League | Provincial League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 13 |
Champions | Wolverhampton Wolves |
Knockout Cup | Cradley Heathens |
Individual | Ivan Mauger |
Highest average | George Hunter |
Division/s above | 1963 National League |
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the previous year, Bradford and Leicester were no longer running due to financial difficulties and Plymouth had also withdrawn.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]
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
Rider | Nat | 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 |
The 1963 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners.[9]
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 |
First leg
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 |
---|---|---|
[10] |
Second leg
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 |
---|---|---|
[11] |
Ivan Mauger won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 28 September.[12]
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 |
Cradley Heath
Edinburgh
Exeter
Hackney
Long Eaton
Middlesbrough
Newcastle
New Cross (withdrew mid-season)
Poole
Rayleigh
St Austell
Sheffield
Stoke
Wolverhampton