Below are the memories of Kelvin that have been shared with us following the Rye House great’s passing on June 12th. If you would like to add your own tribute, please simply drop us a line at info@ryehouse-speedway.com.
I was very sorry to hear the news about Kelvin's passing. When I wrote my history of Rye House, I spoke to many people involved with the club from promoters and managers to riders and fans. All of them had nothing but praise for Kelvin. He was an absolute hero to many and was undoubtedly Mr Rye House to them.
This is a passage from my book that summed up his contribution to Rye House:
"On 16 September [1990], in the home match against Glasgow, Mullarkey fell and never again returned to the track. It was a sad end for the Rockets’ most loyal servant. Nevertheless, his fifteen year career as a Rye House rider had been a wonderful example to other riders. His exuberant never-say-die attitude had been an outstanding feature of the team for ten years. He had been a heat leader for seven years, captain of the team that won the cup in 1979 and the league in 1980 and was responsible for holding the team together in the potentially disastrous 1981 season. His commitment to the team was second to none as his massive tally of bonus points in 1979 and 1980 in particular showed. From September 1975 until he left for Canterbury on loan at the start of the 1983 season, he did not miss a single match for Rye House, racking up a total of 295 consecutive league appearances. In 1989, at the age of 38, he made himself available to answer the call of the club when they were in desperate trouble and did the same again in 1990. There is no doubt that Mullarkey has written himself in to the Rye House record books as the most popular rider ever to wear the Rockets’ colours."
Because of this I featured him on the front cover of the book and everyone I spoke to afterwards agreed he was definitely the right choice for the cover.
R.I.P. Kelvin and sincere condolences to family and friends.
As a speedway supporter since '68, I've had the pleasure of going to Rye House practically every week since the Rockets moved from Rayliegh. As Barry Thomas was Mister Hackney, Kelvin was Mister Rye House. Â
Kelvin was a character; as a home supporter you loved him; as an away one you hated him. He was a 'no nonsense' rider; if a rider treated him unfairly he'd know about it. He was also prone to overdramatise incidents if forced off his bike. I also remember his partner was the same on the terracing; criticise Kelvin and you'd get a mouthful back.
Funny enough one of my old work mates who met his future wife at Romford Speedway used to go to school with Kelvinn and said even then he was a right character, always playing up or dreaming up schemes. Unfortunately, the politically correct world doesn't allow passionate people to vent their anger. Whenever I'm discussing my frustrations about the Rye House teams' performances I always say to my mates "bring back Kelvin Mullarkey". He will be missed by us speedway supporters who had the pleasure of watching him week in week out but am sure he will be missed by his friends even more.
With respect to all the rest of the riders who have ever pulled on a Rye race jacket, for me, Mullarkey, Fiala, Garrad and Hubbard WERE Rye House, (Those team leathers)!.. and what a team, all our own boys week in week out! No guests, no foreigners,- all who came to the ‘house’ were put to the sword! Joe Owen, John Jackson, Dave Perks and Tom Owen, all the league’s ‘big beasts’ could not live with our happy bunch... ah yes, that was a team, THE team!... all for one and one for all! ...And Kelvin was an integral part of that.
But two things later on in his Rye career stand out for me, In 1989, when Ronnie Russell’s team were up against it, he answered the call to cover for injuries, despite having not ridden for three or four years,- and came straight back into the team Ah! Those Infadex leathers, those wide handlebars and that trademark style, - partnered at number two with Mel Taylor, his first match was at home against Poole? despite a fall in one heat he finished that comeback match with a score of 8+1 (I think?) from five rides, but in his second ride he over took one of the Poole superstars (Craig Boyce?) to win the heat, as he crossed the line the guy behind me on the terrace threw down his programme and said “ Well, I’m not worried about the result if he (Kelvin) can still do things like thatâ€!!! He finished the year with a very healthy near six point average and showed many flashes of his old self!
Next year he was not used again but, as our regular luck would have it the team suffered with injuries once again and back he came, this time in an unfamiliar set of plain black leathers but still with the open face helmet and the monkey mask, but time and equipment had moved on and that year Kelvin did find things tough and struggled at reserve scoring twos and threes. BUT, one wet Wednesday evening we (Rye) pulled off a shock win 49-47 AT Wimbledon’s plough lane track. For those of us who were there the match was exciting due to the closeness of the score rather than the racing, Kelvin contributed his normal two or three pints from reserve but in a result like that every pont counts and, meeting him in the alley which doubled up as the pits at plough lane straight after the match his first words to me were “We’ve never won here before!!†Beaming from ear to ear his two point total was not a problem because the Rye House team had won the match!
My first season as a speedway fan was at the age of 18 in 1975 and coincided with Kelvin Mullarkey joining the Rockets. Throughout my many years as a Rye fan nobody more embodied the spirit of speedway than Kelvin. Amongst numerous memories of Kelvin, two stand out to sum him up . Firstly, Kelvin was a leading devotee of the rule book which he knew in minute detail. He was always willing to share his knowledge, and on many occasions would visit the referees box to discuss the meaning of the rules with the referees even when they had taken the precaution of locking the door!
Secondly. an "incident" with Gary Gugliemi. Gugliemi was in gate 1 and Kelvin in 2 , the gate went up and Kelvin tried to get over the top of Gary and clamp him going into the first bend - neither gave an inch and the inevitable coming together of man and machine ended in a cloud of dust and both riders on the shale. Some time passed whilst the riders picked themselves up and after an “all 4 back†decision from the referee we settled down for the rerun. Kelvin’s plan was the same, Gary had no intention of giving in either - this resulted in the same mess on bike and rider on the shale and another “all 4 back†from the ref, Re-run 2 ensued and whilst both riders continued to pursue "Plan A" a further coming together and more damage and bruises occurred - how either of them got up and continued was unbelievable. However, on the third re-run I am sure Kelvin turned his head at the gate and looked at Gary as if so say "do you want any more of this"- the result being Gary "bottled it" and Kelvin made the first bend first.
Kelvin was an absolute one-off, and win or lose you knew you would get nothing short of 100% effort and a great big slice of controversy!!
He will always have a place in every Rye House supporters heart who had the privilege to watch him. He will be sorely missed.
Much has been said about the hard riding style of Kelvin. I would just like to remind people of another side of him.
Back in the late 70's-early 80's period when Kelvin was in his prime, I was a regular member of the St. Johns ambulance team at Rye House and many a time some unlucky rider would have a visit to the safety fence and almost always the first concerned rider on the scene would be Kelvin, showing he was more than just a hard rider but a caring one also. On many occasions, the not-so-injured victim of the fall would have been encouraged to take an unnecessary stretcher ride by Kelvin, with the suggestion that the crowd would be full of admiration when the injured rider took his next ride. Further evidence that he thought the crowd were important to the sport, unlike many today. RIP Kelvin, it was a pleasure to know you.
Gutted to hear this, saw him ride loads of times and we are of similar ages.. A little story: a few months ago I spoke to a young lady on the phone and she had to ask for my email address which included Speedway. “Ohâ€, she said, “My grandad was a speedway rider.†I asked who and she said it was Kelvin. I chatted with her for a while about Speedway and Kelvin. I'm an old Dons supporter now living in Wales.Â
Regards, Denis Pook PS I now support Somerset - sorry! But you have a great team too and I often chat to Scotty; a tough and brilliant rider!!
My first visit to Rye House was August 1976 as an 8 year old lad. My parents and brother attended every Home meeting to 1983. The tributes to Kelvin are spot on, but my most vivid memories are of his brilliant team riding, and the way he looked after the youngsters like Bob Garrad, Kevin Smith, Hugh Saunders was our Captain, but Kelvin and Ted Hubbard were our informers! His duals with Barney Kenneth were pure entertainment. Rest in peace Kelvin and thanks for the Fantastic memories.
Your send-off was huge, as any legend deserves, as you truly were a legend, not just to me but to so many supporters who grew up watching you, but also to many new riders that you still continued to help right up until your health allowed it no more. You were such a tough bugger, your career achievements are a testament to that, no doubt you were probably watching down on everyone (and grumbling about something 😂) and cannot believe just how much you were loved and adored by so many. It’s sad that sometimes we never really know how much we are loved or love someone until it’s too late, so tell your loved ones often how much you love them and more importantly show how much you love them. I’m thankful for Facebook that it allowed us to communicate and reconnect and be a part of each other’s lives once more. I’ll miss looking for your posts or comments and the thought of never talking to you again is hard to take in and accept, although in our hearts we were never apart. I was and will always be your baby sister and you ALL looked after me, but I’m sure you all hated that I chose to ride horses rather than motorbikes 😬I miss you so much already, death is so final, there’s no hope or future left, but until we meet again one day my awesome brother, who touched so many people’s lives, I will say goodbye and cherish the memories of our family photos, old video footage that we are blessed to have, the proudness in attending so many of your speedway meetings and being proud to say “that’s my brotherâ€. I cherish your amazing career and that funny, caring, sarcastic and sometimes challenging Mullarkey personality that we all seem to share.I thank the riders and supporters for their stories and memories of you that they have been posting; they are worth their weight in gold to me so please don’t stop. Some make me cry and some make me laugh, but I wouldn’t miss them for the world, you all sum Kelvin up so well, he was such a character. I still can’t believe this is real, but over and out for now my Bro. I will miss you every day for the rest of my life â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸ Sharon Mullarkey Johnson
As a child of a broken home in 1974, my father was looking for a venue to spend his time with us children. He suggested Rye House Speedway, and we all enthused "What's Speedway?". On our first ever visit to the track I was amazed when the riders walked through the crowd to get to the pits and their bikes. On my first day, I met Kelvin Mullarkey and Karl Fiala. Both took the time to stop and say hello to a pop-eyed kid and signed my programme. Kelvin mussed my hair and I was sold. I became a Kelvin Mularky fan on that day and remained one ever since. My dad needed no new ideas for somewhere to take us; Rye House every weekend please and every weekend those same two riders signed my programme. One Sunday Ted Hubbard tried to join in, but my programme wasn't as valued that week. We followed Rye House up and down the country and started to attend Hackney on Fridays too. But for all the highs and lows, the one that will always stick with me is that day when my to-be-(hero) mussed my hair and signed my programme the first day I EVER "went to speedway". I served 15 years in the forces and lost touch with my team. But Rye House, Sunday afternoons, Karl Fiala and mostly Kelvin Mullarkey are some of my finest memories.Â
