1970 Miscellany

Other Fixtures:  

The Dukes were involved in eight challenge matches during 1970, partly due to their early exit from the Knock-out Cup.  Early season outings against Belle Vue resulted in 2 heavy defeats, but the Halifax defeated Sheffield in-between, and would also see the season to a close with another win over the Tigers.  A defeat at Glasgow, and at home to the Polish touring side Stal Gorzow were offset by home wins over Wembley and a London Select side.  Halifax also staged a fixture in the Great Britain v Sweden test series, with the Swedes winning their only fixture at The Shay.  Details of each match can be found in the archive pages for 1970.

Individual Meetings:  

The Shay staged only 3 individual meetings during 1970, full details of heats and scores available in the archives.  Eric Boocock continued his proud record of individual success by winning the Dews Trophy (meeting 9), but the Dukes number one had to accept defeat to Arnold Haley in the World Championship qualifier (meeting 7) and had no answer to the brilliance of Anders Michanek in the Northern Riders qualifier (meeting 20) - although Boocock would go on to win the Championship with a maximum of his own in the final at Sheffield.

The Juniors/Second-Half Riders:  

During 1970, the following riders were involved in second half races - with Malcolm Mackay, Dave Durham, John Lynch and Paul O'Neal getting opportunities in the Dukes side on several occasions.  In addition, we were grateful to witness the efforts of Ian Bottomley, Ian Wilson, Chris Blythe, Glyn Blackburn, Flash Roberts, Ian Armstrong, John Hammond, Clive Johnson, Doug Wyer and P Thompson.

Golden Helmet Match-Race Championship:

Following the end of the Silver Sash, the competition was amalgamated with the Golden Helmet match race for the start of 1970, with Ivan Mauger holding the title to start the season.  Only Eric Boocock got to challenge for the title during the season,  taking the title from King's Lynn's Howard Cole, defending it against Pete Jarman of Oxford, but then surprisingly losing at The Shay to Garry Middleton, and also being involved in 2 unsuccessful attempts.  Details of the various races are as follows: