The relaunch of speedway in Workington has been well received, five years after it ended at Derwent Park.
I caught up with Tony Jackson, long-time speedway enthusiast and former Comets team manager for his thoughts on the return and on his love of the sport.
Tony, just to start with can you tell me how you first started taking an interest in speedway, and particularly Workington Comets?
When it first started a few of the lads in my class were talking about it and went down, I would have been about nine years old at the time, and I kept asking to go but for various reasons I never got there until the middle of 1971, the Comets second season.
My first match saw the Comets beat Canterbury 52-26 and I was instantly hooked – as were my parents, and we hardly missed a match after that – only when we were away on holiday in Scotland about three weeks later.
And, even then, we went to Hampden Park to see Glasgow v Sheffield and v Oxford in a first division double header – so yes, I instantly fell in love with the sport from those early days.
In the 1970s under Ian Thomas and Jeff Brownhut what were your main memories – on and off the track – as they often had celebrities and entertainment as part of the meetings?
So many memories really, but I remember the night at the end of 1972 when Ian Thomas brought Ken Dodd to Derwent Park on a cold wet end of season meeting at the end of October.
The place was packed, and I specifically remember that night as it was the first time I ever watched a meeting from the grandstand – and the front row at that! Normally in the early days we watched from the back straight, and later I moved to the first corner.
On track probably my greatest memory was 1976 when we beat the all-conquering Ipswich side 40-38 in the inter-league cup and, on a wet track Lou Sansom defeated the current world number 3 John ‘Tiger’ Louis time and time again, as well as breaking the track record in the opening heat. What a night that was!
The other stand-out meeting was Young England v Young Poland in 1974 when England lost 53-54. That was the same day as the World Cup Final – West Germany v Holland in the afternoon then down to Derwent Park in the evening.
Superb racing, a last heat decider, lots of crashes including a Polish bike ending up in the enclosure. I think the Poles ended up with 3 bikes and 4 fit riders having started the meeting with 8 of each – an incredible meeting!
Who were your favourites riders and why during the early years of speedway at Derwent Park?
Obviously with missing the first season I never saw Bob Valentine ride for the Comets but my favourites were, like they were for many people, Lou Sansom and Mal Mackay – Lou was just so stylish and professional while Mal was all action and hard as nails. To see them combine for a Comets 5-1 in a last heat decider – like they did against Boston in the crucial early season match in 1973 to put us top of the league was always exciting.
Another big favourite was Steve Lawson, to see him develop into a top rider having seen him go round after the meeting in a set of Lou Sansom’s old leathers was brilliant, with 1976 being his breakthrough year.
I also enjoyed watching Mick Newton progress and I think but for injury he would have had a much better career but he was unfortunate with injuries at just the wrong times as he seemed to be making steps at the very times he got injured. And of course Terry Kelly, a great entertainer, a big fans favourite and always value for money and a great team man.
When the Comets disappeared for a number of years how did you get your regular speedway fix?
In the first three years after they closed I was away at Coventry University so I went there every week – in the days of Ole Olsen, Tommy Knudsen etc. Then I was working on the M25 for a year when I used to go to Rye House most weeks – I always hated the racing at Rye House as it was so different to what I was used to at Derwent Park – but because of where I was living it was a case of that or nothing.
Then, when I returned to Cumbria along with a few friends we used to go to Belle Vue most Fridays, Bradford most Saturdays and Newcastle most Sundays from about 1988 onwards – having seen Glasgow at Derwent Park in 1987 of course when they used it as a temporary home.
In those Belle Vue, Bradford, Newcastle days we tended to average around 80 matches per season – and of course that was a lot of travelling as they were all technically ‘away’ matches – but we had some great times over those years and made friends all over the country!
We also travelled abroad to World Finals including a day trip to Poland to see Gary Havelock win the 1992 World Final, went to all the big meetings in the UK such as British Finals, Overseas Finals, World Team Cups and of course the Grand Prix when they started.
I also travelled to Australia for long holidays to watch the speedway when David Tapp ran his International speedway masters series. I travelled around with the riders, making friends with them all and on the first tour in 1995 even ended up spending eight weeks in the then World Champion Tony Rickardsson’s pit crew – again, great days!
The return of the Comets under Tony Mole and Ian Thomas in 1999 – how did you feel as a Workington-based speedway enthusiast about it coming back and how do you feel it went?
I think it went absolutely brilliantly.
You always wondered if it would come back and if it did how the public would react – but they came in their droves. Those early crowds in the first 2 or 3 seasons especially were great and a lot of fans went away to support the team – with some great moments.
Of course having an instant hero in ‘Stoney’ helped everything to go well – he was great for Workington and Workington was great for him – and when we all travelled out to Lonigo to support him in the GP Challenge – well, that was something else, and when he qualified for the GP’s that was the stuff of dreams.
Then, once he was in the Grand Prix we all had an excuse to travel to new places even further afield – great days!
You became involved as team manager yourself Tony. How proud were you to be doing that job as a long-time fan, and how tough did you find it?
I was immensely proud when Ian Thomas asked me at the end of 2006 although I initially said no, as I feared it would change the way that I looked at and enjoyed the sport. But, after thinking about it for 48 hours and discussing it with a few people I got back to him and said yes – which was the best thing I ever did.
It does change the way you look at things but a change is sometimes good.
To be honest I didn’t find it tough at all – I relished the challenge – and as I knew the rule book inside out and can get on with people it was fine. And, I really loved trying to outwit the opposition – and the referee!
I’m sure there will have been some amusing moments in your time watching/managing speedway. Are you able to tell us about any of them?
There are hundreds – most of which are unprintable!
Although one of my favourite ones happened at Edinburgh. Tero Aarnio came out of the changing rooms in his Kevlars before the meeting carrying his bag with all of his clothes in and brought it into the pits.
When asked why he informed us that every time he races at Edinburgh he crashes and ends up in the ambulance and gets taken to hospital so by having all his clothes with him in the pits it makes it easier as they can just put the bag in the ambulance with him!
That was typical Tero, one of the funniest guys we had racing for us and a nice guy too.
How good was the side which won the treble and how tragic was it that the Comets folded after that eventful season?
That side was sensational – I could sense the bond growing as the season progressed and by the end they would have smashed through a brick wall for each other and for the cause. By the end of the season we would have beaten anyone, especially around Derwent Park, even a team from the league above.
I had seen that spirit in other successful teams down the years and to have it in our team at the end was special, really special, and an absolute pleasure to be a part of.
It was tragic that we folded after that but the finances just didn’t stack up, and unfortunately as a lot of teams have found – the price of being successful is a huge increase in costs, which made almost bearable losses in past years unbearable in 2018 and what we did not want to do is start 2019 and then have to fold mid-season. That would have been bad on all fronts so reluctantly we had to stop but at least we finished on a high.
How impressed have you been with the new set-up at Northside, and with the make-up of the new-look Comets?
Absolutely hugely impressed by the work that has taken place to transform Northside Training Track to the state of the art track and arena it is now. I take my hat off to Andrew Bain, Steve Lawson and all the volunteers – it is something special and a blueprint for the future.
Being in charge of your own destiny like that is the only way the sport will move forward now, especially when you see how many tracks are having problems with their landlords or the fact that the stadiums will be getting sold to developers due to rising land values in urban areas.
And of course, over time, they will keep adding to the facilities at Northside to make it even better so hopefully the fans will continue to support it as they really are extremely fortunate to have such a tremendous facility on their doorstep.
Obviously it is early days yet but I have high hopes for the team, which looks exciting – but Ace Pijper, Sam McGurk and Elliot Kelly have certainly caught my eye already with their on track exploits.
I certainly think the Comets will be in the mix at the end of the season in all competitions.
Inevitable final question Tony. With no points limits, who would be your favourite all-time seven Workington riders and why?
The easy answer would be to say the all-conquering treble winning team of 2018 of course, but taking a step back I would say – in NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
- Carl Stonehewer – An absolute legend, a great rider, a top bloke, a good friend and one that always came up with the goods when we needed a big result from a race. I think everyone knows his name – whether a speedway fan or not – and that says it all.
- Simon Stead – A superb stylist, a very fast rider and he produced so many great rides for the Comets in his time with us.
- Lou Sansom – The first Workington legend in my eyes – always professional and immaculately turned out and a great servent to the Comets – and that 1973 season when he swept all before him was fantasic to witness.
- Steve Lawson – What Steve doesn’t know about speedway really isn’t worth knowing. He was great in his time with the Comets and it was a shame that he went to Glasgow, but I will forgive him that. An all-time record breaker in the second tier of British Speedway and then helped in the background when we were running the club and now a key part of the new Northside promotion plus of course he has had a major part in developing Dan Bewley’s talent from a kid on the beach at Maryport to a Grand Prix winner.
- Kauko Nieminen – Another great servant to the club and a superb speedway rider, as well as being one of the nicest guys that you could ever wish to meet.
- James Wright – The ‘whippet’ – another that developed from a young reserve to a number one in the Comets side. He produced some stunning overtakes around Derwent Park and I was delighted to be with him in the pits when he won the Premier League Riders’ Championship at Swindon in 2007.
- Peter Kildemand – One of the most spectacular riders that you will ever see. I liked Peter and I was pleased to have been the one that helped get him to Derwent Park. I did my research and told Ian Thomas to sign him. He was a bit unsure but I told Ian to trust me as he hadn’t taken my advice the previous year when I told him to sign Niels Kristian-Iversen, so he went with it this time and was soon pleased that he did.
- Number 8 – Dan Bewley – I said from day one that he was special and I am delighted to see that my hunch was correct. I gave him his first ever ride in senior speedway when he was a number 8 for us at Newcastle early in 2016 and was delighted to get him back in 2018. But, when he had the big crash at Derwent Park in late August of 2018 there were fears that his career could be derailed but thankfully he has come back better than ever and he hasn’t reached his peak yet. I still believe Dan can go all the way to the very top.
- Team manager – myself – well, who wouldn’t want to manage that team!