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]

1965 British League season
LeagueBritish League
Season1965
ChampionsWest Ham Hammers
No. of competitors18
Knockout CupWest Ham Hammers
IndividualBarry Briggs[1]
Highest averageNigel 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

Top Ten Riders (League Average)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Nigel Boocock England Coventry Bees 11.09
2 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon Robins 10.91
3 Ken McKinlay Scotland West Ham Hammers 10.72
4 Mike Broadbanks England Swindon Robins 10.54
5 Sverre Harrfeldt Norway West Ham Hammers 10.35
6 Olle Nygren Sweden Wimbledon Dons 10.31
7 Charlie Monk Australia Glasgow Tigers 10.22
8 Ron How England Oxford Cheetahs 10.16
9 Arne Pander Denmark Oxford Cheetahs 10.01
10 Jimmy Gooch England Oxford Cheetahs 9.97

Knockout Cup

West Ham Hammers won the Knockout Cup and completed the double of league and cup.

Main article: British League Knockout Cup 1965

Final leading averages
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Nigel Boocock England Coventry Bees 11.12
2 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon Robins 10.93
3 Ken McKinlay Scotland West Ham Hammers 10.83
4 Mike Broadbanks England Swindon Robins 10.48
5 Sverre Harrfeldt Norway West Ham Hammers 10.46
6 Charlie Monk Australia Glasgow Tigers 10.28
7 Olle Nygren Sweden Wimbledon Dons 10.22
8 Ron How England Oxford Cheetahs 10.16
9 Arne Pander Denmark Oxford Cheetahs 10.03
10 Jimmy Gooch England Oxford Cheetahs 9.90
11 Cyril Maidment England Belle Vue Aces 9.65
12 Ronnie Genz England Poole Pirates 9.45
13 Eric Boocock England Halifax Dukes 9.43
14 Norman Hunter England West Ham Hammers 9.42
15 George Hunter Scotland Edinburgh Monarchs 9.35
16 Ivor Brown England Cradley Heathens 9.27
17 Colin Gooddy England Exeter Falcons 9.24
18 Reg Luckhurst England Wimbledon Dons 9.14
19 Bill Andrew New Zealand Poole Pirates 9.07
20 Dave Younghusband England Halifax Dukes 9.06

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

  • Australia Charlie Monk 10.28
  • Australia Bluey Scott 7.61
  • England Willie Templeton 7.16
  • Norway Nils Paulsen 6.58
  • England Maurie Mattingley 6.12
  • New Zealand Graham Coombes 5.23
  • Australia Bruce Ovenden 4.76
  • Scotland Bill McMillan 4.12

Hackney

  • England Gerry Jackson 8.69
  • England Colin Pratt 8.51
  • England Roy Trigg 7.51
  • England John Poyser 6.79
  • England Les McGillivray 6.60
  • England Howdy Byford 5.49
  • England Malcolm Brown 5.15
  • England Brian Davies 5.04
  • England Sandy McGillivray 3.45

Halifax

Long Eaton

Newcastle

Newport

Oxford

  • England Ron How 10.16
  • Denmark Arne Pander 10.03
  • England Jimmy Gooch 9.90
  • England Maury McDermott 4.53
  • England Ken Vale 4.51
  • England John Bishop 4.34
  • England Eddie Reeves 4.25
  • England Jimmy Heard 3.83
  • England Stan Stevens 3.32
  • England Glyn Chandler 2.45
  • England John Hook 1.71

Poole

Sheffield

  • England Jack Kitchen 8.69
  • England Clive Featherby 8.06
  • England Billy Bales 7.43
  • England John Dews 6.05
  • England David Crane 5.63
  • England Alan Jay 5.08
  • England Bob Paulson 4.54

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References
  1. "British League Riders Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  6. "Custom House Years". customhousekid. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
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