The Riders - A
Pete Adams: Former mechanic to Nigel Boocock, and took up speedway as a result, firstly in second half rides at The Shay in 1975. Was called upon to ride for the senior side at Coventry in 1976, but failed to score. Had family connections in Poland, and moved to ride in the Polish League, not returning to British racing.
Bill Andrew: Hailing from New Zealand, Andrew joined the Dukes in 1973 after previous spells with Newcastle, Newport and Poole, but having missed the entire 1972 season. Twice a British Finalist in the 1960s, Andrew was also a first class horse racing jockey - and would often take his place in a racing meeting before heading to The Shay for the speedway in the evening! Ended the 1973 season - his only year with the Dukes - with an average in excess of 6 points per match, and represented Halifax at the BLRC that year, although largely due to the unavailability of others. 1973 was his final season of racing and he returned to New Zealand.
Eddie Argall: Argall arrived in the UK from his native Australia in 1973 and had several outings for Hull, before joining the Dukes for 1974. But he only had a handful of meetings, and struggled at British League level. Had a better time subsequently in the National League with Bradford, Berwick and Coatbridge, with whom he averaged over 9 points a match in 1975. Retired from racing after the 1977 season, and became a fixture at The Shay as official machine examiner for many seasons.
Robbie Ashton: A native of Brisbane, young Rob Ashton first came to England in 1981 under the wing of team manager Dennis Gavros. Although not holding down a team place, Ashton had some good outings for the Dukes, but was loaned out to National League Ellesmere Port for the remainder of 1981, ending with a creditable 6.50 average. This was enough to convince the Dukes to include him in the line-up for 1982, where he was an ever present, failing to score in only 8 of 46 meetings. Nevertheless, the Dukes looked elsewhere in 83, and Ashton moved on to Exeter, before retiring from the sport in 1984. Ashton sadly died in 2011 a few months short of his 50th birthday.