The Halifax Dukes were a speedway team which operated from 1949–1951 and again from 1965 until their closure in 1985 at The Shay Stadium in Halifax. The team were nicknamed the "Dukes" after the local Duke of Wellington's Regiment, whose training depot, Wellesley Barracks, was in Halifax, and used the Regiments elephant symbol on their race jacket.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway.
History Origins
Speedway in Halifax began with a team called Halifax Speedway, who operated out of Thrum Hall between 1928 and 1930. Another team called Halifax Nomads operated racing a few away fixtures in 1948.
1949 to 1952 At the end of the 1948 season Bruce Booth had replaced Johnnie Hoskins on the board of directors at Odsal Boomerangs and in early 1949 he took control of the new Halifax venture, bringing in Eric Langton as technical director. On 8 February 1949 construction began on a new speedway track at The Shay. The team enjoyed good support during the opening season with a crowd of over 18,000 attending one meeting in September. They finished in 4th place.
During 1950, the team won their first silverware winning the National Trophy division 2. However, the season was marred by the death of Jock Shead on 1 July 1950, when riding for Dukes at The Firs Stadium in Norwich. Attendances dropped and at the end of the 1951 season and the club closed. On 31 March 1952, Dukes promoter Bruce Booth announced the end of speedway "while rates and taxation remains at the present levels".
1960s
After a lengthy absence, the sport returned to The Shay in 1965, when Reg Fearman moved his Middlesbrough promotion.
The 1965 season also saw a major transformation for the sport. Previously the old National and Provincial Leagues had run as separate organisations with the Provincial League initially being unrecognised by the sports controlling authorities, but the gradual decline in numbers of the "official" National League during the early Sixties led to a reconciliation between the two bodies and the merger of the two leagues leading to the establishment of a single British League for the 1965 Season. The new team opened to big attendances as the sport hit another "boom" period and the Dukes finished in a solid fifth place.
The following season the Duke's riders' averages and form improved with Eric Boocock, Dave Younghusband, Eric Boothroyd and Tommy Roper leading the Dukes to a League and KO Cup double in only their second year of operation.
In 1969, the team's captain, local greengrocer Eric Boothroyd retired from riding after a long and successful career to join Reg Fearman as Co-Promoter.
1970s
By the early 1970s, the Dukes were enjoying higher attendances than the Shaymen (Halifax Town). On the track the team were producing solid but uninspiring results, with a best league finish of 6th place at both ends of the decade in 1970 and 1979.
Eric Boocock remained the star of the team until his retirement after the 1974 season. Chris Pusey was signed from Belle Vue Aces and his replacement. A young rider called Kenny Carter was brought in for the 1978 British League season and together with Ian Cartwright pushed the team from 12th in 1978 to 6th in 1979.
1980s Despite the efforts of Carter and Cartwright, the Dukes struggled to compete with the big spending clubs of the 1980s, such as the Cradley Heathens and Oxford Cheetahs. Carter did win the British League Riders' Championship held at Hyde Road for two consecutive years in 1981 and 1982, establishing himself as the leading rider at the time. The Dukes found it hard to bring in suitable support for Carter and failed to compete for silverware.
By the mid 1980s, Halifax Dukes and Halifax Town had financial disagreements and in 1986, the Dukes left The Shay and Halifax, moving to Bradford's Odsal Stadium to become the Bradford Dukes.
Season summary
Year and leaguePositionNotes 1949 Speedway National League Division Three 4th 1950 Speedway National League Division Two 6th National Trophy div 2 winners 1951 Speedway National League Division Two 6th 1965 British League season 5th 1966 British League season 1st Champions and Knockout Cup winners 1967 British League season 7th 1968 British League season 7th 1969 British League season 4th 1970 British League season 6th 1971 British League season 14th 1972 British League season 12th 1973 British League season 9th 1974 British League season 7th 1975 British League season 10th 1976 British League season 15th 1977 British League season 17th 1978 British League season 12th 1979 British League season 6th 1980 British League season 10th 1981 British League season 7th 1982 British League season 13th 1983 British League season 11th 1984 British League season 14th 1985 British League season 4th
Notable riders
Seasons 1965 to 1971 1965 season
The new track at the Shay Grounds was a big, fast track laid around the existing Halifax Town football pitch with high banking around all corners - just the recipe for high speeds and exciting racing and a considerable home advantage for the new team.
As a result of the merger of the two leagues prior to the start of the season, a control body had been set up to "equalise" the teams. This was needed because the remaining National League sides had team strengths way above those of the Provincial League teams and a certain redistribution of star riders from the stronger to the weaker sides was recognised by all as a necessity to ensure a competitive league competition. As with all such exercises though, the process was highly contentious as promoters tried to ensure the strongest possible line up and riders, naturally, had preferences about where they wanted to ride.
From a Halifax perspective, the process looked like it had delivered a poor result. Reg Fearman had decided to close his operation at Middlesbrough (performing as a mid-table side in the Provincial League) at the end of 1964, and as a result was able to bring some of those riders to the new Halifax side - these consisted of the up-and coming Dave Younghusband and Eric Boocock, and a steady middle order man in Clive Hitch. He'd also been able to persuade ex-England international Eric Boothroyd (now running a grocer's business in Halifax) to come out of retirement and captain the new side. The rider control process had allocated the Dukes one ex-England international, Bryan Elliott from Coventry and the team was made up by a number of young, inexperienced Australians - Bert Kingston, Bob Jameson and later Dennis Gavros. Most experienced observers predicted a year of struggle for the new team.
This feeling was initially confirmed when the team failed to make an impression in their first away matches at the Belle Vue Aces and Newport Wasps before opening their gates at the Shay to an enormous 5-figure crowd on 17 April. The opposition were the Long Eaton Archers, a team destined to struggle all season long, but with the young Ray Wilson and Kid Bodie both flying round the new circuit and the Dukes hampered by the absence of Bryan Elliott (injured the previous night at Newport) the "Archers" dampened the crowds celebrations by winning 41–36.
Success at the Shay was not long in coming however and the Dukes soon beat off the challenge of the Newport Wasps and Coventry Bees before recording a comfortable 43-34 win over local rivals the Sheffield Tigers. During this period Eric Boocock and Dave Younghusband were establishing themselves as forces to be reckoned with in the new league and Eric Boothroyd and Bryan Elliott (especially away matches) provided plenty of support. Clive Hitch was clearly struggling to come to terms with his new home circuit however and the young Aussies were inconsistent and still finding their feet. A month into the season and it seemed as though the team might hold their own at home, but would continue to struggle away from the Shay. To the encouragement of the promoter however, the good early crowd levels were holding up as the Halifax public took to their new team.
Excitement levels were maintained throughout May and early June as the team embarked on an incredible series of matches with last heat deciders at the Shay. During this period the team forced home 39-39 draws with Swindon Robins and Glasgow Tigers before taking a narrow one-point win 39–38 against future champions, the West Ham Hammers. This was immediately followed by another home draw against ex-National League legends the Wimbledon Dons. Vital league points were slipping away, and the team sank to the lower reaches of the league table.
In the middle of June, the promotion found a way of strengthening the side. Clive Hitch was still struggling to come to terms with the high banking of the Shay track, and was allowed to move on to Long Eaton and in came the much travelled Tommy Roper after spells with Sheffield and Long Eaton earlier in the season. Roper immediately started hitting high scores and was soon an effective fourth heat leader. Boocock and Younghusband were now almost unbeatable round the Shay, and hitting high scores on the team's travels as well. With Dennis Gavros and Bert Kingston beginning to provide regular support from the lower end of the team the "Dukes" were becoming a team to be reckoned with.
Substantial home wins were now becoming the norm, culminating in a 62-16 thrashing of a sorry Cradley Heath Heathens side on 10 July with Boocock, Younghusband, Roper and Elliott all gaining full or paid maximums. A first league away win, 41-36 at Long Eaton provided revenge for the opening night defeat at the Shay, and initiated a run of 4 further away wins (at the Poole Pirates, Edinburgh Monarchs, Swindon Robins and Glasgow Tigers) out of the remaining 7 away matches. Combined with a solid set of home wins during the remainder of the season, the Dukes soared up the table to finally finish in 5th place. This could easily have been 3rd had the away match with Cradley Heath been ridden, but this fixture was left unfulfilled following two rain-offs.
Overall, the weakish looking team at the start gelled over the early part of the season, added some strength in Roper midway through the year and finished almost as strongly as the League Champions, West Ham. Boocock and Younghusband had justified the promotor's faith by developing into established British League stars, and Eric Boothroyd had taken on the mantle of captain with aplomb – both in encouraging the younger riders and in delivering match winning performances in support of the top two. Bryan Elliott had faded slightly after some promising early season performances, but still provided solid second-string support throughout. Tommy Roper provided the catalyst for the late season recovery by delivering a fourth heat leader performance. Of the Aussies, Dennis Gavros had been the pick of the bunch and Bert Kingston had held a team spot all year. Crowd levels were high all year. It was a season for consolidation with the promise of more to come in 1966.
1965 Averages (League and Cup matches) : Rider Matches Rides Bonus pts Total points CMA Eric Boocock 34 145 15 342 9.43 Dave Younghusband33143153249.06 Eric Boothroyd34137252748.00 Tommy Roper1556191027.29 Bryan Elliott33125391976.30 Dennis Gavros237620924.84 Bert Kingston34111151144.11 Ray Day7193194.00 Clive Hitch186414603.75 Bob Jameson7152112.93
1966 season
finished 1st (54pts) out of 19
At the start of the 1966 season, it looked like the loss of Bryan Elliott who had emigrated to Australia during the winter would weaken the team as the only addition was Greg Kentwell who was yet another in the supply of promising young Aussies that promoter Reg Fearman had tapped into, but he was an unknown quantity in British League terms.