1961 Provincial Speedway League

Last updated

1961 Provincial Speedway League
League Provincial League
No. of competitors11
Champions Poole Pirates
Knockout Cup Cradley Heathens
Individual Reg Reeves
Highest average Reg Reeves
Division/s above 1961 National League

The 1961 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League. [1]

Contents

Summary

Eleven speedway teams took part. Liverpool, Yarmouth and Bristol [2] had all folded at the end of the previous season and Bradford were unable to take their place in the league after the construction of their new track was delayed.

Exeter, Plymouth, Wolverhampton, Middlesbrough and Newcastle all re-opened their tracks and joined the league for the start of the season. Plymouth took on Bristol's riders and Bulldog nickname. Poole were champions, finishing seven points ahead of runners up Plymouth. [3] [4] [5] After a couple of challenge meetings held throughout 1960 [6] Exeter returned following a five-year league absence under the promotion of Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale. [7]

Final table

PosTeamMWDLPts
1 Poole Pirates 20151431
2 Plymouth Bulldogs 20120824
3 Stoke Potters 20120824
4 Cradley Heath Heathens 20111823
5 Rayleigh Rockets 20110922
6 Edinburgh Monarchs 20101921
7 Sheffield Tigers 201001020
8 Exeter Falcons 20901118
9 Wolverhampton Wolves 20701314
10 Middlesbrough Bears 20611313
11 Newcastle Diamonds 20501510

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

Fixtures and results

Home \ AwayCHEDEXMIDNEWPLYPPRAYSHESTOWOL
Cradley Heath42–3640–3851–2759–1940–3838–4043–3540–3842–3645–33
Edinburgh43–3444–3446–3160–1846–3239–3940–3855–2045–3346–32
Exeter45–3352–2557–2048–2941–3627–5148–3047–3140–3753–24
Middlesbrough39–3934–4353–2543–3540–3751–2751–2636–4237–3848–30
Newcastle34–4442–3644–3442.5–35.544–3329–4937–4042–3633–4537–40
Plymouth54–2446–3244–3447–3148–3040–3845–3247–3141–3644–34
Poole56–2258–2050.5–27.563–1552–2539–3755–2350–2856–2253–24
Rayleigh50–2840–3850–2550–2850–2841–3745–3246–3251–2753–25
Sheffield39–3848–3050–2746–3250–2837–4142–3661–1741–3740–38
Stoke44–3447–2941–3750–2854–2251–2631–4749–2942–3546–31
Wolverhampton33–4547–3145–3345–3341–3725–5337–4155–2343–3533–45
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top Five Riders (League only)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Reg Reeves Flag of England.svg Rayleigh11.43
2 Jack Scott Flag of Australia (converted).svg Plymouth11.08
3 Ken Middleditch Flag of England.svg Poole10.55
4 Ross Gilbertson Flag of Scotland.svg Poole10.51
5 Tony Lewis Flag of England.svg Poole10.32

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1961 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the second edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners. [9]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
13/05Stoke53–41Middlesbrough
19/05Rayleigh50–46Exeter

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
18/05Sheffield43–53Plymouth
21/06Poole71–25Wolverhampton
24/06Stoke46–50Cradley Heath
17/07Edinburgh49–47Rayleigh

Semifinals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
29/07Cradley Heath55–41Poole
12/08Edinburgh55–40Plymouth

Final

First leg

Cradley Heath
Ivor Brown 15
Harry Bastable 13
Derek Timms 13
Ivor Davies 10
John Hart 8
Tony Eadon 7
Vic White 2
68 - 28Edinburgh
Doug Templeton 9
Willie Templeton 8
Jimmy Tannock 4
Wayne Briggs 4
Alf Wells 2
George Hunter 1
Dick Campbell 0
[10]

Second leg

Edinburgh
Dick Campbell 14
Jimmy Tannock 10
Wayne Briggs 9
Doug Templeton 9
Willie Templeton 8
George Hunter 5
Alf Wells 4
59 - 34Cradley Heath
Derek Timms 7
Ivor Brown 6
Harry Bastable 6
Tony Eadon 6
John Hart 4
Vic White 3
Ivor Davies 2
[11]

Riders' Championship

Reg Reeves won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Harringay Stadium on 16 September in front of 20,000 spectators. Defending champion Trevor Redmond suffered a broken chain in his last race when leading Reeves, which prevented him from winning the title again. [12]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1 Flag of England.svg Reg Reeves 3 3 3 3 315
2 Flag of New Zealand.svg Trevor Redmond 3 3 3 3 ef12
3 Flag of England.svg Maury Mattingley 3 2 1 3 312
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Scott 2 3 2 2 211
5 Flag of England.svg Stan Stevens 2 1 2 2 311
6 Flag of England.svg Ivor Brown 3 3 2 ef 311
7 Flag of England.svg Harry Bastable 1 2 3 2 210
8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Warren 1 1 2 f 26
9 Flag of England.svg Ken Middleditch 0 1 1 1 25
10 Flag of England.svg Len Silver 2 2 0 0 15
11 Flag of England.svg Pete Lansdale 0 2 2 1 05
12 Flag of England.svg Tony Lewis exc 0 1 3 15
13 Flag of England.svg Vic Ridgeon 2 1 0 1 14
14 Flag of England.svg Rick France 1 0 0 2 03
15 Flag of England.svg Eric Boothroyd 2 0 1 1 03
16 Flag of England.svg Peter Jarman f 0 0 f 11

Riders & final averages

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Plymouth

Poole

Rayleigh

Sheffield

Stoke

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. "Championship History". Poole Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  2. "Bristol loses speedway, dog track" . Daily Herald. 31 December 1960. Retrieved 5 October 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  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. "Speedway like this will pull league crowds" . Express and Echo. 4 October 1960. Retrieved 23 September 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "League Again at Exeter" . Express and Echo. 10 August 1960. Retrieved 12 January 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "1961 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  9. "1961 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  10. "Cradley Heath to take cup now?" . Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 10 September 1961. Retrieved 15 June 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Cradley Heath's Trophy" . Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 24 September 1961. Retrieved 15 June 2024 via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "One Long Yawn for Trevor" . Daily Mirror. 18 September 1961. Retrieved 12 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.