In 1978, he was awarded a 25 years testimonial and had been the epitome of a loyal clubman during these years with Motherwell, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cowdenbeath, Newtongrange and Berwick. He gave dedicated service to all these teams, never complaining and always just getting on with things. Doug Nicolson pays tribute to the unsung Willie Templeton, one of the few riders to be granted a twenty five year testimonial

His early years

There can’t be many riders whose early career had so few meetings. Willie managed two meetings for Glasgow in 1954 scoring one point in each, before White City closed in its doors in May of that year. Undaunted he hooked up with the Monarchs at Old Meadowbank and rode in a home fixture scoring two points before Edinburgh too pulled out of racing midseason. He then rode in second halves at Motherwell, and yes, you’ve guessed, they never came to the tapes for the following season. It wasn’t that Willie was a Jonah just that speedway in general and Scottish speedway in particular was in the throes of a desperate slump, such that there was no speedway in Scotland in 1955.      

An attempted revival at Glasgow’s White City in 1956, fronted by Tommy Miller and Junior Bainbridge, was short lived. In all, five meetings were staged at the Paisley Road West circuit. Willie rode in some second half events before getting his first cap, riding for Scotland against England, although failing to score. 1957 was another fallow year, so in a four year period, he had ridden in around four meetings.

There were some green shoots of recovery when Ian Hoskins reopened Motherwell in 1958 to stage a series of junior level meetings to develop new Scottish riders. The Eagles raced a number of challenge matches against juniors from Belle Vue, Bradford, Coventry, Leicester and Ipswich. The meetings showed that there was still an interest in speedway north of the border, but the visitors’ travelling was quite demanding and the problem of finding riders willing to make the long journey north on a Friday was all too evident. Motherwell staged five meetings in their short season. Willie rode in all of them and offered good support to the top two of brother Doug and Fred Greenwell who averaged 10.60 and 9.60 respectively, while he achieved the very useful figure of 8.00. For the first time, but not the last, he was the unsung hero of the team, with the rising and indeed precocious talent of George Hunter drawing much attention. Promoter Ian Hoskins was moved to acclaim his debut as “sensational” and went on to say “there has rarely been a better debut in the sport”. Doubtlessly none of this acclaim bothered Willie, although it should be pointed out that he had a higher average than George despite having only marginally more experience.

Like most of his team mates, the only track action he saw in 1959 was the Edinburgh Students Charity meeting staged at Old Meadowbank in April when he finished on the rostrum with a well taken twelve points.

The Provincial League cometh

       1960 saw the formation of the Provincial League, initially a near junior league but one where progress was rapid. The Monarchs were largely formed from the riders who had turned out for Motherwell in 1958, with Fred Greenwell and the Templeton brothers forming their spearhead, backed up by Jimmy Tannock and George Hunter, who continued his progress to stardom. Willie capped a successful first season at Old Meadowbank with a ten point tally in the inaugural Scottish Open Championship, which was won by Doug Templeton with 15, followed by Reg Luckhurst on 14 and
Brian Craven who got 11. In 1961 veteran Dick Campbell returned to replace Greenwell, but it was young Kiwis Wayne Briggs and Alf Wells who got a lot of press coverage when they joined Edinburgh. Undaunted, Willie just got on with riding and was probably the best second string in the league, and the most reliable, rarely missing a meeting. It was more of the same the following year although he lost his ever present record when his car broke down at Morpeth en route to the away meeting at Middlesboro.

The injury jinx certainly seemed to have taken up permanent residence in Edinburgh in 1963 with Wayne Briggs, Alf Wells and Kenny Cameron all out for lengthy spells. However their problems paled into insignificance when Peter Craven was tragically killed in a track crash at Old Meadowbank. Willie rode in that fateful race but was not directly involved in the incident. With the team decimated by injuries, Willie stepped up his game and turned in his best season to date, averaging over 8.00, surely confirming his status as best second string in the league.

The Provincial League defied officialdom and going “black” in 1964 and  the opening meetings of the season were particularly tense with threats of suspension and bribes to miss meetings. These were troubled times but Doug and Willie Templeton had no qualms about nailing their colours to the mast by travelling down to Exeter to take part in their first meeting of the season, a four team event, a meeting in which Ivan Mauger, after much heart searching, declined to take part. 1964 was also a landmark for Scottish speedway with the return of the Glasgow Tigers to The White City. Charlie Monk was the Tigers’ fans new idol and earned the nickname “Maximum Monk”. However it was Willie that inflicted his first defeat at the Paisley road West circuit, beating him in a second half event in April. He certainly took to The White City track, which seemed to suit his style. In all, Willie appeared in no less than seven meetings in Glasgow that year – three with the Monarchs in the Northern League, the Provincial League and the Scottish Cup; three for Scotland against New Zealand, England and the Rest of the World and a Best Pairs event – a regular and popular visitor.

Back to Glasgow

 During the winter, the Speedway Star suggested that Willie Templeton would be transferred to Glasgow. This was not at all surprising, as he had averaged about eight points a meeting in seven appearances at the White City, considerably better than his average of nearly six with Edinburgh. Ian Hoskins was decidedly coy and limited his comments to saying that he believed Willie “would not be disinclined to ride for the Tigers”, while the man himself, diplomatically, was reportedly “too busy working on his farm to comment”. Once all the rider moves were announced, Willie said of his move “It’s a bit of a bind, but I’ve always liked the White City track and I don’t think I’ll take long to settle down there”. How true. He won his first race in 78.2 seconds, just half a second outside the track record and went on to complete a paid maximum, the first BL paid max in Scotland, so typical of the man that it was a paid maximum. On the “wrong side of thirty” on his move to Glasgow, - in fact he celebrated his 35^th birthday during the season - he benefited hugely from the move, which gave him a new lease of life. Within a few weeks of the new season, Tigers won at Edinburgh as Willie returned to his old track and gave his best ever performance there. He scored eleven and only had his maximum spoiled by a narrow defeat from George Hunter in his last race. He always understood the importance fans attached to these intense local derbies. This was again demonstrated when he bravely attempted to ride against Edinburgh in the Scottish Cup in August against doctors orders when suffering from whooping cough. Sadly he found he was too weak and breathless and pulled out after two pointless rides. Willie’s 1965 British League campaign proved to be his best ever in the top division, achieving an average of over 7.00. He did benefit from riding at number two, partnering skipper Maury Mattingley, in most meetings, far more preferable than riding at number six as Charlie Monk’s partner, as Graham Coombes found out. On occasions, Willie and Graham could beat the same opponents at the White City but could end up with paid eight and three respectively – quite a difference.

Things continued in much the same vein for Willie in 1966. Despite rumours of him being recalled by Edinburgh, he remained a Tiger and rode in all their meetings that year. He was third topscorer in the Scotland versus Russia test match at The White City, which was very much a match of two halves. Scotland held a fourteen point lead at the interval and only just managed to hang on to a 57-51 victory as the Russkies got the hang of the tricky Paisley Road West circuit. Willie’s 9+3 score was vital in denying the visitors. Indeed his opening ride brought Scotland’s only 5-1 of the meeting when along with partner Ken McKinlay he outpaced Igor Plechanov. This meeting, incidentally, has been captured on You Tube. Again, he was aware of the importance of the Scottish Cup, and, with the Tigers first leg lead fast disappearing he Put in a match winning manoeuvre. The Edinburgh’s Eide and Tannock made the gate but Willie dived under Tannock on he third bend and brought his partner, Bill McMillan, through for a vital 3-3, putting Tigers in the driving seat with Edinburgh now needing a 5-1 in the final race to square the aggregate score.

This they failed to do and the cup stayed in Glasgow.

Captain of the Fife Lions

Johnnie Hoskins was granted an Open Licence for Cowdenbeath in 1965. Willie was appointed as the Lions captain of a side that looked to be based around a core of himself, Bluey Scott, Bert Harkins, Bill Landels, Bill McMillan and Ross Nickisson. The venture largely failed due to the unwillingness of English teams to travel to Scotland on Wednesday nights for challenge meetings in Fife. Willie rode in all the Lions team events and scored double figures in all but one of these fixtures. If Lions had progressed to full British League membership there would have been an interesting battle between them and Glasgow for Willie’s services.

Captain of the Tigers

Trevor Redmond sold his Glasgow shareholding to Borders farmer Danny Taylor prior to the start of the 1967 season, and what a baptism of fire Taylor had. Skipper Mattingley was plagued by bike trouble and drifted off into virtual retirement; Norwegian Jonny Faafeng was sacked for failing to return from a World Championship round; Swedish replacement Bo Josefsson missed most of August due to his commitments in his homeland, while countryman Nils Ringstrom suffered a catastrophic loss of form. Throw in Alf Wells’ suspension for missing away meetings and Charlie Monk being virtually incommunicado and Taylor had an “interesting” season. Throughout all this mayhem, the one constant factor was Willie Templeton who was appointed captain when Mattingley resigned and gave his usual steady and uncomplaining performance. It was perhaps no surprise that Taylor sold his Tigers shares at the end of that first year.

Les Whaley picked up the baton, and unbelievably had an even tougher time. Monk, Wells and Mattingley had all left and Monk’s replacement ended up being the promising but untried Lars Jansson after both Jim Airey and Gunnar Malmquist turned down a move to Glasgow. I can remember Willie as captain welcoming Jansson with a warm handshake as they lined up in the pits prior to the opening parade. Tigers were badly treated by the Rider Allocation Committee and were badly under strength. Despite a bright start they were in for a season of toil. Indeed had it not been for the meteoric rise of Jim McMillan, they may well have folded by the summer. It was that close. Jim’s ascendancy owed a fair bit to Willie, his uncle, imparting a lot of valuable advice particularly away from The White City. With Bo Josefsson out injured following a horrifying looking crash with George Hunter, which fortunately turned out nowhere as bad as it first looked, and with Bill McMillan and Brian Whaley searching for their form, Tigers were toiling to put out any kind of team. During this time, Willie was suffering from a serious bronchial complaint and really shouldn’t have been riding, but he was never one to let anyone down and carried on regardless, without mentioning it. It was only some weeks later that Ian Hoskins made it public before a Scottish Cup tie. Tigers finished their season with an away league match at Coatbridge, which saw Willie topscoring in a 47-31 defeat. He qualified to challenge Reidar Eide for the Silver Sash match race title, but, like many before him, found the Norwegian too hot to handle at Cliftonhill.

Off To Hampden

Tigers, knowing that their White City home would be demolished to make way for the M8 motorway extension, jumped at the chance to move to Hampden. It was a heady time, all the more so with the news that Charlie Monk was rejoining the side. With nephew Jim McMillan having had a successful season in Australia with the British Lions, Willie quietly handed the captaincy over to him. The Hampden track quite suited Willie. He was never one to blink in the first bend poker game and a good gate at Hampden was more than half the battle. The very first race at Hampden was Willie follow partner Monk home for Tigers first 5-1 at the venue, something he would repeat many times that season. Despite being Charlie Monk’s partner, Willie managed to average over five points a meeting in both the 1969 and 1970 seasons but time was beginning to catch up with both him and brother Doug, who had joined the Tigers when the Coatbridge licence was bought by Wembley before the 1970 season got underway. 1971 was a tough year for the Tigers and the supporters were getting a bit hot under the collar after home defeats. Although both Charlie Monk’s and Jim McMillan’s scoring was considerably down on the previous season, Hoskins Post Bag page had some pretty blistering letters with the second strings bearing the brunt of the criticism. Bill McMillan decided he had had enough and retired DURING the heavy defeat by Belle Vue and the Templetons initially planned to retire at the end of the season. However some unusual close season action may be whetted their appetite to continue racing.

 

Ice racing in Scotland

Racing was staged at Murrayfield Ice Rink from January to March in 1972, using Puch engined 175cc Greeves bikes. Just like at Cowdenbeath seven years earlier Willie was chosen to captain the Fife side, the Kirkcaldy Panthers, who lost narrowly 40-36 to the local Monarchs in the second meeting to be staged there. The crowd was marked less than the opening meeting and a number of problems beset the meeting. The TV cameras were recording the racing and their need for more light caused the rink lights to pop on and off throughout the evening. Worse still was the ice being considerably harder than the previous meeting which meant the studs didn’t really bite and falls were numerous, causing the racing to lose some of its edge. Almost predictably, Willie was unfazed by these problems and went about his racing in his usual unflappable manner. He returned a few weeks later as part of the Scottish Stars side which ran the Monarchs even closer, going down by a single point. Willie signed off with a 5-1 with partner Wayne Briggs over brother Doug in his last heat.

 

Berwick bound.

Berwick pulled off quite a coup when they announced they had signed both Templetons for the 1972 season, and it was a good job they did as Doug Wyer, Maury Robinson, Bobby Campbell and Al Brady were no longer to be seen in the Black and Gold.

Very much a team man, it was no real surprise that he rarely shone in individual competitions. However he seemed to reserve his best performances for the Danny Taylor Memorial meetings, winning the trophy in 1972, 1973 and coming second in 1976. Perhaps the meeting had a special resonance for him as Danny picked him as captain to replace Maury Mattingley early in the 1967 season.

He represented Berwick at the Second Division Riders Championship at Wimbledon in 1973, scoring three points and rode for Scotland in the WTC qualifier against England, Australia and New Zealand at Ipswich in 1976 scoring two points. He was almost 46 at the time and was the oldest rider to have taken part in this competition - although this was subsequently eclipsed by the evergreen Greg Hancock in 2016 – and this achievement saw him taking the “Mister Veteran” award in Eric Linden’s Speedway Star New Years Honours List.

 

Newtongrange

“Nitten” reopened briefly in the summer of 1972 and Willie guested for the Monarchs in the first two home meetings. He scored double figures in both meetings but the return of the sport to Victoria Park was to be shortlived and the track closed forever after just four meetings. However it was to be another Scottish venue to add to Willie’s speedway homes.

 

Hard first bends

Amiable and easy going off the track, Willie was no pushover on the track, quite the contrary. Over the years he crossed swords with some of the sports wildest youngsters and hardest characters and usually emerged smiling to tell the tale. Well mostly.! Riding against Long Eaton at Edinburgh he lined up against a young Ray Wilson who had only ridden a handful of meetings. Wilson went diving into a gap that a few thousand Scotsmen would tell you just wasn’t there, and Willie Templeton ended up in a heap. However he was soon on his feet and was quickly putting young master Wilson right as to what had happened, with brother Doug also putting in his tuppence worth. A few weeks later, Edinburgh raced Cradley in a very heated cup tie – even by Cradley’s standards. The Monarchs were four points down and were needing a 5-0 to win. The Templeton’s were programmed for the final race. It was soon obvious why Willie never moved off the start, as brother Doug took the Heathens pair out to the fence, bringing an inevitable exclusion, but it was worth a try.

The appearance of Jack Millen at Berwick was always one of the highlights of the season. In 1974, he returned with his Crewe side. Mrs Taylor wrote I her program notes “It will be a real surprise if the meeting goes through without Jack causing a stushie of some kind” ( Stushie – a minor disorder) ..and so it turned out. Millen the Villian came off worse in a first bend duel with Willie following “an old fashioned shoulder charge” and never rode again that night., while Willie went on to compile a 12 point maximum.

There were times when he came off second best, notably at Coatbridge riding for Berwick in 1975. He had just given big brother Doug, now riding for the Tigers, a tough time, but retribution was to hand. Doug, quite skilfully it has to be said, managed to skittle his front wheel in the slow down lap, leaving Willie in a heap on the Coatbridge shale. This was subsequently “discussed” at some length and with some feeling in the pits.