1964 Provincial Speedway League

LeagueProvincial League

No. of competitors12

1964 Provincial Speedway League
League	Provincial League
No. of competitors	12
Champions	Newcastle Diamonds
Knockout Cup	Newport Wasps
Individual	Ivan Mauger
Northern League	Sheffield Tigers
Southern League	Poole Pirates
Highest average	Ivan Mauger
Division/s above	1964 National League
← 1963 1968 →

The 1964 Provincial Speedway League was the fifth and final season of the Provincial League in the United Kingdom.^[1] Twelve speedway teams took part. A second division of British speedway would not return until 1968.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The 1964 season started in controversy which led to the Provincial League running 'black'. Officially the 1964 Provincial League season did not exist.

Wolverhampton Wolves refused to move up to the National League after winning the Provincial League title in 1963. The two leagues could not agree about the situation which led to the Provincial League being outlawed by the Speedway Control Board.

All National League riders were forbidden to ride on Provincial League tracks. Provincial League riders were warned by the Speedway Control Board that they were in breach of ACU regulations and could be suspended from all competitive racing. They were also barred from the Speedway World Championship.

The Stoke Potters, St Austell Gulls and Rayleigh Rockets all withdrew from the league for various reasons before the season started. The Sunderland Stars joined the league but then withdrew after riding only three matches.^[5] However Glasgow Tigers and the Newport Wasps joined and completed the season.

Newcastle Diamonds won the final Provincial League and their first title.^[6] In the early season supplementary league competitions, Sheffield and Poole won the Northern and Southern leagues respectively.^[7]^[8]

League

Final table

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Newcastle Diamonds	22	17	0	5	34
2	Hackney Hawks	22	15	1	6	31
3	Wolverhampton Wolves	22	12	1	9	25
4	Newport Wasps	22	11	1	10	23
5	Edinburgh Monarchs	22	10	2	10	22
6	Exeter Falcons	22	10	1	11	21
7	Poole Pirates	22	10	1	11	21
8	Sheffield Tigers	22	9	2	11	20
9	Middlesbrough Bears	22	9	2	11	20
10	Cradley Heath Heathens	22	8	1	13	17
11	Long Eaton Archers	22	8	0	14	16
12	Glasgow Tigers	22	6	2	14	14

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

Sunderland Saints withdrew after three matches and had their record expunged, although they complete their fixtures in the early season Northern League event.

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	CH	ED	EX	GLA	HAC	LE	MID	ND	NW	PP	SHE	WOL
Cradley Heath		43–35	37–41	42–36	36–42	42–36	57–21	41–37	42–36	47–31	41–36	38–40
Edinburgh	44–34		43–35	39–39	45–33	53–22	48–30	38–40	46–32	38–40	52.5–24.5	52–26
Exeter	43–35	45–33		43–35	47–31	48–30	52–26	34–44	46–32	54–24	0–0	38–40
Glasgow	41–37	37–41	41–36		42–36	44–34	37–41	31–46	40–38	39–39	44–34	35–42
Hackney	47–31	53–25	43–34	49–29		47–31	55–23	42–36	39–39	53–25	52–26	42–36
Long Eaton	43–35	32–46	36–42	45–33	38–40		54–24	41–37	44–34	40–38	44–34	40–38
Middlesbrough	39–39	39–39	41–37	41–37	40–38	49–29		34–44	43–35	47–31	45–33	53–25
Newcastle	40–38	49–29	55–23	51–26	37–41	45–33	53–25		48–30	51–27	42–36	44–34
Newport	48–30	42–36	50–28	48–30	51–27	54–23	55–23	33–45		47–31	47–31	44–33
Poole	42–36	42–36	41–37	43–35	35–43	55–23	50–28	41–37	37–41		56–22	43–35
Sheffield	55–23	48–30	56–22	42–36	47–31	44–34	51–27	33–45	50–28	48–30		39–39
Wolverhampton	42–36	42–36	40–38	39–38	33–45	49–29	49–29	37–40	57–21	45–33	50–28

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top five riders (league only)

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger	Newcastle	11.54
2	Charlie Monk	Glasgow	10.88
3	Ivor Brown	Cradley	10.39
4	George Hunter	Edinburgh	10.31
5	Colin Pratt	Hackney	10.19

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1964 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the fifth edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Newport Wasps were the winners.^[10]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
18/05	Cradley Heath	51–45	Edinburgh
15/06	Newcastle	53–43	Poole
16/06	Long Eaton	54–42	Middlesbrough
17/06	Glasgow White City	59–37	Sheffield

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
03/07	Hackney	50–46	Exeter
13/07	Newcastle	62–34	Wolverhampton
17/07	Glasgow White City	46–49	Newport
18/07	Cradley Heath	51–45	Long Eaton

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
21/08	Newport	56–40	Hackney
19/09	Cradley Heath	54–42	Newcastle

Final

first leg

25 September 1964

Newport Wasps Peter Vandenberg 13 Dick Bradley 13 Jon Erskine 10 Alby Golden 8 Bob Hughes 5 Vic White 5 Geoff Penniket 4	58–38	Cradley Heath Ivor Brown 12 Harry Bastable 7 George Major 6 John Hart 6 Alan Totney 4 Eric Hockaday 3 John Edwards 0
	^[11]

Somerton Park

second leg

24 October 1964

Cradley Heath Ivor Brown 15 John Edwards 13 John Hart 12 Harry Bastable 7 Eric Hockaday 5 Alan Totney 5 Matt Mattocks 0	57–39	Newport Wasps Peter Vandenberg 11 Dick Bradley 9 Alby Golden 8 Jon Erskine 4 Geoff Penniket 4 Bob Hughes 3 Vic White 0
	^[12]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Supplementary leagues

Northern League

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Sheffield	10	8	0	2	16
Edinburgh	10	5	1	4	11
Newcastle	10	5	1	4	11
Glasgow	10	5	0	5	10
Middlesbrough	10	4	0	6	8
Sunderland	10	2	0	8	4

Southern League

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Poole	12	8	0	4	16
Cradley Heath	12	7	0	5	14
Exeter	12	6	1	5	13
Newport	12	6	0	6	12
Hackney	12	6	0	6	12
Long Eaton	12	5	0	7	10
Wolverhampton	12	3	0	9	6

Home \ Away	ED	GLA	MID	ND	SHE	SUN
Edinburgh		56–21	49–29	50–28	36–41	57–21
Glasgow	41–37		44–34	53–25	49–29	50–28
Middlesbrough	40–37	46–32		37–40	34–44	39–38
Newcastle	39–39	46–29	41–37		40–38	53–25
Sheffield	46–32	59–19	52–26	57–21		58–20
Sunderland	30–47	48–30	24–53	39–37	37–41

Source: ^[13]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Home \ Away	CH	EX	HAC	LE	NW	PP	WOL
Cradley Heath		50–28	41–37	48–30	42–36	37–41	41–37
Exeter	60–18		52–26	55–23	42–36	41–37	56–21
Hackney	43–34	42–35		41–37	44–34	52–25	53–25
Long Eaton	37–41	39–37	49.5–27.5		42–36	41–36	36–41
Newport	38–40	45–33	45–33	52–25		40–38	40–37
Poole	50–28	48–30	45–33	57–21	43–35		49–29
Wolverhampton	50–28	31–47	53–25	38–40	38–39	26–52

Source: ^[14]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Riders' Championship

Ivan Mauger won the Riders' Championship for the second successive year. The final was held at Hyde Road on 26 September.^[15]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Ivan Mauger	2,3,2,3,3	13+3
2	Charlie Monk	1,3,3,3,3	13+2
3	Roy Trigg	3,2,2,2,3	12+3
4	Peter Kelly	3,3,2,2,2	12+2
5	Peter Jarman	1,2,3,2,3	11
6	Ivor Brown	1,1,3,3,1	9
7	Ken Sharples	2,3,1,1,2	9
8	Bill Andrew	3,0,2,3,0	8
9	Colin Pratt	3,0,0,2,2	7
10	Jimmy Squibb	2,1,0,1,2	6
11	Trevor Redmond	0,2,1,1,1	5
12	Peter Vandenberg	1,0,3,1,0	5
13	George Hunter	0,2,1,0,1	4
14	Norman Storer	2,0,0,0,1	3
15	Bluey Scott	0,1,1,0,0	2
16	Jon Erskine	0,0,0,0,0	0

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