Respected Edinburgh speedway referee recalls how his track career started as a bike-pusher at Old Meadowbank

Speedway is a dangerous sport, it can be deadly. That’s something Ronnie Allan learned as a teenager at Old Meadowbank Stadium.

A teenage Ronnie Allan pushes off visiting Newcastle Diamonds' rider Goog Allan

Six decades on, Ronnie, who became one of the UK's most respected referees is recalling his humble roots in the sport as a bike-pusher aged just 15.

He recalls, "My grandmother lived on Portobello Road and was involved with the Monarchs' Supporters Club at the time and one of Edinburgh’s top riders, Dick Campbell, lodged with them. So I was taken, a babe in arms, to see the Monarchs and my interest just developed from there."

When speedway returned to the Capital in 1960 after a six year hiatus, Ronnie was 13 and, once again, all roads led to Meadowbank.

Ronnie Allan

"The crowds were amazing then, regularly 10,000 people on a Saturday evening. People queued from half four in the afternoon for a match that started at 7.15pm. You had to be there no later than quarter to seven to get your spot on the terracing. I used to stand with three of my uncles on the first bend and there was always such a buzz in the crowd."

As he got older, Ronnie would be allowed to head down to the stadium on a Saturday afternoon to help visiting riders get set up.

"I'd help the visitors unload and clean their bikes. One week there was a rider called Wal Morton, who was quite old and there on his own. I helped him with his bike and he said, ‘Do you want to give me a hand in the pits tonight?'

"That was something really special. During the match the Pits Marshall asked me, ‘Do you want a job here every Saturday, being a bike-pusher?' And I became one of the boys who pushed the bikes off at the start of each race. I always asked to push off the riders wearing the white helmet colour, that way you got to speak to the all top visiting riders."

Edinburgh Monarchs v Poole Pirates - Willie Templeton, Geoff Pearce, Roy Tregg and Dick Campbell leading

It was his dream job and he remembers, "At the time the riders were on seven shillings and sixpence a point and seven shillings and sixpence a start, well, promoter Ian Hoskins also paid all his track staff, so we got seven and six a night, a pair of overalls, a programme and, of course, we got to see the match for free."

The bike-pushers also had a unique perspective on the racing, one evening Ronnie learned just how dangerous a sport it was. He was on duty on September 20, 1963, the evening popular Belle Vue rider Peter Craven was involved in a freak accident that, four days later, took his life; taking evasive action to avoid fallen Edinburgh rider George Hunter, Craven crashed into the fence. He died in the Royal Infirmary on September 24.

Just 16-years-old at the time, Ronnie had pushed him off at the start of that race and was the last person to speak with him.

"Peter was a nice chap, very approachable,” he recalls, “I asked him whether he'd been to Edinburgh before... he was very chatty. It brought home to me how dangerous the sport is and that these guys are just ordinary guys like you and I, but with a talent for riding a 500cc motorbike without brakes."

Edinburgh Monarch's Dick Campbell and son Ross in the pits

From the age of 14 to 17, Ronnie, who was brought up in Craigour and attended Fernieside Primary and Liberton High, could also be found emulating his track heroes riding cycle speedway – just like the real thing but with no engines – for Calton Comanches and, later, Granton Griffins.

"Edinburgh had a good cycle speedway league then, there must have been about 12 teams, it was a great way of learning track craft," he says, revealing he did once have a go at the real thing... it didn't go quite to plan.

"At the back of my mind I suppose I wanted to be a speedway rider," he admits, "and I did ride on a trotting track out at Craigmillar, but I came off, fractured my arm and had concussion. When I got to the hospital I thought, 'There's easier ways of making money than this.'

Back at Old Meadowbank, his heroes were still making it look easy.

Speedway at Meadowbank - Trevor Redmond and Doug Templeton

"One thing I admired about Ian Hoskins was that he was able to build a very respectable team from a number of nations, he always had three or four Scots, he looked at New Zelanders too and had Dick Campbell, Wayne Briggs and Alf Wells, and he also had the European riders like Reider Eide, Bernie Persson and Oyvind S Berg. A good mix.

"Ian knew how to get the crowd involved. Anything he could do to entertain the public, he would do. He had theatre contacts too and he would get famous names down to appear at the track before they went on stage."

Ronnie’s favourite Edinburgh rider was legendary Monarchs’ captain Dougie Templeton who, he reveals, was known help young fans sneak into meetings.

"Dougie was a good rider, a hard rider and a nice man. He was a family man with two daughters and a son who were just a bit wee bit younger than me. He used to arrive at half past five and get local kids to carry his leathers and bits and pieces into the pits, one thing each. Once you'd done that he'd say, 'There you are, off you go now,' and you were in the stadium for nothing."

During his refereeing career, Ronnie visited both Powderhall and Armadale, the Monarchs current home, and he reflects, "I always felt Meadowbank was the best racing track Edinburgh ever had. Powderhall was the best stadium, but I must admit that, although small, you do get good racing and overtaking at Armadale, which is what people want to see.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription