SPEEDWAY RETURNS TO MIDDLESBROUGH September 1945

     

    

BORO BEARS 1948

       

 

Rare action featuring WIGAN V MIDDLESBROUGH at Poolstock Stadium in 1947

 

                

JACK HODGSON

     

DOWN MEMORY LANE - FRANK HODGSON
COMPARED to modern day speedway riders Frank Hodgson, captain of the immediate post-war Middlesbrough Bears team, was a relatively late starter to dirt track racing at the age of 27. The son of a well respected bowls official who ran a thriving painting & decorating business in Linthorpe Road, Frank had started out as a trials rider often performing stunts at sports carnivals with good friend, Charlie Barker.

It was in 1935 a pal of Frank’s, Middlesbrough born Ronnie Parkinson, a well known speedway & sand racer, tipped him off about a signwriting job down at Hackney Wick Stadium in London. Coerced into having training sessions at Hackney and Eastbourne’s Arlington Stadium he quickly established himself in the Hackney team where he modelled himself on Wembley’s Bill Kitchen. Later on he had spells with Dagenham, where he found work at the Ford factory and Nottingham before returning to the ‘Wick to captain the Second Division Hackney ‘Wolves’. The advent of hostilities brought his career to an abrupt halt. He served in the RAF and was posted to the USA and Canada.

At the end of the war at the age of 37 Frank took part in a handful of open meetings that were staged at Cleveland Park from September 1945 onwards. When conventional league speedway returned in 1946 Frank was ‘allocated’ to his hometown team. Days before the league season was due to start Frank injured his spine in a crash against Newcastle. The team had accrued just three points from their first five matches but when Frank returned to the team as captain they only lost one other match against Norwich at the Firs Stadium and went on to clinch the Northern League title. Riders who featured prominently included Fred ‘Kid’Curtis, Wilf Plant. Geoff Godwin and brother Jack. Highlights included a 65-18pts victory against Birmingham at Cleveland Park whilst on the road victories against Newcastle, Glasgow White City & Birmingham were most welcome. The following season brought more success and Frank & Wilf Plant heading the averages as the team went on to clinch back to back league championships with the National League Division Two title. At home Norwich were humiliated 64-17pts whilst Birmingham again succumbed by 64-20pts. There were also heavy defeats for both Bristol 61-23pts and Wigan 62-22pts. Norwich were the only team to beat the Bears twice at the Firs, whilst a rare victory at Sheffield by 50-34pts was a major surprise considering the Tigers finished runners-up. 

The 1948 season saw attendances fall at Cleveland Park and Frank had been the subject of transfer speculation with London clubs Harringay & Wembley offering record amounts to sign him. As it was he stayed at Middlesbrough but in a bid to appease supporters fed up of one sided home matches Wilf Plant was sold to Fleetwood in May. The Bears slipped to finish third of nine teams which included an appalling performance at Birmingham 64-19pts. Victories at Fleetwood, Newcastle (twice), Norwich and Glasgow White City were undone by home defeats to Birmingham & Bristol.  Frank broke his spine in a crash at Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium in September but incredibly rode at further meetings at Newcastle & Glasgow White City.

Speedway ceased at Cleveland Park in 1948 and Frank moved with the promotion to….Newcastle, who had themselves saw their team move to Glasgow Ashfield. He ended his career with Glasgow White City in 1952 but the name Hodgson has been synonymous with speedway on Teesside for many a decade. Brother Jack rode in the same teams as Frank and son Russ was a solid performer in the mid-1970s. Current Cleveland Bays rider Rusty Hodgson looks set to carry on a family tradition.

DOWN MEMORY LANE - JACK HODGSON
Jack Hodgson was a successful grass track rider and before the Second World War rode speedway in a few novice events at Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough. During the war Jack was in Italy with the R.A.F. All through his service career the sport was among the foremost of his thoughts and at every opportunity, when he could borrow a Don R’s machine, he could be found riding around on a vacant piece of land behind a hangar at break neck speed practising for the day he would return to Civvy Street and the cinders game. On demobilisation in 1946 he bought a speedway machine and asked Middlesbrough for a trial. He was signed on and quickly gained a place in the side, to become one of the most consistent scorers for the team. He was a bit of an unsung hero in the successful Boro Bears team of the time as a number of other outstanding riders scored more points than him, but his contribution in the ‘engine-room’ of the team would never go unnoticed.

Jack’s best season at Cleveland Park occurred in 1948 when only brother Frank outscored him. He finished the season with 258pts but a broken collarbone had caused him to miss four matches. The Bears had controversially sold the outstanding Wilf Plant to Fleetwood in May. Plant having been the second highest points scorer in 1946 to Fred Curtis and 1947 to Frank Hodgson. Crowds dipped from an average of 11,000 to 6,000 and the reason given was that the Bears were too strong at home! The departure of Plant saw some bizarre results at Cleveland Park, with him in the team they had won the first fixture against Birmingham 65-19 but in the second match without him they got beaten 39-45pts. The only other team to take away the league points from Cleveland Park were Bristol who had been beaten in the first match 50-33pts but made amends in the second one by winning 38-45. Glasgow White City also gained a surprise draw. Away victories came at Fleetwood, Norwich & Glasgow White City with a draw gained at Birmingham. The highlight of the 1948 season was the Bears domination of local rivals Newcastle. The Diamonds were soundly beaten 59-25pts and 56-28pts at Cleveland Park and at Brough Park 39-45pts & 38-46pts. Wilf Jay, Norman Evans, Alec Grant, Ken Le Breton & Charlie Spinks could do nothing to stop the rampant Bears team that included Frank & Jack, Geoff Godwin, Benny King, Herby King, Derek Close & Tip Mills. Despite the domination and an impressive third placing of nine teams in the National League Second Division, news that the team would be moving lock, stock and barrel to Newcastle in 1949 went down like a led balloon….and that was from both sets of supporters.

Manager Harry Whitfield had changed the nickname from ‘Diamonds’ to ‘Magpies’ but it didn’t do them much good as the team never clicked though Derek Close, Frank & Jack & Herby King produced a good effort, though Jack’s stay at Brough Park didn’t last the full season. Although popular, Jack was not too happy at Newcastle and made a request to be put on the transfer list. About the same time Will Lowther (who himself was a Middlesbrough Bear in 1939) had asked for a transfer from Glasgow White City Tigers. Eventually a switch was agreed with Jack keen to have a spell of racing in Scotland and Will Lowther wanting to be nearer his business on Tyneside. Jack also rode in South Africa at this time and was ranked 5th in the South African rankings for 1949-50. Jack contributed 152pts to a team that finished second in the League. Brother Frank joined in August in a team featuring Tommy Miller, Gordon McGregor & Norman Lindsay. Jack called it a day at the end of the 1952 season and concentrated on running a public house in Great Broughton. In 1953-54-55, Jack took part in the ‘closed to club’ speedway meetings held at Cleveland Park (7 open meetings held).



STEVE HARLAND


I would like to thank Colin Greenwell for his help in researching this information on Frank & Jack's careers.