# 1961 Provincial Speedway League

The 1961 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League.

## 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. After a couple of challenge meetings held throughout 1960 Exeter returned following a five-year league absence under the promotion of Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | M | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Poole Pirates | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 31 |
| 2 | Plymouth Bulldogs | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 24 |
| 3 | Stoke Potters | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 24 |
| 4 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 23 |
| 5 | Rayleigh Rockets | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 22 |
| 6 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 21 |
| 7 | Sheffield Tigers | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| 8 | Exeter Falcons | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 18 |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 14 |
| 10 | Middlesbrough Bears | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 13 |
| 11 | Newcastle Diamonds | 20 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 10 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

## Fixtures and results

| Home \ Away | CH | ED | EX | MID | NEW | PLY | PP | RAY | SHE | STO | WOL |
| Cradley Heath | | 42–36 | 40–38 | 51–27 | 59–19 | 40–38 | 38–40 | 43–35 | 40–38 | 42–36 | 45–33 |
| Edinburgh | 43–34 | | 44–34 | 46–31 | 60–18 | 46–32 | 39–39 | 40–38 | 55–20 | 45–33 | 46–32 |
| Exeter | 45–33 | 52–25 | | 57–20 | 48–29 | 41–36 | 27–51 | 48–30 | 47–31 | 40–37 | 53–24 |
| Middlesbrough | 39–39 | 34–43 | 53–25 | | 43–35 | 40–37 | 51–27 | 51–26 | 36–42 | 37–38 | 48–30 |
| Newcastle | 34–44 | 42–36 | 44–34 | 42.5–35.5 | | 44–33 | 29–49 | 37–40 | 42–36 | 33–45 | 37–40 |
| Plymouth | 54–24 | 46–32 | 44–34 | 47–31 | 48–30 | | 40–38 | 45–32 | 47–31 | 41–36 | 44–34 |
| Poole | 56–22 | 58–20 | 50.5–27.5 | 63–15 | 52–25 | 39–37 | | 55–23 | 50–28 | 56–22 | 53–24 |
| Rayleigh | 50–28 | 40–38 | 50–25 | 50–28 | 50–28 | 41–37 | 45–32 | | 46–32 | 51–27 | 53–25 |
| Sheffield | 39–38 | 48–30 | 50–27 | 46–32 | 50–28 | 37–41 | 42–36 | 61–17 | | 41–37 | 40–38 |
| Stoke | 44–34 | 47–29 | 41–37 | 50–28 | 54–22 | 51–26 | 31–47 | 49–29 | 42–35 | | 46–31 |
| Wolverhampton | 33–45 | 47–31 | 45–33 | 45–33 | 41–37 | 25–53 | 37–41 | 55–23 | 43–35 | 33–45 | |

## Top Five Riders (League only)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Reg Reeves | Rayleigh | 11.43 |
| 2 | Jack Scott | Plymouth | 11.08 |
| 3 | Ken Middleditch | Poole | 10.55 |
| 4 | Ross Gilbertson | Poole | 10.51 |
| 5 | Tony Lewis | Poole | 10.32 |

## 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.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 13/05 | Stoke | 53–41 | Middlesbrough |
| 19/05 | Rayleigh | 50–46 | Exeter |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 18/05 | Sheffield | 43–53 | Plymouth |
| 21/06 | Poole | 71–25 | Wolverhampton |
| 24/06 | Stoke | 46–50 | Cradley Heath |
| 17/07 | Edinburgh | 49–47 | Rayleigh |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 29/07 | Cradley Heath | 55–41 | Poole |
| 12/08 | Edinburgh | 55–40 | Plymouth |

### Final

First leg
Second 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.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
| 1 | Reg Reeves | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Trevor Redmond | 3 3 3 3 ef | 12 |
| 3 | Maury Mattingley | 3 2 1 3 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Jack Scott | 2 3 2 2 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Stan Stevens | 2 1 2 2 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Ivor Brown | 3 3 2 ef 3 | 11 |
| 7 | Harry Bastable | 1 2 3 2 2 | 10 |
| 8 | Graham Warren | 1 1 2 f 2 | 6 |
| 9 | Ken Middleditch | 0 1 1 1 2 | 5 |
| 10 | Len Silver | 2 2 0 0 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Pete Lansdale | 0 2 2 1 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Tony Lewis | exc 0 1 3 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Vic Ridgeon | 2 1 0 1 1 | 4 |
| 14 | Rick France | 1 0 0 2 0 | 3 |
| 15 | Eric Boothroyd | 2 0 1 1 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Peter Jarman | f 0 0 f 1 | 1 |
* f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure

## Riders & final averages

Cradley Heath
* Ivor Brown 10.14
* Harry Bastable 8.88
* Stan Stevens 7.54
* Ivor Davies 7.14
* George Bewley 6.15
* Derek Timms 5.97
* Ronnie Rolfe 5.29
* John Hart 5.04
* Alan Totney 4.44
* Tony Eadon 4.00
* Vic White 2.97
Edinburgh
* Dick Campbell 9.65
* Doug Templeton 8.42
* George Hunter 7.41
* Willie Templeton 6.55
* Wayne Briggs 5.83
* Jimmy Tannock 5.72
* Alf Wells 4.20
Exeter
* Pete Lansdale 9.33
* Len Silver 8.81
* Roy Bowers 8.12
* Howdy Byford 8.00
* Eric Hockaday 7.66
* Francis Cann 6.75
* Billy Smith 4.90
* Clive Hitch 3.84
* Eric Howe 3.60
* Len Glover 2.25
Middlesbrough
* Eric Boothroyd 9.05
* Geoff Pymar 8.50
* Clive Hitch 7.50
* Don Wilkinson 7.00
* Tommy Roper 6.49
* Fred Greenwell 6.18
* Wal Morton 5.65
* Rick France 5.56
* Eric Boocock 4.42
* Bob Webb 4.00
* Reg Nicholls 3.83
* Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 3.78
Newcastle
* Gil Goldfinch 8.65
* Don Wilkinson 7.05
* Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.85
* George Major 5.67
* Slant Payling 5.55
* George Glen 4.85
* Pat Flanagan 4.65
* Gordon Mitchell 2.61
Plymouth
* Jack Scott 11.08
* Maury Mattingley 9.38
* Cliff Cox 8.92
* Ron Bagley 6.86
* Chris Julian 6.03
* Pat Flanagan 4.41
* Chris Blewett 4.14
* Ray Wickett 3.36
* George Summers 1.23
Poole
* Ken Middleditch 10.55
* Ross Gilbertson 10.51
* Tony Lewis 10.32
* Geoff Mudge 7.80
* Tim Bungay 6.32
* Allan Kidd 5.88
* Norman Strachan 4.68
Rayleigh
* Reg Reeves 11.43
* Stan Stevens 8.53
* Harry Edwards 8.44
* Bob Thomas 6.68
* Roy Craighead 5.12
* Geoff Penniket 4.89
* Pete Sampson 4.39
* Terry Stone 4.36
Sheffield
* Guy Allott 9.64
* Clive Featherby 9.59
* Derrol Melbin 8.80
* Ronnie Rolfe 7.20
* Jack Winstanley 6.97
* Stuart Hickman 6.86
* Bernard McArthur 6.27
* Tony Robinson 6.21
* Col Smith 3.64
* Malcolm Bruce 3.40
Stoke
* Reg Fearman 9.60
* Ron Sharp 9.50
* Brian Craven 8.64
* Ken Adams 8.59
* Eric Hockaday 8.44
* Ray Harris 7.63
* Pete Jarman 6.97
* Peter Kelly 6.92
* Bill Wainwright 5.23
* John Edwards 5.22
* Frank Wooster 3.86
* Colin Pratt 3.00
* John Key 2.32
Wolverhampton
* Graham Warren 10.00
* Ernie Lessiter 8.33
* Tommy Sweetman 6.92
* Vic Ridgeon 6.45
* Terry Betts 6.24
* Bob Oakley 5.39
* Ron Taylor 4.97
* Derek Braithwaite 4.73
* Cyril Francis 4.67
* Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 4.62
* Eric Eadon 2.53
* Bob Warner 2.46