Peter Oakes battled against mounting odds to make British League racing viable at the County Ground during the 1984 season, but became more and more frustrated at obstacles were put in his way and he found his enthusiasm waning very quickly.

He and three fellow directors of Jackcity Ltd resigned at the end of the troubled campaign, and in stepped local business man Colin Hill to have a crack at making a go of National League racing. The early signs were promising as crowds were slightly on the increase during 1985 despite the drop back into N.L racing.

Steve Bishop, Michael Coles, Keith Millard and Mike Semmonds formed the basis of their side as the new season approached, but team plans had to be altered slightly when a 43-point minimum limit was imposed. Long distance commuters Rob Maxfield and Colin Cook were brought in and the final piece in the jigsaw was Nigel Sparshott who signed from Oxford.

Millard never looked like recapturing the form that made him British Junior Champion in 1983, and he was axed from the side early on with Kevin Price moving in as replacement. In fact, grass tracker Price proved a huge hit with the fans and was voted "Rider of the Year" as well as winning a poll published in the local Express and Echo newspaper.

Team Picture. L to R: Mike Venn (co promoter), Steve Bishop, Andy Sell, Kevin Price, Colin Cook, Colin Hill (Promoter), Ron Byford (Team Manager)
Front Row: Michael Coles, Rob Maxfield (on bike) Nigel Sparshott

The side soon got among the points at the County Ground as early visitors showed the usual phobia, and the Falcons, now sponsored by Bridge Garage, topped the 50 mark in each of their opening three home matches. Manchester based Maxfield still treasured memories of the time he captained Exeter to the NL KO Cup in 1983, and warned he fancied their chances again on the eve of their tie with Barrow. No wonder as they rattled up a 58-20 first leg advantage at the County Ground. And Falcons claimed a place in history when they were the only club to ride in an official fixture at Park Road, their second leg tie being abandoned after seven heats with Exeter holding a further six-point lead.

They did flirt with Australian Ray Dole, younger brother of former Stoke and Birmingham rider Rob, but that was a love affair that hit the rocks very quickly. He made his debut ironically as Exeter lost their unbeaten home record to Birmingham on May 20. And he raised the fans' hopes with a first race win before clutch problems ended his night's scoring. With one more appearance under his belt, Dole asked for a transfer to local rivals Poole which didn't go down well with promoter Colin Hill.

The divorce went through, but there was a silver lining as it paved the way for more outings for Semmonds. Injury took a hand there, though, and the former Cornish grass track champion was sidelined from August after a spill at Workington. One slight hiccup came mid-season when young Coles objected to being left out of a challenge fixture at Poole. Thankfully the disagreement blew over and Ron Byford, the team Manager still had high hopes of the youngster.

Maxfield's aim of KO Cup success ended on a bleak night at Berwick when the Falcons formed both parts of a double header. In the KO Cup match they went down 57-21- and Maxfield wasn't there to see it as he had been injured in the previous home match. Exeter did improve in the league match that followed, though, losing 56-22! They made a valiant effort against the Bandits in the second leg, winning 50.5 to 27.5 with Maxfield supplying 10 points that would have been welcomed at Berrington Lough.

"Exeter badly needed a number one rider, and Nigel Sparshott was the man pencilled in for the job, but things just didn't work out. Overall he was a bit of a dissapointment, showing promise at times but also out of touch at others.

Elsewhere in 1985

Exeter and Newcastle switch from the B.L to the N.L and were soon followed by Birmingham, Wimbledon and Poole.

This was Erik Gundersen's year as he retained his world Championship title in Odsal. He beat Hans Nielsen and Sam Emolenko in a run off after all three had scored 13pts. Gundersen also wins the B.L Riders Championship scoring 14pts to beat Peter Collins 12, and Chris Morton 12.

Gundersen was also involved in Denmark's Double as they win both the World Team Cup and the World Pairs Titles. In the World Team Cup they scored 37pts to beat the USA 35pts, England 13pts and Sweden 10pts, and thus ensuring they lifted the trophy for the third year in succession. In the pairs, Denmark's Erik Gundersen and Tommy Knudsen score 29pts to beat runners up England (Kenny Carter and Kelvin Tatum) on 27pts. Third were the USA pairing of Shawn Moran and Bobby Schwartz who scored 22pts, and behind these were N.Zealand 15, Sweden 14, Australia 11 and Poland 8.

Left to Right: Preben Eriksen, Hans Nielsen, Erik Gundersen, Ole Olsen (Team manager), Tommy Knudsen and Bo Petersen.

Shawn Moran (USA) had won the Overseas Final beating Kenny Carter (England) in a run off after both had scored 14 points each. Third was Lance King (USA) with 12pts. Following that, he then went on to win the Inter-Continental Final, again he scored 14 to beat fellow countryman Lance King (12) and Hans Nielsen (12). Kenny Carter (Halifax) held onto his British Champion Title scoring a maximum 15pts to beat John Davies (Reading) 14 and Kelvin tatum (Coventry) 12.

Elsewhere, Simon Wigg is crowned Long Track Champion, Carl Blackbird was crowned British Junior Champion at Canterbury as he scored an unbeaten 15pts. Runner up was D.Mullett who scored 12 with A.Smith third on 12 (After run off).

Oxford (43pts) are Crowned B.L Champions over Sheffield (33pts) and Coventry (31pts), whilst Ellesmere Port (52pts) are crowned N.L Champions over Poole (51pts) and Middlesbrough (51pts) Middlesbrough win the N.L Fours title whilst Neil Middleditch (Arena Essex) took the N.L Riders Championship dropping just one point at Coventry to beat Peterborough's Kevin Hawkins and Trevor Banks of Hackney third.

Eastbourne beat Ellesmere Port 83-73 on aggregate to take the N.L K.O Cup whilst Oxford beat Ipswich 79-76 to win the K.O Cup, but lose to Coventry 86-70 in the League Cup.