Andrew Newton

Andrew Newton was born in Wisbech on 4th June 1969. His introduction to skating came when he visited an old skating rink at a fun fair in Hunstanton. Aged ten he went along with his cousin, Hugh Doggett, who was already racing for the local Wisbech club. Whilst Doggett had his own speed skates Newton was using strap on rink skates but showed such enthusiasm that he was bought a proper pair for his eleventh birthday.

Newton went along training with the Wisbech club and by the start of the 1980-81 season he had decided he would give racing a go. His first event was the Junior Boys 11-12 years North London Shield over 500 metres at the Moselle Leavers Centre on Somerset Road, North London. Whilst he would not qualify out of his heat Newton was up and running.

It wasn’t long before he found himself amongst the medals when on 4th May 1981 he would take home a bronze from the Junior Boys 11-12 years 1500 metres. Newton continued to regularly be amongst the medals throughout the season and the following season, but gold always seemed to elude him.

By now Newton had started to increase his training. Whilst he was predominantly using small indoor tracks such as the Hudson Leisure Centre or Jackson’s, the old carrot topping factory now turned into a roller rink, he was also taking his training outdoors on the local roads. In those early days Jack Cousins, ex ice skating champion on the fens, was coaching the club and Newton was just one of a few youngsters benefitting from Cousins’ experience.

Towards the end of the 1982 season there was a fall out between the related Newton and Doggett families. The argument is believed to have been centred around Newton’s relationship with Paul Turner, a youngster from the rival club of Herne Bay Flyers. Newton had been invited to an international in Belgium and although he was only spectating, a number of wires were crossed about his participation. The result was that Newton left the Wisbech club and skated the final race of the 1982 season unattached wearing the black and white colours of the National Skating Association (NSA).

By the start of the 1982-83 season Newton had joined a local rival club, Fenland, formerly known as Walpole Highway. Jack Cousins (and his skating family) also switched allegiances and on 3rd October 1982, in Newton’s first race in Fenland colours he would win his first gold medal. It was an unexpected result, not least of all because it was on the Herne Bay road circuit and he had taken on and beaten the local talented junior, Ashley Harlow (Herne Bay Flyers) over 1500 metres.

In the same month both Newton and Turner were selected to represent Great Britain in a junior ‘B’ international in Leuven, Belgium. In his first taste of international competition, he and Turner would finish second in the overall team rankings.

In December Newton would again win gold, this time at the Agora rink in Milton Keynes. He was starting to come good and although gold medals were still few and far between, he was now, at least, starting to get on the top step. His regular placings had him thinking that he was in with a shout of making the Junior British team for the forthcoming Junior European Championships in Rieti (track) and Marina di Grossetto (road), Italy. Disappointingly it was announced that the NSA were only going to send a girls team to these championships leaving the boys to ponder what might have been.

Newton was now training four days per week, a lot of the time at the expense of his schooling. On the days he wasn’t training he was still on his skates either at the Hudson Leisure Centre or Jackson’s, both of which held regular roller discos. He was still training mostly by himself and was developing his strength with every session. With very little else to do in Wisbech, Newton was fully focused on his skating.

In the spring of 1983 Newton was finally selected to represent Great Britain at junior level in the forthcoming Junior European Championships to be held in Nantes, France. His highest placings would be ninth in the 3000 metres on the road and eighth in the same distance on the track. Although his results were considered average, the experience gained from this competition was invaluable for Newton. Not only was it the first time he had raced at this level but he was shocked at just how strong the opposition was. He returned home and doubled down on his training.

Immediately after returning home was the small matter of the British Championships to contend with. There were only three events for the 11-15 year age group at that time and Newton always tended to play the percentage game. He always believed that his cousin, Hugh Doggett, or Herne Bay’s Ashley Harlow were the better skaters and so he tended to race for silver. He believed that securing a silver medal was better than racing for gold and coming away with bronze. It was a tactic that would change when he turned senior.

At the start of the 1983-84 season Ashley Harlow picked up where he had left off and was winning every race he entered in the junior category. Well almost every race. On 18th March 1984 Newton finally beat Harlow in a straight race. It was a 1500 metres at the Moselle Leavers Centre and Newton attacked early and broke away from the group. Despite Harlow chasing him down in the latter stages he couldn’t get to Newton before the finish line. Suddenly Newton realised that his strength was his strength. If it came down to a sprint finish, he was always going to come off second best, so by attacking early and reducing the chances of a sprint finish Newton knew he was in with a shout.

Shortly afterwards Newton was again selected to represent Great Britain at the forthcoming Junior European Championships in Birmingham. It was the first and only time (to date) that Britain had hosted a Junior European Championships. The road events were first and Newton was skating relatively well. In fact, he would help the British team to a bronze medal in the relay, but by the time the track events came around things had started to unravel for him.

Newton had been feeling unwell in the latter stages of the road events which got progressively worse. He skated the first track event, the time trial, but his condition had now worsened to the point where he had to see a doctor and was diagnosed with a virus. For Newton, the championships were over and he returned home. Naturally he was bitterly disappointed. Not only were the championships on home soil but he genuinely felt that his form was good enough to put in a possible medal winning performance, especially as Harlow had taken gold in a number of events. For Newton, however, it was not to be.

In May 1985, two weeks shy of his sixteenth birthday, Newton was selected to race senior for Great Britain in a ‘B’ international. It was the classic 50km event in Heverlee, Belgium and he joined forces with his cousin, Hugh Doggett, another emerging youngster John Fry (junior), fellow club mate Mark Tooke, Derrick Ritchie and the veteran internationals John Fry (senior) and John Mullane. The event was used to aid in selection for the forthcoming Senior European Championships to be held in Cassano d’Adda, Italy later that year and despite his age Newton put in a good performance.

On June 9th, 1985, Newton had his first domestic senior race. It was the Jack Abrey Cup 1500 metre handicap at Tatem Park and he would bring home the bronze medal behind Rohan Harlow (Herne Bay) and Darren Cobley (Alexandra Palace). A month later and he would take two more bronze medals, this time in the 5000 metres and 20000 metres British Championships on Birmingham Wheels. Despite yet to obtain a senior gold medal his performances were enough to secure him a place on the senior British team for the European Championships in Italy.

By now Newton had firmly established himself as a distance skater, whether that be in his own mind or to those watching his performances and his training methods reflected that. On the track at Cassano d’Adda he would skate just one event, the 20000 metres. On a scorchingly hot day, the event unfolded which became an event of attrition. When the race ended there were only a handful of skaters left to contest the finish. Crossing the line in fifth place Newton was one of them. Looking back, he wishes he had done more by way of preparation for the heat, especially drinking more fluids. He was of the firm belief that a medal was well within his grasp.

On the road he would compete in a further three events with a top ten place in two of them. His results meant that he was selected to race the final event, the relay, along with Ashley Harlow (still only fifteen) and 36 year old John Fry (senior). Or as World Champion and skating legend Giuseppe De Persio (Italy) would comment “two bambinos and an old man”. Towards the end of the race Britain were looking at a possible medal. They were, in fact, reigning European Road Champions with Fry being the only member of the victorious team in Austria a year earlier. Newton was on to do the last lap for the team but as they approached the finish line the bell for the last lap was rung. The golden rule of skating is “always skate to the bell” and so Britain made another changeover, Newton pushing Ashley Harlow. Now in second place Harlow set off after the leading Italians who, unfortunately (for them) had not skated to the bell and left their last man, Massimo Muzzi, on to do an extra lap. With a lap being around 500 metres it was a tall ask for the Italian and Harlow caught and passed him with around 200 metres to go. Great Britain crossed the line first and had retained their title, or so they thought.

The team celebrated as you would expect with a lap of honour and waving to the cheering crowd. They even pushed their Team Manager, Pat Feetham, into a water filled ditch during their excitement. However, around 30 minutes after the race it was evident that there were some discussions being had by the officials about the result. Then, almost three hours later, the announcement came that the relay race was declared void. It was deemed that as the race had been run over one lap too many that the result could not stand. Despite Britain’s protestations that you race to the bell, the decision stood and so the Great British relay team of Newton, Harlow and Fry became the winners of the race that never was.

Just two weeks later and Newton was winging his way to his first World Championships in Colorado Springs, USA. The track was in the centre of a steeply banked velodrome and still being wet behind the ears he was kidded into thinking that the velodrome was the circuit and that the track in the centre was for warming up! Being still only sixteen he could be forgiven for his naivety. Skating all distances from 1500 metres upwards it became abundantly clear to him very quickly that this was indeed another level up from the European Championships. In fact, by his own admission Newton felt overwhelmed and out of his league amongst this group of elite athletes. This was never more evident than in the relay when there were more than twenty teams on the track all at once in a straight final, unlike today where there are usually no more than six teams and qualifying heats. As Fry (senior) continually made his way around the track looking to change over to Newton, with so many skaters speeding around the youngster did not have the confidence to enter the track and make the change, much to Fry’s frustration!

Returning home from the World Championships and despite his experience in Colorado Springs, Newton managed a silver medal in the last event of the season, the 10000 metres British Championship on Tatem Park. Again, it was Ashley Harlow ahead of him, but the margin was just 3/100ths of a second. In third was Newtons club mate, Mark Tooke, himself only a tenth behind the winner.

The pair again set about their winter training and looking forward to the next season. Having witnessed the strength of the Americans first hand Newton decided that their training methods would now focus on kicking off the front and staying away. It was a tactic that would pay dividends.

Picking up where he left off, Newton was once again regularly amongst the medals, but a senior gold medal still proved elusive. In June 1986 Fry (senior) asked Newton if he would like to join him in the classic “Cinque Campinili” event in Italy. Newton jumped at the chance. Organised by the skating club Inter Club Castellanza, this stage event was over seven days and a total distance of 151km (94 miles). Newton would later comment that this was where his heart was at, racing 20km every day in the sunshine and eating Italian food. Already selected for the forthcoming European Championships in Finale Emilia, Italy, he saw this as great preparation.

On 19th July 1986 Newton would hit another milestone. The 1986 British Championships were held on the recently built track at Westbrook Lane, Herne Bay. The track measured just 166 metres and suited Newton and Tooke down to the ground. The first event, the 5000 metres, Newton would take bronze. The last event of the day was the 20000 metres. Newton and Tooke had already decided, as per their training, that they would just attack continually one at a time and if either of them got away then ‘may the best man win’. As it happened it was Newton who broke the field and got a lap up on the rest of the pack. Barring any incident his first senior British title, indeed his first senior gold medal, was in the bag. As Newton crossed the line there were no histrionics or finger wagging, just a slight pump of the fist. He was now a senior British Champion.

The following day Newton would just miss out on a medal in the 1500 metres and although he crossed the line second in the 10000 metres would find himself disqualified. The last event was the Southern Counties Championship and such was the confidence of himself and Tooke that they tossed a coin as to who would win it. Newton won the toss and despite a field consisting of top skaters such as Ian Ashby (Herne Bay Flyers), Richard Hartley (Milton Keynes) and Sean McGeough (Alexandra Palace), Newton did indeed take first place.

Two weeks later came the European Championships in Finale Emilia, but Newton had some trepidation. Pat Feetham was no longer the Team Manager and had passed on the role to former European Champion and world medallist, Mick McGeough. McGeough’s approach was different to Feetham’s and Newton had trouble in adjusting. On the track he was entered into the 300 metres time trial and 500 metres pursuit with the expected poor results. Although he competed in the 10000 metres and 20000 metres, where he was again in the top ten, he was left out of the 5000 metres. Despite his despondency he looked forward to the road where he felt he would fare better. Unfortunately, Newton was only selected to race the 1500 metres and 20000 metres and left out of all other events. He would return home having not enjoyed his time at these championships. This is how he recalls it:

“I was told by Mick [McGeough] at the British Championships that I was lucky to be in the squad. I wasn’t quite sure why but that set the scene. Then at the Europeans the races I was selected for didn’t make any sense to me but I was just a seventeen year old kid and did as I was told. I definitely should have skated more road events. In truth I wasn’t enjoying it and didn’t want to be there”.

A month later and he was on the plane again for the World Championships in Adelaide, Australia. He would also leave these championships with mediocre performances, a lot of which he puts down to what he believes was ill discipline and a free for all attitude that he thought was now prevalent within the team. At the end of the championships an opportunity presented itself to him when Tony Keefe (Australia) invited him and Mark Tooke (now in the GB team) to stay in Australia and train with him. Newton was excited at the prospect and both him and Tooke thought why not? It was a fantastic opportunity and one he would relish. The fly in the ointment was that he was supposed to fly back to England in the next day or two so he approached the Team Management and explained the situation. Newton’s father was also willing to reimburse the NSA to cover the cost of the return flights so he didn’t see a problem, however, that was not the case. This is how Newton remembered it:

“I told the Managers about the offer from Jed [Tony Keefe] and that my dad would pay for the cost of the return flight. I was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to as not only was I booked on the flight home but I had not gone through the proper channels to obtain a permit to skate abroad. I thought this was just red tape that could quite easily be overcome but was then told in no uncertain terms that unless I got on the plane home, I would never skate for Britain again. In that moment I thought to myself ‘I’m done with this’. A once in a lifetime opportunity went begging because of red tape”.

Sadly, although Newton did get on the plane back to England and did continue racing, he never did skate for Great Britain again. He returned and competed in the Herne Bay international a few weeks later, winning the 10000 metres elimination on the track. It would be his last gold medal. He would also take silver in the Invitation 5 Mile on the Birmingham Wheels track a week later but the writing was on the wall.

As the intervening weeks and months passed Newton realised that his heart was no longer in it. He made a few appearances in the 1986-87 season taking his last medal in the Beadle Trophy in April. Then, on 17th May he stepped onto the track one last time. Racing around Tatem Park he knew his days were numbered and when he stepped off the track it was his intention that he would never step back on it.

I say intention as fast forward to 21st May 1989, almost two years to the day since he “quit” at Tatem Park. The Anglia Rollers club were hosting a race meeting at the Queen’s School in Wisbech and Newton decided to dust off his skates and give it another go. He had never competed in category racing before and was placed in Category 3 up against the likes of Adrian Wordsworth (North London) and Dave Samuels (Silver Blazers). Newton would come home second in the 12 lap event but it wasn’t enough to make him want to repeat the experience. And so, a decade after he had first taken to a track, Newton finally called it a day. He was just 20 years old.

Andrew Newton is undoubtedly one of those considered to be a ‘lost generation’. He is not unique in that respect but he had set himself up as being one of the country’s elite skaters and an up and coming star of the future. By the time he stopped aged just seventeen he had already been to two Junior European Championships, two Senior European Championships and two World Championships as well as being crowned British Champion. He may well also have had a European gold medal if it wasn’t for what he perceives to be inept and corrupt officiating. The future was bright for Newton but even at such a young age he was a principled individual. He believed that those who ran the sport played political games and had agendas, something he couldn’t readily accept. His decision to leave the sport he loved was purely down to this feeling of being disadvantaged by red tape and the petty bureaucracy of that time. Whether he was right or not is up for debate and whether he ‘cut off his nose to spite his face’ is also a discussion point. What is certain is that he continues to be a modest individual who in such a short space of time left an indelible mark on British roller speed skating.