The 1978 Season

The 1978 Speedway Season was the Golden Jubilee season, celebrating 50 years of everyone's favourite sport in the UK.  And while the country flocked to the cinemas to watch Grease, and England were not taking part in the World Cup in Argentina, the British Speedway public had a Wembley World Final to look forward to.

The Gulf Oils British League was contested by the same 19 sides from 1977, with the majority hopeful of stealing the title from 1977's surprise winners White City.  Halifax were forced to make changes after the dismal 1977.  Popular Dutchman Henny Kroeze was the shock absentee.  Eric Boothroyd had made it clear about his displeasure at Kroeze's absences before his season-ending injury the previous June, and Kroeze was moved on to Hull (although he subsequently moved on to Bristol without ever riding for the Vikings!) In his place, Halifax signed Mitch Graham from the Vikings, able to accommodate the popular guest rider from recent seasons on a falsely low average.  Graham Plant announced he would not be returning, intending to take a year out to re-kindle his enthusiasm following recent injuries and a clearly difficult 1977, and the Dukes moved to sign Lancastrian Eric Broadbelt after a difficult season himself on the south coast with Poole.  The top three from 1977 all returned, with Mike Lohmann, Chris Pusey and Ian Cartwright all signing on for '78, the latter however only deciding to race at the 11th hour after threats to quit the sport during the winter.  Mick McKeon returned to the UK to line up with Halifax for a second season, boosted by his qualification for the Intercontinental Final from the Australasian rounds of the World Championship.  And Tom Godal would fill the final reserve berth following on from his efforts in the previous season.

The early season showed promise, with a comfortable win over Bristol, aided by a perfect performance from Lohmann, followed up by 3 wins in the Northern Trophy - although the home match with Sheffield was controversially abandoned due to dreadful track conditions, and was not replayed until September - by which point Belle Vue had taken the title.

The season was only a few weeks old when Halifax shuffled the pack again.  Godal was dropped, despite averaging 4.50 points a match, and was loaned to Leicester.  In his place, the Dukes intended to use two young, up and coming riders...

The first was Klaus Lohmann - younger brother of Mike.  Klaus had impressed at the end of 1977 riding under a false name in second half outings, and would initially line up at reserve.  The second was the much talked about local lad Kenny Carter, who after signing on for the Dukes, was loaned out to National League Newcastle, but would fill in for the Dukes when available.

By the end of April, Halifax were 2nd in the league table, having a 100% record - a position masked by the fact they had still to ride away from home.  A 24 point drubbing at Ipswich sent out the message that things might not be as simple as they were hoping.  As the season wore on, the Halifax riders were inconsistent, and although winning at home, looked incapable of doing so away.  White City sent the Dukes packing out of the Cup at the first hurdle, as they slipped gradually down the table.  By September, the team were struggling to win anywhere, slipping to a 61-17 reverse at Exeter, with Lohmann, McKeon and Broadbelt the only recognised Halifax riders on show! 

One positive was the form of newcomer Mitch Graham.  Starting the season at reserve, Graham piled up the points in the early weeks, and largely kept on scoring once moving into the team proper.  By August, he was the third heat leader behind Lohmann and Cartwright - but when White City visited again in the league, Graham piled up with team-mate McKeon and sustained back and hip injuries which ended his season.  But skipper Chris Pusey's form declined dramatically, and he was stripped of the captaincy in the summer, as the cracks in the Dukes side started to show, with Broadbelt and Klaus Lohmann also coming in for criticism.

Mike Lohmann was also in the wars, sustaining a foot injury which hampered his scoring in mid-season, although he achieved probably the crowning glory of his career by helping his nation to a shock win in the World Team Cup Final.  Mick McKeon suffered the disappointment of failing to make the Wembley World Final, and his enthusiasm faded for the remainder of the season, returning early to Australia and hinting he might not return for 1979.  Chris Pusey had a year to forget - the previous year's number one, he ended the season at reserve after some dreadful performances, hindered by off-track excesses, as his American friends descended on British speedway.  And the serious injury to his friend and former team-mate Alan Wilkinson at Belle Vue in July certainly changed Pusey's outlook on the sport.  Eric Broadbelt never really settled at his new track, and was also involved in some nasty tumbles, resulting in several absences through the season in addition to various mechanical woes.  But Ian Cartwright established himself as the Dukes' new number one, with numerous double figure scores.

At the bottom of the team, Klaus Lohmann and Kenny Carter both looked fine prospects for the future - the latter in particular looking very exciting and causing problems for the more established riders, and achieving a near 5.50 average in his first season.  It was clear that Carter would have a bigger part to play in 1979.

Once again, solid but not unbeatable at home - the Dukes lost 3 league fixtures at the Shay, and nothing but a pair of draws and some heavy defeats on their travels, and the Dukes languished in 12th place in the final league table, much nearer bottom-placed Hackney than champions Coventry.  But it was a step in the right direction after the dreadful 1977 season.

As the promotion looked towards 1979 and the end of the 1970s, it seemed that further changes were going to have to be made to get Halifax back to where they wanted to be.

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