There is a famous quote from Mark Twain that “rumours of my death are exaggerated”. Charlie Monk may not have been a classics scholar, so presumably he would have had a more pithy retort on the subject! A hoaxer, claiming to be “Ian Mackay”, a journalist who had a weekly column in the Speedway Star, phoned most of the newspapers in the Glasgow area in the early winter of 1966 with incredible stories about Charlie Monk. Some papers were told that Monk had been suspended for life, while others were given the even more sensational news that the Aussie had been killed in a track crash. What the hoaxer didn’t realise was that “Ian Mackay” was the pen name used by journalist Harry Houston and consequently most of the leading papers saw through this attempted impersonation right away. Those that weren’t aware of Houston’s “nom de plume”, generally followed up on the story lines before considering publishing them. Trevor Redmond was kept busy denying these ridiculous claims. However the Govan Press, a fairly limited circulation weekly, based a stone’s throw from the White City ran the “Speedway Ace Dies” line in their issue of 2^nd December 1966 without checking it.

However the following week, it ran a very brief retraction, saying the report was untrue and apologising for any distress cause. Apologies were certainly due at my school, where one of my classmates lived in Govan and had relayed this shocking news to those of us who were speedway fans. Even though we were barely into our teens, we were quite sceptical about it. The previous year we had seen reports that Monk had quit the Tigers and would never ride for them again, and also that the four Glasgow ANZACS, Monk, Ovenden, Scott and Coombes were returning home in the close season and weren’t coming back. None of these stories proved to be true, although the “Monk to quit Glasgow” had some basis in fact for a short time. However, there was the fear that no paper would print something as sensational as this, without being certain that it was correct. We took comfort that the news hadn’t been reported in any of the regular dailies that covered the Tigers meetings, but there was still the worry that it might be true.

It was with considerable trepidation that we went to buy our Speedway Star the following week, and, with trembling hands, opened it up. Joy of joys! There were no banner headlines telling of a tragedy in Australia, but what a worrying couple of days it had been and what really a sick hoax it was.

There was a short piece in the Star mentioning the hoax but not giving specific details.

“Last season Mr Joker pestered the newspaper offices in the Glasgow area with hoax telephone messages about the Glasgow Tigers. This time he pretended to be Ian Mackay. I can advise the hoaxer that the police have been informed and the Press intend to take action should he be foolish enough to try it again”

Thankfully this warning had the desired effect and no more was heard