HALIFAX (GB)
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1949 - THE SHAY SPEEDWAY.
Work commenced on construction of the new Speedway at the Shay on the 8th of Febuary 1949 with the first meeting to be held on the 6th of April 1949.
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1949 - THE SHAY SPEEDWAY. 6th April 1949. |
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1949 - THE SHAY SPEEDWAY. 18th May 1949. |
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1951 - THE SHAY SPEEDWAY.
Speedway at the Shay was not working, with poor attendances the club was in financially in trouble.
On the 10th of November 1951 Speedway promoter Bruce Booth tried out midget car racing at the Shay, the gate tripled for that of meeting with a claim of 15,000 spectators.
Bruce Booth would call it a day in 1952 and the Speedway would close.
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1962 - REG FEARMANIn November of 1962 Reg Fearman who was promoting Middlesbrough at the time saw the potential of the Shay and made application to the Halifax Town to revive the Speedway.
Reconstruction began in early 1965 and the track was soon open, this time around the Speedway was a huge success, so much so that it started to draw more interest than the football club their co tennent, the relationship between the two clubs would sour over time with disputes over money etc and the Speedway would leave the Shay and move to Bradford in 1986.
Right: A much younger Reg Fearman in his riding days. |
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1968 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARIDAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
11th May 1968
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1968 - LES SHARPE
Pictured below is the Great man Aub Lawson and his wife Roma at a party with Les Sharpe (nealing) Aub Lawson played a major roll in getting Les a spot with the Halifax team in England.
Photo: Les Sharpe collection.
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1969 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
1969 - Eric Boocock (centre) takes the lead on the first bend during the opening heat, On the left is American DeWayne Keeter and Ray Wilson is on the right, Partially obscured by dust behind this trio is Boocock's partner, Dennis Gavros, who was third.
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1969 - YORKSHIRE EVENING POST NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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1969 - HALIFAX SPEEDWAY.
(use controls to pause - forward or reverse 5 images)
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1969 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
DUKES' TEAM SPIRIT MAJOR FACTOR IN SUCCESSFUL SPEEDWAY SEASON
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1969 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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6th October 1969 |
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1970 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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1970 - THE SHAY SPEEDWAY. 18th April 1970. |
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(use controls to pause - forward or reverse 15 images)
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1970 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
20th April 1970 |
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1970 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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1st May 1970 |
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1970 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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11th May 1970 |
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1970 - HALIFAX EVENING COURIER & GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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Halifax's young Australian Les Sharpe races into the first bend between Sheffield pair Arnold Haley (left) and Jim Airey (right) during heat three of Saturday's Northern riders championship round at the Shay, Sharpe who finished second to Greg Kentwell in this heat is wearing a pyjama jacket to keep some of the wet dirt off his leathers.
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1973 - THE TELEGRAPH & ARGUS NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
1973 - Battling it out during Halifax Dukes' match at Belle Vue last Saturday are Charlie Monk on the inside and Eric Broadbelt.
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31st March 1973 |
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1974 - THE TELEGRAPH & ARGUS NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
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15th February 1974 |
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1974 - HALIFAX SPEEDWAY. HALIFAX v SHEFFIELD. 17th August 1974.TIGERS d e f e a t DUKESThe Sheffield Tigers have beaten the home town Halifax Dukes 44 to 34 here at the Shay Speedway.
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Vintage Speedway Programmes Australia pictorial feature
(use controls to pause - forward or reverse 8 images)
(Programme Research: Brad Mitchell)
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1976 / 1977 - HALAFAX DUKES.
Speedway Scrapbook facebook photo feature
1976 / 1977 - Chris Pusey on his bike with his team members around him. Photographer: Nigel Ambler.
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1983 - ERIC BOOCOCK.
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1983 - KENNY CARTER.
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1986 - BRADFORD
The move to Bradford would see also a name change for the solo team, they would now be known as the Bradford Dukes as opossed to the Halifax Dukes.
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1987 - THE SHAY GRASS TRACK EVENT.
Allthough speedway racing had moved from the vevue in 1986, an infield grass track motorcycle event was held 12 months after the closing, the old speedway track at this point was still untouched and fit for racing.