belle Vue team had a successful season and finished the league programme at the top. However, the Aces lost to Wolverhampton Wolves in the two-leg play-off finals. They did however win the Knockout Cup in 2017.

2020s

In 2022, the club ended a 29-year wait for their 13th league title after winning the SGB Premiership 2022. The Aces controversially brought in Robert Lambert as a late season injury replacement for Max Fricke and Lambert scored a 15 point maximum in the play off final 1st leg.
The Aces won their 14th league title by regaining the Premiership title in 2024.

Full season summary

Year and leagueLeague PositionNotes
1929 Speedway English Dirt Track LeagueN/Awithdrew, results expunged
1930 Speedway Northern League1stchampions
1931 Speedway Northern League1stchampions
1931 Speedway Southern League8thtook over fixtures of Harringay Canaries
1932 Speedway National League3rd
1933 Speedway National League1stchampions & National Trophy
1934 Speedway National League1stchampions, National Trophy & ACU Cup
1935 Speedway National League1stchampions, National Trophy & ACU Cup
1936 Speedway National League1stchampions, National Trophy & ACU Cup
1937 Speedway National League4thNational Trophy & ACU Cup
1938 Speedway National League5th
1939 Speedway National League1st++when league suspended & National Trophy
1946 Speedway National League2ndNational Trophy & ACU Cup
1947 Speedway National League2ndNational Trophy
1948 Speedway National League5th
1949 Speedway National League2ndNational Trophy
1950 Speedway National League2nd
1951 Speedway National League2nd
1952 Speedway National League6th
1953 Speedway National League8th
1954 Speedway National League7th
1955 Speedway National League2nd
1956 Speedway National League5th
1957 Speedway National League2nd
1958 Speedway National League5thNational Trophy
1959 Speedway National League9th
1960 Speedway National League2nd
1961 Speedway National League4th
1962 Speedway National League4th
1963 Speedway National League1stchampions
1964 Speedway National League4th
1965 British League season14th
1966 British League season13th
1967 British League season16th
1968 British League season10th
1969 British League season2nd
1970 British League season1stchampions
1971 British League season1stchampions
1972 British League season1stchampions & Knockout Cup winners
1973 British League season6thKnockout Cup winners
1974 British League season2nd
1975 British League season2ndKnockout Cup winners
1976 British League season2nd
1977 British League season5th
1978 British League season2nd
1979 British League season10th
1980 British League season3rd
1981 British League season4th
1982 British League season1stchampions
1983 British League season5thLeague Cup winners
1984 British League season2nd
1985 British League season6th
1986 British League season10th
1987 British League season9th
1988 British League season2nd
1989 British League season4th
1990 British League season3rd
1991 British League season4th
1992 British League season6th
1993 British League season1stchampions
1994 British League season11th
1995 Premier League speedway season2nd
1996 Premier League speedway season6th
1997 Elite League speedway season6th
1998 Elite League speedway season2nd
1999 Elite League speedway season6th
2000 Elite League speedway season9th
2001 Elite League speedway season9th
2002 Elite League speedway season8th
2003 Elite League speedway season7th
2004 Elite League speedway season7th
2005 Elite League speedway season1stPO finalists & Knockout Cup winners
2006 Elite League speedway season5thBelle Vue Aces
2007 Elite League speedway season10th
2008 Elite League speedway season7th
2009 Elite League speedway season9th
2010 Elite League speedway season8th
2011 Elite League speedway season7th
2012 Elite League speedway season10th
2013 Elite League speedway season9th
2014 Elite League speedway season8th
2015 Elite League speedway season4thPO final
2016 Elite League1stPO final
SGB Premiership 20173rdKnockout Cup winners
SGB Premiership 20184th
SGB Premiership 20195th
SGB Premiership 20213rdPO final
SGB Premiership 20221stChampions, won PO final
SGB Premiership 20231stPO semi final, Pairs winners
SGB Premiership 20243rdChampions
SGB Premiership 20254th