1985 Miscellany

League Cup:

With the reduced number of teams for 1985, the competition was re-vamped to a national basis, rather than the traditional North and South groups, with a bonus point available for the aggregate win over 2 matches. Although Halifax started the season with high hopes, the stronger nature of most teams, and a disastrous run of mechanical issues for several Dukes riders left Halifax out of contention - home defeats to Sheffield, Cradley Heath and Coventry leaving them 9th out of 11, with only Sheffield and King's Lynn below. Even a rare away win at Coventry was in vain. Cradley Heath, Oxford, Ipswich and Coventry qualified for the semi-finals - Coventry's place eventually confirmed later in the season after a dispute over the Reading-Wolverhampton fixture which was originally abandoned. Reading won the re-arranged fixture in September to eliminate Wolves. By the time the semi-finals were arranged, Coventry were stronger, Cradley had lost form - and the Bees beat the Heathens to meet Oxford in the final. Coventry won the final over 2 legs to take the Cup. The league table can be found below.

Other Fixtures:

With the increased League Cup programme, and a season badly affected by rain-offs, there were limited spaces in the calendar - although the Dukes' early exit from the Knockout Cup did create a couple of open dates. The following non-league fixtures were held during 1985:

Northern Cup - The Dukes took on Belle Vue over 2 legs in August/September - Halifax holding the Aces to a 6 point lead after the first leg at Hyde Road - but then losing the second leg (match 27) a month later at The Shay to lose the cup on aggregate. Details of scorers etc can be found on the archive pages for August and September.

Three/Four Team Tournaments - after a lack of these over the previous couple of years, Halifax filled a few open dates, introducing a new 3 team format involving pairs riding They also rode in a similar fixture at Sheffield. Larry Ross was an ever present, taking part in all 5 matches, whilst Kenny Carter scored a maximum in his only appearance. The fixtures are outlined below, with details of individual heats being found on the relevant month archive.

A number of other fixtures were held at The Shay during 1985:

15th September - meeting 19 - England v Australasia 3rd Test - originally postponed in July due to the weather, the fixture was re-arranged and took place on a Sunday afternoon on a heavy track, with England losing, despite having already won the series. Details of heats and scores can be found on the September archive page.

19th October - meeting 21 - Yorkshire Open Championship - again, originally scheduled for August, but lost due to the rain, the individual meeting was re-staged at the end of the season. It was a 1-2-3 for the Dukes, as Neil Evitts took the prize, from Eric Monaghan and Kurt Hansen - full details can be found on the October archive page.

Both the above meetings were held using the original programme from the postponed fixture.

The British Match-Race Championship - The "Golden Helmet."

With the Golden Helmet having reverted to a one-off race every match, a few opportunities arose for the Dukes riders to be involved through the season. Kenny Carter regained the title he lost to Michael Lee in 1983 when he defeated holder Jeremy Doncaster of Ipswich in June - but his title was short-lived, as his first defence came at Reading, in the aftermath of the loss of his equipment in East Germany - and he lost to the Racers' Jan Andersson. Carter had a final attempt at winning the helmet at Coventry at the end of July, but lost to the Bees Tommy Knudsen.

In Carter's absence, Larry Ross had 2 attempts in September, losing to Hans Nielsen following the defeat at Oxford, and then following Nielsen losing to Bobby Schwarz, Ross lost to the Wolves rider the following week. Details of the various races are as follows:

The Juniors/Second-Half Riders: During 1985, the following riders took part in various junior matches for the Dukes - those who rode for the main team are not included in this list, but will have their own biography in the riders archive - many thanks to:

David Clay, Gary Clegg, Ian Sutcliffe, Jim Graham, Steve Quick, Steve Hemingway, Damon Cowell, Jason Kenny, Robin Archer, Simon Challenor, Simon Auty, Lee Gedling and Pat Burke.