The 1975 Season

The 1975 British League saw a welcome return by 1973 Champions Reading, now situated at their new Smallmead stadium, boosting the league back to 18 teams.  And the league itself received a notable boost, receiving major sponsorship for the first time, courtesy of oil firm Gulf.  There would also be an additional trophy to contest, with the introduction of the Inter-League Cup, involving the top second division sides.  And the ban on Swedish riders competing in the UK was lifted, allowing many top stars to be able to return.

The Dukes were rocked at the end of 1974 by the decision of Eric Boocock to retire.  Boocock had initially expressed a desire to move to another track, but quickly changed his mind to stopping altogether - but he would be back in the sport as team manager across the Pennines at Belle Vue!  Due to Boocock's sudden retirement, Halifax were allocated a replacement by the Rider Control committee, with Belle Vue's Chris Pusey, against his will, becoming a new Duke.

The rest of the team remained largely unchanged, after the upheaval of 12 months earlier.  New skipper Rick France would form a powerful spearhead with Pusey and Graham Plant.  Charlie Monk was back from injury, and fan-favourite Henny Kroeze was back for another season, after his excellent first year.  The bottom end of the team would be filled by Mike Hiftle and the promising Ian Cartwright, after his sterling efforts at the end of 1974.  Dave Gatenby was the odd man out, although he would be retained as number 8, whilst Graham Drury joined second division Crewe and doubled up with Hull.

The early season was unspectacular - the Dukes lost at home to Belle Vue, but won away at Hull in the Northern Trophy, as the Aces took the title.  In the league, a glut of home fixtures, saw Halifax near the top of the table during April and May, but home draws against Leicester and Hull offset their away win against the Lions, as they reached the end of May unbeaten.  Continued home form  was augmented with remarkable away wins at Swindon and Coventry, and the Dukes sat proudly on top of the table by the end of July.  But then the Dukes travelled to Newport on the 1st August, and things started to unravel...

Chris Pusey broke his ankle in a heavy crash in heat 6, and both Gatenby and Cartwright joined him in hospital after piling up in the second half, as the Dukes lost heavily.  The patched up side defeated Coventry by 2 points the next night, but within a week Rick France was also on the sidelines with a hip injury sustained at Hackney.  A win at the Shay against Swindon on the 9th August was the last league match the Dukes won all season, losing their last 9 fixtures, including 3 at home, as they tumbled down the table to end up a disappointing 10th place in the league, 20 points behind champions Ipswich.

In the Cups, both Wimbledon and Exeter were dispatched in the Knock-out Cup before the injuries took hold.  But the run ended in the semi-final against Leicester, as the Dukes lost both legs to the Lions.  Better was to come in the Inter-League Cup, as a win at Eastbourne, followed by home victories over Ipswich and Oxford, saw Halifax qualify for the final - against rivals Belle Vue!  The Aces, true to form, won both legs of the final, as the Dukes' season fizzled out.

Without Eric Boocock, the Dukes looked to others to step up in the challenge for individual honours in the World Championship. It was new signing Pusey who nearly succeeded, eventually finishing 6th in the British Final, with, controversially, only 4 places up for grabs in the Wembley final.

The season started with little promise, but until the injuries again took hold, the Dukes had started to look like title challengers.  Pusey, after his initial mis-givings about his new surroundings, dug in and became the new number one, often scoring double figures, but surprisingly never a maximum!  His absence during August was part of the catalyst for the side's slide down the table, but he came back stronger, and the Dukes clearly had a top rider on their hands.  

Rick France was a solid leader - rarely letting the side down, but his average dipped from 1974, as his late season injury set him back.  Graham Plant was the enigma of the side - several maximums offset by some poor scores, and he too was a victim of the injury bug, with a late season collar bone injury.  Charlie Monk bounced back well from his season-ending injury the previous year, missing just one match in the league, and increased his average slightly, but again, you didn't know what you were going to get - a maximum against Poole, zero against Ipswich.  And Henny Kroeze again proved himself the fan-favourite, although a number of absences through continental commitments again restricted his appearances.

At the bottom end of the team, Ian Cartwright showed the most progress, averaging almost 6 points a match in his first full season, despite his injury issues.  Dave Gatenby had limited opportunities, and had not really progressed before his season-ending crash at Newport, and Mike Hiftle, after 4 seasons, was still falling off too much, and saw his average down to 4 points a match, despite never giving up.

Was there promise to carry into 1976?  Were the Dukes now genuine title-contenders, or was this another false dawn?

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