1960 Provincial Speedway 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]

1960 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
No. of competitors10
ChampionsRayleigh Rockets
Knockout CupBristol Bulldogs
IndividualTrevor Redmond
Highest averageReg Reeves
Division/s above1960 National League

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 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.[6]

Final table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Rayleigh Rockets 18 16 0 2 32
2 Poole Pirates 18 16 0 2 32
3 Bristol Bulldogs 18 15 0 3 30
4 Sheffield Tigers 18 9 0 9 18
5 Stoke Potters 18 8 1 9 17
6 Cradley Heath Heathens 18 8 0 10 16
7 Yarmouth Bloaters 18 7 0 11 14
8 Edinburgh Monarchs 18 5 1 12 11
9 Liverpool Pirates 18 4 0 14 8
10 Bradford Panthers 18 1 0 17 2

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

Top Five Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Reg Reeves Rayleigh 11.29
2 Trevor Redmond Bristol 10.92
3 Harry Bastable Cradley Heath 10.59
4 Tony Lewis Poole 10.43
5 Alan Smith Rayleigh 10.41

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.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
30/05Liverpool47–49Cradley Heath
09/07Edinburgh59–37Sheffield

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/06Bradford35–61Bristol
02/07Stoke60–35Cradley Heath
16/07Edinburgh54–41Yarmouth
03/08Poole47–49Rayleigh

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
27/08Edinburgh38–58Bristol
02/09Rayleigh52–43Stoke

Final
Date Team one Score Team 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.[8]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1 Trevor Redmond3 3 3 3 315
2 Ken Middleditch3 3 2 3 213
3 Eric Hockaday3 3 3 1 313
4 Tony Robinson3 3 1 2 211
5 Doug Templeton2 1 3 3 110
6 Jack Kitchen2 2 2 0 39
7 Tony Lewis2 1 2 2 29
8 Wal Morton1 1 0 3 09
9 Ivor Brown1 2 3 1 19
10 Tommy Roper2 0 2 1 05
11 Johnnie Hole0 2 1 2 35
12 Reg Reeves1 1 1 0 14
13 Ray Day0 2 1 0 03
14 Ross Gilbertson (res)2 13
15 Eric Eadon (res)1 23
16 Clive Featherby1 0 r1
17 Norman Strachanf 0 0 0 00
18 Cliff Cox0 0 00
  • f=fell r-retired

Riders & final averages

Bradford

  • Tommy Roper 6.90
  • Ray Day 6.57
  • Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.46
  • Stan Holey 4.48
  • Jim Yacoby 4.15
  • Dave Anderson 3.08
  • Tony Barnard 1.64

Bristol

  • Trevor Redmond 10.92
  • Johnny Hole 10.00
  • Cliff Cox 7.83
  • Roy Taylor 7.79
  • Chris Julian 7.20
  • Ernie Baker 6.83
  • Pat Flanagan 6.24
  • Frank Evans 5.87
  • Ivor Toms 5.29

Cradley Heath

  • Harry Bastable 10.59
  • Eric Eadon 8.06
  • Ronnie Rolfe 6.59
  • Roy Spencer 6.04
  • George Bewley 5.55
  • Vic White 5.28
  • Tony Eadon 3.52
  • Errol Brook 2.00

Edinburgh

Liverpool

  • Brian Craven 10.00
  • Shorty Schirmer 8.15
  • Wal Morton 7.40
  • Dave Dodd 5.30
  • Dennis Jenkins 4.93
  • Col Smith 3.52
  • Graham Beattie 3.26
  • Bob McHugh 2.57
  • Derick Skyner 2.09

Poole

Rayleigh

Sheffield

  • Tony Robinson 9.60
  • Len Williams 9.20
  • Jack Kitchen 8.55
  • Stuart Hickman 6.26
  • Jack Winstanley 5.19
  • Malcolm Bruce 4.13
  • Terry Turner 2.86
  • Derrol Melbin 2.32
  • Bernard McArthur 1.43

Stoke

  • Ken Adams 11.00
  • Reg Fearman 9.12
  • Ray Harris 7.62
  • Les Jenkins 7.57
  • Pete Jarman 6.06
  • Peter Kelly 5.73
  • Bill Bridgett 5.29
  • Gordon Owen 4.53
  • Arthur Rowe 3.38
  • Ted Connor 3.09

Yarmouth

  • Ivor Brown 9.78
  • Johnny Fitzpatrick 8.24
  • Geoff Pymar 8.00
  • John Debbage 5.53
  • Ron Bagley 5.77
  • Ken Last 4.59
  • John Leggett 3.48

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. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  7. "1960 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  8. "Bulldog redmond is leagues's top rider". Bristol Evening Post. 26 September 1960. Retrieved 10 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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