The 1965 Season

The birth of the Halifax Dukes speedway team arose from the establishment of the new British League at the start of 1965, the sport undergoing a major transformation that winter. The old National and Provincial Leagues had run separately, with the latter 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.

Promoter Reg Fearman, one of the leading figures in the Provincial League, opted to open at The Shay grounds in Halifax, home of Halifax Town FC, resurrecting a sport which had not been seen at the venue since the end of 1951.  

As a result of the merger of the two leagues, a control body was established to equalise the teams 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 as a necessity to ensure a competitive league. 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 Dukes' perspective, Fearman decided to close his operation at Middlesbrough 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 26 year-old Dave Younghusband, 20 year-old prospect Eric Boocock, and a steady middle order man in Clive Hitch. He'd also persuaded ex-England international Eric Boothroyd (now running a green-grocer's business in the town) to come out of retirement following a year out and captain the new side. The rider control process had allocated the Dukes one ex-England international, Bryan Elliott from Coventry and the squad was completed by young, untried Australians - Bert Kingston, Bob Jameson and Dennis Gavros.

Early season form was patchy - the Dukes struggled in their first away matches at Belle Vue and Newport 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 in top form, and the Dukes hampered by the absence of Elliott (injured the previous night at Newport) the visitors dampened the crowds celebrations by taking the league points.

Success at the Shay was not long in coming however and the Dukes soon beat off the challenge of Newport  and Coventry before recording a comfortable win over local rivals the Sheffield Tigers. During this period Boocock and Younghusband were establishing themselves as forces to be reckoned with, and Boothroyd Elliott (especially away matches) provided plenty of support. 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. 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 teams travels as well. With Gavros and 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 regular, culminating in a thrashing of a poor Cradley Heath side in July.  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 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 weak looking team at the start of the year gelled over the early part of the season, added some strength in Roper midway through the season 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 - 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...

The heat details, scorers and reports for each meeting through the season can be found by clicking on the pages for each month.