Doug Nicolson looks at the few English tracks that never had any Scottish riders in

Scot Free

Blantyre has been described as the cradle of Glasgow Speedway. Not only did the Tigers race there for ten seasons but it was the birthplace of Ken McKinlay and the Beaton brothers. David Livingstone was probably the most famous son of Blantyre, travelling far from his native Lanarkshire on missionary work in the 1800s. During the 50s,  a number of Scottish riders left the land of their birth to ride for English teams, whether as missionaries or refugees is for you to decide. Sadly it’s something we’re unlikely to see again anytime soon, with only Ace Pijper currently taking part in the Championship.

For years the Scottish football team has been the butt of jokes following their failure to qualify for the final stages of the World Cup – what do you call a Scotsman at the World Cup finals – a referee! Sadly this can now be adapted for speedway – what do you call a Scotsman at a Grand Prix – a machine examiner! But it wasn’t always like this. Over the years there have been remarkably few English tracks that never availed themselves of the services of a Scot – and were “Scotfree”.

In the beginning

Speedway’s downturn in the 1950s hit Scotland in 1954 by which time Ashfield had already closed. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow pulled out of racing during the 1954 season and Motherwell, the last survivors, were excluded from plans for 1955 on travel cost grounds. Tommy Miller moved down to Brandon to join Coventry but never really settled and retired after a short stay at Oxford. Ken McKinlay and Gordon McGregor proved more durable. Both joined Leicester although the latter moved on to Oxford where he spent six years before joining Belle Vue for four seasons. He retired after a handful of meetings for Long Eaton but was coaxed back into the saddle to head up Doncaster under the Berry and Thurley promotion in 1970 and moved with them to Birmingham for a brief spell in 1971 before hanging up his leathers for good.

McKinlay remained with Ochiltree promotions for the bulk of his career and possibly only moved from Leicester when Ochiltree persuaded Mike Parker to run it in the PL. Ken then had three successful years at Brandon before being moved to sister track West Ham where he led the Hammers to the first BL championship with the KO Cup being thrown in for good measure. He was a World Final regular throughout the 60s and rejoined Coventry for 1970 before having two years at Cowley and extended his career by dropping down to the second division as rider coach at Scunthorpe for whom he raced for three seasons.

Berwick

Although Berwick is actually in England, and indeed is still technically at war with Russia, given its close connections with the Scottish tracks, no attempt has been made to list the lengthy number of Scots who turned out for the Bandits.

Glasgow juniors

John Wilson, Alan Mackie and Brian Murray all rode in Glasgow’s second half events and were farmed out for further rides down south. Mackie and Wilson turned out for both Sunderland and Barrow and actually rode for the Happy Faces in their open licence challenge meeting against Motherwell at Holker Street. Heat eight of the Berwick v Sunderland second division league match in 1971 saw Bandits track Al Brady and Jim Beaton while the Saints were represented by Brian Murray and Alan Mackie, who took the minor places behind Brady – all four riders being Scots. Quite unique.

Brian Murray made numerous guest appearances for BL sides, who arrived at Hampden a rider short, but joined the newly opened Bradford substantively and was a useful second string for the Northern until a severe arm injury after a crash at Hull caused him to retire. Andy Meldrum rode for Tigers towards the end of their time at Hampden and went on to turn out for the Gladiators of Sunderland.

Jim Gallacher impressed Barry Briggs so much that Briggo got him to join Swindon for 1971. However his slap dash maintenance led to a parting of the ways. Given Briggo’s, at times, pragmatic approach to running repairs, it must have been bad.

Midland Macs

George Hunter never really took to the Coatbridge track although his time there was punctuated by a horrific crash at The White City which badly sapped his confidence.  When the licence was sold to Wembley, he stayed in the north, joining Ian Hoskins at Newcastle. He probably would have left Coatbridge anyway as he seemed to be looking for a change of scene, suggesting he would like “a smooth track like Sheffield” – so it’s hard to believe he was pleased to go to the notoriously rough Brough Park. When Newcastle folded he again accompanied Hoskins, this time to Glasgow’s Hampden Park. He couldn’t replicate his good form of his first year there and became both unsettled and unsettling. It’s possibly no coincidence that Hoskins was no longer involved in the Tigers during his second season. Things came to a head when a heated argument broke out over his exclusion for tape breaking Hard words were spoken in the pits and he demanded a transfer, to which the promotion instantly agreed. Somewhat controversially he was sold to Wolverhampton, where he seemed more settled, giving them six years of solid service before dropping down a division with Oxford.

Charlie McKinna was another to head south, but in less controversial circumstances. Indeed his transfer fee when he joined Coventry in 1982 was particularly useful in funding the new track at Craighead Park, Tigers second track during their time in Blantyre. He possibly made the jump to the top division too early as he had a pretty tough time at Brandon and the following year he joined Milton Keynes for whom he rode for a season before returning north.

Capital Scots

Wembley got Bert Harkins and Brian Collins from Coatbridge when they bought the Monarchs licence ahead of the 1970 season. When the Lions failed to reopen Harkins subsequently joined Sheffield, Wimbledon and latterly Milton Keynes. As previously mentioned Ken McKinlay graced West Ham’s Custom House stadium for a number of years leaving Hackney as the only Capital club never to have had a Scot on their team sheets. Hackney tracked Colin McKee and Les McGillivray but, while they certainly sound Scottish, neither were Scots, although the latter rode for a Scottish four at Newport in the PL days. It is believed that Jim McMillan was guested for the Hawks on a long weekend trip racing meetings at at Gdansk and Leszno in Poland in1980.

Walter Vernon Ross Gilbertson

Ross was born in Ayton, just a few miles on the right side (north) of the Scottish/ English border, but made relatively few appearances at Edinburgh and Glasgow other than BL meetings with his Poole side. A graduate from the Southern Area League, he was a Pirates regular in the first half of the sixties and looked to have retired at the end of the inaugural BL season. However he was tempted back for Rochester, who quickly became Romford and during his time at Brooklands saw some limited appearances for Exeter and Newport, the two senior tracks run by the Mawdsley/ Lansdale promotion. When the Bombers left Romford, Ross had spells with Canterbury, with whom he nearly lifted the Division Two Riders Championship in 1972, controversially dropping points when he pulled up believing the red lights were on when in fact a supporter in the crowd quite unaccountably had a flashing red light on a helmet. Having had his first rides at Eastbourne, it seems quite fitting that he closed out his career in their colours in 1973.

Other Scots who joined Ross on the south coast were Brian Collins who joined Poole after Wembley closed and his protégé Tony Hall who turned out for Rayleigh and Eastbourne in the early years of the second division.

Another Ross

Andy Ross had a couple of trials at Edinburgh’s Old Meadowbank but never followed up on his speedway interest until Peterborough opened up in the second division. An all rounder, he also rode ice speedway and was the Panthers number one for two years.

Belle Vue

The home of speedway was also home to Jim McMillan and Kenny McKinna, although their time at Hyde Road didn’t overlap. Indeed in some ways they were swapped with McKinna going south for the 1983 season which saw McMillan returning north to the Tigers. After ten years down south Jimmy Mac had no doubt served his time there! He had gone south along with the Tigers first division licence which Ian Thomas had bought for Hull. Two years at The Boulevard were followed by six seasons at Wolverhampton. His move to Monmore Green was part of a convoluted transfer saga involving Ole Olsen who successfully thwarted a move to Hull in favour of his preferred option of Coventry.  With George Hunter also riding for Wolves in the early years, the Scottish accent was well to the fore in the pits, with McMillan being the team’s number one before a young Hans Nielsen eclipsed him.

McKinna was a valued member of the Belle Vue team but never quite made it to heat leader level and was the mainstay of the revived Tigers in their early years at Shawfield, during which time he had a guest outing for Cradley and a few more for Ipswich, being the only Scot in the record books of either side in the 70s and 80s.

The Maclean boys

Harry MacLean was part of the Scottish scene in the early 70s, without making a debut for the Tigers. He rode in the ice racing at Murrayfield in early 1972, having quite a coming together with Lex Milloy and also at the long track events and the ill fated meeting against Middlesbrough at Motherwell a few months later, when he scored a creditable six points for the Golden Eagles. Thereafter he headed south, basing himself near Coventry and  initially getting a team spot with Long Eaton in 1974. However they closed that winter and the promotion and riders linked up with Stoke. With too many riders in their pool, he was loaned out, firstly and briefly to Coatbridge, before going on to Middlesbrough. Once again he was on the move that winter going to Oxford for 1976, during which he spent most of the season on the injured list. Unable to command a team place he asked for a transfer and was bought by Middlesbrough, riding for them in 1977. Promoter Ron Wilson then offered him the chance to ride at his new track in Milton Keynes which was nearer his Coventry base. This was to prove to be a more permanent home and he was virtually an ever present for them in 1978 and 1979.  After this “tour of duty” he decided to return home and looked likely to get a transfer to Glasgow before Edinburgh did a swap deal with Bert Harkins going to The Groveway and Harry becoming a Monarch, riding for them in 1980 and then subsequently joining Glasgow for whom he rode for two years before retiring.

Brother Alan MacLean was also at Milton Keynes in 1978 and 1979, making his debut for the Knights in the first year and paradoxically guested for Edinburgh at The Groveway the following season. He was possibly quite excited at the prospect of donning the blue and gold of the city of his birth. Certainly the record books show that both MacLeans were excluded from heat two and that Alan was unable to take any further part in the meeting, so he never completed a race for the Monarchs. However he subsequently joined Stoke that year and had a career high season the following year with the Potters, chalking up a very respectable average of more than 5.00. This proved to be his high water mark and he retired after a disappointing time at Oxford in 1981.

Halifax Scots

Charlie Monk moved to Halifax from Glasgow for the 1973 season. While his Scottish ancestry has never been proven, it should be pointed out that he actually turned out for Scotland at Halifax that year, so presumably the Dukes accepted his tartan credentials. Although Halifax junior Ian Wilson has spent most of his life in England, it is believed he was born in Scotland, explaining why he turned out for the Scots in an international at Berwick.

Workington 1987

In this case it wasn’t just a rider that went south. It was the whole team! The writing had been on the Blantyre wall for a number of years and by 1986 it was obvious that a move was needed. Rumours abounded over possible sites but ultimately Rosebery Park a mere stone’s throw from Shawfield was the one that they settled on. However the planning application got badly bogged down and as an interim move the team was to stage their early meetings at Workington. As it turned out, they stayed at Derwent Park for the whole season…. Or at least most of it, before getting expelled from the league due to numerous complaints over their dubious operating arrangements, particularly the hasty rack preparation.

Not these guys. They never left home

Not all Scots went south. The Templeton brothers never really rode for any Sassenach teams although they both made a guest appearance for Newcastle in their opening meeting in 1961. Doug, however, guested for Newport at Hampden in 1972, finishing the night as joint top scorer with six points and also turned our for Reading at Coatbridge the following year but to less effect.

Martin McKinna and Jim Beaton never went south and this loyalty led to well deserved testimonial events as the finished out their careers in Glasgow. Benny Rourke was another who confined his time north of the border although he certainly wasn’t averse to travelling having spent a winter riding in South Africa.

 

One offs

The table shows teams who broke their Scottish duck by borrowing a Scottish junior