1963 Provincial Speedway League

LeagueProvincial League

No. of competitors13

1963 Provincial Speedway League
League	Provincial League
No. of competitors	13
Champions	Wolverhampton Wolves
Knockout Cup	Cradley Heathens
Individual	Ivan Mauger
Northern League	Sheffield Tigers
Midland League	Cradley Heathens
Southern League	Poole Pirates
Highest average	George Hunter
Division/s above	1963 National League
← 1962 1964 →

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

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the previous year, Bradford and Leicester were no longer running due to financial difficulties and Plymouth had also withdrawn.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 under Reg Fearman,^[2]^[3] 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.^[4]^[5]

Speedway returned to Hackney Wick Stadium after an absence of 25 years under the promotion of Mike Parker and Reg Fearman.^[6]

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.^[7]^[8]

Cradley Heath won the Knockout Cup and the Midland League Championship,^[9] while Poole won the Southern League Championship and Sheffield the Northern League Championship.^[10]

League

Final table

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

New Cross Rangers resigned in mid-season – record expunged.

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	CH	ED	EX	HAC	LE	MID	NEW	NC	PP	RAY	SA	SHE	STO	WOL
Cradley Heath		47–31	42–36	46–31	53–24	36–42	53–25	44–34	42–36	47–31	36–36	41–37	52–26	57–21
Edinburgh	48–30		44–34	55–23	59.5–18.5	44–34	43–35	n/a	43–35	46–32	44–34	41–37	54–24	54–24
Exeter	46–32	50–28		49–29	47–30	55–23	51–27	48–30	47–31	45–33	47–31	48–29	45–33	38–40
Hackney	45–33	42–36	40–37		46–32	43–34	42–35	n/a	44–34	39–39	54–24	37–41	34–43	40–38
Long Eaton	43–34	41–37	38–39	47–31		41–36	36–42	n/a	46–32	44–33	38–40	41–37	27.5–50.5	39–39
Middlesbrough	54–24	42–35	39–39	49–29	40–38		40–38	51–27	37–41	47–30	39–39	43–34	43–35	35–38
Newcastle	45–33	39–39	42–36	47–31	38–31	49–29		47–31	50–28	56–22	40–37	+	26–52	42–36
New Cross	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	44–32	41–36	44–34		37–41	n/a	38–39	42–35	35–43	35–43
Poole	55–23	48–30	43–34	60–18	54–24	49–29	51–27	51–27		52–26	44–34	43–35	54–24	47–31
Rayleigh	38–40	38–36	42–36	36–41	41–37	46–32	40–38	n/a	36–42		34–44	32–43	38–39	38–40
St Austell	47–31	58–19	41–37	42–36	49–29	44–34	42–36	53–25	45–33	48–30		37–41	49–29	48–30
Sheffield	41–37	45–33	46–32	49–29	50–28	59–19	37–41	49–27	55–23	54–23	44–34		46–32	56–22
Stoke	50–27	44–34	52–26	45–33	39–39	50–28	36–42	48–29	43–35	55–23	50–26	43–35		42–36
Wolverhampton	39–38	42–36	47–31	39–38	42–36	44–33	44–30	43–35	44–34	44–34	40–38	43–35	43–35

Source: ^[11]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

+Newcastle awarded win

Top five riders (league only)

	Rider	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

The 1963 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners.^[12]

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

First leg

30 September 1963

Newcastle Peter Kelly 13 Mike Watkin 12 Jack Winstanley 6 Ray Day 6 Russ Dent 6 Dennis Jenkins 6 Milton Cazely 1	50–45	Cradley Heath Ivor Brown 14 Harry Bastable 12 John Edwards 9 Derek Timms 5 Alan Totney 4 Ivor Davies 1 John Hart 0
	^[13]

Brough Park Stadium

Second leg

12 October 1963

Cradley Heath Ivor Brown 15 John Hart 15 John Edwards 13 Derek Timms 8 Harry Bastable 6 Alan Totney 6 Joe Westwood 1	64–32	Newcastle Peter Kelly 10 Bob Duckworth 8 Mike Watkin 6 Jack Winstanley 3 Ray Day 3 Maury Robinson 2 Dennis Jenkins 0
	^[14]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Supplementary leagues

Northern League

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Sheffield	6	4	0	2	8
Edinburgh	6	3	1	2	7
Newcastle	6	2	1	3	5
Middlesbrough	6	2	0	4	4

Southern League

Team	PL	W	L	Pts
Poole	8	6	2	12
Exeter	8	5	3	10
New Cross	8	5	3	10
Hackney	8	3	5	6
Rayleigh	8	1	7	2

Home \ Away	ED	MID	NEW	SHE
Edinburgh		52–26	58–20	47–31
Middlesbrough	45–33		51–26	38–39
Newcastle	39–39	46–31		41–36
Sheffield	47–31	46–32	46–31

Source: ^[15]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Home \ Away	EX	HAC	NC	PP	RAY
Exeter		56–22	53–25	34–44	54–24
Hackney	36–42		40–38	33–45	44–33
New Cross	45–32	45–33		40–38	40–36
Poole	48–30	53–24	47–31		50–28
Rayleigh	28–50	32–43	35–43	41–37

Source: ^[16]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Midland League

Team	PL	W	L	Pts
Cradley Heath	6	5	1	10
Stoke	6	4	2	8
Long Eaton	6	2	4	4
Wolverhampton	6	1	5	2

Home \ Away	CH	LE	STO	WOL
Cradley Heath		45–33	53–25	41–37
Long Eaton	34–44		32–46	40–37
Stoke	38–40	50–28		40–38
Wolverhampton	50–28	37–40	35–39

Source: ^[17]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Riders' Championship

Ivan Mauger won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 28 September.^[18]

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

v t e Speedway in the United Kingdom
Current leagues	SGB Premiership SGB Championship National Development League List of champions
Former leagues	Elite League Premier League National League (1932–1964) Provincial League (1960–1964) British League British League Division Two/National League Conference League National League Division Two National League Division Three English Dirt Track League/Northern League Southern League (1929–1931) Southern League (1952–1953) Provincial League (1936–1937) Southern Area League
Current team competitions	Knockout Cup League Pairs champions League Fours champions
Former team competitions	London Cup Midland Cup Craven and Young Shields Premiership Shield
Current individual competitions	British Speedway Championship League Riders' champions British U-21 British U-19 Scottish Open
Former individual competitions	London Riders' Midland Riders' Northern Riders' Southern Riders' Olympique Internationale
See also	Speedway British Speedway Promoters' Association Speedway Control Bureau

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners