50 Motherwell Memories

Sept 27, 1930: The first of four meetings was staged at Paragon Speedway in Motherwell’s Airbles Road, with Andy Nicholl being the leading light. The promotion was run by a group of Glasgow White City riders known as “The Blantyre Crowd”. A further meeting was staged in 1932 and the venue went on to stage greyhound racing.

October 15, 1949: The first greyhound meeting was run at the newly opened Motherwell Sports Stadium which had been built on the derelict site previously occupied by the Parkhouse Colliery which closed five years earlier.

July 14, 1950:  The SCB were initially reluctant to grant Motherwell a licence at their Milton Street stadium, possibly as construction work had been delayed during the winter, and there was speculation that the promotion would now throw their lot in with the proposed pirate Scottish League. While nothing came of this venture, it may have helped precipitate SCB approval and the Eagles raced Newcastle in the first of about a dozen challenge meetings in their open licence season, tracking a team made up of differing guests each meeting to back up Australians Noel Watson and Clive Gressor who had signed for the Eagles. Both were involved in a number of spills with Gressor retiring before the season was over after being on the injured list.

The crowd figures were promising though a number watched for free from the old bing adjacent to the stadium, a problem that would also arise at nearby Blantyre some thirty years later.

Preseason 1951: Eagles got riders from fellow clubs in building a team of their own signing Gordon McGregor and Joe Crowther from Glasgow; Danny Lee from Edinburgh: Bill Baird from Ashfield; Will Lowther and Stan Bradbury from Newcastle to join Noel Watson, and Bob Lindsay.  Some tough negotiation was required to secure McGregor with Glasgow asking for £1200 and the Eagles looking to get him for £750. In the end the SCB set the figure at £850 – close to £28K in today’s prices.

March 30, 1951: The Eagles beat a Swedish Lions touring side 48-36 in their opening meeting. Gordon McGregor, their winter signing from rivals Glasgow, scored a maximum, and, other than a fall, he went undefeated in team meetings at home until Jack Young beat him in early May.

April 6, 1951: Eagles won their first official fixture, beating Fleetwood 46-38 in a Northern Shield meeting with Bluey Scott making his official debut and, while scoreless, he would go on to become a local favourite over the next thirty years, culminating in him being involved in track preparation at Blantyre in the late 70s.

May 2, 1951: Motherwell won their first away meeting when they beat Fleetwood 44-39 in a Northern Shield fixture in Lancashire, with only a first race fall stopping Noel Watson from joining Gordon McGregor and Joe Crowther on maximums. However their joy was quickly dissipated a few days later by a 57-27 thumping at home to Edinburgh.

May 9, 1951: More woe for the Eagles as their interest in the National Trophy competition ended after a first leg rout 79-29 by Halifax at The Shay. Things were no better in the return leg, with the Dukes winning 69-39 with McGregor and Watson being their only heat winners.

June 6, 1951: A watered down Lanarkshire side, missing McGregor, Watson, Gurtner, Lowther and Scott, travelled to Chapelizod in Dublin and lost 48-24 to the home side, also called Eagles, which included Freddie Williams, Split Waterman and Ron Mountford.

June 22, 1951: Jack Young beat Tommy Miller 2-1 in the Scottish Match Race decider. Young fell in the second race but won the other two and would be unbeaten by an opponent at Motherwell all season.

June 26, 1951:  Bothwell Bulls lost 15-35 against Newtongrange Rockets in a junior challenge meeting held at Motherwell in this midweek open meeting.

June 29, 1951: Eagles beat Yarmouth 65-19 in their biggest ever league win.  A lengthy and protracted journey and two quite dissimilar track shapes may have been the reasons for scores between these two sides rarely being close with both teams rarely breaking the 30 point barrier when visiting.

July 7, 1951: The Eagles avenged their earlier home defeat by Edinburgh by winning 48-36 at Old Meadowbank in a division two fixture. Jack Young got his customary maximum but a solid all round team performance, led by Crowther and Gurtner, saw the Eagles through.

July 13, 1951: Gordon McGregor won the World Championship Qualifying Round with 14 points, ahead of teammates Noel Watson on 12 and Joe Crowther with 11. Both McGregor and Watson progressed to the next round held on first division tracks and both scored 10 points from their two meetings, leaving them some distance short of qualifying for the Wembley final.

July 16, 1951: Motherwell beat an American touring side 42-30 on this Holiday Monday with only Ernie Roccio putting up any real opposition for the visitors while McGregor (full) and Crowther and Gurtner (paid) were unbeaten for the Eagles.

September 24, 1951: Motherwell ran up a huge win at beleaguered Newcastle winning 28-56 at Brough Park, with recent signing Derek Close taking a paid maximum against his former team. Newcastle closed down soon after this meeting.

September 28, 1951: Once again an away win was negated in the following home meeting as once again Edinburgh took the league points home from Milton Street. Engine failures for Lowther and Watson, two each, cost the Eagles dearly although a mid-meeting rally saw them take a two point lead and retain this advantage going into the final heat but a 5-1 from Young and Cuppleditch clinched the points for Edinburgh. Interestingly away wins were quite common for Scottish teams at fellow Scottish tracks in this era.

October 5, 1951: Motherwell put on an unusual meeting, racing Cradley in the league followed by a nine heat Lanarkshire Cup against Edinburgh, the latter being a disastrous 13-40 rout with only a Johnny Green last place and a Jack Young engine failure stopping a perfect score for the Monarchs. However the win over Cradley means the Eagles finish a highly respectable seventh in their debut season in a sixteen team NL2, possibly a better achievement than sixth out of nine in 1953.

April 25, 1952: Shape of things to come – Brian Crutcher, never one to enjoy the travelling involved in away meetings, opts to travel by train and takes the sleeper back south after Poole’s narrow 44-40 defeat. Riders’ complaints about travelling north would ultimately see the Eagles refused league membership in 1955.

May 31, 1952: Rather strangely the Lanarkshire Cup tie against Glasgow was run at Ashfield on a night when the Giants had an away fixture at Edinburgh. As detailed in “Home and Away” in CS53 (Summer 2021), this type of meeting was not uncommon in the 1950s. Tigers had a comfortable 50-34 win in a meeting where both teams were at less than full strength, the Eagles being without Bluey Scott and Keith Gurtner and having Noel Watson pull out after just one ride, while the Tigers tracked three juniors in their team.

September 1952: A swap with Edinburgh saw Keith Gurtner exchanged for Monarch’s Johnny Green, with the latter being a virtual ever present for the Eagles until their closure. Gurtner in contrast only rode in a handful of meetings before joining West Ham in 1953.

September 5, 1952: Scotland beat an England side, largely made up of first division riders, 56-52 in front of a crowd reputed to be 35000 which, if correct, was the largest ever at a meeting in Scotland - some reports set the attendance at an even higher figure. England led by six points at the interval, but, in a night of contrasting fortunes, Derek Close, who had failed to finish in his first three rides, won his remaining three rides to fire up a Scottish revival.

Scotland: Tommy Miller 16, Ken McKinlay 11, Derek Close 9, Bob Mark 6, Noel Watson 5, Don Cuppleditch 4, Willie Wilson 4, Harold Fairhurst 1:

England: Freddie Williams 13, Brian Crutcher 12, Eddie Rigg 11, Arthur Forrest 9, Ken Sharples 4, Eric Williams 2, Peter Robinson 1, Jack Hughes 0: 

September 18, 1952: While former Edinburgh Monarch Jack Young retained his World title at Wembley, the main Scottish interest centred on Derek Close who scored 4 points on his debut, making Motherwell the third Scottish club to provide a World Finalist  

Preseason 1953: Following Ashfield pulling out of league racing, Motherwell swooped to sign Giants heat leader Ron Phillips, with second halfer Jimmy Tannock also getting a team place at Milton Street. While crowds at Ashfield had fallen dramatically in the early 50s, largely following the loss of Ken LeBreton, the same wasn’t true at Milton Street, where the management reported attendances of close to 20,000 for early season league meetings.

June 2, 1953: Motherwell took advantage of the public holiday for the Coronation by going off their usual Friday racenight to stage their prestigious Skelly Trophy, an individual event sponsored by a local garage, with Glasgow’s Tommy Miller taking the prize in front of another good crowd, not all of whom were pleased with his victory. This antipathy would remain even after he signed for the Eagles and may have been a major factor in his transfer after a stay of only a few months.

July 3, 1953: After huge home wins over Swindon (78-30) and Poole (73-35) Motherwell drew first division Harringay in the National Trophy. Inspired by fine performances by Derek Close and Ron Phillips, both of whom scored 16+1 and were only beaten by Split Waterman in their last race, Eagles won 63-45. However this lead proved insufficient as they were overrun 85-23 in London in the second leg, during which Derek Close sustained a fractured skull in a last heat crash, putting him out for the season. This weakened the side quite badly and pleas to the SCB to strengthen the side by signing Robinson and Griffiths from the recently closed Liverpool fell on deaf ears

July 28, 1953: Another “Home and Away” meeting at Ashfield where the Eagles were leading Glasgow by 38-22 in a challenge meeting when it was rained off. This would prove to be the last team event at Ashfield during the Giants ill-starred open licence season, with the track closing a few weeks later.

July 31, 1953: Having had a bye in the first round and having disposed of Coventry in the second, the Eagles got the luck of the draw in the Queens Cup, a knockout competition for NL2 sides, with Poole having to make the long journey up to Milton Street. The Pirates were leading by four points with just two heats to go but a 5-1 by Noel Watson and Johnny Green over Bill Holden and Allan Kidd set up a last heat decider in which Watson completed his 18 point maximum while Phillips outpaced Johnny Thompson for the vital third place, giving the Eagles a narrow 55-53 victory and a place in the semifinals.

August 7, 1953: Arthur Malm won the Scot Junior Championship despite a first race fall when he remounted for third place, the only points he dropped that night. Stuart Irvine was unbeaten in his first four races but lost his chance of the title with a last race fall.

August 28, 1953: Motherwell’s turn to stage a “Home and Away” meeting - with the Eagles racing at Wolverhampton, the promotion staged the “Scottish Coronation Cup semifinal” between Edinburgh and Glasgow which the Tigers won 61-47, meaning they were due to meet the Eagles in the final. However this was never staged though they did race in the Scottish Cup final in October.

September 11, 1953: Motherwell got off to a great start in the Queens Cup semifinal against Edinburgh, being run on a home and home basis. They were leading by ten points after just four heats, but it all went downhill from there with Ron Phillips suffering bike troubles in his next four rides and Edinburgh capitalised on his misfortune and ran out 58-50 victors which made the following night’s second leg a formality – and so it proved as the Monarchs won 63-45 to take them into the final where they beat Glasgow in the final.  

October 2, 1953: Glasgow continued their fine form against Motherwell taking the first leg of the Scottish Cup final 50-58, putting them in the driving seat and clinching the cup with a 63-45 win at The White City a few days later. While the crowds continued to be good at comparative newcomers Motherwell, this was no longer the case at more established tracks throughout the league, with first division New Cross midseason closure sending shock waves throughout the sport. Ashfield finally admitted defeat, handing in their open licence a few days earlier after a poor crowd for their Ken LeBreton memorial meeting. Interestingly the Giants Supporters Club had earlier approached Motherwell to run the meeting there.

November 6, 1953: Tragically Australian Noel Watson, a mainstay of the Eagles side, sustained a fractured skull in a track crash at the Sydney and never regained consciousness before passing away in hospital.  

Preseason 1954: Storm clouds were brewing as 1954 dawned. Ashfield had already closed, and Glasgow’s future was in doubt, with the SCB refusing to renew their licence until they had satisfactory finances in place which led to Tommy Miller being transferred to Motherwell for £1500 – well over £40 k at current values, a move that only brought the Tigers a brief stay of execution.

April 23, 1954: Tommy Miller scored a maximum against his old side as the Eagles murdered a weak Glasgow team by 58-25 on a night when only Ken McKinlay and Bob Sharp offered any serious opposition. The Templeton brothers were both in the Tigers team and, while they failed to beat an Eagle, they would later be the mainstays of the short season at Milton Street in 1958. The Tigers closed shortly after this meeting and McKinlay was transferred to Leicester, a move that ruled out a proposed move to Blackbird Road for Gordon McGregor, though it would subsequently be proved to only be delayed with McGregor joining McKinlay there in 1955.  

May 1, 1954: Despite taking a last heat 5-1 through Tommy Miller and Derek Close, the Eagles were agonisingly eliminated from the National Trophy in the first round by Rayleigh on a 109- 107 aggregate, Miller’s six ride maximum being the highlight of their visit to Essex.

May 13, 1954: Former Glasgow teammates Tommy Miller and Junior Bainbridge were on opposite sides tonight and foiled each other’s maximum bids as Motherwell ran up a 52-32 away win at Ipswich, with Larry Lazarus, a recruit from the recently closed Glasgow, weighing in with a paid maximum from the reserve berth. This was the first night of a highly successful three meeting tour which saw the Eagles win at Ipswich, Wolverhampton and Coventry in consecutive nights – possibly the most successful trip by any Scottish side ever – which seemed to have clinched the Northern Shield title for the Eagles. However Wolves closing meant their meetings were expunged and it took a home win over Edinburgh a few weeks later to confirm that the title was coming to Lanarkshire, their only trophy win in their existence.

May 14, 1954: Scott Hall won the Scottish Junior championship with 15 points from Doug Templeton (14) and Jimmy Tannock (13). Willie Templeton had 8 points while Whaler Joe Ferguson failed to score.

May 21, 1954: The Eagles continued their fine run of form, which included wins at Coventry and Wolverhampton, by beating a full strength Wimbledon 64-44 in a challenge meeting. Miller with 16, Phillips with 12 and Green on 11 were the home heroes, with Miller and Phillips handing Ronnie Moore and Geoff Mardon a 5-1 defeat in the nominated heat.  Dons Dom Perry and Cyril Maidment flew up to Glasgow for this meeting.

19 July 1954: Derek Close won the Noel Watson memorial trophy in the second half of the home meeting against Bristol.

August 7, 1954: Tommy Miller, despite his high scoring, never seemed settled at Motherwell, not helped by him being booed at the Scotland v England meeting – the crowd for this meeting being reported as 12000, considerably less than previous record levels, graphically demonstrating the sports decline. Miller’s mid-season transfer to Coventry went through at the end of July, and one of his first meetings was against his old club at Brandon. He scored a maximum, no doubt gaining some revenge for his earlier treatment by Eagles fans.

September 13, 1954: The National League meeting with Leicester was abandoned when all four riders fell in heat nine with The Hunters leading 25-23. This was the second rain affected meeting in four days, with the Ipswich meeting also being lost to the weather. No attempt was made to restage this meeting and the points were awarded to Leicester, but remarkably Motherwell ended up second bottom of the league without having lost a home meeting. 

October 8, 1954: The Eagles beat Ipswich 45-39 in an NL2 fixture which had been rained off the previous Friday. The programme reflected the uncertainty about their future as the season drew to a close, reporting that chairman, Mr P J Sherry had recently attended a meeting in London to discuss their future but that nothing had been resolved. Perhaps wistfully, the final paragraph stated “what everyone would like to see is the return of White City, Edinburgh Monarchs and Ashfield to the fold and the good old derbies once more”. Sadly, these days have never returned and during the winter it was announced that Motherwell would not be riding in 1955.

Preseason 1958: Ian Hoskins secured an open licence for Motherwell for 1958 basing the season on junior racing, although most of the Golden Eagles had previously ridden for at least one of the Scottish tracks, “The policy at Motherwell this season will be to develop new Scots riders and to provide a variety of thrilling entertainment for our supporters. Without new blood, speedway in Scotland can never be rebuilt, and already in one short winter, a surprising amount of talent has been discovered. Who knows how many new tracks will be operating in Scotland next year if we can blaze a successful comeback track here”? Heady and highly optimistic stuff.

May 16, 1958: Now known as the Golden Eagles and resplendent in yellow jerseys, Motherwell reopened with a comfortable 50-27 win over Belle Vue Babes, for whom Graham Beattie topscored with 10. While the Templeton brothers were unbeaten by an opponent and Fred Greenwell only lost out to Jack Kitchen, it was George Hunter who captured the headlines with 11 paid 12 from five rides from the reserve berth. Promoter Ian Hoskins wrote “Sensational is an extravagant word to use at any time, but let’s face it, 19 year old George Hunter had never ridden in a speedway meeting anywhere in the world before he turned out as reserve in heat number four and won it in the time of 80.8 seconds and scored eleven points out of a possible fifteen. Rarely has there been a better debut in the sport”

July 4, 1958: Leicester ran Motherwell very close before losing narrowly by 40-37 after conceding a last heat 5-1. Cliff Newton was unbeaten for the visitors and had good support from Colin Goody who had ridden a month earlier for Coventry. Interval attractions were very much a Hoskins staple, including a Midget Car demonstration by Mike Parker, possibly the first time these two met and perhaps this gave Parker the idea of staging nonleague speedway.

July 11, 1958: As with their previous incarnation, the 43-34 home win over Ipswich proved to be their last meeting of this particular era. The Eagles had more or less run out of opponents who were willing to send a junior team north and plans to run a Scottish Junior Championship came to nothing, seemingly delayed by the need to get SCB permission for this even. The sports authorities also took a dim view of Larry Lazarus, designated as the teams coach, racing in a second half heat

Autumn 1958: A brief statement confirming the season was over went on to stipulate that, as crowds did not seem to be attracted by a series of challenge meetings, membership of either a junior league or a second division, would be required for the directors to contemplate opening in 1959. It didn’t happen and the bikes didn’t return.  Once the greyhound racing stopped in the 60s all the buildings on the site were demolished, leaving a flattened site.

January 2, 1972: Longtrack racing came to Scotland when the Kennedy family, who had staged long track racing at Prestatyn, bought the Motherwell site after losing an appeal in Wales. The meeting was won by Ivan Mauger in a field ranged from World Champion Barry Briggs, down to little known second halfers. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t feature the most competitive of racing. However it did offer fans the chance to get out in the fresh air and recover from their hangovers. Further meetings were won by Garry Middleton in April and Jim McMillan in May before the novelty wore off.

June 12, 1972: At the fourth time of asking a speedway meeting finally went ahead and really it wasn’t worth the wait. Attempts to race Barrow were thwarted by problems over securing a track licence and rain and, despite it being a poor night, the meeting against Teesside started and then a major problem became apparent – you couldn’t see most of the track from the low rise terracing. Separated by three other circuits, the trotting track, a derelict area said to be a motocross track and the stock car circuit, fans’ distant view was also obscured by the removable board fencing. While the Teessiders won 42-33, there were no winners on this dreadful night and unsurprisingly no further meetings were contemplated.

The track site is now largely a public park – shades of New Cross.