1961 Provincial Speedway League

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

1961 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
No. of competitors11
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupCradley Heathens
IndividualReg Reeves
Highest averageReg Reeves
Division/s above1961 National League

Summary

Eleven speedway teams took part. Liverpool, Yarmouth and Bristol 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.[2][3][4]

Final table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 20 15 1 4 31
2 Plymouth Bulldogs 20 12 0 8 24
3 Stoke Potters 20 12 0 8 24
4 Cradley Heath Heathens 20 11 1 8 23
5 Rayleigh Rockets 20 11 0 9 22
6 Edinburgh Monarchs 20 10 1 9 21
7 Sheffield Tigers 20 10 0 10 20
8 Exeter Falcons 20 9 0 11 18
9 Wolverhampton Wolves 20 7 0 13 14
10 Middlesbrough Bears 20 6 1 13 13
11 Newcastle Diamonds 20 5 0 15 10

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 11.43
2 Jack Scott Plymouth 11.08
3 Ken Middleditch Poole 10.55
4 Ross Gilbertson Poole 10.51
5 Tony Lewis Poole 10.32

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.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
13/05Stoke53–41Middlesbrough
19/05Rayleigh50–46Exeter

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
18/05Sheffield43–53Plymouth
21/06Poole71–25Wolverhampton
24/06Stoke46–50Cradley Heath
17/07Edinburgh49–47Rayleigh

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team 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
[6]

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
[7]

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.[8]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1 Reg Reeves3 3 3 3 315
2 Trevor Redmond3 3 3 3 ef12
3 Maury Mattingley3 2 1 3 312
4 Jack Scott2 3 2 2 211
5 Stan Stevens2 1 2 2 311
6 Ivor Brown3 3 2 ef 311
7 Harry Bastable1 2 3 2 210
8 Graham Warren1 1 2 f 26
9 Ken Middleditch0 1 1 1 25
10 Len Silver2 2 0 0 15
11 Pete Lansdale0 2 2 1 05
12 Tony Lewisexc 0 1 3 15
13 Vic Ridgeon2 1 0 1 14
14 Rick France1 0 0 2 03
15 Eric Boothroyd2 0 1 1 03
16 Peter Jarmanf 0 0 f 11
  • f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure

Riders & final averages

Cradley Heath

  • Ivor Brown 10.14
  • Harry Bastable 8.88
  • Stan Stevens 7.54
  • Ivor Davies 7.14
  • George Bewley 6.15
  • Derek Timms 5.97
  • Ronnie Rolfe 5.29
  • John Hart 5.04
  • Alan Totney 4.44
  • Tony Eadon 4.00
  • Vic White 2.97

Edinburgh

Exeter

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

  • Gil Goldfinch 8.65
  • Don Wilkinson 7.05
  • Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.85
  • George Major 5.67
  • Slant Payling 5.55
  • George Glen 4.85
  • Pat Flanagan 4.65
  • Gordon Mitchell 2.61

Plymouth

Poole

Rayleigh

  • Reg Reeves 11.43
  • Stan Stevens 8.53
  • Harry Edwards 8.44
  • Bob Thomas 6.68
  • Roy Craighead 5.12
  • Geoff Penniket 4.89
  • Pete Sampson 4.39
  • Terry Stone 4.36

Sheffield

  • Guy Allott 9.64
  • Clive Featherby 9.59
  • Derrol Melbin 8.80
  • Ronnie Rolfe 7.20
  • Jack Winstanley 6.97
  • Stuart Hickman 6.86
  • Bernard McArthur 6.27
  • Tony Robinson 6.21
  • Col Smith 3.64
  • Malcolm Bruce 3.40

Stoke

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "Championship History". Poole Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  5. "1961 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. "Cradley Heath to take cup now?". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 10 September 1961. Retrieved 15 June 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Cradley Heath's Trophy". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 24 September 1961. Retrieved 15 June 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "One Long Yawn for Trevor". Daily Mirror. 18 September 1961. Retrieved 12 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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