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The Jack Young Story
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The Birth of a Scottish Speedway Legend |
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Chapter 4 |
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1949 |
With Second Division riders being
paid one pound per start and 26 shillings per point, it was no wonder Jack Young
was in such high spirits following his successful April 2 debut for Edinburgh.
His next assignment for the Monarchs was an away fixture on Wednesday April 6th
against the Glasgow “Tigers” at White City. He spent many hours in the lead-up
to this meeting working in the Edinburgh workshop alongside Clem Mitchell. Clem
had good reason to pay particular attention to the bike Jack had ridden so
successfully at his debut meeting – it was a brand new machine that Clem had
been planning to use himself. He had unselfishly placed it at Jack’s disposal.
Jack awoke from his sleep during the Tuesday night and knew straight away
something was wrong. When he tried to get out of bed he collapsed to the floor;
the pain in his stomach was unbearable. A driver from a local car hire firm
transported Jack to a doctor. An ambulance was immediately summoned to rush him
to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he underwent surgery for appendicitis.
The Edinburgh Evening News dated Wednesday April 6
reported the following: -
“BLOW TO MONARCHS. Meadowbank Monarchs have suffered an early blow. Jack Young,
the ace rider who set up a new track record on Saturday night, being removed
early this morning to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he underwent an immediate
operation for appendicitis. He was due to ride against Glasgow Tigers at White
City tonight.”
From the Thursday April 21 edition of the newspaper: -
“He (Jack Young) left the Royal Infirmary Convalescent Home, Corstorphine, on
Monday, looking in the peak of condition. He did not take long to put in an
appearance at Meadowbank, and while he expressed a desire to ride for Monarchs
against Cradley Heath, wiser counsel prevailed and he will not ride on
Saturday.”
Alestair Gibson has supported the Edinburgh Monarchs since the return of
speedway to Edinburgh in 1948. He shared some of his memories of April 1949 with
me: -
“I was privileged to be at the track when Jack made his first appearance in the
blue and gold colours of the Edinburgh Monarchs. The papers had the story that
Jack had been brought over to race for the Monarchs by Clem Mitchell, the then
Monarchs captain, and later to be Manager. Jack was an unknown. He immediately
stole the hearts of the supporters with a show of speedway riding at its best.
“The following Wednesday the Monarchs were to race at Glasgow against the local
Tigers and we were looking forward to seeing Jack race, and beat, the Tigers’
stars Will Lowther and Joe Crowther. I was one of the supporters who travelled
through to White City that day on a booked coach. On route we heard a rumour
that Jack had been rushed to hospital. It was quite a shock and, needless to
say, he did not ride at White City and the Monarchs were thrashed.
“History now shows how great a rider Jack was, so much so that his name is still
mentioned with pleasure in Edinburgh; and every Australian rider signed by the
Monarchs has a lot to live up to and is expected to be the next Jack Young.”
Jack was absolutely amazed at the kindness he received from the Edinburgh people
during the period of his confinement. He was showered with gifts such as fruit,
drinks, chocolate, and cigarettes. The owners of the car hire firm which had
provided the driver and vehicle used to rush Jack to the doctor on the night of
his appendicitis attack refused to accept payment for the service. Following is
part of what Jack wrote about his successful debut and his hospitalisation: -
“And lying there in the Edinburgh Infirmary I wasn’t upset in the least. I knew
I’d made it. But if it had been a flop of a debut, who knows how I might have
felt.”
The following amusing article appeared in a speedway
publication: -
“What about Edinburgh’s new Australian rider, Jack Young? Convalescing in
a suburban home after his recent appendicitis operation, Jack was visited the
other day by his team captain Clem Mitchell. Clem wondered why the matron
treated him to such a baleful glare when he asked to see his protégé. Later it
transpired that Jack had been caught red-handed – frying three eggs in the
kitchen, which is out of bounds to inmates at the home! Jack’s excuse was that
he was building up his strength for his return to the Monarchs’ team.”
There was some concern regarding the time it was taking for the pain resulting
from Jack’s surgery to abate. He was in so much discomfort that he couldn’t
straighten up.
He wrote home: - “People here are wonderfully kind. If they’d only give me a new
stomach I’d feel like a king.”
Having arrived in England with little money, a month on the sidelines had caused
Jack to become concerned about his finances. Even allowing for his prizemoney
earned on debut, his cash reserve was running low. Boredom was also becoming a
problem; he needed to return to racing.
Jack returned to the track for Edinburgh’s May 7th home clash against
Southampton. When he appeared in the pits that evening he was quite a sight,
still stooped over because of the pain in his stomach. He looked in so much
discomfort that it was suggested to him that he should pull out of the meeting.
Jack would have none of this; he said he’d “give it a go” and see what happened.
What did happen was that he won all of his four rides in the League encounter to
record his second maximum from two appearances. This was an outstanding
performance given his condition. But that’s not all – he also won his heat and
the final of the scratch race – 6 wins from 6 starts on the night. Jack had
contested 12 races since signing his Edinburgh contract and had won the lot.
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Some of those
who appeared for Edinburgh in 1949.
Back row: Tommy Lack, Don Cuppleditch, Bill Baird, Dick Campbell and Clem
Mitchell.
The man in the suit at top right is 1949 team manager Bobby Baxter.
Front row: Danny Lee, Dennis Parker and Jack Young. |
The next meeting for the Monarchs, a
week later, was another home League match; this time the visiting team was
Newcastle. Jack did it again; he won all six of his starts. His record now was
18 starts for 18 wins. The following appeared in the Speedway Gazette following
the meeting against Newcastle: -
“Edinburgh’s Australian starlet, Jack Young, makes the scoring of maximums look
easy. Making his third appearance for the Monarchs, and his second since an
operation for appendicitis, he scored full points against Newcastle at
Meadowbank. He was invariably last out of the gate, but his brilliant sense of
judgement, backed with daring temperament, always brought him to the front…..
Monarchs have a future Test star.”
The following appeared in the May 21 edition of Speedway
Reporter magazine: -
“In Second Division Edinburgh there’s a ‘wee’ chap named Jack Young who’s a
‘natural’ if ever I saw one. Young has, so far, not been beaten in League racing
in this country. He has taken part in three meetings and dealt with all and
sundry in the manner of a seasoned campaigner. Eighteen starts, eighteen wins,
is his personal score-card at the moment.
“I maintain that such a splendid record entitles him for consideration as a
member of Australia’s team in the First Test at Wembley on May 26. You may say,
‘but he’s never ridden at Wembley’. And you would be quite right. I’ll go
further and say that he’s never even seen Wembley. But remember, Young had not
seen Edinburgh either until a few weeks ago.”
Everything was starting to look good for Jack once again. He was back racing and
earning sizeable pay packets. He gained selection in the “Kangaroos” team (to be
captained by Graham Warren) to take on the “Atlantic Lions” at the White City
track in Glasgow on May 18.
Unfortunately for Jack, another setback to his season was just around the
corner. On May 16, just two days after his success against Newcastle at Old
Meadowbank, Jack took part in the All Star Best Pairs Championship at
Newcastle’s Brough Park, his first appearance away from his home track. Jack
quite fancied the idea of wearing one of the Silver Helmets which were to be
presented to the winning pair. He and his partner, fellow Monarch Dick Campbell,
first appeared in the second heat; their opponents being the pairing of
Sheffield star Bruce Semmens and Edinburgh’s Clem Mitchell. Jack and Semmens
collided during the running of the race, an incident which not only resulted in
Jack being excluded from the heat, but which also left him with injured ankles.
Although it was obvious that all was not right with Jack, he battled on to score
7 points in the event, including a heat win.
On returning to Edinburgh, Jack received medical advice that the Newcastle crash
had left him with severely damaged ligaments in both of his ankles. He was told
not to ride until the injuries had healed. Jack had to forego the opportunity to
represent the “Kangaroos” in the match at White City on May 18.
Although even trying to walk caused him severe distress, Jack was determined to
resume racing. What was of most concern to him was his left ankle; he had no
control over it at all. Whenever he raised his foot, it would hang limply – he
could not keep the sole of his foot parallel to the ground. He knew this would
make riding a motorcycle very difficult.
Five days after the Newcastle crash, and against doctors’ orders, Jack contested
the Hanley qualifying round for places in the 1949 World Championship. Taking
into account his painful injury, and also the fact he’d never ridden at the
track, Jack’s performance was exceptional. He won two of his five heats to
finish with 9 points, sufficient to get him a place in the second round of
qualifying. In later years Jack spoke about the ankle problem he had at the
time: -
“Well, when I first had the ligament problem I thought that I would get the
pushers to help me onto the bike and I’d take it easier and not take my left
foot off the peg. This was great in theory but I forgot the plan in the heat of
the moment. I turned under the bloke ahead of me and stubbed my steel shoe on
the track. The result was that my leg shot back and I kicked myself in the arse.”
Jack had just two days to rest his troublesome ankles before he again took to
the track in a home League match against Norwich. He won first up, and then
recorded a third placing in his second ride. He was experiencing too much pain
to finish his third ride and retired from both that race and the remainder of
the meeting.
Jack missed Edinburgh’s home League clash against Bristol five days later. He
returned to the track the following week (June 4) against Sheffield. His three
appearances over the five days June 4 to June 8 netted him just 12 race points
from his 12 starts. His injury was greatly effecting his riding. Jack was drawn
to appear in the second round of World Championship qualifying on June 11 at his
home track. He was concerned that he may not be able to take his place in the
qualifier in front of his home crowd. Determined not to let the Edinburgh
supporters down, he once again “gave it a go”. His performance was reported as
follows:-
“This was Jack Young’s night. He came crashing back into form and scored a
brilliant maximum over an experienced field.”
Only three riders scored a 15 point maximum during the second round of
qualifying meetings. Jack and fellow South Australian Bob Leverenz were two of
them. Merv Harding also got through to the third round. Jack pocketed 30 pounds
prizemoney (in addition to his points and start money) for winning the round at
Old Meadowbank.
It was thanks largely to Clem Mitchell that Jack was riding at all at this time.
What had been causing Jack distress during his races was the pain he had to
endure every time his limp left foot touched the track. Jack and Clem decided
that, if Jack was to continue riding, a plan had to be devised to protect his
ankle. Clem came up with a marvellous device which was strapped to Jack’s left
leg when he raced. Clem used a suit case strap, and weight scale spring and hook
to prevent Jack’s foot stubbing the track. The suit case strap was fitted to
Jack’s top boot strap just under the knee; this was then fitted to the spring,
which, in turn, was attached to an industrial chain link. This was then welded
to the toe of Jack’s steel shoe. Simply, the top of Jack’s left shinbone was
connected to the toe of his steel shoe. This stopped the toe section of his foot
stubbing the track when cornering. Through the process of trial and error, the
ever-resourceful Clem Mitchell modified the device until he came up with a
version Jack used for the remainder of the 1949 season. This example of Clem’s
ingenuity still exists today.
Two of the leading riders competing in the UK in 1949 were Australian Aub Lawson
and Englishman Jack Parker. Both mentioned Jack Young in articles they wrote for
a June 1949 magazine.
Aub Lawson: -
“Also in Scotland, at the Edinburgh track, is another lad with great promise –
Jack Young.”
Jack Parker: -
“One must not forget that Australia have a number of young riders who are
rapidly climbing the ladder to stardom. Ken Le Breton, Jack Young, Arthur Payne,
Merv Harding, Junior Bainbridge, Bat Byrnes, Buck Ryan and Bob Leverenz are the
names that come readily to mind.”
Jack bowed out of the World Championship qualifying system following his third
round appearance on July 6 at the White City track in Glasgow. Only the top two
finishers from each of the five meetings which constituted this round progressed
to the final round of qualifying, the Championship Round. Jack finished on 10
points at Glasgow.
In his 11 League matches between mid-July and the end of August, Jack recorded 7
double-figure scores, including four 12- point maximum returns.
Australian star Graham Warren wrote the following in
August of 1949: -
“Having heard such a lot about that young Aussie, Jack Young, I decided I
was determined to see him ride, and at a recent meeting at Coventry had the
opportunity. It was a rotten night … rain and everything, and I was very pleased
at Jack’s performance. After the match I had quite a conversation with him, and
although on the track he’s a very determined and forceful rider, he is quiet and
unassuming to speak to ….you will hear more of this lad in the near future….the
Aussies have a great find.”
On August 24, Jack represented Scotland in the international against England in
front of a capacity crowd at the White City track in Glasgow. His contribution
to Scotland’s total was 14 points. Jack recorded four race wins from his six
starts. England won by 55 to 52.
Australia won the 1949 Test series against England 3-2. Having already wrapped
up the five match series with one Test remaining, Australia went into the final
match on September 3 at Bradford without the injured Vic Duggan, Ron Johnson and
Jack Biggs. Jack Young was selected in the team at reserve.
Jack was called on to ride on three occasions as partner to Aub Lawson. He
scored one point in his debut Test. To put his performance into perspective, the
five English riders who beat him home in his three rides in the Test match were
Tommy Price, Jack Parker, Louis Lawson, Ron Clarke, and Dent Oliver. All five
appeared in the World Final later that same month. Price, Parker and Lawson
finished 1-2-3 on World Final night.
When Jack spoke of his Test debut, he often mentioned two points. Firstly, he
wasn’t happy with the performance of his bike on that occasion; he was
experiencing carburettor problems which resulted in tardy starts to his races.
Also, he said that the English riders were “fair dinkum when they strap on the
ol’ Pommy breastplate”. Jack commented that he realised that, in future, he
would have to “try harder, like when riding in a handicap race in Oz”.
With three Scottish based teams in the Second Division in 1949, two new events
were added to the Scottish racing calendar that season. Australians Ken Le
Breton and Junior Bainbridge were selected to contest the very first Scottish
Match Race Championship. Le Breton won in two straight rounds, 2-1 and 2-0. The
rider selected as the first challenger for Le Breton’s title was Jack Young. He
beat Le Breton in the best-of-three contest 0-2, 2-1, 2-1. Jack finished the
1949 season as Scottish Match Race Champion, having successfully defended his
title against both Dick Campbell (2-0, 2-0) and Merv Harding (2-0, 2-1).
Edinburgh’s manager Bobby Baxter talked the Speedway Control Board into
permitting him to stage a Scottish Team Riders’ Championship at Meadowbank. Jack
Young won the inaugural staging of the event on September 17th recording a 15
point maximum. One speedway journalist wrote of Jack’s performance: -
“Jack Young was seldom challenged in what was expected, and proved, to be an
easy thing for him. When he scattered the cinders in Heat 2, only 0.4 seconds
outside the record, and left Ken Le Breton standing, the winner was never in
doubt.”
During the month of August Jack had made the trip to London to ride for Scotland
in a challenge match against First Division team Harringay. It proved to be a
very disappointing event for Jack; he scored just 1 point. Harringay won easily
58-26.
In the return match at the Ashfield track in Glasgow the following month, the
Scotland team provided far stronger opposition. Jack scored 8 points from his
three completed rides. A mechanical failure in his fourth ride (he appeared to
have the race won at the time) resulted in a disappointing ending to the meeting
for him. The final score was a 42-42 draw.
First Division team West Ham travelled to Edinburgh for a challenge match
against the Monarchs on September 24th. The mighty Aub Lawson, one of the
Australian Test team selectors, dropped just a single point on the night. The
rider to beat him was Jack Young. Jack raced to victory in his first three
heats, and then recorded a second placing in his final ride. The evening
commenced disastrously for Edinburgh captain Clem Mitchell and West Ham
favourite Eric Chitty. Chitty lost control of his bike in his first heat and ran
into Mitchell. Both smashed into the fence. Chitty suffered head injuries while
Mitchell broke a wrist. Edinburgh defeated West Ham 45˝ to 38˝.
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Jack was a very happy man when he
boarded his ship for Australia in early October. He had overcome health and
injury problems during 1949 to record a highly successful debut season at
Edinburgh. Prior to leaving Australia to race in Scotland, his average weekly
wage had been around 5 pounds. During his 1949 season in the U.K., the figure
was in excess of 50 pounds. Before he left Scotland, the Edinburgh management
had assured Jack that there would be a team place for him at the Monarchs in
1950.
The 1950 Stenner’s Annual shows that in his 32 League matches for his club in
1949 Jack scored 278 race points, averaging 8.68 per match. The only Edinburgh
rider to outscore him was Dick Campbell who accumulated 366 race points from his
43 League appearances. Dick’s average was 8.51. The averages mentioned are
exclusive of bonus points.
On the team front, the Monarchs finished in fifth place in the Second Division
League, quite a marked improvement on the previous season. Their 1949 season was
reported in the 1950 Stenner’s Annual as follows: -
“Jointly taking team performance and crowd attendance into account, Edinburgh
was one of speedway’s most successful centres. Finishing high in the league, the
‘Monarchs’ also had the satisfaction of drawing regular 20,000 crowds at
Meadowbank. Australian Jack Young proved a ‘flier’ for them ….”
Jack ended the season as Scottish Team Riders’ Champion and Scottish Match Race
Champion. He also held the Edinburgh track record at 67.00 seconds, 0.60 seconds
better than the record time he held at the conclusion of his debut meeting in
April. Being selected to make his Test debut in his debut season was another
feather in Jack’s cap. He had shown in the Test Match, and also in his
appearances against Division One teams Harringay and West Ham, that he was
prepared to mix it with the “big” boys.
Clem Mitchell’s advice, assistance and friendship proved invaluable to Jack
throughout the season. A speedway scribe at the time wrote in his review of the
Monarchs’ 1949 season: -
“A man who played a prominent part in the Edinburgh affairs was undoubtedly Clem
Mitchell, the popular captain. In addition to a successful spell on the track,
which saw him finish up fourth in the averages, Clem did wonders in the
workshop, and both Campbell and Young give tons of credit to the Maestro of the
spanner.”
Edinburgh manager Bobby Baxter commented on Clem: -
“..he is a grand pal and more than anyone else has worked hard for the
esprit de corps existing amongst the riders.”
Jack later wrote: -
“….Maybe I was lucky I went to the Monarchs in the first place. It’s (the
track) not too big and it’s plenty fast. That’s how I’ve always liked my tracks.
Comfortably large and with plenty of speed.”
I have previously mentioned that Jack thought long and hard about leaving his
family and friends in Adelaide prior to deciding to make the journey to
Scotland. On this matter, he wrote the following: -
“Leaving my wife and kiddie and the folks was a bit of a wrench too, and I’m
telling you now it wouldn’t have taken much to have stopped me coming. I’m glad
I did.”
The Monarchs supporters were thankful of this decision as well. Shortly after
Jack had agreed to make the trip from Australia to race in Scotland, a rather
interesting communication had arrived at the Young household in Adelaide. These
are Jack’s own words: -
“ .. a letter came with a tempting offer from Walthamstow. I smiled a bit when I
thought it over. Judging from the postmark, if the London club had telephoned I
might well have accepted their offer before Edinburgh’s came along.”
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Acknowledgements.
Thanks to those who have helped me track down some of the information I required
for The Jack Young Story: -
Jack's family and friends (especially Jeff Fisher), Brian Collins, Alestair
Gibson, David Ireland, Keith Farman, Rod Webb, Barry Forsyth, Bryan Tungate,
Graeme Frost, Leanne McVicar, Bob Andrews, and Glynn Shailes.
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Thanks to Ross Garrigan.
Brisbane.
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