The departure of Speedway from Hampden Park in 1973 heralded the temporary collapse of Glasgow cycle speedway although three tracks remained at Hampden, Kingsway and Queens Park. This dependence on speedway for survival can be accounted for in two possible ways. Firstly, the ambition to be a speedway rider steers many youngsters to cycle speedway circuits and secondly, and by far the most important reason, speedway meetings provide a regular meeting place for riders and team managers alike and unfortunately, when this facility is no longer available, communications break down and interest declines. Fortunately, in recent years, more effort has been placed by the sports organisers in keeping riders informed by letter and telephone, coming to rely less on the word of mouth transfer of information.

Early in June 1975, some ex-riders began appearing at the Kingsway track; notably hic Mackie, Dave and Ross Henderson, the Caffrey brothers, Ronnie young, Iain Morrison and Colin Grant. On one particular Sunday that month, a full individual match was held despite the fact that only four machines were operational. Several other old hands appeared regularly, as well as some new faces. Colin grant, who had the luxury of two machines, organised mid-week matches against some lads from East Kilbride. Although Colin had difficulty in fielding a team, the one that eventually took to the track had a distinctly “Hampden Rebels” look about it. Colin Grant was one of the few experienced riders in the side, which included first-timers Rob McNulty, and Brian Grant. Roy Varty joined in the match and made an instant impression, with three exclusions from three rides! Rob McNulty scored three points and Brian Grant failed to score in a match, which was won by East Kilbride.

Although winter was drawing closer, several practice sessions were held at the Hampden track, recently shortened by work done on the bowling clubhouse extension, and, incredibly, Sunday practices continued during the winter with a match being held in January on the now defunct, Queens Park.

In the Spring of 1976, Colin Grant’s appearances were limited due to soccer commitments but Rob McNulty, Brian Grant, Roy and Derek Varty and newcomers, Tom Baggley and Jim Wilson, continued to practice regularly at the Kingsway track. Eventually, another fixture was arranged by Roy Varty with East Kilbride, this time ending in a draw. The “Mount Florida Flyers” team also raced a return match on a football pitch in East Kilbride, losing 41-37.

Regular practice meetings were held throughout the Summer, with two matches being raced against, similarly organised, Edinburgh sides. In addition, several matches were arranged by Chic Mackie against a visiting Hull party.

Shortly after, several of the Flyers split away from the Kingsway organisation and, under the guidance of Ronnie Young, racing was held each Sunday at the Hampden track, with Ronnie devising many interesting match formats. The largest of these meetings was the Hampdenapolis, which involved thirteen riders competing for several prizes donated by Ronnie. Veteran John Spiers won the title with Dave Henderson and Roy Varty taking the minor placings.

This winter was respected and a break from racing taken by all riders. The start of the 1977 season saw a slight loss of interest. A series of matches was held between two teams of Glasgow riders, captained by Roy Varty and Rob McNulty.