1962 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
ChampionsPoole Pirates
No. of competitors13
Knockout CupExeter Falcons
IndividualLen Silver
Highest averageIvor Brown
Division/s above1962 National League

The 1962 Provincial Speedway League was the third season of the Provincial League.[1]

Summary

Thirteen speedway teams took part. Bradford, at their new venue at Greenfields Stadium, returned to the league after missing the previous season due to delays building their new track. The league season proved to be disastrous for Bradford and the club folded at the end of the year. New team Neath Welsh Dragons joined the league and Leicester joined after dropping down from the National League. Neath, near Port Talbot in Wales, was not a successful venue and many of their fixtures were raced at St. Austell. Rayleigh Rockets had withdrawn.[2][3]

Poole won the league championship for the second year in a row.[4] The Neath Welsh Dragons achieved what was described as the impossible by finishing second in the league standings.[5]

Final table

Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 24 17 0 7 34
2 Neath Welsh Dragons 24 14 1 9 29
3 Exeter Falcons 24 14 0 10 28
4 Stoke Potters 24 14 0 10 28
5 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 12 2 10 26
6 Plymouth Devils 24 12 2 10 26
7 Sheffield Tigers 24 12 1 11 25
8 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 12 0 12 24
9 Newcastle Diamonds 24 12 0 12 24
10 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 11 1 12 23
11 Middlesbrough Bears 24 11 0 13 22
12 Leicester Hunters 24 6 0 18 12
13 Bradford Panthers 24 5 1 18 11

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

Top Five Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivor Brown England Cradley 10.21
2 Clive Featherby England Sheffield 10.21
3 Eric Boothroyd England Middlesbrough 10.15
4 Geoff Mudge Australia Poole 10.04
5 Jimmy Squibb England Plymouth 9.74

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
18/06Newcastle74–22Sheffield
21/06Middlesbrough66–30Cradley Heath
22/06Leicester32–64Poole
22/06Bradford57–39Neath
23/06Edinburgh71–25Wolverhampton

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
11/08Edinburgh54–42Middlesbrough
11/08Stoke61–31Newcastle
14/08Bradford44–52Poole
27/08Exeter53–43Plymouth

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/09Exeter57–39Edinburgh
15/09Stoke49–47Poole

Final

Date Team one Score Team two
20/10Stoke60–36Exeter
22/10Exeter70–26Stoke

Riders' Championship

Len Silver won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 22 September in front of 20,000 spectators. Four riders finished on 11 points forcing a race off.[7]

Pos.RiderPtsTotal
1England Len Silver2 3 3 311+3
2New Zealand Wayne Briggs3 2 3 311+2
3England Brian Craven3 3 2 311+1
4England Guy Allott3 2 3 311+0
5Australia Geoff Mudge2 2 2 39
6England Ron Bagley3 2 2 29
7England Norman Hunter3 3 1 29
8Scotland Doug Templeton1 1 3 38
9New Zealand Brian McKeown2 3 1 17
10England Ivor Brown1 3 1 27
11England Pete Lansdale1 1 1 36
12England Eric Hockaday1 3 0 26
13England Jimmy Squibbf 2 2 26
14England Clive Featherby3 f 1 15
15England Cliff Cox0 2 2 15
16New Zealand Bill Andrew0 2 3 05
17Australia Graham Warren1 0 0 23
18Scotland George Hunter2 1 - -3
19England Eric Boothroyd2 0 1 03
20New Zealand Trevor Redmond2 ef 1 03
21England Eric Boocock1 1 0 02
22Scotland Willie Templeton0 1 0 ef1
23Australia Charlie Monk0 1 0 01
24England Howdy Byford (res)0 0 11
25England Ernie Baker (res)0 11
26England Reg Duval0 - - - -0
  • f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure

Riders & final averages

Bradford

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Leicester

Middlesbrough

Neath

Newcastle

  • England Brian Craven 9.60
  • England Gil Goldfinch 7.76
  • New Zealand Bill Andrew 6.70
  • England Mike Watkin 6.38
  • England Don Wilkinson 6.15
  • England Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.79
  • New Zealand Ivan Crozier 5.09
  • England Pete Sampson 4.25
  • South Africa George Glen 4.05
  • England Russ Dent 3.20

Plymouth

Poole

Sheffield

  • England Clive Featherby 10.21
  • England Tony Robinson 9.60
  • England Guy Allott 9.58
  • England Ron Bagley 7.98
  • England Ronnie Rolfe 6.11
  • Australia Derrol Melbin 3.76
  • England John Dews 3.35
  • England Jack Winstanley 3.30
  • England Alan Jay 2.97

Stoke

  • England Eric Hockaday 8.69
  • England Ken Adams 8.67
  • England Pete Jarman 7.95
  • England Jimmy Heard 7.65
  • England Colin Pratt 6.20
  • England Ron Sharp 5.66
  • England John Edwards 4.93
  • Wales Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 4.56
  • England Bill Wainwright 3.43
  • England Ray Harris 3.38

Wolverhampton

  • England Tommy Sweetman 8.67
  • Australia Graham Warren 8.13
  • England Ernie Baker 7.28
  • England Vic Ridgeon 6.52
  • Wales Cyril Francis 6.26
  • England Derek Strutt 6.16
  • England Les Jenkins 4.70
  • England Bill Bridgett 4.47
  • England Erol Brook 3.85
  • England Terry Stone 1.47

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Championship History". Poole Speedway. 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  2. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "Speedway Dragons second in P.L. Championship". Porthcawl Guardian. 19 October 1962. Retrieved 16 November 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "Hunter out of Luck". Edinburgh Evening News. 24 September 1962. Retrieved 12 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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