1965 British League season

1965 British League season

League	British League
Season	1965
No. of competitors	18
Champions	West Ham Hammers
Knockout Cup	West Ham Hammers
Individual	Barry Briggs [1]
London Cup	West Ham Hammers
Highest average	Nigel Boocock
← 1964 1966 →

The 1965 British League season was the 31st season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom. ^[2] It was also first known as the new British League which was formed in 1965, along with the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA). The league was an amalgamation of the National League and the Provincial League. ^[3]

Summary

Norwich Stars had closed and therefore did not compete and Reg Fearman moved his Middlesbrough promotion to The Shay, which revived the Halifax Dukes who had last competed in the 1951 division 2. ^{[4] [5]}

West Ham Hammers were the first ever British League winners. It was their first league success since 1937. The West Ham team included Scot Ken McKinlay who finished the season third with an average of 10.72 and the Norwegian champion Sverre Harrfeldt who finished fifth in the averages. They were supported well by British internationals Norman Hunter and Malcolm Simmons. The West Ham team completed the double winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final they defeated Exeter Falcons 63–33. ^[6] The season was not a complete success because during a challenge match at West Ham Stadium a junior rider called David John Wills was killed in a race after a crash. ^[7] West Ham also won the London Cup but the competition only had three teams competing. ^[8]

Wimbledon Dons headed by leading Swedish rider Olle Nygren fought West Ham throughout the season and only lost the league by a single point.

Final table

		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	West Ham Hammers	34	23	1	10	1430	1215	47
2	Wimbledon Dons	34	22	2	10	1396	1245	46
3	Coventry Bees	34	20	0	14	1384	1258	40
4	Oxford Cheetahs	34	19	2	13	1308	1340	40
5	Halifax Dukes	33	18	3	12	1322	1240	39
6	Newport Wasps	34	19	0	15	1360	1288	38
7	Wolverhampton Wolves	34	18	1	15	1429	1216	37
8	Hackney Hawks	34	18	1	15	1327.5	1319.5	37
9	Exeter Falcons	34	18	0	16	1325.5	1323.5	36
10	Poole Pirates	34	17	1	16	1378	1266	35
11	Sheffield Tigers	34	16	2	16	1300	1346	34
12	Newcastle Diamonds	34	16	1	17	1363	1282	33
13	Glasgow Tigers	34	15	1	18	1315	1329	31
14	Belle Vue Aces	34	15	0	19	1328	1312	30
15	Swindon Robins	34	13	2	19	1345	1300	28
16	Cradley Heathens	33	11	1	21	1132	1438	23
17	Edinburgh Monarchs	34	11	0	23	1173	1428	22
18	Long Eaton Archers	34	7	0	27	1107	1534	14

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

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away	BV	COV	CH	ED	EX	GLA	HAC	HAL	LE	ND	NW	OX	PP	SHE	SWI	WH	WIM	WOL
Belle Vue Aces		44–34	55–23	47–30	43–35	36–42	51–27	45–33	53–25	41–37	55–23	60–18	43–35	55–26	43–35	30–47	44–34	50–28
Coventry Bees	45–31		47–31	58–20	52–26	51–26	42–36	47–30	42–36	45–33	41–36	37–41	47–30	47–30	48–30	39–38	40–38	41–37
Cradley Heathens	42–35	27–51		43–35	42–36	43–35	49–29	n/a	43–35	40–38	35–43	36–42	41–37	39–39	40–38	31–47	29–49	41–37
Edinburgh Monarchs	47–30	31–46	40–38		45–33	36–42	40–38	35–42	38–40	36–41	43–35	47–31	39–38	47–31	40–38	34–44	40–38	42–36
Exeter Falcons	54–24	41–37	51–27	52–26		46–32	54–24	40–38	45–33	44–34	51–27	52–26	42–36	50–28	48–30	46–32	41–37	30–48
Glasgow Tigers	46–32	56–22	53–25	48–30	54–24		59–19	33–44	60–18	42–36	43–35	38–40	49–29	37–41	40–38	46–32	37–41	43–34
Hackney Hawks	48–29	44–34	45–32	50–28	41.5–36.5	54–24		45–33	48–30	59–18	47–31	46–32	43–35	54–24	40–38	40–37	35–43	44–34
Halifax Dukes	50–28	40–38	62–16	48–30	50–27	39–39	44–34		36–41	44–32	42–35	41–36	50–28	43–34	39–39	39–38	39–39	48–30
Long Eaton Archers	41–36	29–49	45–32	52–26	32–44	41–37	38–40	36–41		36–41	32–46	38–39	31–47	37–40	40–37	37–41	34–44	32–45
Newcastle Diamonds	45–33	51–27	42–36	46–32	57–21	48–30	50–28	49–29	50–28		51–27	39–39	41–37	48–30	43–35	46–32	38–40	38–39
Newport Wasps	54–24	47–31	56–22	51–37	45–33	50–28	56–22	46–32	52–26	44–34		44–34	41–37	44–34	41–37	42–36	49–29	41–37
Oxford Cheetahs	41–37	42–36	41–37	48–30	44–34	48–30	42–36	42–36	50–28	40–38	45–32		34–44	41–36	41–37	33–45	38–40	47–31
Poole Pirates	47–29	47–31	52–26	46–32	37–41	49–26	48–30	36–42	59–19	45–33	44–34	42–36		50–28	37–40	51–27	45–33	45–33
Sheffield Tigers	41–37	35–42	40–38	53–25	54–24	42–36	39–39	45–33	53–25	48–30	41–37	47–31	55–23		40–38	37–41	49–29	42–36
Swindon Robins	41–37	45–33	38–40	49–29	46–32	54–24	46–32	38–40	44–34	43–35	48–30	38–40	39–39	52–26		45–33	36–37	42–36
West Ham Hammers	44–34	42–36	40–37	49–29	51–27	47–30	36–42	45–33	60–18	44–34	43–35	43–35	48–30	51–27	48–30		48–30	42–35
Wimbledon Dons	44–32	42–36	52–26	46–30	46–32	49–29	44–34	45–33	63–15	41–36	40–38	39–39	45–33	50–28	41–37	38–40		42–35
Wolverhampton Wolves	51–27	46–32	53–25	44–34	45–33	56–21	44–34	49–29	53–25	47–31	64–14	46–32	38–40	40–38	54–24	39–39	50–28

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top Ten Riders (League Average)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	11.09
2	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.91
3	Ken McKinlay		West Ham	10.72
4	Mike Broadbanks		Swindon	10.54
5	Sverre Harrfeldt		West Ham	10.35
6	Olle Nygren		Wimbledon	10.31
7	Charlie Monk		Glasgow	10.22
8	Ron How		Oxford	10.16
9	Arne Pander		Oxford	10.01
10	Jimmy Gooch		Oxford	9.97

Knockout Cup

West Ham Hammers won the Knockout Cup and completed the double of league and cup.

Main article: British League Knockout Cup 1965

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October. ^[10]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Barry Briggs	3 3 3 2 3	14
2	Jimmy Gooch	2 2 3 3 3	13
3	Cyril Maidment	3 3 3 ef 3	12
4	Olle Nygren	1 3 2 2 3	11
5	Nigel Boocock	1 2 3 3 2	11
6	Charlie Monk	2 3 1 2 1	9
7	Ivan Mauger	3 f 2 1 2	8
8	Pete Jarman	2 1 2 3 ef	8
9	Eric Boocock	2 2 1 1 1	7
10	Colin Gooddy	1 0 1 2 2	6
11	Jack Kitchen	1 1 ef 3 0	5
12	Ken McKinlay	3–2 f -	5
13	Gerry Jackson	0 2 0 0 1	3
14	George Major	0 1 ef 1 1	3
15	Ronnie Genz	0 0 0 ef 2	2
16	Alby Golden	0 1 1 0 0	2
17	Alf Wells (res)	1 - - - -	1
18	Kid Brodie (res)	0 - - - -	0

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	11.12
2	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.93
3	Ken McKinlay		West Ham	10.83
4	Mike Broadbanks		Swindon	10.48
5	Sverre Harrfeldt		West Ham	10.46
6	Charlie Monk		Glasgow	10.28
7	Olle Nygren		Wimbledon	10.22
8	Ron How		Oxford	10.16
9	Arne Pander		Oxford	10.03
10	Jimmy Gooch		Oxford	9.90
11	Cyril Maidment		Belle Vue	9.65
12	Ronnie Genz		Poole	9.45
13	Eric Boocock		Halifax	9.43
14	Norman Hunter		West Ham	9.42
15	George Hunter		Edinburgh	9.35
16	Ivor Brown		Cradley Heath	9.27
17	Colin Gooddy		Exeter	9.24
18	Reg Luckhurst		Wimbledon	9.14
19	Bill Andrew		Poole	9.07
20	Dave Younghusband		Halifax	9.06

London Cup

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	West Ham Hammers	4	2	1	1	196	188	5
2	Hackney Hawks	4	2	0	2	189	194	4
3	Wimbledon Dons	4	1	1	2	190	193	3

Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	53–43	Hackney
Hackney	52–44	West Ham
West Ham	50–46	Hackney
Hackney	48–47	Wimbledon
Wimbledon	48–48	West Ham
West Ham	54–42	Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Cyril Maidment 9.65
• Dick Fisher 8.06
• Gordon McGregor 7.52
• Sándor Lévai 6.37
• Norman Nevitt 6.03
• Bill Powell 5.50
• Dent Oliver 5.25
• Jim Yacoby 4.12
• Vic White 4.10
• Dave Schofield 1.67

Coventry

• Nigel Boocock 11.12
• Ron Mountford 8.74
• Jim Lightfoot 8.65
• Rick France 6.30
• Col Cottrell 6.00
• Les Owen 4.27
• Chris Harrison 3.08
• Fred Hodder 2.12
• Howie Booton 0.64

Cradley Heath

• Ivor Brown 9.27
• John Hart 7.78
• George Major 7.63
• Eric Hockaday 6.29
• Leo McAuliffe 5.87
• Goog Allan 5.10
• Chris Julian 5.09
• Harry Bastable 4.79
• Tim Bungay 3.35
• John Debbage 3.31
• Ivor Hughes 2.89
• Ron Cooper 1.65

Edinburgh

• George Hunter 9.35
• Doug Templeton 7.34
• Colin McKee 6.61
• Henry Harrfeldt 5.42
• Bill Landels 4.94
• Alf Wells 4.83
• Wayne Briggs 4.42
• Bert Harkins 4.17
• Kevin Torpie 3.88
• Ross Nickisson 2.50

Exeter

• Colin Gooddy 9.24
• Jimmy Squibb 7.72
• Jack Geran 7.62
• Alan Cowland 7.37
• Chris Blewett 6.05
• Tim Bungay 6.00
• Ivor Hughes 6.00
• Des Lukehurst 5.78
• Maury McDermott 4.36
• Doug Dearden 3.61

Glasgow

• Charlie Monk 10.28
• Bluey Scott 7.61
• Willie Templeton 7.16
• Nils Paulsen 6.58
• Maury Mattingley 6.12
• Graham Coombes 5.23
• Bruce Ovenden 4.76
• Bill McMillan 4.12

Hackney

• Gerry Jackson 8.69
• Colin Pratt 8.51
• Roy Trigg 7.51
• John Poyser 6.79
• Les McGillivray 6.60
• Howdy Byford 5.49
• Malcolm Brown 5.15
• Brian Davies 5.04
• Sandy McGillivray 3.45

Halifax

• Eric Boocock 9.43
• Dave Younghusband 9.06
• Eric Boothroyd 8.00
• Tommy Roper 7.29
• Bryan Elliott 6.30
• Dennis Gavros 4.91
• Bert Kingston 4.07
• Ray Day 4.00
• Clive Hitch 3.75
• Bob Jameson 2.93

Long Eaton

• Ray Cresp 7.96
• Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 6.84
• Norman Storer 6.64
• Ray Wilson 6.55
• Ken Adams 5.19
• Clive Hitch 5.08
• John Mills 4.77
• Paul Sharples 3.45
• Rim Malskaitis 2.61

Newcastle

• Ivan Mauger 8.76
• Brian Brett 8.75
• Peter Kelly 7.35
• Brian Craven 7.30
• Mike Watkin 6.23
• Russ Dent 5.92
• Ken Sharples 5.77
• Goog Allan 5.44
• Dave Gifford 2.92

Newport

• Jack Biggs 9.00
• Dick Bradley 7.90
• Peter Vandenberg 7.78
• Alby Golden 7.74
• Geoff Penniket 5.88
• Jon Erskine 5.77
• Vic White 5.41
• Bob Hughes 4.88

Oxford

• Ron How 10.16
• Arne Pander 10.03
• Jimmy Gooch 9.90
• Maury McDermott 4.53
• Ken Vale 4.51
• John Bishop 4.34
• Eddie Reeves 4.25
• Jimmy Heard 3.83
• Stan Stevens 3.32
• Glyn Chandler 2.45
• John Hook 1.71

Poole

• Ronnie Genz 9.45
• Bill Andrew 9.07
• Ross Gilbertson 7.76
• Geoff Mudge 7.43
• Norman Strachan 6.14
• Pete Smith 5.52
• Pete Munday 3.23
• Bruce Cribb 3.04
• Pete Swain 0.61

Sheffield

• Jack Kitchen 8.69
• Clive Featherby 8.06
• Billy Bales 7.43
• John Dews 6.05
• David Crane 5.63
• Alan Jay 5.08
• Bob Paulson 4.54

Swindon

• Barry Briggs 10.93
• Mike Broadbank 10.48
• Martin Ashby 8.83
• Roy Bowers 4.29
• Bob Kilby 4.00
• Mike Keen 3.93
• Pete Sampson 3.24
• Alan Jackson 2.00
• Frank Shuter 1.47

West Ham

• Ken McKinlay 10.83
• Sverre Harrfeldt 10.46
• Norman Hunter 9.42
• Malcolm Simmons 6.56
• Reg Trott 4.65
• Tony Clarke 4.48
• Brian Leonard 3.65
• Ted Ede 2.80
• Ray Wickett 2.40

Wimbledon

• Olle Nygren 10.22
• Reg Luckhurst 9.14
• Trevor Hedge 8.55
• Bob Dugard 6.77
• Jim Tebby 6.01
• John Edwards 4.91
• Mike Coomber 2.60
• Geoff Hughes 1.44

Wolverhampton

• Pete Jarman 8.70
• Bob Andrews 8.33
• Jim Airey 8.19
• Tommy Sweetman 7.39
• Cyril Francis 7.20
• Gordon Guasco 6.98
• Brian Maxted 5.64
• James Bond 4.62

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "British League Riders Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
3. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
5. "Shay speedway decision soon" . Halifax Evening Courier. 2 January 1965. Retrieved 12 January 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
7. "Custom House Years". customhousekid. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
8. "West Ham Hammers – The Final Match". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
9. "1965 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
10. "Speedway Champ" . Sunday Mail (Glasgow). 17 October 1965. Retrieved 31 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.