The 1983 Season

1983 - the year of compulsory wearing of seatbelts in cars, Michael Jackson's Thriller and the kidnapping of Shergar. Promoter Eric Boothroyd had promised there would be changes for 1983, and part of his planning was enforced upon him. With the retirement of Ian Cartwright, and the understandable request to leave by John Louis, the Dukes were already short of heat-leader back-up for Carter. Merv Janke chose not to return to the UK following his injuries the previous season. And Mats Olsson had fallen short of the necessary 6 point average to enable him to return, although Halifax appealed the decision. The side was looking somewhat thin.

Doug Wyer and Steve Baker signed on for another season, and the Dukes dipped into the transfer market to sign Martin Dixon from Middlesbrough a year after they first flirted with the idea. After a promising end to the season in 1982, Italian Gianni Famari was offered a team place for 83. And former Duke Steve Finch was re-signed after several seasons with Ellesmere Port. It gave the Dukes a somewhat top heavy look, with only Carter realistically being seen as a genuine heat-leader, but with one place still to fill, the fans hoped for a big name signing... But it didn't happen. With warnings about finances and gate receipts plus rising expenses from the previous season, the Dukes were clearly going to make do - and filled the final team place with the returning favourite Craig Pendlebury, who decided to give racing in the UK another go. The team looked solid, if somewhat unspectacular. Nevertheless, Halifax gambled on Wyer returning to his old form and either Baker or Dixon (or both) to improve on their averages...The rider to miss out on a place was Aussie Rob Ashton, who despite making progress in 1982 seemingly hadn't done quite enough, and he joined 2nd division Exeter.

On the eve of the season, a new look for the Dukes was introduced, with the announcement of a major sponsorship with local radio station Pennine Radio. Halifax would now be known as the "Pennine Radio Dukes."

They started the season in the League Cup with a bang - a shock victory away at many peoples favourites Coventry made people sit up and take notice. But, as it transpired, that victory spoke more of Coventry's problems on the night than Halifax's prospects. They failed to back the victory up, not taking a single point from their remaining away fixtures, and lost at home to Belle Vue and the Bees. The team were finding points hard to come by - Carter was struggling with mechanical issues, and only Wyer (twice) and Finch (once) managed a double figure score throughout the League Cup campaign to support the skipper. The problems were made worse on 16th April when Famari was the cause of a nasty crash at Cradley Heath which hospitalised Erik Gundersen, wrecked both his and Doug Wyer's machines, and also injured Lance King. Famari had been showing some signs of form, but would now miss several weeks. Something was needed as the League campaign kicked off...

The rabbit that promoter Eric Boothroyd pulled from the hat was none other than former Dukes number 1 Eric Boocock. The veteran had retired in 1974, and remained in the sport as team manager, but after leaving Belle Vue in 1982, decided to make a return to the track. Boocock initally covered for the injured Famari, but when the Italian returned, the Dukes had 8 riders for 7 places - so a policy of rotation was introduced, with Baker, Dixon, Pendlebury and Famari all being left out at various stages. The problem the Dukes were having were the usual ones, Carter scored heavily but the back-up was sporadic - none of the other Dukes looked likely to become the heat-leaders the team were missing, and at the bottom of the team, the Boocock experiment wasn't working. Away from The Shay it was the usual story - completely outclassed, with only a draw at Sheffield to take as a positive, and often low 20s returns. A 34 point defeat at Belle Vue saw them exit the cup in the first round, and that type of score-line became a common feature.

Famari finally gave up in July and returned home to Italy, leaving the Dukes with 7 riders again. But before August was concluded, Boocock was also out of the team, his points scoring never looking like improving.

Kenny Carter made it to a 3rd World Final in a row, but like everyone else at Norden, had to watch as Egon Muller stormed to victory on a track prepared to his liking and on an incredibly quick bike, powered by a mysterious new GM engine. Carter had gone as one of the favourites, but like Sigalos, Lee, Nielsen and Sanders, there was nothing he could do to prevent a home winner.

Replacing Boocock, the Dukes sought to bring back Mats Olsson, and whilst awaiting his return gave local junior Mark Gallagher some rides. But nothing improved, and Halifax also started losing at home - losing 4 of their last 6 home meetings. Olsson arrived but scored only 5 points in 5 official matches, leaving him well short of any chance of a return in 84.

Halifax ended the season 11th out of 15 teams, having won 10 league matches all season - all at home - and they only topped the 50 point mark on one occasion, against a poor Eastbourne side. Carter was still head and shoulders above the rest, although his mechanical issues dulled his scoring compared to his stellar 1982 returns. Steve Baker looked the best of the rest, developing into a solid 7 point rider, and Craig Pendlebury on his return managed to stay clear of injury and wasn't far behind Baker. Doug Wyer managed to improve his average slightly, but was still shy of 6 points a match. And Dixon, who spent two spells at reserve, was inconsistent - double figures at Hackney and Leicester, zero at Birmingham, and he only scored double figures at The Shay on one occasion. He requested a transfer at the season end. Steve Finch was a solid, if unspectacular scorer, and would return for 1984 - but it was clear that Halifax had too many middle to low-end riders and none were going to provide the backing to Carter to improve results.

The winter of 1983/84 was a turbulent time for British Speedway, as several teams, hit by the recession and falling crowds, were forced to have a re-think. Hackney decided to drop into the second tier, and Leicester closed down, their Blackbird Road stadium being sold for housing. The BSPA sought to boost the British League, and were rewarded when Newcastle, Exeter, Oxford and Wolverhampton all agreed to move up, the negative impact of this would be a reduced points limit forcing rider and team equality. If the Dukes were intending to improve their team from 1983, their task had just become a touch harder...

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