The 1979 Season

The end of the decade - and the winter of discontent as strikes and power cuts dominated the close season. The British League would continue with it's sponsorship from Gulf Oils, but was reduced in number - as Bristol Bulldogs folded after only 2 seasons. And White City - League Champions only 2 seasons earlier, closed down, although their licence was transferred to Eastbourne, the Eagles moving up from the National League to take the Rebels place.

The Dukes re-shuffled for the 1979 season and took advantage of the loss of Bristol, with the purchase of Norwegian Tormod Langli, for a reported £7000, to fill the role of heat leader behind Mike Lohmann and Ian Cartwright. Chris Pusey drifted into exile/retirement, and both Mitch Graham and Eric Broadbelt moved on after only one season at The Shay - Graham dropping into the second tier with Stoke (where he retired after only 4 matches) and Broadbelt joining Sheffield Tigers. But The Dukes retained Mick McKeon and promising youngster Kenny Carter to boast what looked like a powerful top 5. The side was added to by the return of Klaus Lohmann after a promising 1978 - and at the eve of the season, Graham Plant announced his return to the sport after a season away. Hopes were high that this could be the year to challenge Coventry for the title.

The early season was decimated by bad weather, with 4 of the Dukes' first 7 fixtures being postponed. And after only 2 matches - both wins - Plant dropped the bombshell that he was quitting - this time for good. Kenny Carter moved into the team, and young Paul Sheard was handed the final reserve berth - but lasted 3 matches before suffering a broken collar bone in a freak incident at Belle Vue on Easter Monday! Aussie Merv Janke was signed on loan from Glasgow to double up, but was himself in the wars after a crash riding for his parent club.

Newly appointed skipper Ian Cartwright, Mike Lohmann and Mick McKeon all started the season well - but a home defeat to Sheffield scuppered their chances of success in the Northern Trophy. Cartwright in particular was in the form of his life - a close second to Mauger in the World Championship/Grand Prix qualifying round backed up by victory in the Dews Trophy and the Shaytona plus a career high near-9 point average proved the decision to offer him the captaincy over Lohmann was justified. Cartwright also got a shot at the Golden Helmet, held by Peter Collins, late in the season, but was comfortably beaten.

The 19th June 1979 went down as a landmark date for all Dukes' fans, as Halifax won a league match on the road for the first time in 4 years - an 8 point victory at Leicester was just the start, as the team also won at King's Lynn and Hackney - but the team could not keep pace with Coventry and Exeter, and finished a distant, although positive 6th place.

Success was nearly achieved in the Knock-out Cup - a second round bye over Hackney, after the Hawks withdrew following the tragic death of Vic Harding in June, was followed up by a crushing defeat of Reading in the quarter finals - to set up a semi final against... well, they had to wait until the final month of the season for fixture pile-ups to be cleared before Cradley Heath were confirmed as their opponents. Unfortunately, the Heathens proved too powerful - a 20 point deficit from a curtailed first leg was always going to be a mountain to climb, and Cradley rubbed salt into the wound by beating the Dukes at The Shay too.

A mid-season dispute between the Dukes' management and the Lohmann brothers resulted in Mike and Klaus with-holding their services for a few matches - and although the Dukes were granted a facility to cover their heat leader, and the problem was resolved, the incident left a sour taste - and ultimately would result in the pair moving on, and the Dukes looking elsewhere for 1980. The incident seemed to cause unrest in the Dukes' camp as the season wore on, and following the exit to Cradley in the cup, Lohmann junior was dropped. But things didn't improve, and as the season drew to a close, the Dukes were mauled 64-14 away at Cradley Heath in the league - the defeat (where Dane Erik Gundersen was the only home rider to drop a point) was the heaviest away defeat in Dukes history - and would remain so until their closure several years later.

Halifax finished the season a creditable 6th place in the British League, although they will have been disappointed they could not finish closer to Coventry, who once again took the honours, given the early season optimism. In addition to the fire-power from Cartwright and Lohmann, Kenny Carter had now emerged as a real prospect for the future, and hopes were high he would carry on into the 1980s. Langli looked to be an astute, if not spectacular signing, but his forceful riding had pleased The Shay faithful - as had the efforts of Aussie duo Janke and McKeon. At the bottom end of the team, the retirement of Plant left a gap, and the Dukes often shuffled the reserve places, with Janke, Klaus Lohmann and Steve Wilcock, on loan from Middlesbrough, sharing the workload.

A good season - but ultimately just a little bit short of what was needed, and with a degree of discontent in the camp, things would clearly be changing for 1980. It seemed highly unlikely that either of the Lohmann brothers would be featuring again, and Mick McKeon had indicated he may not be returning from Australia the following season, having been worn down by the events of the year. However the new decade and 1980 would give renewed optimism that success for the Dukes was just around the corner...

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