1960 Provincial Speedway League

Last updated

1960 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
No. of competitors10
Champions Rayleigh Rockets
Knockout Cup Bristol Bulldogs
Individual Trevor Redmond
Highest average Reg Reeves
Division/s above 1960 National League

The 1960 Provincial Speedway League was the first season of the Provincial League, ten motorcycle speedway teams took part. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Teams

The ten teams that made up the re-incarnated Provincial League were mainly teams that had not experienced league racing for several years. Eight teams were Sheffield Tigers (who had been without league speedway since 1951), Cradley Heath Heathens (1952), Stoke Potters & Liverpool Pirates (1953), Bristol Bulldogs [6] and Edinburgh Monarchs (1954), Bradford Panthers (formerly Odsal) & Rayleigh Rockets (1957). The remaining two teams were Poole Pirates, who joined from the National League and Yarmouth Bloaters, who joined the league after moving up from the Southern Area League. The Southern Area League was disbanded leaving three teams Eastbourne Eagles, Aldershot Shots and Rye House Rockets without a league, so they ran a series of challenge matches throughout 1960.

Summary

The league was dominated by Rayleigh, Poole and Bristol. Rayleigh and Poole finished on the same points, but Rayleigh triumphed with a superior number of race points scored. At the end of the season Liverpool and Yarmouth folded and Bristol closed after their track was sold for redevelopment. [7]

Final table

PosTeamMWDLPts
1 Rayleigh Rockets 18160232
2 Poole Pirates 18160232
3 Bristol Bulldogs 18150330
4 Sheffield Tigers 1890918
5 Stoke Potters 1881917
6 Cradley Heath Heathens 18801016
7 Yarmouth Bloaters 18701114
8 Edinburgh Monarchs 18511211
9 Liverpool Pirates 1840148
10 Bradford Panthers 1810172

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Fixtures & results

Home \ AwayBRABRICHEDLIVPPRAYSHESTOYAR
Bradford27–4328–4437–3434–3824–2831–4134–3633–3824–44
Bristol52–2040–3250–2255–1635–3734–3852–2044–2838–34
Cradley Heath47–2536–3641–3144–2829–4234–3849–2343–2937–35
Edinburgh42–3033–3944–2839–3334–3827–4535–3737–3240–28
Liverpool45–2725–4634–3837–3425–4726–4640–3132–3728–42
Poole+38–3440–3152–1951–2141–3150–2148–2445–26
Rayleigh59–1235–3750–2052–2058–1440–3249–2354–1843–29
Sheffield51–2131–4142–2953–1940–3229–4125–4747–2545–27
Stoke42–2532–3742–3035–3544–2637–3434–3841–3137–32
Bradford45–2735–3642–3043–2845–2734–3728–4427–4543–29
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

+Poole awarded points

Top five averages (league only)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Reg Reeves Flag of England.svg Rayleigh11.29
2 Trevor Redmond Flag of New Zealand.svg Bristol10.92
3 Harry Bastable Flag of England.svg Cradley Heath10.59
4 Tony Lewis Flag of England.svg Poole10.43
5 Alan Smith Flag of England.svg Rayleigh10.41

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1960 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the first edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Bristol Bulldogs were the winners. [9]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
30/05Liverpool47–49Cradley Heath
09/07Edinburgh59–37Sheffield

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
25/06Bradford35–61Bristol
02/07Stoke60–35Cradley Heath
16/07Edinburgh54–41Yarmouth
03/08Poole47–49Rayleigh

Semifinals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
27/08Edinburgh38–58Bristol
02/09Rayleigh52–43Stoke

Final

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
07/09Rayleigh52–41Bristol
23/09Bristol59–37Rayleigh

Riders' Championship

Trevor Redmond won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Dudley Wood Stadium on 24 September. [10]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1 Flag of New Zealand.svg Trevor Redmond 3 3 3 3 315
2 Flag of England.svg Ken Middleditch 3 3 2 3 213
3 Flag of England.svg Eric Hockaday 3 3 3 1 313
4 Flag of England.svg Tony Robinson 3 3 1 2 211
5 Flag of Scotland.svg Doug Templeton 2 1 3 3 110
6 Flag of England.svg Jack Kitchen 2 2 2 0 39
7 Flag of England.svg Tony Lewis 2 1 2 2 29
8 Flag of England.svg Wal Morton 1 1 0 3 09
9 Flag of England.svg Ivor Brown 1 2 3 1 19
10 Flag of England.svg Tommy Roper 2 0 2 1 05
11 Flag of England.svg Johnny Hole 0 2 1 2 35
12 Flag of England.svg Reg Reeves 1 1 1 0 14
13 Flag of England.svg Ray Day 0 2 1 0 03
14 Flag of Scotland.svg Ross Gilbertson (res)2 13
15 Flag of England.svg Eric Eadon (res)1 23
16 Flag of England.svg Clive Featherby 1 0 r1
17 Flag of England.svg Norman Strachan f 0 0 0 00
18 Flag of England.svg Cliff Cox 0 0 00

Riders & final averages

Bradford

Bristol

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Liverpool

Poole

Rayleigh

Sheffield

Stoke

Yarmouth

See also

References

  1. "Speedway thrills return" . Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 7 February 1960. Retrieved 10 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "Championship History". Poole Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  3. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
  5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. "Bristol Bulldogs hope to have full speedway season" . Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer. 19 February 1960. Retrieved 5 October 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  8. "1960 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  9. "1960 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  10. "Bulldog Redmond is leagues's top rider" . Bristol Evening Post. 26 September 1960. Retrieved 10 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.