BREAKING NEWS
Cloud Server Hosting For Online Businesses
Inexpensive SEO Services
Benefits of Wanting to play Free Online Slot machines
1965 British League season

Summary

The 1965 British League season was the 31st season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom.[2] It was also the first known as the new British League which was formed in 1965, along with the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA). The league was an amalgamation of the National League and the Provincial League.[3]

1965 British League season
LeagueBritish League
Season1965
No. of competitors18
ChampionsWest Ham Hammers
Knockout CupWest Ham Hammers
IndividualBarry Briggs[1]
London CupWest Ham Hammers
Highest averageNigel Boocock

Summary edit

Middlesbrough Bears did not join the new league and Norwich Stars had closed for good. Halifax Dukes were new entrants.1929-1977 [4]

West Ham Hammers were the first ever British League winners. It was their first league success since 1937. The West Ham team included Scot Ken McKinlay who finished the season third in the averages at 10.72 and the Norwegian champion Sverre Harrfeldt who finished fifth in the averages. They were supported well by British internationals Norman Hunter and Malcolm Simmons. The West Ham team completed the double when winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final they defeated Exeter Falcons 63-33.[5] The season was not a complete success because during a challenge match at West Ham Stadium a junior rider called David John Wills was killed in a race after crashing.[6] West Ham also won the London Cup but the competition only had three teams competing.[7]

Wimbledon Dons headed by leading Swedish rider Olle Nygren fought West Ham throughout the season and only lost the league by a single point.

Final table edit

M W D L F A Pts
1 West Ham Hammers 34 23 1 10 1430 1215 47
2 Wimbledon Dons 34 22 2 10 1396 1245 46
3 Coventry Bees 34 20 0 14 1384 1258 40
4 Oxford Cheetahs 34 19 2 13 1308 1340 40
5 Halifax Dukes 33 18 3 12 1322 1240 39
6 Newport Wasps 34 19 0 15 1360 1288 38
7 Wolverhampton Wolves 34 18 1 15 1429 1216 37
8 Hackney Hawks 34 18 1 15 1327.5 1319.5 37
9 Exeter Falcons 34 18 0 16 1325.5 1323.5 36
10 Poole Pirates 34 17 1 16 1378 1266 35
11 Sheffield Tigers 34 16 2 16 1300 1346 34
12 Newcastle Diamonds 34 16 1 17 1363 1282 33
13 Glasgow Tigers 34 15 1 18 1315 1329 31
14 Belle Vue Aces 34 15 0 19 1328 1312 30
15 Swindon Robins 34 13 2 19 1345 1300 28
16 Cradley Heathens 33 11 1 21 1132 1438 23
17 Edinburgh Monarchs 34 11 0 23 1173 1428 22
18 Long Eaton Archers 34 7 0 27 1107 1534 14

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

Top Ten Riders (League Average) edit

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Nigel Boocock   Coventry Bees 11.09
2 Barry Briggs   Swindon Robins 10.91
3 Ken McKinlay   West Ham Hammers 10.72
4 Mike Broadbanks   Swindon Robins 10.54
5 Sverre Harrfeldt   West Ham Hammers 10.35
6 Olle Nygren   Wimbledon Dons 10.31
7 Charlie Monk   Glasgow Tigers 10.22
8 Ron How   Oxford Cheetahs 10.16
9 Arne Pander   Oxford Cheetahs 10.01
10 Jimmy Gooch   Oxford Cheetahs 9.97

Knockout Cup edit

West Ham Hammers won the Knockout Cup and completed the double of league and cup.

Riders' Championship edit

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.[8]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1   Barry Briggs 3 3 3 2 3 14
2   Jimmy Gooch 2 2 3 3 3 13
3   Cyril Maidment 3 3 3 ef 3 12
4   Olle Nygren 1 3 2 2 3 11
5   Nigel Boocock 1 2 3 3 2 11
6   Charlie Monk 2 3 1 2 1 9
7   Ivan Mauger 3 f 2 1 2 8
8   Pete Jarman 2 1 2 3 ef 8
9   Eric Boocock 2 2 1 1 1 7
10   Colin Gooddy 1 0 1 2 2 6
11   Jack Kitchen 1 1 ef 3 0 5
12   Ken McKinlay 3 - 2 f - 5
13   Gerry Jackson 0 2 0 0 1 3
14   George Major 0 1 ef 1 1 3
15   Ronnie Genz 0 0 0 ef 2 2
16   Alby Golden 0 1 1 0 0 2
17   Alf Wells (res) 1 - - - - 1
18   Kid Brodie (res) 0 - - - - 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages edit

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Nigel Boocock   Coventry 11.12
2 Barry Briggs   Swindon 10.93
3 Ken McKinlay   West Ham 10.83
4 Mike Broadbanks   Swindon 10.48
5 Sverre Harrfeldt   West Ham 10.46
6 Charlie Monk   Glasgow 10.28
7 Olle Nygren   Wimbledon 10.22
8 Ron How   Oxford 10.16
9 Arne Pander   Oxford 10.03
10 Jimmy Gooch   Oxford 9.90
11 Cyril Maidment   Belle Vue 9.65
12 Ronnie Genz   Poole 9.45
13 Eric Boocock   Halifax 9.43
14 Norman Hunter   West Ham 9.42
15 George Hunter   Edinburgh 9.35
16 Ivor Brown   Cradley Heath 9.27
17 Colin Gooddy   Exeter 9.24
18 Reg Luckhurst   Wimbledon 9.14
19 Bill Andrew   Poole 9.07
20 Dave Younghusband   Halifax 9.06

London Cup edit

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 West Ham Hammers 4 2 1 1 196 188 5
2 Hackney Hawks 4 2 0 2 189 194 4
3 Wimbledon Dons 4 1 1 2 190 193 3

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon 53–43 Hackney
Hackney 52–44 West Ham
West Ham 50–46 Hackney
Hackney 48–47 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 48–48 West Ham
West Ham 54–42 Wimbledon

Riders & final averages edit

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Halifax

Long Eaton

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "British League Riders Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  2. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  4. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Custom House Years". customhousekid. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. ^ "West Ham Hammers - The Final Match". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Speedway Champ". Sunday Mail (Glasgow). 17 October 1965. Retrieved 31 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.

By using this platform, you agree to the Terms of Use ©2020 Knowpia