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1963 Provincial Speedway League

Summary

The 1963 Provincial Speedway League was the fourth season of the Provincial League in the United Kingdom.[1] Thirteen speedway teams took part.

1963 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
No. of competitors13
ChampionsWolverhampton Wolves
Knockout CupCradley Heathens
IndividualIvan Mauger
Highest averageGeorge Hunter
Division/s above1963 National League

Season summary edit

Thirteen teams competed again as in 1962, despite the loss of four teams. At the start of the year Neath had folded, and their place was taken by the new track at St Austell. After finishing at the bottom of the table the previous year, Bradford and Leicester were no longer running due to financial difficulties and Plymouth had also withdrawn. Long Eaton returned to competitive racing after 12 years,[2] a new track opened at Hackney, and Rayleigh returned under new ownership after a missing the 1962 season. New Cross Rangers would have made it 14 teams after returning but closed down in August, never to re-open.[3][4]

Wolverhampton won the league but there was controversy at the end of the year when Wolverhampton refused to move up to the National League, which was dwindling in numbers. This would lead to the Provincial League running outside of the jurisdiction of the Speedway Control Board for the 1964 season.[5][6]

Final table edit

Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 15 1 8 31
2 Stoke Potters 24 14 1 9 29
3 Poole Pirates 24 14 0 10 28
4 Sheffield Tigers 24 14 0 10 28
5 St Austell Gulls 24 13 2 9 28
6 Newcastle Diamonds 24 13 1 10 27
7 Exeter Falcons 24 12 1 11 25
8 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 12 1 11 25
9 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 11 1 12 23
10 Hackney Hawks 24 10 1 13 21
11 Middlesbrough Bears 24 9 2 13 20
12 Long Eaton Archers 24 7 2 15 16
13 Rayleigh Rockets 24 5 1 18 11

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

Top Five Riders (League only) edit

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 George Hunter   Edinburgh 11.09
2 Ivan Mauger   Newcastle 10.42
3 Ivor Brown   Cradley 10.30
4 Jimmy Squibb   New Cross/Exeter 10.30
5 Clive Featherby   Sheffield 10.05

Provincial League Knockout Cup edit

The 1963 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
30/04 New Cross 58–37 St Austell
03/06 Rayleigh 35–61 Stoke
18/06 Long Eaton 43–52 Newcastle
20/06 Middlesbrough 58–38 Wolverhampton
20/06 Sheffield 57–39 Exeter
03/07 Poole 50–46 Edinburgh

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
08/07 Newcastle 65–31 Middlesbrough
10/07 Hackney 54–42 New Cross
10/07 Poole 44–52 Sheffield
05/08 Cradley Heath 55–41 Stoke

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
12/08 Newcastle 60–36 Hackney
31/08 Cradley Heath 61–35 Sheffield

Final edit

Date Team one Score Team two
30/09 Newcastle 50–45 Cradley Heath
02/10 Cradley Heath 64–32 Newcastle

Riders' Championship edit

Ivan Mauger won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 28 September.[8]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1   Ivan Mauger 3,2,3,3 11+3
2   Jack Kitchen 3,2,3,3 11+2
3   Ross Gilbertson 1,3,3,2 9+3+1
4   George Hunter 1,2,3,3 9+4+0
5   Ray Cresp 3,1,2,3 9+2
6   Clive Featherby 3,2,2,2 9+1
7   Maury Mattingley 2,3,2,2 9+0
8   Doug Templeton 3,2,3,0 8
9   Ivor Brown 2,1,2,3 8
10   Geoff Mudge 1,3,2,1 7
11   Eric Boocock 2,1,1,3 7
12   Jimmy Squibb 2,3,0,1 6
13   Rick France 2,3,0,0 5
14   Ron Bagley 3,0,1,1 5
15   Charlie Monk 0,0,3,2 5
16   Colin Pratt 2,2,0,0 4
17   Cliff Cox 1,0,2,1 3
18   Les McGillivray 1,0,0,2 3
19   George Major 0,1,0,2 3
20   Trevor Redmond 0,1,1, 3
21   John Hart 0,2,0,0 2
22   Ken Adams 0,0,1,1 2
23   Maury McDermott 1,0,1,0 2
24   Norman Hunter 0,1,1,0 2

Riders & final averages edit

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Hackney

Long Eaton

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

New Cross (withdrew mid-season)

Poole

Rayleigh

  •   Les McGillivray 8.47
  •   Maury McDermott 7.76
  •   Stan Clark 6.15
  •   Vic Ridgeon 5.97
  •   Derek Strutt 5.75
  •   Harry Edwards 5.74
  •   Roy Bowers 4.62
  •   Sandy McGillivray 3.20
  •   John Mills 2.73

St Austell

Sheffield

Stoke

Wolverhampton

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Championship History". Poole Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  2. ^ "Speedway back after 12 years". Nottingham Evening Post. 2 March 1963. Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  4. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  5. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  6. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  7. ^ "1963 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Squibb & Cox not in hunt". Express and Echo. 30 September 1963. Retrieved 13 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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