With New Year a time for looking forward and looking back, Doug Nicolson wonders what supporters would pick as their own

Good Year

Glasgow supporters of my vintage discussing BLRCs of the past often recall “the good year”, in 1971 when Jim McMillan got a place on the rostrum. While this may have been eclipsed by Jimmy Mac getting a couple of rides at the 1972 Wembley World Final, that year ended in tragedy with Svein Kaasa being killed in a track crash and is not one remembered with any great affection in Glasgow. Indeed the Tigers being readmitted to the NL and the sport returning to the city in 1988 is probably my highlight in the 70s and 80s.. I wonder what fans of other tracks consider their own “good year” in this period. Obviously a league title stands out in their memory, but some teams never managed to top their respective league table throughout the period being reviewed and possibly have other reasons for picking their most memorable year. Here’s my assessment for each team.

Triple crown

Belle Vue put a number of years of mediocrity behind them, winning the BL in 1970, helped greatly by having World Champion Ivan Mauger allocated to them the previous year. They went on to complete the treble taking the titles in 1970,1971 and 1972, a ‘feat unmatched by any team in either division during the Backtrack years. Mauger won his fourth world title, making 1972 a memorable year for Belle Vue fans, though many would argue that it didn’t top 1976 when home grown Peter Collins became World Champion.

 

Single title wins

Boston (1973), Crewe (1972), Ellesmere (1985), Exeter (1974), Hackney (1988), Long Eaton (1984), Mildenhall (1979), Poole (1989), Rye House (1980), Teesside (1981) and White City (1977) all won a league title once.  

Crewe, spearheaded by Phil Crump, John Jackson and Garry Flood carried all before them, winning the league by a distance and taking the KO Cup too, in a year when all the planets aligned Earle Street. For good measure Crump won the second division riders’ championship.  However it set a high bar and, with neither Aussie returning, things were never quite the same. Indeed it was Boston who did the second division double the following year and they too supplied the league riders champion with Arthur Price, putting the previous years disappointment in losing the runoff to Crump, winning also after a run off with Bobby McNeill and Lou Sansom.

Ellesmere Port had a unique year in 1985, returning to Thornton Road after a three year absence. They won the league in controversial fashion after Middlesboro, missing Mark Fiora and with no facility being granted to cover his absence, lost in Glasgow in a delayed fixture in early November. But their only league win came at a high price, with Joe Owen sustaining injuries in a late season meeting that left him paralysed. The season had been a flop at the turnstiles and the Gunners have never fired again, but they certainly went out on a high note.

Long Eaton probably had an unfashionable tag for their entire existence, rarely finishing in the top half of the table, but quite out the blue, the side that finished bottom in 1983 won the league the following year. They added Oxford’s Graham Drury in place of Alan Molyneux and also signed the promising Chris Piddock from Milton Keynes.  Neither were high profile signings, and both really just achieved the averages on which they had been signed. The riders that powered them to the top of the league were David Tyler, a junior with a three point average who jumped to well over seven, and Miles Evans, recalled from Glasgow doubled his figures from three to six, as the Invaders squeezed out Mildenhall to win the league. 1985 should have brought more of the same, with Molyneux returning to replace Evans, but it didn’t happen as a fairly collective loss of form saw them plummet to second bottom

Exeter too were unfashionables until they got the chance to sign Ivan Mauger in 1973. They certainly had to push the boat out to sign him, agreeing to fly him down on a private jet from an airfield near Heathrow on a Monday afternoon and then to fly him back to Manchester after the meeting. But it was certainly money well spent as the Falcons won their only BL title in 1974 and were contenders for the following years during Mauger’s time at The County Ground, still fondly remembered in Devon.

Rayleigh moved to Rye House in 1974 and benefitted hugely from the generous Infradex sponsorship which fired them into title contenders in the late 70s. They lost out to Mildenhall in the most controversial of circumstances in a last heat decider at West Row in 1979. Feelings still run high about this to this day and are undiminished by them taking the title the following year.

White City’s time in the sport was short and sweet, just three seasons, two pretty mediocre years sandwiching a controversial title win which many believed was predicated on a dubious decision to allow long term RR for the retired Dag Lovaas. Crowds were disappointing at Wood Lane but those who did attend must surely have warm memories of 1977.

 

Two in a row

It is said that success breeds success and that seems to be true of league “doubles”, winning the league in successive years, with Coventry (1978/79 and 1987/88), Ipswich (1975/76) and Oxford (1985/86) all managing two in a row in the BL, something Belle Vue topped by going one better with a triple at the start of the 70s.

In the lower league, both Eastbourne (1985/86) and Newcastle (1982/83) were in the doubles stakes though their fans probably have differing views on them. The Diamonds, on the back of their successes were persuaded to join the BL and had a torrid time, losing heavily both on the track and at the turnstiles which caused their closure. Quite the reverse for Eastbourne who had regrouped after dropping down a league

 

Two but separate

Cradley nearly emulated Belle Vue’s historic triple in the early 80s but were pipped to the title by the Aces in 1982 which was book ended by the Heathens titles on either side. 1981 was the year that the Dudley Wood side finally cast off the “also rans” tag and they did it in style with Bruce Penhall taking his first World Championship in the iconic final at Wembley which would prove to be the last ever at that venue. Reading have two title wins in 1973 and 1980 with the former being the curtain call for their time at Tilehurst Stadium.

Kent fans have fond memory of Canterbury’s two league titles in 1970 and 1978, but, while things were always entertaining with Johnnie Hoskins about, they were generally a pretty poor team who rarely climbed out of the bottom half of the league so possibly the latter one was a last hurrah before some pretty dire campaigns

 

Near misses

Quite a few teams never got to be top of the pile but their “almost” years are still fondly remembered. Bradford were runners up in their first full season at Odsal in 1971 having moved from Nelson midway through the previous year. Hull knocked on the door a few times and were very close in 1979, losing 42-36 to champions Coventry in a virtual league decider before a huge crowd at Brandon in mid October. However Ivan Mauger winning his record breaking sixth World title went a long way to assuaging this disappointment. Wimbledon were runners up in both divisions, in the BL at the start of the Backtrack era and the NL as the 80s closed out. Dons fans probably favour the former in a year when they tracked club heroes Ronnie Moore, Trevor Hedge and Reg Luckhurst.

Sheffield’s best spell was in the early 1970s with their rising stars Doug Wyer and Reg Wilson helping them to runners up in 1973 and winning the KO Cup the following year.

 

Highest placing

Kings Lynn (third in 1973) and Peterborough (third in1972). However that is not to say that they didn’t have their moments. The Stars boasted the hugely impressive Michael Lee/Dave Jessup spearhead which took the first two places in the 1980 World Final at Gothenburg. Peterborough took the NL Fours a number of times but were greatly helped with the final being staged on their own track.

 Leicester were runners up in 1971 and captain Ray Wilson finished fourth in the Gothenburg World Final, tied on 11 points with former Lion Anders Michanek, though some fans may choose the 1978 final when the Lions had two representatives, Ila Teromaa and shock merchant Jerzy Rembas who was a joint leader at the interval that night.

Swindon and Milton Keynes were third in 1981 and 1987 respectively while Wolves went one better being runners up in 1989.

 

Best Pairs

While Stoke were third, their fans would point to Best Pairs success in 1988 and 1989 with the latter being more notable in that that Graham Jones and Steve Bastable edged out Poole’s Steve Schofield and David Biles at Poole. Weymouth were another who never managed a championship but strung together a pair of pairs win in 1982 and 1983.

 

Best for last

While Crayford saved their best league finish of third for their final year in 1983, they would also point to a Fours win in 1980, the year in which they set the record 65-12 win over hapless Workington. Halifax had a time of toil after their initial glory years in the BL in the late 60s and fourth in 1985 was their high water mark before they had to move out of their beloved Shay and relocate to Bradford.

 

Speedway is coming home

Scottish speedway’s fortunes went spiralling downhill following the Monarchs licence being sold to Wembley at the beginning of the 70s and even the staging of the British Nordic Final, arguably the biggest event ever held north of the border, did nothing to halt the decline. The Tigers left Hampden, decamped to Coatbridge and dropped down to the lower division in successive years. They susbsequently left Coatbridge to continue the struggle at two Blantyre tracks before their ignominious expulsion from the NL while trying to see the season out at Workington. However there was then a comeback of Lazarean proportions when they managed to secure Shawfield as their new home in 1988.It generated a huge feel good factor with the stadium seeming like White City reincarnated and the crowds boomed.

It was a similar story for Edinburgh who had reopened at Powderhall in 1977, again a boom year.  While on track success largely eluded both Scottish tracks, the Monarchs KO Cup win and Fours title in 1981 being their rare successes of the Backtrack era, the feeling of the sport returning to the respective cities is surely their “good year” best memories.  

Berwick too had a year in the wilderness before getting Berrington Lough up and running, with their track in the middle of nowhere going on to stage BL racing for one storied season shortly after the Backtrack era, shortly after winning the KO Cup in 1989.

 

Just having speedway

Some tracks had a brief existence, among them Barrow, Bristol, Doncaster, Paisley, Rochdale, Romford, Sunderland and Wembley, which afforded them little opportunity to win a major title, but fans of these venues still recall with a tear in their eye “do you remember when we had speedway in our town”

 

Short lived reprieve

For West Ham supporters, the 70s were desperate times, with the Lokeren tragedy and the closure and demolition of Custom House. Perhaps the reprieve, albeit shortlived, which allowed homeless Romford a few meetings there in 1972 was the downbeat highlight of these times. At least it allowed a final farewell as the 1971 season had just petered out in uncertainty.