The 1962 Provincial Speedway League was the third season of the Provincial League.
Summary Thirteen speedway teams took part. Bradford, at their new venue at Greenfields Stadium, returned to the league after missing the previous season due to delays building their new track. The league season proved to be disastrous for Bradford and the club folded at the end of the year. New team Neath Welsh Dragons joined the league and Leicester joined after dropping down from the National League. Neath, near Port Talbot in Wales, was not a successful venue and many of their fixtures were raced at St. Austell. Rayleigh Rockets withdrew with promoters Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale citing falling gates and rider wage demands.
Poole won the league championship for the second year in a row. The Neath Welsh Dragons achieved what was described as the impossible by finishing second in the league standings.
The supplementary cup competitions were won by Sheffield, Poole and Wolverhampton respectively.
League Final table Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Poole Pirates 24 17 0 7 342 Neath Welsh Dragons 24 14 1 9 293 Exeter Falcons 24 14 0 10 284 Stoke Potters 24 14 0 10 285 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 12 2 10 266 Plymouth Devils 24 12 2 10 267 Sheffield Tigers 24 12 1 11 258 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 12 0 12 249 Newcastle Diamonds 24 12 0 12 2410 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 11 1 12 2311 Middlesbrough Bears 24 11 0 13 2212 Leicester Hunters 24 6 0 18 1213 Bradford Panthers 24 5 1 18 11 M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Fixtures and results
Top five riders (league only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ivor Brown Cradley 10.21 2 Clive Featherby Sheffield 10.21 3 Eric Boothroyd Middlesbrough 10.15 4 Geoff Mudge Poole 10.04 5 Jimmy Squibb Plymouth 9.74
Provincial League Knockout Cup The 1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two18/06Newcastle 74–22 Sheffield21/06Middlesbrough 66–30 Cradley Heath22/06Leicester 32–64 Poole22/06Bradford 57–39 Neath23/06Edinburgh 71–25 Wolverhampton Second round Date Team one Score Team two11/08Edinburgh 54–42 Middlesbrough11/08Stoke 61–31 Newcastle14/08Bradford 44–52 Poole27/08Exeter 53–43 Plymouth Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two10/09Exeter 57–39 Edinburgh15/09 Stoke49–47 Poole
Final Date Team one Score Team two20/10 Stoke60–36 Exeter22/10 Exeter 70–26 Stoke
Supplemetary leagues
Northern League Team PL W D L PtsSheffield 8 6 1 1 13 Middlesbrough 8 4 0 4 8 Edinburgh 8 4 0 4 8 Newcastle 8 4 0 4 8 Bradford 8 1 1 6 3
Southern League Team PL W D L PtsPoole 6 6 0 0 12 Exeter 6 2 1 3 5 Plymouth 6 2 1 3 5 Neath 6 1 0 5 2
Midland League Team PL W D L PtsWolverhampton 6 4 0 2 8 Cradley Heath 6 3 0 3 6 Leicester 6 3 0 3 6 Stoke 6 2 1 4 5
Riders' Championship Len Silver won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 22 September in front of 20,000 spectators. Four riders finished on 11 points forcing a race off.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Len Silver 2 3 3 3 11+32 Wayne Briggs 3 2 3 3 11+23 Brian Craven 3 3 2 3 11+14 Guy Allott 3 2 3 3 11+05 Geoff Mudge 2 2 2 3 96 Ron Bagley 3 2 2 2 97 Norman Hunter 3 3 1 2 98 Doug Templeton 1 1 3 3 89 Brian McKeown 2 3 1 1 710 Ivor Brown 1 3 1 2 711 Pete Lansdale 1 1 1 3 612 Eric Hockaday 1 3 0 2 613 Jimmy Squibb f 2 2 2 614 Clive Featherby 3 f 1 1 515 Cliff Cox 0 2 2 1 516 Bill Andrew 0 2 3 0 517 Graham Warren 1 0 0 2 318 George Hunter 2 1 - -319 Eric Boothroyd 2 0 1 0 320 Trevor Redmond 2 ef 1 0 321 Eric Boocock 1 1 0 0 222 Willie Templeton 0 1 0 ef 123 Charlie Monk 0 1 0 0 124 Howdy Byford (res) 0 0 1 125 Ernie Baker (res) 0 1 126 Reg Duval 0 - - - - 0 f=fell, r-retired, exc=excluded, ef=engine failure
Riders & final averages
Bradford
7.10 6.23 5.89 5.82 5.66 5.60 5.40 3.56 3.40 2.67
Cradley Heath
10.21 7.91 6.80 6.59 6.56 6.45 5.49 3.82 3.13
Edinburgh
9.36 8.45 7.05 7.66 6.67 6.24 4.44 3.94 3.80
Exeter
8.97 8.00 7.31 6.68 6.20 6.04 5.64
Leicester
7.85 7.25 6.58 6.36 6.24 5.57 5.35 4.50 4.46 3.59
Middlesbrough
10.15 8.83 7.38 6.36 5.49 4.33 3.20 2.18
Neath
9.43 7.74 Howdy Cornell 7.47 7.44 6.73 5.78 5.26 2.46
Newcastle
9.60 7.76 6.70 6.38 6.15 (Jack Thorp) 5.79 5.09 4.25 George Glen 4.05 3.20
Plymouth
9.74 8.87 7.31 Chris Blewett 6.84 5.96 5.63 3.25 2.87 2.42
Poole
10.04 9.30 8.41 7.78 7.54 6.74 6.05 3.25
Sheffield
10.21 9.60 9.58 7.98 6.11 3.76 3.35 3.30 2.97
Stoke
8.69 8.67 7.95 7.65 6.20 5.66 4.93 (Kid Bodie) 4.56 3.43 3.38
Wolverhampton
8.67 8.13 7.28 6.52 6.26 6.16 4.70 4.47 3.85 1.47
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References