1961 Provincial Speedway League Explained

Competition:Provincial League
Competitors:11
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Poole Pirates
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Cradley Heathens
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:Reg Reeves
Highestaverage:Reg Reeves
League Above:1961 National League
Prevseason:1960
Nextseason:1962

The 1961 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League.[1]

Summary

Eleven speedway teams took part. Liverpool, Yarmouth and Bristol had all folded at the end of the previous season and Bradford were unable to take their place in the league after the construction of their new track was delayed. Exeter, Plymouth, Wolverhampton, Middlesbrough and Newcastle all re-opened their tracks and joined the league for the start of the season. Plymouth took on Bristol's riders and Bulldog nickname. Poole were champions, finishing seven points ahead of runners up Plymouth.[2] [3] [4]

Final table

PosTeamMWDLPts
1Poole Pirates20151431
2Plymouth Bulldogs20120824
3Stoke Potters20120824
4Cradley Heath Heathens20111823
5Rayleigh Rockets20110922
6Edinburgh Monarchs20101921
7Sheffield Tigers201001020
8Exeter Falcons20901118
9Wolverhampton Wolves20701314
10Middlesbrough Bears20611313
11Newcastle Diamonds20501510
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Top Five Riders (League only)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Reg ReevesRayleigh11.43
2Jack ScottPlymouth11.08
3Ken MiddleditchPoole10.55
4Ross GilbertsonPoole10.51
5Tony LewisPoole10.32

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1961 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the second edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners.[5]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
13/05Stoke 53–41 Middlesbrough
19/05Rayleigh 50–46 Exeter

Second round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
18/05Sheffield 43–53 Plymouth
21/06Poole 71–25 Wolverhampton
24/06Stoke 46–50 Cradley Heath
17/07Edinburgh 49–47 Rayleigh

Semifinals

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
29/07Cradley Heath 55–41 Poole
12/08Edinburgh 55–40 Plymouth

Final

First legSecond leg

Riders' Championship

Reg Reeves won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Harringay Stadium on 16 September in front of 20,000 spectators. Defending champion Trevor Redmond suffered a broken chain in his last race when leading Reeves, which prevented him from winning the title again.[6]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal
1 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 3 3 3 3 ef 12
3 3 2 1 3 3 12
4 2 3 2 2 2 11
5 2 1 2 2 3 11
6 3 3 2 ef 3 11
7 1 2 3 2 2 10
8 1 1 2 f 2 6
9 0 1 1 1 2 5
10 2 2 0 0 15
11 0 2 2 1 0 5
12 exc 0 1 3 1 5
13 2 1 0 1 1 4
14 1 0 0 2 0 3
15 2 0 1 1 0 3
16 f 0 0 f 1 1

Riders & final averages

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Plymouth

Poole

Rayleigh

Sheffield

Stoke

Wolverhampton

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Championship History . Poole Speedway . 2008 . 2008-05-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080516063211/http://www.poolespeedway.net/08-website/lgerecord.php . 16 May 2008 . dead .
  2. Web site: Year by Year. Speedway Researcher. 13 August 2021.
  3. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
  4. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964). Official British Speedway website. 13 August 2021.
  5. Web site: 1961 Provincial League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive. 13 August 2021.
  6. News: One Long Yawn for Trevor . Daily Mirror . 18 September 1961 . 12 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .