Great Speedway Journeys of our Time - Scunthorpe (Ashbyville) (Edition 16 November 2003)

It was 1979 and season of struggle for “The Stags”.

Moved on from their home at Quibell Park the former “Saints” now were trying to establish themselves at their new home opposite the huge steel works. They always looked like a basement side and it was they who were favourites for the wooden spoon. Other teams had won at the new circuit with startling regularity so when it was the Potters turn to “steal” 2 points from them I had to go. Up to press away wins for the Loomer Road men had been like rocking horse droppings – this was our chance ! we couldn’t be the first side to lose there – could we?

The supporter’s club coach set off on the 100mile trip with around 40 fans in anticipation of our first away win. Those were the days, travelling in luxury to a match on a supporter’s club coach. I don’t think !

There was a metal panel in the roof in the place of a window that bent in when we went past 30mph and there was only the one cassette or more likely 8 track cartridge for the stereo – the sountrack to Grease. We knew the words parrot fashion; I never thought Olivia Neutron Bomb could be so wearing, pity it wasn’t a video. Maybe the coach had done service ferrying football supporters around. Anyway it got us there and in some ways didn’t look out of place on the car park.

When we first saw the stadium? I’m not sure if that’s the right description, it made Loomer Road look like Wembley. It made today’s training tracks look well appointed. The referees box was a garden shed elevated on bricks, the safety fence was constructed from what appeared to be bed frames and on the back straight there was a double decker bus, which served as a cafeteria and main stand. The lighting columns which were concrete and purchased from the local council presumably, as there were notices suggesting of a fine if you allowed your dog to foul the street, had been erected but at this stage had no lights attached.

The meeting was a double header and first on were the Boston Barracudas who duly took two league points off the Stags with a 40-36 win in spite of 12 points from “Big” Arthur Browning and 15 points from Phil White. Then came our turn.

The Stags were using rider replacement for Arthur Price and were to rely heavily on their two top men “Big” Arthur and Phil White.

In the first heat Stoke’s Tony Lomas and Billy Burton followed home “Big” Arthur for a draw. Heat 2 was a taste of things to come Alan Maclean fell off, the Scunthorpe No. 7 had an EF the resulting 3-2 giving the Potters a 1 point lead. The Potters took a 4-2 in the next. A drawn heat 4 won by the shock 1979 National League Riders Champion Ian Gledhill was then wiped out by the Phil White/Ian Jeffcoate combination putting the Stags 1 point ahead. Funny how riders come back to haunt you, Ian Jeffcoate lost his place in the previous year’s Stoke side and scored nothing in the earlier match against Boston. Then came heat 6 and the turning point in the match. Alan Maclean fell off, again. He was getting good at it now. This time though he could not retrieve his bike, which was wedged under the bedstead er, I mean safety fence. As he tussled with his machine on the fourth turn the remaining riders were closing in, track staff decided to wave red flags Alan decides to run to the relative safety of the centre green er, brown. The two “Stags” Trevor Whiting and “Big” Arthur slow right down and stop, Ian Gledhill slows down but keeps his bike going as the announcement comes over the loudspeakers “the referee has not stopped the race the red lights have not been displayed”. Ian then continues around the track at walking pace picking his way around stationary bikes and a very dischuffed Arthur Browning. I think he did five laps just to make sure, the flag marshal had lost interest he was too busy watching Arthur beginning to simmer. Hard to say if the lights were on or not as it was a bright sunny day – remember those ! and the red lights had all the power of tuppenny candle. Well, Arthur was not happy. He stood in front of the refs shed, er box, gesticulating and shouting, possibly casting doubt on the refs parentage and appeared to be asking for two of something. He then went in to the box to carry on the debate, the shed, er box, shook on its foundations as Arthur made his point. He reappeared some minutes later, got his bike started and did a lap of the track collecting the red flags from the track staff. He stopped his machine on the middle of the back straight and threw them clean over the track’s perimeter fence, they landed on the adjacent parkland. I think Arthur should have taken up the javelin when he retired. With that he withdrew from the meeting, packed up and went home.

With Arthur out of the match the Stag’s challenge evaporated. The Potters had three 5-1’s out of the next seven races to eventually win the meeting 42-32.

The meeting will always be remembered for the events on the track and another albeit sad reason which was the announcement over the P.A. towards the end of the meeting that an explosion had killed Lord Mountbatten while on his boat. It is the one and only time that I can recall being at a Speedway meeting when any shock news has been announced.

Following this well deserved victory we hopped back on to our “luxury” coach for the return journey accompanied by more “Grease”.

Thinking back, another reason the meeting sticks in my mind was the fact that after supporting Stoke for over a season this was the first time I had seen them win away from home !

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