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| Belle Vue Colts Speedway Team | |||||||
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| Club information | |||||||
| Track address | National Speedway Stadium Kirkmanshulme Lane Gorton Manchester | ||||||
| Country | England | ||||||
| League | National League | ||||||
| Website | official website | ||||||
| Club facts | |||||||
| Colours | Red, White and Black | ||||||
| Track size | 347 metres | ||||||
| Track record time | 58.18 secs (4 laps) | ||||||
| Track record date | 26 August 2019 | ||||||
| Track record holder | Dan Bewley | ||||||
| Major team honours | |||||||
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The Belle Vue Colts are the junior youth development team of the Belle Vue Aces, one of the World's most famous motorcycle speedway team, based in Manchester in the northwest of England. [1]
Belle Vue first operated a reserve team during the 1934 Speedway National League which finished 6th in the league table. [2] Three years later in the 1937 Provincial Speedway League the Belle Vue reserve side took over the fixtures of Liverpool Merseysiders and in the 1939 Speedway National League Division Two the Belle Vue reserves replaced Stoke Potters. [3] In the mid-1950s Belle Vue ran a few "second" team events when the Aces were away from home.
The Belle Vue Colts side was formed by former Aces rider Dent Oliver, who became General Manager of Belle Vue Aces in 1967. Oliver's arrival brought sweeping changes to the club's approach as he recognised that if the club was to remain at the very top of British Speedway it needed a way of developing its own young riders. Oliver quickly introduced the now legendary Monday night training schools which he hoped would provide for Belle Vue's future. His efforts brought huge and immediate rewards, with youngsters coming from the north of England to become a part of Belle Vue's roster.
Belle Vue were invited to enter a team of their raw youngsters alongside former provincial league teams like Middlesbrough Bears, Plymouth Devils and Rayleigh Rockets, and the new division roared into life on Wednesday 8 May 1968 with Belle Vue defeating Canterbury 55–23 in the first ever second division match. The Colts went through that maiden season unbeaten at home and clinched the league title on Wednesday 28 August when they beat Weymouth 63-15 (the most convincing victory of the season). [4] Twelve months later The Colts retained their Second Division title and even went one better by adding the Knock-Out Cup to the trophy cabinet. Many of the riders used in those two debut seasons went on to further their careers at first division level. [5]
In 1970, the Belle Vue management looked for a new home for their nursery team, and this was found at Rochdale where the Colts moved — still under the control of Belle Vue — to become the Rochdale Hornets. [6] Rochdale finished third in the 1970 Second Division and reached the semi-finals of the knock-out cup. The Hornets closed after finishing ninth in the 1971 championship, but not before unearthing the biggest talent that the second division was ever to produce: the 16-year-old Peter Collins.
The Belle Vue Colts have continued in various competitions, usually as second half events after the Aces' matches. Notable successes include the 1978 Scottish Junior League title, the 1989 British League 2 Championship and K.O. Cup double and the 2001 and 2002 Northern Youth Development titles. Joe Screen, Carl Stonehewer, Scott Smith, Lee Smethills, Ricky Ashworth and James Wright all moved on to a higher level.
Since 2016 the team have competed in league competition and currently are part of the 2021 National Development League speedway season.
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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 13 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.
Peter Spencer Collins MBE is a former speedway rider who spent his whole career (1971–1986) with the Belle Vue Aces, the team he supported as a child.
Christopher John Morton, MBE is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. He rode bikes from a young age at the farm of Peter Collins' parents.
The Canterbury Crusaders were a motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Kingsmead Stadium, Kingsmead Road, Canterbury from 1968 to 1987. For all of their 20-year existence, the Crusaders operated at the second level of British league speedway, in British League Division Two and the National League.
King's Lynn Stars are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Premiership. The nickname "Stars" comes from the defunct Norwich Stars team. The team was founded in 1965 and has been running continually since then, except for 1996 when King's Lynn failed to have a team competing in the British league system.
Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were five times champions of the United Kingdom and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023.
Simon Trevor Stead is a British speedway team manager and former rider.
Charles Martin Wright is a British speedway rider.
The Rochdale Hornets were a British speedway team from Rochdale in the north west of England.
The 2005 Elite League speedway season was the 71st season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).
The 2004 Elite League speedway season was the 70th season of the top division of speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). Poole Pirates completed the double for the second year running. They were the first team to achieve this since Oxford Cheetahs in 1986.
The 1934 National League Division One was the sixth season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. It was also the first time that a second division/tier of racing was introduced following the creation of a reserves league.
The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.
Liverpool Chads are a defunct motorcycle speedway team who were based at the Stanley Stadium in Prescot Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, England.
The 1968 British League Division Two season was the inaugural season of a second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
John Walter Denton Oliver was an international motorcycle speedway rider who qualified for the Speedway World Championship finals three times.
The SGB Premiership 2018 was the 84th season of the top division of Great British Speedway in 2018. The season ran between March and October 2018 and had eight teams participating. The line-up of teams remained the same as in 2017. The Swindon Robins were the defending champions after winning the title in 2017. BT Sport continued its TV coverage of the SGB Premiership in 2018. Poole Pirates defeated King's Lynn Stars in the Play off final. It was Poole's tenth tier one title, which brought them level in second place with the Wembley Lions in the historical records.
Daniel Bewley is a British international speedway rider.
The 2022 SGB Premiership was the 87th season of the top tier of British speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Premiership. Sheffield Tigers topped the regular season table and met Belle Vue Aces in the play off final but Belle Vue ran out the winners to claim their 13th league title.
The 2023 Sports Insure SGB Premiership was the 88th season of the top tier of British speedway and the 6th known as the SGB Premiership.
