1962 Provincial Speedway League

The 1962 Provincial Speedway League was the third season of the Provincial League.[1]

1962 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
No. of competitors13
ChampionsPoole Pirates
Knockout CupExeter Falcons
IndividualLen Silver
Highest averageIvor Brown
Division/s above1962 National League

Summary

Thirteen speedway teams took part. Bradford, at their new venue at Greenfields Stadium, returned to the league after missing the previous season due to delays building their new track. The league season proved to be disastrous for Bradford and the club folded at the end of the year. New team Neath Welsh Dragons joined the league and Leicester joined after dropping down from the National League. Neath, near Port Talbot in Wales, was not a successful venue and many of their fixtures were raced at St. Austell. Rayleigh Rockets had withdrawn.[2][3]

Poole won the league championship for the second year in a row.[4] The Neath Welsh Dragons achieved what was described as the impossible by finishing second in the league standings.[5]

Final table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 24 17 0 7 34
2 Neath Welsh Dragons 24 14 1 9 29
3 Exeter Falcons 24 14 0 10 28
4 Stoke Potters 24 14 0 10 28
5 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 12 2 10 26
6 Plymouth Devils 24 12 2 10 26
7 Sheffield Tigers 24 12 1 11 25
8 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 12 0 12 24
9 Newcastle Diamonds 24 12 0 12 24
10 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 11 1 12 23
11 Middlesbrough Bears 24 11 0 13 22
12 Leicester Hunters 24 6 0 18 12
13 Bradford Panthers 24 5 1 18 11

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

Top Five Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivor Brown Cradley 10.21
2 Clive Featherby Sheffield 10.21
3 Eric Boothroyd Middlesbrough 10.15
4 Geoff Mudge Poole 10.04
5 Jimmy Squibb Plymouth 9.74

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
18/06Newcastle74–22Sheffield
21/06Middlesbrough66–30Cradley Heath
22/06Leicester32–64Poole
22/06Bradford57–39Neath
23/06Edinburgh71–25Wolverhampton

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
11/08Edinburgh54–42Middlesbrough
11/08Stoke61–31Newcastle
14/08Bradford44–52Poole
27/08Exeter53–43Plymouth

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/09Exeter57–39Edinburgh
15/09Stoke49–47Poole

Final
Date Team one Score Team two
20/10Stoke60–36Exeter
22/10Exeter70–26Stoke

Riders' Championship

Len Silver won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 22 September in front of 20,000 spectators. Four riders finished on 11 points forcing a race off.[7]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1 Len Silver2 3 3 311+3
2 Wayne Briggs3 2 3 311+2
3 Brian Craven3 3 2 311+1
4 Guy Allott3 2 3 311+0
5 Geoff Mudge2 2 2 39
6 Ron Bagley3 2 2 29
7 Norman Hunter3 3 1 29
8 Doug Templeton1 1 3 38
9 Brian McKeown2 3 1 17
10 Ivor Brown1 3 1 27
11 Pete Lansdale1 1 1 36
12 Eric Hockaday1 3 0 26
13 Jimmy Squibbf 2 2 26
14 Clive Featherby3 f 1 15
15 Cliff Cox0 2 2 15
16 Bill Andrew0 2 3 05
17 Graham Warren1 0 0 23
18 George Hunter2 1 - -3
19 Eric Boothroyd2 0 1 03
20 Trevor Redmond2 ef 1 03
21 Eric Boocock1 1 0 02
22 Willie Templeton0 1 0 ef1
23 Charlie Monk0 1 0 01
24 Howdy Byford (res)0 0 11
25 Ernie Baker (res)0 11
26 Reg Duval0 - - - -0
  • f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure

Riders & final averages

Bradford

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Leicester

Middlesbrough

Neath

Newcastle

  • Brian Craven 9.60
  • Gil Goldfinch 7.76
  • Bill Andrew 6.70
  • Mike Watkin 6.38
  • Don Wilkinson 6.15
  • Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.79
  • Ivan Crozier 5.09
  • Pete Sampson 4.25
  • George Glen 4.05
  • Russ Dent 3.20

Plymouth

Poole

Sheffield

  • Clive Featherby 10.21
  • Tony Robinson 9.60
  • Guy Allott 9.58
  • Ron Bagley 7.98
  • Ronnie Rolfe 6.11
  • Derrol Melbin 3.76
  • John Dews 3.35
  • Jack Winstanley 3.30
  • Alan Jay 2.97

Stoke

  • Eric Hockaday 8.69
  • Ken Adams 8.67
  • Pete Jarman 7.95
  • Jimmy Heard 7.65
  • Colin Pratt 6.20
  • Ron Sharp 5.66
  • John Edwards 4.93
  • Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 4.56
  • Bill Wainwright 3.43
  • Ray Harris 3.38

Wolverhampton

  • Tommy Sweetman 8.67
  • Graham Warren 8.13
  • Ernie Baker 7.28
  • Vic Ridgeon 6.52
  • Cyril Francis 6.26
  • Derek Strutt 6.16
  • Les Jenkins 4.70
  • Bill Bridgett 4.47
  • Erol Brook 3.85
  • Terry Stone 1.47

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. "Speedway Dragons second in P.L. Championship". Porthcawl Guardian. 19 October 1962. Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  7. "Hunter out of Luck". Edinburgh Evening News. 24 September 1962. Retrieved 12 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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