Speedway motorcycle racing had first arrived in Halifax in the summer of 1928. It lasted for a couple of years, at the old Thrum Hall stadium, and returned briefly after the second world war. But when it came back again during the Swinging Sixties, it did so with a vengeance.
In 1965, Reg ‘Fearless’ Fearman had disbanded a team in Middlesbrough and came looking for a new home for his riders. Thus, the Halifax Dukes were born: their name chosen in honour of the Duke of Wellington, whose regiment was once based at Wellesley Barracks. Now, the riders bore his elephant symbol on their racing jackets. They would be based down the road at the Shay, the home of the town’s football club.
Early in 1966, John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, Bob Dylan would soon be called ‘Judas’ on stage, and advertisements in the Halifax Evening Courier proclaimed that at the Shay “Every Saturday night is speedway night” – even if the four corners of the football pitch had to be taken up to make this possible.
Scuffling fans and other woes
Admission on those nights cost as little as four shillings – a sum which might buy you two pints of beer in the stadium bar. The Dukes riders were introduced to the crowd one-by-one, each wearing either a red or blue helmet. There would be 13 frantic heats of racing, during which people standing near the bends could expect to get showered in black shale from the track. And, in the interval, there were races for junior riders, displays of vintage motorcycles or appearances by the newly-crowned Speedway Queen.
Yet, despite the hoopla, the season got off to a bad start after the first meeting had to be cancelled because of heavy rain. Plus there was competition from nearby sporting attractions. As well as its football club, the town also had the country’s reigning champion rugby league club, which still played at Thrum Hall. The recently-refurbished New Victoria theatre also regularly hosted wrestling, with bouts featuring the likes of Mick McManus and Les Kellett.
Back at the Shay, problems were multiplying. Dukes captain Eric Boothroyd was having trouble with his Czech-built bike; a defeat to Newcastle was marred by scuffling between rival fans, and a row in the middle of another match saw Fearless Fearman sprint across the terraces to confront the referee. At the end of May, Halifax was languishing near the bottom of the table.
Turning the tides
But then, things changed. League leader Coventry was well beaten, and the Dukes managed to string several home wins together. They also gained a stunning victory at West Ham, the previous year’s champion. Dukes began regularly carding 50 points in a match and quickly shot up to second place.
Dukes’ rising star Eric Boocock was invincible in the West Ham match. Though still just 21, he also starred for the Dukes in a Knockout Cup victory over Glasgow and, after acquitting himself equally well in the World Individual Championships, he was selected for England’s early season test series against Scotland.
The third match of that series was held at the Shay on 22 June. Eric Boothroyd was also selected, having made his own international debut a decade before, and he captained England to an emphatic victory. The two Erics formed a formidable partnership, winning 28 points between them, while a third young Dukes rider, Dave Younghusband, was also impressive.
Boocock, Boothroyd and Younghusband went on to represent England against a touring Russian team, not least at the Shay on 6 July, in a match that attracted 9,000 spectators.
The other famous 1966 victory
Boocock was called up by Great Britain for two series against Poland; one series in each country. This left him unavailable for the Dukes and, to compound the problem, both he and Eric Boothroyd were out with injuries. Guest riders were brought in and other Halifax riders stepped up, including Tommy Roper, who top-scored in a victory at the Shay on the same day that England’s footballers lifted the World Cup.
Halifax made progress in the Knockout Cup and managed to win three matches in the time it took the touring West Indies cricket team to thrash England at Headingley. Crowds at the Shay were rising, the Northern Cup was secured, and fully 60 points were rung up in a League match – only for the same feat to be repeated the following week.
The Dukes went top of the League in mid-September and before long they had claimed a record 15 consecutive victories and won the 1966 British League title with two matches to spare.
Ovations – and the final move
Boocock, Boothroyd, and their teammates went on a victory parade around the Shay, receiving a terrific ovation from the sizeable crowd. And while there was no cup nor any medals for them to collect, local brewery Webster’s did at least arrange for each of them to receive a specially engraved plaque.
The plaques were presented before the Knockout Cup final against Wimbledon on 12 October. The Shay was in a festive mood. The Dukes racked up a scarcely believable 69 points and finally got their hands on some silverware. There was a firework display at the end of the meeting, and Reg Fearman announced that in recognition of their tremendous triple crown, the riders would be given a £200 bonus to share (approximately £4000 in 2026 terms).
But, sadly, the Halifax Dukes would never scale those heights again. They finished a credible fourth in 1969 and also won the Northern Cup again in 1980. But a mere six years later, after one too many disagreements with their football club landlords, they quit Halifax for good and moved into the Odsal Stadium, where they were transformed into the Bradford Dukes.
