Lions roared in Paisley half a century ago

A special anniversary in the sporting history of Paisley has been fondly remembered.

- TAYLOR MURRAY

It is now 50 years since the Paisley Lions speedway team first appeared at the town’s Love Street track.

The team had a satisfactory first season in 1975, finishing in the lower half of the new National League, which was a decent showing for the young riders just finding their feet in the highly competitive world of speedway racing.

The meetings weren't short of incident either with visiting riders often entering their last lap believing the race was theirs only to find the likes of Tom Davie or Bernie Foot - sometimes even both of them - swooping past on the final bend to snatch a famous victory.

Crowds of more than 6,000 turned out for the first meeting but the crowd was soon more than double when a meeting at the track included New Zealand's six-times World champion Ivan Mauger.