Wikipedia

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

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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

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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)

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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

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The 1961 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the second edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners.[8]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
13/05 Stoke 53–41 Middlesbrough
19/05 Rayleigh 50–46 Exeter

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
18/05 Sheffield 43–53 Plymouth
21/06 Poole 71–25 Wolverhampton
24/06 Stoke 46–50 Cradley Heath
17/07 Edinburgh 49–47 Rayleigh

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
29/07 Cradley Heath 55–41 Poole
12/08 Edinburgh 55–40 Plymouth

Final

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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
[9]

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
[10]

Riders' Championship

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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.[11]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1   Reg Reeves 3 3 3 3 3 15
2   Trevor Redmond 3 3 3 3 ef 12
3   Maury Mattingley 3 2 1 3 3 12
4   Jack Scott 2 3 2 2 2 11
5   Stan Stevens 2 1 2 2 3 11
6   Ivor Brown 3 3 2 ef 3 11
7   Harry Bastable 1 2 3 2 2 10
8   Graham Warren 1 1 2 f 2 6
9   Ken Middleditch 0 1 1 1 2 5
10   Len Silver 2 2 0 0 1 5
11   Pete Lansdale 0 2 2 1 0 5
12   Tony Lewis exc 0 1 3 1 5
13   Vic Ridgeon 2 1 0 1 1 4
14   Rick France 1 0 0 2 0 3
15   Eric Boothroyd 2 0 1 1 0 3
16   Peter Jarman f 0 0 f 1 1
  • f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure

Riders & final averages

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Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Plymouth

Poole

Rayleigh

Sheffield

Stoke

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  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 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Cradley Heath to take cup now?". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 10 September 1961. Retrieved 15 June 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Cradley Heath's Trophy". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 24 September 1961. Retrieved 15 June 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "One Long Yawn for Trevor". Daily Mirror. 18 September 1961. Retrieved 12 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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