Twas Fifty Years Ago

Looking back, most folk would say that the 70s were a boom time for British Speedway with nearly 40 tracks racing in the two leagues. However, it would be more correct to say that English Speedway boomed in that decade. Ian Hoskins reckoned he would have made a killing if he had moved his Edinburgh side down to England rather than Coatbridge when Old Meadowbank closed. Sadly, it was quite different in Scotland. When 1970 dawned Hoskins had sold the Monarchs licence to Wembley and later that year there was an ill-fated venture at Newtongrange which never made it to the Edinburgh Trades Fortnight.The Nordic British Final at Hampden in 1971 may have brought the biggest crowd at that venue but it was well below expectations and there was never any chance of a repeat. Indeed there were no more internationals offered to Glasgow by the BSPA. The following year saw the sport withering on the vine in Glasgow and a shambolic attempt at Motherwell. Glasgow decamped to Coatbridge that winter but even with the lower cost base couldn’t get riders to come north and couldn’t sustain top level racing. Oh and there was another even shorter lived open licence season at Newtongrange! Tigers had a strong and indeed expensive line up as they opened up in 1974 in the Second Division, having sold their BL licence to Hull to balance the books. While this septet laid waste to most visitors they were much less productive on the road and when the sums were done at the end of the year another big loss was evident. Gifford and Adlington were to be released.

Against this background, Neil Macfarlalne and Joe Thurley decided to bring speedway to Paisley, a town about 12 miles west of Glasgow’s city centre. Certainly optimists. They would be in competition with the other new teams that year – Newcastle, Crayford and Mildenhall – for riders to staff the Lions side. Barrow had closed and while Newcastle pulled off the scoop of signing the Owen brothers who would rule the division in the coming seasons, Paisley got Sid and Mick Sheldrick and Chris Roynon, while Alan Bridgett subsequently joined to begin a lifelong association with the sport north of the border. Thurley produced a number of Aussie youngsters, Stuart Mountford, Bryan Townsend, Bob Baker, Bernie Foot and Tom Davie, though the latter revealed he was born in Aberdeen and had emigrated with his family as a child.

Mick Fullerton was flown in during April to beef up the side but perhaps it was always going to be an uphill struggle.. ..and it was. The Lions managed two seasons before succumbing to the inevitable despite some heroic fund raising ventures that included a night with Ivan Mauger. As The Tremeloes hit goes “Even the bad times were good” and it is a measure of the bond between riders, officials and supporters that existed and indeed remained that a 40 Year Anniversary saw riders come from al over including New Zealand to join in the festivities. 50^th ????

For many of that loyal band speedway was never quite the same so here’s some random memories that will perhaps get them dewy eyed

The Lions opened in early April when a crowd of over 6000 turned up on an overcast night to see the Lions beat Birmingham, Thurley’s other team in a challenge meeting. A rather concerned Sid Sheldrick led the pre meeting parade with a Lion Cub on a leash. Can’t see this being allowed today!

The Festival of Paisley event the following month drew a crowd of well over 14000 though it has to be borne in mind that nearly all were admitted on complimentary tickets after a really wide ranging distribution. I was offered tickets by relatives, neighbours, and office colleagues. Sadly few returned for a further visit when cash at the turnstile was involved. However it remains the largest speedway crowd in Scotland since the post war boom days of the late 40s/ early 50s

On track success was limited. Thet never won an away meeting, nor any head to head meeting against local rivals Coatbridge, though they did finish ahead of the Tigers in a four team tournament leg. Mick Fullerton is revered for stopping a 65-13 whitewash at Workington with a late meeting second place ensuring they ended the night on 14.

The infamous meeting with Newcastle is covered in detail elsewhere with Tom Owen being thrown out the meeting by referee Crawford Logan and a tape measure double shuffle being required to convince Ian Thomas that the under sized track was the required width. Aye right!

There was the night the public address system went “tech” and the tractor driver was sent out with a board giving the heat result and I believe bellowed out any rider changes too.

Meetings at Love Street often dragged out even with a 7.00 start, not great given that “last orders” were at 9.50 in these decidedly unenlightened times .I can remember the night fellow Saturday track Berwick visited on a Thursday, the night after the European Cup Final was played in Glasgow and the local populace along with the many visiting fans were allowed to sample “European drinking hours” ie all night. Carnage! I couldn’t find any of my friends fit enough to accompany me to Love Street. Indeed in a few cases they were reported as being unable to come to the phone. This seems to have been widespread as few supporters turned up to see Berwick run amok with a large win.

Dave Marshall, a Radio Clyde DJ, was announcer and gave the sport a plug in his shows as did Dick Barrie who gave flight updates for the station. Dick was a programme contributor but was rarely at Love Street as he announced at Berwick every Saturday.