1965 British League season
The 1965 British League season was the 31st season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom.[2] It was also the first known as the new British League which was formed in 1965, along with the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA). The league was an amalgamation of the National League and the Provincial League.[3]
League | British League |
---|---|
Season | 1965 |
Champions | West Ham Hammers |
No. of competitors | 18 |
Knockout Cup | West Ham Hammers |
Individual | Barry Briggs[1] |
Highest average | Nigel Boocock |
Summary
Middlesbrough Bears did not join the new league and Norwich Stars had closed for good. Halifax Dukes were new entrants.1929-1977 [4]
West Ham Hammers were the first ever British League winners. It was their first league success since 1937. The West Ham team included Scot Ken McKinlay who finished the season third in the averages at 10.72 and the Norwegian champion Sverre Harrfeldt who finished fifth in the averages. They were supported well by British internationals Norman Hunter and Malcolm Simmons. The West Ham team completed the double when winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final they defeated Exeter Falcons 63-33.[5] The season was not a complete success because during a challenge match at West Ham Stadium a junior rider called David John Wills was killed in a race after crashing.[6] Wimbledon Dons headed by leading Swedish rider Olle Nygren fought West Ham throughout the season and only lost the league by a single point.
Final table
M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
1 | West Ham Hammers | 34 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 1430 | 1215 | 47 |
2 | Wimbledon Dons | 34 | 22 | 2 | 10 | 1396 | 1245 | 46 |
3 | Coventry Bees | 34 | 20 | 0 | 14 | 1384 | 1258 | 40 |
4 | Oxford Cheetahs | 34 | 19 | 2 | 13 | 1308 | 1340 | 40 |
5 | Halifax Dukes | 33 | 18 | 3 | 12 | 1322 | 1240 | 39 |
6 | Newport Wasps | 34 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 1360 | 1288 | 38 |
7 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 1429 | 1216 | 37 |
8 | Hackney Hawks | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 1327.5 | 1319.5 | 37 |
9 | Exeter Falcons | 34 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 1325.5 | 1323.5 | 36 |
10 | Poole Pirates | 34 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 1378 | 1266 | 35 |
11 | Sheffield Tigers | 34 | 16 | 2 | 16 | 1300 | 1346 | 34 |
12 | Newcastle Diamonds | 34 | 16 | 1 | 17 | 1363 | 1282 | 33 |
13 | Glasgow Tigers | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 1315 | 1329 | 31 |
14 | Belle Vue Aces | 34 | 15 | 0 | 19 | 1328 | 1312 | 30 |
15 | Swindon Robins | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 1345 | 1300 | 28 |
16 | Cradley Heathens | 33 | 11 | 1 | 21 | 1132 | 1438 | 23 |
17 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 34 | 11 | 0 | 23 | 1173 | 1428 | 22 |
18 | Long Eaton Archers | 34 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 1107 | 1534 | 14 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Leading Riders by Averages
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Nigel Boocock | ![]() |
Coventry Bees | 11.09 |
2 | Barry Briggs | ![]() |
Swindon Robins | 10.91 |
3 | Ken McKinlay | ![]() |
West Ham Hammers | 10.72 |
4 | Mike Broadbanks | ![]() |
Swindon Robins | 10.54 |
5 | Sverre Harrfeldt | ![]() |
West Ham Hammers | 10.35 |
6 | Olle Nygren | ![]() |
Wimbledon Dons | 10.31 |
7 | Charlie Monk | ![]() |
Glasgow Tigers | 10.22 |
8 | Ron How | ![]() |
Oxford Cheetahs | 10.16 |
9 | Arne Pander | ![]() |
Oxford Cheetahs | 10.01 |
10 | Jimmy Gooch | ![]() |
Oxford Cheetahs | 9.97 |
11 | Cyril Maidment | ![]() |
Belle Vue Aces | 9.65 |
12 | Ronnie Genz | ![]() |
Poole Pirates | 9.45 |
13 | Eric Boocock | ![]() |
Halifax Dukes | 9.43 |
14 | Norman Hunter | ![]() |
West Ham Hammers | 9.42 |
15 | George Hunter | ![]() |
Edinburgh Monarchs | 9.35 |
16 | Ivor Brown | ![]() |
Cradley Heathens | 9.27 |
17 | Colin Gooddy | ![]() |
Exeter Falcons | 9.24 |
18 | Reg Luckhurst | ![]() |
Wimbledon Dons | 9.14 |
19 | Bill Andrew | ![]() |
Poole Pirates | 9.07 |
20 | Dave Younghusband | ![]() |
Halifax Dukes | 9.06 |
Knockout Cup
West Ham Hammers won the Knockout Cup and completed the double of league and cup.
Teams
Belle Vue Aces
-
Fred Collier
-
John Ellis
-
Dick Fisher
-
Cyril Maidment
-
Gordon McGregor
-
Len Kirkham
-
Sándor Lévai
-
Leo McAuliffe
-
Norman Nevitt
-
Dent Oliver
-
Taffy Owen
-
Bill Powell
-
Dave Schofield
-
Vic White
-
Jim Yacoby
Coventry Bees
-
Ron Bagley
-
Nigel Boocock
-
Howie Booton
-
Col Cottrell
-
Rick France
-
Peter Gay
-
Chris Harrison
-
Roger Hill
-
Fred Hodder
-
Jim Lightfoot
-
Ron Mountford
-
Les Owen
-
Col Smith
Cradley Heath
-
Goog Allan
-
Harry Bastable
-
Ivor Brown
-
Tim Bungay
-
Ron Cooper
-
John Debbage
-
John Edwards
-
John Hart
-
Eric Hockaday
-
Ivor Hughes
-
Chris Julian
-
George Major
-
Matt Mattocks
-
Leo McAuliffe
-
Alan Totney
Edinburgh Monarchs
-
Preben Andreasen
-
Brian Black
-
Wayne Briggs
-
John Ellis
-
Bert Harkins
-
Henry Harrfeldt
-
Ray Humphries+ (+ rode under the name Tyburn Gallows)
-
George Hunter
-
Bill Landels
-
Colin McKee
-
Ross Nickisson
-
Bernt Persson
-
Fred Priest
-
Alfred Sitzwohl
-
Jimmy Tannock
-
Doug Templeton
-
Kevin Torpie
-
Alf Wells
Exeter Falcons
-
Chris Blewett
-
Tim Bungay
-
Glyn Chandler
-
Cliff Cox
-
Alan Cowland
-
Doug Dearden
-
Pat Flanagan
-
Jack Geran
-
Colin Gooddy
-
Ivor Hughes
-
Tony Lewis
-
Des Lukehurst
-
Maury McDermott
-
Jimmy Squibb
-
Ray Wickett
Glasgow Tigers
-
Trevor Chamberlain
-
Graham Coombes
-
Joe Hicks
-
Chris Julian
-
Maurie Mattingley
-
Bill McMillan
-
Charlie Monk
-
Jack Red Monteith
-
Bruce Ovenden
-
Nils Paulsen
-
Bluey Scott
-
Willie Templeton
-
Roy Williams+ (+ rode under the name Bernie Lagrosse)
Hackney Hawks
-
Malcolm Brown
-
Howdy Byford
-
Brian Davies
-
Joe Hicks
-
Gerry Jackson
-
Maury McDermott
-
Les McGillivray
-
Sandy McGillivray
-
John Poyser
-
Colin Pratt
-
Reg Reeves
-
Roy Trigg
Halifax Dukes
-
Eric Boocock
-
Eric Boothroyd
-
Ray Day
-
Bryan Elliott
-
Dennis Gavros
-
Clive Hitch
-
Bob Jameson
-
Bert Kingston
-
Tommy Roper
-
Dave Younghusband
Long Eaton Archers
-
Ken Adams
-
Terry Betts
-
Howard Cole+ (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
-
Ian Champion
-
Ray Cresp
-
Ted Ede
-
John Ellis
-
Dai Evans
-
Peter Harris
-
Clive Hitch
-
Ivor Hughes
-
Bob Jameson
-
Alan Jones
-
Len Kirkham
-
Rim Malskaitis
-
Sandy McGillivray
-
John Mills
-
Eric Minall
-
Peter Moore
-
Jack Red Monteith
-
Tommy Roper
-
Ron Sharp
-
Paul Sharples
-
George Snailum+ (+ rode under the name of Tich Read)
-
Norman Storer
-
Ray Wilson
-
Peter Wrathall
Newcastle Diamonds
-
Goog Allan
-
Brian Brett
-
Alan Butterfield
-
Brian Craven
-
Russ Dent
-
Dave Gifford
-
Peter Kelly
-
Ivan Mauger
-
Maury Robinson
-
Ken Sharples
-
Mike Watkin
-
Jack Winstanley
Newport Wasps
-
Jack Biggs
-
Dick Bradley
-
Jon Erskine
-
Alby Golden
-
Ray Harris
-
Bob Hughes
-
Geoff Penniket
-
Peter Vandenberg
-
Vic White
Oxford Cheetahs
-
Wayne Barry
-
John Belcher
-
John Bishop
-
Glyn Chandler
-
Danny Dunton
-
Bill Finch
-
Jimmy Gooch
-
Jimmy Heard
-
John Hensley
-
John Hook
-
Ron How
-
Ray Humphries+ (+ rode under the name Tyburn Gallows)
-
John Leader
-
Maury McDermott
-
Arne Pander
-
Eddie Reeves
-
Stan Stevens
-
Ken Vale
Poole Pirates
-
Bill Andrew
-
Bruce Cribb
-
Ronnie Genz
-
Ross Gilbertson
-
Alf Hagon
-
Brian Leonard
-
Geoff Mudge
-
Pete Munday
-
Pete Smith
-
Norman Strachan
-
Terry Stone
-
Pete Swain
Sheffield Tigers
1965
-
Billy Bales
-
Malcolm Brown
-
Cyril Crane
-
David Crane
-
John Dews
-
Clive Featherby
-
Arnold Haley
-
Stan Holey
-
Alan Jay
-
Derek Jay
-
Len Kirkham
-
Jack Kitchen
-
Eric Minall
-
Bob Paulson
-
Taffy Owen
-
Tommy Roper
Swindon Robins
-
Martin Ashby
-
Roy Bowers
-
Barry Briggs
-
Mike Broadbank
-
Trevor Chamberlain
-
Doug Dearden
-
Tony Eadon
-
Ray Harris
-
Alan Jackson
-
Mike Keen
-
Bob Kilby
-
Pete Sampson
-
Frank Shuter
-
Alan Stapleton
West Ham Hammers
-
Tony Clarke
-
Bob Dugard
-
Ted Ede
-
John Ellis
-
Sverre Harrfeldt
-
Alf Hagon
-
Geoff Hughes
-
Norman Hunter
-
Tony Lewis
-
Brian Leonard
-
Ken McKinlay
-
Kevin Russell
-
Malcolm Simmons
-
Stan Stevens
-
Reg Trott
-
Ray Wickett
-
Dave Wills
Wimbledon Dons
-
Mike Coomber
-
Doug Dearden
-
Bob Dugard
-
John Edwards
-
Trevor Hedge
-
Geoff Hughes
-
Alan Jones
-
Reg Luckhurst
-
Olle Nygren
-
Jim Tebby
-
Reg Trott
-
Keith Whipp
Wolverhampton Wolves
-
Jim Airey
-
James Bond
-
Bob Andrews
-
Cyril Francis
-
Gordon Guasco
-
Chris Harrison
-
Pete Jarman
-
Brian Maxted
-
Paul Sharples
-
Tommy Sweetman
References
- "British League Riders Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- "Custom House Years". customhousekid. Retrieved 28 July 2021.