1971 Miscellany

Other Fixtures:  

The 1971 Dukes were involved in five challenge matches, all against either Sheffield or Belle Vue.  Early season outings resulted in home wins against each for Halifax, but with heavier away defeats, as the Dukes' early season optimism disappeared.  Belle Vue returned in August for the £100 Challenge, and courtesy of the exploits of a 17 year-old Peter Collins, were soundly beaten at the Shay.  In addition, Halifax staged it's first ever 4 Team Tournament in June, taking on Sheffield, Glasgow and Leicester over the World Team Cup format - although the Dukes were again heavily beaten.  And Halifax was chosen to stage England test matches against both the Swedes (meeting 19) and the Russians (meeting 23), with mixed results for the home nation. Details of each match can be found in the archive pages for 1971.

Individual Meetings:  

The Shay staged 4 individual meetings during 1971, full details of heats and scores available in the archives.  Eric Boocock maintained his dominance at the Shay by winning two of them - the Northern Riders Championship round, and the late-season Autumn Classic.  But even Boocock had no answer to Dave Younghusband, who romped to victory in the World Championship qualifier, or the brilliance of World Champion elect Ole Olsen in the Dews Trophy.

The Juniors/Second-Half Riders:  

With a change to the second half format, opportunities for juniors and would-be stars of the future became limited at the Shay - something which became noted in the team selection policy through the early 1970s.  Nevertheless, the following were involved at various times - many thanks to:  John Lynch, Dave Durham, Ian Bottomley, Carl Glover, Mick Fairburn and Martin Lampkin.

Golden Helmet Match-Race Championship:

Dukes riders had very limited opportunity to compete for the Golden Helmet during 1971, with only Eric Boocock being involved on 3 occasions, and he was defeated in each race!  Details of the various races are as follows: