1961 Provincial Speedway League

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

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

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

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

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away CH ED EX MID NEW PLY PP RAY SHE STO WOL
Cradley Heath 42–36 40–38 51–27 59–19 40–38 38–40 43–35 40–38 42–36 45–33
Edinburgh 43–34 44–34 46–31 60–18 46–32 39–39 40–38 55–20 45–33 46–32
Exeter 45–33 52–25 57–20 48–29 41–36 27–51 48–30 47–31 40–37 53–24
Middlesbrough 39–39 34–43 53–25 43–35 40–37 51–27 51–26 36–42 37–38 48–30
Newcastle 34–44 42–36 44–34 42.5–35.5 44–33 29–49 37–40 42–36 33–45 37–40
Plymouth 54–24 46–32 44–34 47–31 48–30 40–38 45–32 47–31 41–36 44–34
Poole 56–22 58–20 50.5–27.5 63–15 52–25 39–37 55–23 50–28 56–22 53–24
Rayleigh 50–28 40–38 50–25 50–28 50–28 41–37 45–32 46–32 51–27 53–25
Sheffield 39–38 48–30 50–27 46–32 50–28 37–41 42–36 61–17 41–37 40–38
Stoke 44–34 47–29 41–37 50–28 54–22 51–26 31–47 49–29 42–35 46–31
Wolverhampton 33–45 47–31 45–33 45–33 41–37 25–53 37–41 55–23 43–35 33–45
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top Five Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Reg Reeves England Rayleigh 11.43
2 Jack Scott Australia Plymouth 11.08
3 Ken Middleditch England Poole 10.55
4 Ross Gilbertson Scotland Poole 10.51
5 Tony Lewis England 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.[9]

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
[10]

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
[11]

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.[12]

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

Riders & final averages

See also

References

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