1962 Provincial Speedway League

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

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

Summary

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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 Rayleigh Rockets had withdrawn.[2][3]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

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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)

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

Provincial League Knockout Cup

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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
18/06 Newcastle 74–22 Sheffield
21/06 Middlesbrough 66–30 Cradley Heath
22/06 Leicester 32–64 Poole
22/06 Bradford 57–39 Neath
23/06 Edinburgh 71–25 Wolverhampton

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
11/08 Edinburgh 54–42 Middlesbrough
11/08 Stoke 61–31 Newcastle
14/08 Bradford 44–52 Poole
27/08 Exeter 53–43 Plymouth

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/09 Exeter 57–39 Edinburgh
15/09 Stoke 49–47 Poole

Final

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Date Team one Score Team two
20/10 Stoke 60–36 Exeter
22/10 Exeter 70–26 Stoke

Riders' Championship

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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. Rider Pts Total
1   Len Silver 2 3 3 3 11+3
2   Wayne Briggs 3 2 3 3 11+2
3   Brian Craven 3 3 2 3 11+1
4   Guy Allott 3 2 3 3 11+0
5   Geoff Mudge 2 2 2 3 9
6   Ron Bagley 3 2 2 2 9
7   Norman Hunter 3 3 1 2 9
8   Doug Templeton 1 1 3 3 8
9   Brian McKeown 2 3 1 1 7
10   Ivor Brown 1 3 1 2 7
11   Pete Lansdale 1 1 1 3 6
12   Eric Hockaday 1 3 0 2 6
13   Jimmy Squibb f 2 2 2 6
14   Clive Featherby 3 f 1 1 5
15   Cliff Cox 0 2 2 1 5
16   Bill Andrew 0 2 3 0 5
17   Graham Warren 1 0 0 2 3
18   George Hunter 2 1 - - 3
19   Eric Boothroyd 2 0 1 0 3
20   Trevor Redmond 2 ef 1 0 3
21   Eric Boocock 1 1 0 0 2
22   Willie Templeton 0 1 0 ef 1
23   Charlie Monk 0 1 0 0 1
24   Howdy Byford (res) 0 0 1 1
25   Ernie Baker (res) 0 1 1
26   Reg Duval 0 - - - - 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure

Riders & final averages

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Bradford

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Leicester

Middlesbrough

Neath

Newcastle

Plymouth

Poole

Sheffield

Stoke

Wolverhampton

See also

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References

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  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.