# 1960 Provincial Speedway League

The 1960 Provincial Speedway League was the first season of the Provincial League, ten motorcycle speedway teams took part.

## Teams

The ten teams that made up the re-incarnated Provincial League were mainly teams that had not experienced league racing for several years. Eight teams were Sheffield Tigers (who had been without league speedway since 1951), Cradley Heath Heathens (1952), Stoke Potters & Liverpool Pirates (1953), Bristol Bulldogs and Edinburgh Monarchs (1954), Bradford Panthers (formerly Odsal) & Rayleigh Rockets (1957). The remaining two teams were Poole Pirates, who joined from the National League and Yarmouth Bloaters, who joined the league after moving up from the Southern Area League. The Southern Area League was disbanded leaving three teams Eastbourne Eagles, Aldershot Shots and Rye House Rockets without a league, so they ran a series of challenge matches throughout 1960.

## Summary

The league was dominated by Rayleigh, Poole and Bristol. Rayleigh and Poole finished on the same points, but Rayleigh triumphed with a superior number of race points scored. At the end of the season Liverpool and Yarmouth folded and Bristol closed after their track was sold for redevelopment.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | M | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Rayleigh Rockets | 18 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 32 |
| 2 | Poole Pirates | 18 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 32 |
| 3 | Bristol Bulldogs | 18 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
| 4 | Sheffield Tigers | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 18 |
| 5 | Stoke Potters | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 17 |
| 6 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| 7 | Yarmouth Bloaters | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 14 |
| 8 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 11 |
| 9 | Liverpool Pirates | 18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 8 |
| 10 | Bradford Panthers | 18 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 2 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## Fixtures & results

| Home \ Away | BRA | BRI | CH | ED | LIV | PP | RAY | SHE | STO | YAR |
| Bradford | | 27–43 | 28–44 | 37–34 | 34–38 | 24–28 | 31–41 | 34–36 | 33–38 | 24–44 |
| Bristol | 52–20 | | 40–32 | 50–22 | 55–16 | 35–37 | 34–38 | 52–20 | 44–28 | 38–34 |
| Cradley Heath | 47–25 | 36–36 | | 41–31 | 44–28 | 29–42 | 34–38 | 49–23 | 43–29 | 37–35 |
| Edinburgh | 42–30 | 33–39 | 44–28 | | 39–33 | 34–38 | 27–45 | 35–37 | 37–32 | 40–28 |
| Liverpool | 45–27 | 25–46 | 34–38 | 37–34 | | 25–47 | 26–46 | 40–31 | 32–37 | 28–42 |
| Poole | + | 38–34 | 40–31 | 52–19 | 51–21 | | 41–31 | 50–21 | 48–24 | 45–26 |
| Rayleigh | 59–12 | 35–37 | 50–20 | 52–20 | 58–14 | 40–32 | | 49–23 | 54–18 | 43–29 |
| Sheffield | 51–21 | 31–41 | 42–29 | 53–19 | 40–32 | 29–41 | 25–47 | | 47–25 | 45–27 |
| Stoke | 42–25 | 32–37 | 42–30 | 35–35 | 44–26 | 37–34 | 34–38 | 41–31 | | 37–32 |
| Bradford | 45–27 | 35–36 | 42–30 | 43–28 | 45–27 | 34–37 | 28–44 | 27–45 | 43–29 | |
+Poole awarded points

## Top five averages (league only)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Reg Reeves | Rayleigh | 11.29 |
| 2 | Trevor Redmond | Bristol | 10.92 |
| 3 | Harry Bastable | Cradley Heath | 10.59 |
| 4 | Tony Lewis | Poole | 10.43 |
| 5 | Alan Smith | Rayleigh | 10.41 |

## Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1960 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the first edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Bristol Bulldogs were the winners.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 30/05 | Liverpool | 47–49 | Cradley Heath |
| 09/07 | Edinburgh | 59–37 | Sheffield |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 25/06 | Bradford | 35–61 | Bristol |
| 02/07 | Stoke | 60–35 | Cradley Heath |
| 16/07 | Edinburgh | 54–41 | Yarmouth |
| 03/08 | Poole | 47–49 | Rayleigh |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 27/08 | Edinburgh | 38–58 | Bristol |
| 02/09 | Rayleigh | 52–43 | Stoke |

### Final

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 07/09 | Rayleigh | 52–41 | Bristol |
| 23/09 | Bristol | 59–37 | Rayleigh |

## Riders' Championship

Trevor Redmond won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Dudley Wood Stadium on 24 September.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
| 1 | Trevor Redmond | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Ken Middleditch | 3 3 2 3 2 | 13 |
| 3 | Eric Hockaday | 3 3 3 1 3 | 13 |
| 4 | Tony Robinson | 3 3 1 2 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Doug Templeton | 2 1 3 3 1 | 10 |
| 6 | Jack Kitchen | 2 2 2 0 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Tony Lewis | 2 1 2 2 2 | 9 |
| 8 | Wal Morton | 1 1 0 3 0 | 9 |
| 9 | Ivor Brown | 1 2 3 1 1 | 9 |
| 10 | Tommy Roper | 2 0 2 1 0 | 5 |
| 11 | Johnny Hole | 0 2 1 2 3 | 5 |
| 12 | Reg Reeves | 1 1 1 0 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Ray Day | 0 2 1 0 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Ross Gilbertson (res) | 2 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Eric Eadon (res) | 1 2 | 3 |
| 16 | Clive Featherby | 1 0 r | 1 |
| 17 | Norman Strachan | f 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Cliff Cox | 0 0 0 | 0 |
* f=fell r-retired

## Riders & final averages

Bradford
* Tommy Roper 6.90
* Ray Day 6.57
* Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.46
* Stan Holey 4.48
* Jim Yacoby 4.15
* Dave Anderson 3.08
* Tony Barnard 1.64
Bristol
* Trevor Redmond 10.92
* Johnny Hole 10.00
* Cliff Cox 7.83
* Roy Taylor 7.79
* Chris Julian 7.20
* Ernie Baker 6.83
* Pat Flanagan 6.24
* Frank Evans 5.87
* Ivor Toms 5.29
Cradley Heath
* Harry Bastable 10.59
* Eric Eadon 8.06
* Ronnie Rolfe 6.59
* Roy Spencer 6.04
* George Bewley 5.55
* Vic White 5.28
* Tony Eadon 3.52
* Errol Brook 2.00
Edinburgh
* Doug Templeton 8.16
* Reg Luckhurst 8.00
* Willie Templeton 7.13
* Fred Greenwell 6.76
* George Hunter 4.34
* Jimmy Tannock 4.30
* Gordon Mitchell 3.62
* Jimmy Cox 3.55
Liverpool
* Brian Craven 10.00
* Shorty Schirmer 8.15
* Wal Morton 7.40
* Dave Dodd 5.30
* Dennis Jenkins 4.93
* Col Smith 3.52
* Graham Beattie 3.26
* Bob McHugh 2.57
* Derick Skyner 2.09
Poole
* Tony Lewis 10.43
* Ross Gilbertson 9.93
* Ken Middleditch 9.40
* Norman Strachan 7.72
* Geoff Mudge 7.52
* Allan Kidd 7.93
* Jimmy Gleed 6.00
* Charlie Wallis 5.25
* Gerry Bridson 2.75
Rayleigh
* Reg Reeves 11.29
* Alan Smith 10.41
* Eric Hockaday 9.24
* Pete Lansdale 8.94
* Stan Stevens 7.58
* Roy Craighead 5.85
* Clive Hitch 5.37
* John Leggett 4.50
* Reg Nicholls 4.00
Sheffield
* Tony Robinson 9.60
* Len Williams 9.20
* Jack Kitchen 8.55
* Stuart Hickman 6.26
* Jack Winstanley 5.19
* Malcolm Bruce 4.13
* Terry Turner 2.86
* Derrol Melbin 2.32
* Bernard McArthur 1.43
Stoke
* Ken Adams 11.00
* Reg Fearman 9.12
* Ray Harris 7.62
* Les Jenkins 7.57
* Pete Jarman 6.06
* Peter Kelly 5.73
* Bill Bridgett 5.29
* Gordon Owen 4.53
* Arthur Rowe 3.38
* Ted Connor 3.09
Yarmouth
* Ivor Brown 9.78
* Johnny Fitzpatrick 8.24
* Geoff Pymar 8.00
* John Debbage 5.53
* Ron Bagley 5.77
* Ken Last 4.59
* John Leggett 3.48