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]
London CupWest Ham Hammers
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] West Ham also won the London Cup but the competition only had three teams competing.[7]

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

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October.[8]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1New Zealand Barry Briggs3 3 3 2 314
2England Jimmy Gooch2 2 3 3 313
3England Cyril Maidment3 3 3 ef 312
4Sweden Olle Nygren1 3 2 2 311
5England Nigel Boocock1 2 3 3 211
6Australia Charlie Monk2 3 1 2 19
7New Zealand Ivan Mauger3 f 2 1 28
8England Pete Jarman2 1 2 3 ef8
9England Eric Boocock2 2 1 1 17
10England Colin Gooddy1 0 1 2 26
11England Jack Kitchen1 1 ef 3 05
12Scotland Ken McKinlay3 - 2 f -5
13England Gerry Jackson0 2 0 0 13
14England George Major0 1 ef 1 13
15England Ronnie Genz0 0 0 ef 22
16England Alby Golden0 1 1 0 02
17New Zealand Alf Wells (res)1 - - - -1
18Wales Kid Brodie (res)0 - - - -0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

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

London Cup
Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1West Ham Hammers42111961885
2Hackney Hawks42021891944
3Wimbledon Dons41121901933

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon53–43Hackney
Hackney52–44West Ham
West Ham50–46Hackney
Hackney48–47Wimbledon
Wimbledon48–48West Ham
West Ham54–42Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

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

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.
  7. "West Ham Hammers - The Final Match". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  8. "Speedway Champ". Sunday Mail (Glasgow). 17 October 1965. Retrieved 31 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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