Merlin

"I tell you what - there's absolutely no doubt about that!"

Very, very sorry to see Birmingham depart the Premier League in which they and their fans have been tremendous assets. I wish them all the best of luck in the Elite League and hope they are as appreciated there as they were in the Premier League.

Only too happy to oblige. This is what I wrote. The Provincial Speedway Riders’ Championship Final Saturday, September 28, 1963 A Personal Experience 1. It was six o’ clock in the morning and I was still wiping the sleep from my eyes. But it was time to fire up the old Mini and collect Stuart, David and John for the 250 mile drive from Edinburgh to Manchester for the Provincial Speedway Riders’ Championship at the old Belle Vue stadium on the Hyde Road in Manchester. We planned to get there as early as possible so we could find a cheap bed and breakfast place to stay the night to avoid having to face the long drive back tonight. You never know there might be reasons to celebrate! 2. The other three lived only a couple of minutes away so we were soon on our way. It was a beautiful September morning and we were in good spirits – particularly Stuart who was a George Hunter fanatic. Edinburgh had two riders who had qualified for the final – George Hunter and Doug Templeton – although neither could be considered favourites for the Championship with Ivan Mauger (Newcastle) and Jack Kitchen (Sheffield) both in the field but Stuart would not hear of any result other than a George Hunter win and his enthusiasm soon wore off on the rest of us. 3. But a bit about the event first of all. This Championship was the highlight of the old breakaway Provincial League (breakaway from the National League that is), our World Final if you like. Qualification was no easy task because each rider had to compete in three qualifying rounds, each one a 16 rider, 20 heat affair, to gain enough points to get to the Belle Vue final. The Provincial League in 1963 comprised 13 teams – Cradley Heath, Edinburgh, Exeter, Hackney, Long Eaton, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Poole, Rayleigh, St Austell, Sheffield, Stoke and Wolverhampton. 4. In the previous year, 1962, the Championship had also been held at Belle Vue. In 1961 it had been held at Harringay in London and in 1960 (the inaugural year of the Provincial League) at Cradley Heath. The format for the final was unusual to say the least with 24 riders qualifying for the event, each of whom would have only four rides after which the top four scorers would go forward to the final. 5. The qualifiers were: Ivan Mauger (Newcastle) 43 points, Colin Pratt (Stoke) 43, Ross Gilbertson (Poole) 41, Ray Cresp (St Austell) 40, Clive Featherby (Sheffield) 40, Charlie Monk (Long Eaton) 40, Jack Kitchen (Sheffield) 38, Les McGillivray (Rayleigh) 38, Cliff Cox (Exeter) 36, Jimmy Squibb (Exeter) 36, Rick France (Wolverhampton) 35, Geoff Mudge (Poole) 34, George Major (St Austell) 32, Eric Boocock (Middlesbrough) 31, George Hunter (Edinburgh) 31, Ron Bagley (Sheffield) 30, Ivor Brown (Cradley Heath), 30, Brian Craven (Newcastle) 30, Maurie Mattingley (Wolverhampton) 30, Ken Adams (Stoke) 29, Maurie McDermott (Rayleigh) 29, Douglas Templeton (Edinburgh) 29, Norman Hunter (Hackney) 28 and Trevor Redmond (St Austell) 28. Unfortunately Brian Craven (brother of Peter Craven who died of injuries sustained in a crash at Old Meadowbank) had been injured and was replaced by John Hart of Cradley Heath who was first reserve. The other meeting reserve was David Younghusband of Middlesbrough. 6. The previous year the event had been won by Len Silver of Exeter (the same Len Silver whom now promotes at Rye House) with Wayne Briggs (Barry Briggs’ brother) of Edinburgh runner-up and Brian Craven of Newcastle in third place. With Len Silver having failed to qualify and Wayne Briggs and Brian Craven out with injury none of the three were returning to contest the Championship. Incidentally the prize money was – 1st £40, 2nd £20, 3rd £10 and 4th £5. A measure of the popularity of this event can be gauged from the fact that all the stand tickets were sold out within weeks of going on sale and some 20,000 attended from all over the country. 7. Back to the trip then. While Stuart was the livewire of the four of us he had one terrible problem which made him hard to live with – well on long car trips anyway – and that was flatulence. With a general diet of hamburgers, baked beans, chips and Coke he could concoct a smell that could clear a room faster than a Max Bygraves record! In the confines of a Mini with four occupants it was next to lethal and once or twice I had to pull in to the side of the road making emergency stops to let us clamber out before we lost conciousness. Still I was used to it but not immune from it unfortunately. David was pretty laid back – he was sort of foot loose and fancy free – his feet were attached with sellotape and if it was free he fancied it (courtesy of Round the Horne). He relished the chance to exercise his expertise in sarcasm usually at our expense while John stoically said little. Indeed John never said a great deal. He was the kind of guy who lit up a room whenever he left it. I often wondered what they thought of me! We were the best of friends nonetheless – out mutual bond being the love of speedway. 8. In these days there was no M6, only the A6. Anyone who has crawled up Shap behind a convoy of lorries watching the temperature guage in case the engine began to overheat will know what torture this was. The relatively few miles could take as much as two hours to complete even on a good day. We made good time this particular Saturday morning and were soon wheeling our way into Manchester and to Belle Vue. 9. What a place Belle Vue was. Apart from a custom built speedway track – the best I ever saw – the Belle Vue complex had an amusement park which claimed to have (at the time) the fastest gravity ride in the world. It was called the Bobs and was not the sort of ride you wanted to take after several pints of lager. Underneath you could always find a collection of coins and other things including the odd lost lunch!. There was also a Zoo and gardens while the King’s Hall had wrestling every Saturday night and also staged concerts, bingo etc. Every Saturday at 10pm there was a fireworks display on Fireworks Island. It was a great place to visit and a fabulous speedway venue now sadly gone. 10. Having checked out the stadium we set off to look for a bed and breakfast place within our frugal budget (we brought a new meaning to the word ‘frugal’). We found one off the Hyde Road which consisted of a series of dormitories each containing about a dozen beds, none of which ever got cold judging by the turnover. It seemed to be well patronized by lorry drivers and other such passing trade and was not one you would recommend to valued friends! 11. After making our reservations we headed off to the centre of Manchester for breakfast and a look around and then on to Old Trafford where we watched Manchester United play Tottenham (I think). United won 2-0 if I remember correctly and it was back to Belle Vue for the main event. We were early into the stadium and headed for the third bend to join the other Monarchs supporters and watch the proceedings. By start time the stadium was filled to capacity and the noise and colours of the fans from all the tracks gave the place an atmosphere to match Wembley in its halcyon days. The excitement built and then we had the usual preliminaries including a grand parade of the competitors. Ian Hoskins was the centre green man and was absolutely superb in his presentation of the meeting. 12. And so we were off: Heat 1: Mauger, Squibb, George Hunter, Norman Hunter 73.6 Heat 2: Bagley, France, Hart, McGillivray 74.0 Heat 3: Templeton, Pratt, Cox, Adams 74.8 Heat 4: Kitchen, Mattingly, Gilbertson, Major 73.2 Heat 5: Cresp, Brown, Mudge, Redmond 74.4 Heat 6: Featherby, Boocock, McDermott, Monk ef 74.2 13. A bit of a mix for us! George Hunter didn’t make a good gate and had to settle for third place but Doug Templeton put the smile back on our faces by winning heat 3. Poor Charlie Monk had engine failure in heat 6 while lying second. Ivan Mauger and Jack Kitchen had got off to their expected opening heat wins and Ivor Brown who was never popular with us (I can’t for the life of me remember why) managed a second place much to our disappointment. There used to be an advert on TV for Hovis bread which had the slogan “Don’t say brown, say Hovis” . We rather cruelly changed this to “Don’t say Brown, say *****” The word we substituted for Hovis began with ‘sh’ and rhymed with night. Rather childishly we took great delight in taunting the Cradley fans every time Ivor Brown made an appearance but it was always in fun if not in the best possible taste. 14. The next six heats went as follows: Heat 7: Kitchen, Mauger, Cresp, Bagley 73.4 Heat 8: Gilbertson, George Hunter, Brown, McGillivray 74.2 Heat 9: Squibb, Pratt, Major, McDermott 74.8 Heat 10: Mattingly, Featherby, Norman Hunter, Adams 74.4 Heat 11: Mudge, Hart, Boocock, Cox 75.2 Heat 12: France, Templeton, Redmond, Monk ef 75.0 15. Well the big two were out in heat 7 and it was Jack Kitchen who saw off Ivan Mauger. George Hunter managed a second place in heat 8 and Doug Templeton kept the Monarchs’ flag flying with a second place in heat 12. So after two races each only Jack Kitchen had the maximum 6 points with Ivan Mauger, Jimmy Squibb, Rick France, Doug Templeton, Maurie Mattingly and Clive Featherby all on 5 points. 16. The next 6 heats after the interval, during which the beauty queen competition was held, finished: Heat 13: George Hunter, Featherby, Bagley, Major 74.4 Heat 14: Mauger, Mattingly, Boocock, Pratt 74.8 Heat 15: Gilbertson, Cresp, McDermott, France f.rem 75.0 Heat 16: Kitchen, Cox, Redmond, McGillivray ef 75.2 Heat 17: Templeton, Brown, Norman Hunter, Hart 76.2 Heat 18: Monk, Mudge, Adams, Squibb f.rem 74.8 17. We were ecstatic – wins for both George Hunter and Douglas Templeton had us in dreamland and gave both a good chance of qualifying for the final. While Ivan Mauger and Jack Kitchen continued to dominate. Charlie Monk finally got his bike going and won heat 18. Now, with just one race left each, Jack Kitchen led the field unbeaten on 9 points with Ivan Mauger, and Douglas Templeton on 8 and Ross Gilbertson, Maurie Mattingly and Clive Featherby on 7. 18. Then came the last six vital heats of the qualifying stage: Heat 19: George Hunter, Mattingly, Cox, France 75.0 Heat 20: Mauger, McGillivray, Mudge McDermott 74.8 Heat 21: Kitchen, Featherby, Squibb, Templeton 74.8 Heat 22: Cresp, Major, Adams, Hart 75.8 Heat 23: Brown, Monk. Bagley, Pratt 75.8 Heat 24: Boocock, Gilbertson, Redmond, Norman Hunter 75.8 19. Another great win for George Hunter but disaster for Doug Templeton who finished last in heat 21 and failed to make it to the final. Jack Kitchen and Ivan Mauger continued on their winning ways and both were through to the final on 12 and 11 points respectively. But pandemonium broke out when the organizers realized that there were five riders tied on nine points for the final two places. Now the rules stated that the first way to break a tie was by heat wins. George Hunter, Ross Gilbertson and Ray Cresp all had two heat wins while Maurie Matttingly and Clive Featherby had one each. So Mattingly and Cresp should have been eliminated. The second tie breaker was by the fastest heat winning time. George Hunter’s fastest time was 74.4, Ross Gilbertson’s was 74.2 and Ray Cresp’s was 74.4. This meant that Ross Gilbertson should have been the third qualifier and a run-off should have been needed between George Hunter and Ray Cresp since they had both won two races and had identical fastest winning times. 20. There was a long delay while they tried to sort matters out. The riders hated the ‘fastest winning time’ rule because the earlier heat winning times tended to be better than those later in the meeting as the track changed. The officials then decided to settle matters by the toss of a coin but the riders were having none of that and staged a walk out. Pandemonium broke out as a lot of people were not happy to put it mildly. Matters were finally resolved when it was agreed to put all five riders who finished on 9 points into the one race with the top two going through to the final. So we had a five-rider semi final which finished: Semi final: George Hunter, Gilbertson, Cresp, Featherby, Mattingly 21. What excitement as George Hunter leapt from the gates to leave the other four riders in his wake. The race seemed to last an eternity but George made no mistakes and was through to the final along with fellow Scot Ross Gilbertson. It had made the long journey from Edinburgh so much more worthwhile to have one of our riders in the final. So George Hunter and Ross Gilbertson joined Jack Kitchen and Ivan Mauger in the final. This was justice really because Ross Gilbertson should have qualified on heat wins and fastest winning time and George Hunter and Ray Cresp should have had a run off for the last final place which is effectively what the semi-final turned out to be. 22. The tension was unbearable waiting for the final to start. We were all shaking especially Stuart who must have gone through a pack of cigarettes before the final started. Could George Hunter upset the odds by beating the awesome Mauger and Kitchen? Up they came to the tapes and then with an almighty roar the tapes went up and George Hunter made a fantastic start. He was well into the first bend ahead of the field. On that first bend Ivan Mauger and Jack Kitchen diced for position which gave George Hunter time to build up an incredible lead. Going past the tapes at the end of the first lap we all knew he only had to keep going to win the title. Alas going into the first bend of the second lap George’s bike developed a fuel leak and ground to a halt while the rest of the field led by Ivan Mauger charged past. The Final was won by Ivan Mauger with Jack Kitchen second and Ross Gilbertson third in a time of 74.8. 23. We were speechless leaving the stadium at such a cruel letdown. Stuart was inconsolable. The rest of us weren’t far behind. We had a couple of drinks and wandered round the amusements rather aimlessly before returning to our already warm beds for the night where sleep was hard to come by through a combination of despair and the horrendous snoring of the other occupants of the dormitory. A herd of trumpeting elephants couldn’t have competed with the noise. 24. In the morning we went down for what was laughingly described as breakfast. It comprised of two rashers (is that the word? Perhaps shavings might have been more apt!) of what had once been bacon. It had clearly been subjected to a holocaust of fire and spitting grease before being presented to us in a totally cremated state. Not only was it black but it disintegrated into ashes when you tried to get a fork into it. The ‘egg’ which accompanied it had attached to its base what appeared to be a strange mixture of rubber and brown crinkly cellulose which was completely indigestible but, worse still, it was inseparable from the yolk which was just about recognizable but hard as a brick. The toast was black with brown overtones and the tea so weak it had to be helped out of the pot - not exactly your first course on a menu of international cuisine of gourmet cooking. More the sort of offering you might expect cooked in the galley of a motor launch ploughing through a force 10 gale mid-Atlantic. Still you get what you pay for! 25. Ah well – back home in silent reflection of what might have been. Even Stuart kept his bowels in check for the journey which is just as well – we were not far from assassination mode. These were the wonderful sixties and days of sheer speedway joy.

My first post was not misleading. It was factual. All that happened was that you nearly burst a blood vessel as you read it in your usual paranoid fashion as an attack on your beloved Tigers. I subsequently hypothesised on why Glasgow might have approached Wolbert as early as Friday for Monday's match something which you might have done had you not gone so ballistic. But it was nothing more than a hypothesis although I thought it might have been a credible one at that. I am not party to the thoughts of the inner sanctum at Glasgow speedway so who knows whether it hit the mark? It's a 'well done' from me too to the Diamonds who have not only climbed to second in the table but have narrowed the race points difference between themselves and Edinburgh over the weekend should it come down to a tie on league points. Well done to Wolbert too for a fine effort for the Tigers. He has certainly got back his late season form of last year. I sincerely hope that injuries are not going to play a major part in the race for the title which is still very much alive. Since Jason King was only considered 'doubtful' for last night's match I trust that his injury is not too serious. Some of the posts on here were a bit more alarming though. As for Glasgow what now? We have a big match coming up at Ashfield on Sunday and, from what has been said, they may have injury worries over McGowan, Grajczonek and Dicken, all of whom managed only three rides each last night. Presumably Joe Screen will be OK if his injury is nothing more than mild concussion (although that's not to be dismissed as of little importance).

Aye you're right Paulco. It's a pity I mentioned the conversation in question but paranoia rules these days. I didn't expect certain parties to get all het up about it. Sad really! I too hope that Kevin Wolbert shows his liking for the Brough Park circuit. He has been impressive there in the past. Unfortunately I can't see Glasgow keeping it close even if he goes through the card unbeaten. But there again, haven't Glasgow won at Newcastle already this season?

I think you're reading too much into this - see previous post just before yours. It may be that Glasgow were simply making contingency arrangments for the possibility that McGowan may not have been fit for Monday and that there may have been another absentee. It just occurred to me at the time it was strange that he should be approached on the Friday about a match on the Monday for a team which was at full strength on the Sunday. If, for example, McGowan and Branney had been missing today then, even if Screen had been fit, Wolbert could have guested for McGowan since his average is lower and Glasgow could have used R/R for Branney.

rubbish stirring....what rubbish stirring? I reported a conversation which actually took place - I don't make that sort of thing up! and resent the implication that I did. Kevin said that he might be riding at Newcastle on Monday night when I asked him about where he would be this coming week. He also said that he would here all week so would be at King's Lynn on Wednesday, Armadale on Friday, Stoke on Saturday and Ashfield on Sunday. I was surprised to say the least that Kevin thought he might be at Newcastle. He said he thought it was for McGowan (with emphasis on the thought) but it may be that Glasgow were worried about being two riders short (apart from Screen) with McGowan reportedly only half fit and perhaps one of the others also not fully fit - (Dicken, for example). However I can well understand you being a bit touchy these days after Glasgow's recent dismal results.

I spoke to Kevin on Friday night after the match against Somerset at Armadale and he told me he might be riding for Glasgow at Newcastle today (Monday). I wonder how he knew then? Mind you he thought it was Travis McGowan he was replacing! Strange....I understand he's on his way to Newcastle even as I post this.

What a brilliant meeting - best ever at Peterborough? Poland were head and shoulders above the rest showing real class and determination. They must be favourites to win it now.

I'm thinking about it...............are you all going to the PL Pairs on the Friday?

Looking at the individual heat results it looks as though Britain came second with 39 points to Sweden's 42. But maybe the heat results are wrong too!! Or maybe they just can't add. There again it depends on which heat results you look at! It seems that the discrepancy may have something to do with heat 12. One site has Thomas Jonasson winning it with William Lawson last while the other has William Lawson winning it from Jonasson.

Me too. Now that I've got my transport arranged and accommodation almost fixed up....I just hope I can get a ticket on the day. Or else I'll put a curse on the place and it will be a lot worse than my rain dance last year!!

Prague is a beautiful city with loads to do and see. One of the best weekends I spent last year was over there for the Grand Prix even though I got soaked and the Grand Prix meeting was crap. First thing to do is get a daily etc. ticket for the transport system wherever you can (e.g. at the subway stations). Don't think you can just wait for a tram and get on expecting to pay the driver. You can't! If you don't have a ticket you take a big risk getting on because if an inspector happens to get on and asks you to produce a valid ticket you can be hit with a hefty fine if you haven't get one. If you're in two minds whether to go and haven't been before - go! You won't regret it. By the way I can recommend the Diplomat Hotel right next door to the subway and with buses and trams running by outside. Nicky Pedersen and Thomas Gollob were among the riders staying there last year.

So sorry to hear this news. I made regular trips to the White City Glasgow on a Friday night and well remember Maurie Mattingley. He was one of the long distance travellers Glasgow had at the time. He was great asset to Glasgow and, of course, made frequent visits to Old Meadowbank too. This news brought back so many happy memories of the sixties when speedway seemed to be so much less regimented with crazy rules and, somehow, so much more enjoyable than it is today. RIP

Me too, please, Rico!

I'd like to buy a copy too. I hope you can keep us posted when it finally hits the bookshops. As they say nostalgia is a thing of the future.

The Provincial Speedway Riders’ Championship Final Saturday, September 28, 1963 A Personal Experience 1. It was six o’ clock in the morning and I was still wiping the sleep from my eyes. But it was time to fire up the old Mini and collect Stuart, David and John for the 250 mile drive from Edinburgh to Manchester for the Provincial Speedway Riders’ Championship at the old Belle Vue stadium on the Hyde Road in Manchester. We planned to get there as early as possible so we could find a cheap bed and breakfast place to stay the night to avoid having to face the long drive back tonight. You never know there might be reasons to celebrate! 2. The other three lived only a couple of minutes away so we were soon on our way. It was a beautiful September morning and we were in good spirits – particularly Stuart who was a George Hunter fanatic. Edinburgh had two riders who had qualified for the final – George Hunter and Doug Templeton – although neither could be considered favourites for the Championship with Ivan Mauger (Newcastle) and Jack Kitchen (Sheffield) both in the field but Stuart would not hear of any result other than a George Hunter win and his enthusiasm soon wore off on the rest of us. 3. But a bit about the event first of all. This Championship was the highlight of the old breakaway Provincial League (breakaway from the National League that is), our World Final if you like. Qualification was no easy task because each rider had to compete in three qualifying rounds, each one a 16 rider, 20 heat affair, to gain enough points to get to the Belle Vue final. The Provincial League in 1963 comprised 13 teams – Cradley Heath, Edinburgh, Exeter, Hackney, Long Eaton, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Poole, Rayleigh, St Austell, Sheffield, Stoke and Wolverhampton. 4. In the previous year, 1962, the Championship had also been held at Belle Vue. In 1961 it had been held at Harringay in London and in 1960 (the inaugural year of the Provincial League) at Cradley Heath. The format for the final was unusual to say the least with 24 riders qualifying for the event, each of whom would have only four rides after which the top four scorers would go forward to the final. 5. The qualifiers were: Ivan Mauger (Newcastle) 43 points, Colin Pratt (Stoke) 43, Ross Gilbertson (Poole) 41, Ray Cresp (St Austell) 40, Clive Featherby (Sheffield) 40, Charlie Monk (Long Eaton) 40, Jack Kitchen (Sheffield) 38, Les McGillivray (Rayleigh) 38, Cliff Cox (Exeter) 36, Jimmy Squibb (Exeter) 36, Rick France (Wolverhampton) 35, Geoff Mudge (Poole) 34, George Major (St Austell) 32, Eric Boocock (Middlesbrough) 31, George Hunter (Edinburgh) 31, Ron Bagley (Sheffield) 30, Ivor Brown (Cradley Heath), 30, Brian Craven (Newcastle) 30, Maurie Mattingley (Wolverhampton) 30, Ken Adams (Stoke) 29, Maurie McDermott (Rayleigh) 29, Douglas Templeton (Edinburgh) 29, Norman Hunter (Hackney) 28 and Trevor Redmond (St Austell) 28. Unfortunately Brian Craven (brother of Peter Craven who died of injuries sustained in a crash at Old Meadowbank) had been injured and was replaced by John Hart of Cradley Heath who was first reserve. The other meeting reserve was David Younghusband of Middlesbrough. 6. The previous year the event had been won by Len Silver of Exeter (the same Len Silver whom now promotes at Rye House) with Wayne Briggs (Barry Briggs’ brother) of Edinburgh runner-up and Brian Craven of Newcastle in third place. With Len Silver having failed to qualify and Wayne Briggs and Brian Craven out with injury none of the three were returning to contest the Championship. Incidentally the prize money was – 1st £40, 2nd £20, 3rd £10 and 4th £5. A measure of the popularity of this event can be gauged from the fact that all the stand tickets were sold out within weeks of going on sale and some 20,000 attended from all over the country. 7. Back to the trip then. While Stuart was the livewire of the four of us he had one terrible problem which made him hard to live with – well on long car trips anyway – and that was flatulence. With a general diet of hamburgers, baked beans, chips and Coke he could concoct a smell that could clear a room faster than a Max Bygraves record! In the confines of a Mini with four occupants it was next to lethal and once or twice I had to pull in to the side of the road making emergency stops to let us clamber out before we lost conciousness. Still I was used to it but not immune from it unfortunately. David was pretty laid back – he was sort of foot loose and fancy free – his feet were attached with sellotape and if it was free he fancied it (courtesy of Round the Horne). He relished the chance to exercise his expertise in sarcasm usually at our expense while John stoically said little. Indeed John never said a great deal. He was the kind of guy who lit up a room whenever he left it. I often wondered what they thought of me! We were the best of friends nonetheless – out mutual bond being the love of speedway. 8. In these days there was no M6, only the A6. Anyone who has crawled up Shap behind a convoy of lorries watching the temperature guage in case the engine began to overheat will know what torture this was. The relatively few miles could take as much as two hours to complete even on a good day. We made good time this particular Saturday morning and were soon wheeling our way into Manchester and to Belle Vue. 9. What a place Belle Vue was. Apart from a custom built speedway track – the best I ever saw – the Belle Vue complex had an amusement park which claimed to have (at the time) the fastest gravity ride in the world. It was called the Bobs and was not the sort of ride you wanted to take after several pints of lager. Underneath you could always find a collection of coins and other things including the odd lost lunch!. There was also a Zoo and gardens while the King’s Hall had wrestling every Saturday night and also staged concerts, bingo etc. Every Saturday at 10pm there was a fireworks display on Fireworks Island. It was a great place to visit and a fabulous speedway venue now sadly gone. 10. Having checked out the stadium we set off to look for a bed and breakfast place within our frugal budget (we brought a new meaning to the word ‘frugal’). We found one off the Hyde Road which consisted of a series of dormitories each containing about a dozen beds, none of which ever got cold judging by the turnover. It seemed to be well patronized by lorry drivers and other such passing trade and was not one you would recommend to valued friends! 11. After making our reservations we headed off to the centre of Manchester for breakfast and a look around and then on to Old Trafford where we watched Manchester United play Tottenham (I think). United won 2-0 if I remember correctly and it was back to Belle Vue for the main event. We were early into the stadium and headed for the third bend to join the other Monarchs supporters and watch the proceedings. By start time the stadium was filled to capacity and the noise and colours of the fans from all the tracks gave the place an atmosphere to match Wembley in its halcyon days. The excitement built and then we had the usual preliminaries including a grand parade of the competitors. Ian Hoskins was the centre green man and was absolutely superb in his presentation of the meeting. 12. And so we were off: Heat 1: Mauger, Squibb, George Hunter, Norman Hunter 73.6 Heat 2: Bagley, France, Hart, McGillivray 74.0 Heat 3: Templeton, Pratt, Cox, Adams 74.8 Heat 4: Kitchen, Mattingly, Gilbertson, Major 73.2 Heat 5: Cresp, Brown, Mudge, Redmond 74.4 Heat 6: Featherby, Boocock, McDermott, Monk ef 74.2 13. A bit of a mix for us! George Hunter didn’t make a good gate and had to settle for third place but Doug Templeton put the smile back on our faces by winning heat 3. Poor Charlie Monk had engine failure in heat 6 while lying second. Ivan Mauger and Jack Kitchen had got off to their expected opening heat wins and Ivor Brown who was never popular with us (I can’t for the life of me remember why) managed a second place much to our disappointment. There used to be an advert on TV for Hovis bread which had the slogan “Don’t say brown, say Hovis” . We rather cruelly changed this to “Don’t say Brown, say *****” The word we substituted for Hovis began with ‘sh’ and rhymed with night. Rather childishly we took great delight in taunting the Cradley fans every time Ivor Brown made an appearance but it was always in fun if not in the best possible taste. 14. The next six heats went as follows: Heat 7: Kitchen, Mauger, Cresp, Bagley 73.4 Heat 8: Gilbertson, George Hunter, Brown, McGillivray 74.2 Heat 9: Squibb, Pratt, Major, McDermott 74.8 Heat 10: Mattingly, Featherby, Norman Hunter, Adams 74.4 Heat 11: Mudge, Hart, Boocock, Cox 75.2 Heat 12: France, Templeton, Redmond, Monk ef 75.0 15. Well the big two were out in heat 7 and it was Jack Kitchen who saw off Ivan Mauger. George Hunter managed a second place in heat 8 and Doug Templeton kept the Monarchs’ flag flying with a second place in heat 12. So after two races each only Jack Kitchen had the maximum 6 points with Ivan Mauger, Jimmy Squibb, Rick France, Doug Templeton, Maurie Mattingly and Clive Featherby all on 5 points. 16. The next 6 heats after the interval, during which the beauty queen competition was held, finished: Heat 13: George Hunter, Featherby, Bagley, Major 74.4 Heat 14: Mauger, Mattingly, Boocock, Pratt 74.8 Heat 15: Gilbertson, Cresp, McDermott, France f.rem 75.0 Heat 16: Kitchen, Cox, Redmond, McGillivray ef 75.2 Heat 17: Templeton, Brown, Norman Hunter, Hart 76.2 Heat 18: Monk, Mudge, Adams, Squibb f.rem 74.8 17. We were ecstatic – wins for both George Hunter and Douglas Templeton had us in dreamland and gave both a good chance of qualifying for the final. While Ivan Mauger and Jack Kitchen continued to dominate. Charlie Monk finally got his bike going and won heat 18. Now, with just one race left each, Jack Kitchen led the field unbeaten on 9 points with Ivan Mauger, and Douglas Templeton on 8 and Ross Gilbertson, Maurie Mattingly and Clive Featherby on 7. 18. Then came the last six vital heats of the qualifying stage: Heat 19: George Hunter, Mattingly, Cox, France 75.0 Heat 20: Mauger, McGillivray, Mudge McDermott 74.8 Heat 21: Kitchen, Featherby, Squibb, Templeton 74.8 Heat 22: Cresp, Major, Adams, Hart 75.8 Heat 23: Brown, Monk. Bagley, Pratt 75.8 Heat 24: Boocock, Gilbertson, Redmond, Norman Hunter 75.8 19. Another great win for George Hunter but disaster for Doug Templeton who finished last in heat 21 and failed to make it to the final. Jack Kitchen and Ivan Mauger continued on their winning ways and both were through to the final on 12 and 11 points respectively. But pandemonium broke out when the organizers realized that there were five riders tied on nine points for the final two places. Now the rules stated that the first way to break a tie was by heat wins. George Hunter, Ross Gilbertson and Ray Cresp all had two heat wins while Maurie Matttingly and Clive Featherby had one each. So Mattingly and Cresp should have been eliminated. The second tie breaker was by the fastest heat winning time. George Hunter’s fastest time was 74.4, Ross Gilbertson’s was 74.2 and Ray Cresp’s was 74.4. This meant that Ross Gilbertson should have been the third qualifier and a run-off should have been needed between George Hunter and Ray Cresp since they had both won two races and had identical fastest winning times. 20. There was a long delay while they tried to sort matters out. The riders hated the ‘fastest winning time’ rule because the earlier heat winning times tended to be better than those later in the meeting as the track changed. The officials then decided to settle matters by the toss of a coin but the riders were having none of that and staged a walk out. Pandemonium broke out as a lot of people were not happy to put it mildly. Matters were finally resolved when it was agreed to put all five riders who finished on 9 points into the one race with the top two going through to the final. So we had a five-rider semi final which finished: Semi final: George Hunter, Gilbertson, Cresp, Featherby, Mattingly 21. What excitement as George Hunter leapt from the gates to leave the other four riders in his wake. The race seemed to last an eternity but George made no mistakes and was through to the final along with fellow Scot Ross Gilbertson. It had made the long journey from Edinburgh so much more worthwhile to have one of our riders in the final. So George Hunter and Ross Gilbertson joined Jack Kitchen and Ivan Mauger in the final. This was justice really because Ross Gilbertson should have qualified on heat wins and fastest winning time and George Hunter and Ray Cresp should have had a run off for the last final place which is effectively what the semi-final turned out to be. 22. The tension was unbearable waiting for the final to start. We were all shaking especially Stuart who must have gone through a pack of cigarettes before the final started. Could George Hunter upset the odds by beating the awesome Mauger and Kitchen? Up they came to the tapes and then with an almighty roar the tapes went up and George Hunter made a fantastic start. He was well into the first bend ahead of the field. On that first bend Ivan Mauger and Jack Kitchen diced for position which gave George Hunter time to build up an incredible lead. Going past the tapes at the end of the first lap we all knew he only had to keep going to win the title. Alas going into the first bend of the second lap George’s bike developed a fuel leak and ground to a halt while the rest of the field led by Ivan Mauger charged past. The Final was won by Ivan Mauger with Jack Kitchen second and Ross Gilbertson third in a time of 74.8. 23. We were speechless leaving the stadium at such a cruel letdown. Stuart was inconsolable. The rest of us weren’t far behind. We had a couple of drinks and wandered round the amusements rather aimlessly before returning to our already warm beds for the night where sleep was hard to come by through a combination of despair and the horrendous snoring of the other occupants of the dormitory. A herd of trumpeting elephants couldn’t have competed with the noise. 24. In the morning we went down for what was laughingly described as breakfast. It comprised of two rashers (is that the word? Perhaps shavings might have been more apt!) of what had once been bacon. It had clearly been subjected to a holocaust of fire and spitting grease before being presented to us in a totally cremated state. Not only was it black but it disintegrated into ashes when you tried to get a fork into it. The ‘egg’ which accompanied it had attached to its base what appeared to be a strange mixture of rubber and brown crinkly cellulose which was completely indigestible but, worse still, it was inseparable from the yolk which was just about recognizable but hard as a brick. The toast was black with brown overtones and the tea so weak it had to be helped out of the pot - not exactly your first course on a menu of international cuisine of gourmet cooking. More the sort of offering you might expect cooked in the galley of a motor launch ploughing through a force 10 gale mid-Atlantic. Still you get what you pay for! 25. Ah well – back home in silent reflection of what might have been. Even Stuart kept his bowels in check for the journey which is just as well – we were not far from assassination mode. These were the wonderful sixties and days of sheer speedway joy.

After Match Comments: 1. Scorers: (second leg): Edinburgh Monarchs - Doug Templeton 14 (5), George Hunter 11 (5), Colin McKee 9+2 (5), Henry Harrfeldt 7+1 (5), Alf Wells 5+1 (4), Kevin Torpie 4+2 (3), Ross Nickisson 4 (5) Glasgow Tigers - Charlie Monk 11 (5), Graham Coombes 8+1 (5), Maury Mattingly 7+1 (5), Bluey Scott 6+1 (5), Bill McMillan 6+2 (5), Bruce Ovenden 3 (5) and Bernie Lagrosse 0 (2) Scorers: (whole match): Glasgow Tigers - Charlie Monk 22 (10), Bluey Scott 18+2 (10), Maury Mattingly 16+3 (10), Graham Coombes 16+1 (10), Bill McMillan 14+4 (11), Bruce Ovenden 10+1 (9), Willie Templeton 0 (2). Edinburgh Monarchs - George Hunter 25 (10), Doug Templeton 23+1 (10), Colin McKee 15+3 (10), Henry Harrfeldt 15+1 (10), Alf Wells 9+2 (9), Kevin Torpie 4+2 (6), Ross Nickisson 4 (9) 2. The British League Both Edinburgh and Glasgow were in the British League in 1965. This was one big league of 18 clubs with each team riding 34 league matches. The other teams which made up the league were: Long Eaton, Woverhampton, Oxford, Poole, Hackney (Wick), Cradley Heath, Sheffield, Wimbledon, Newcastle, Exeter, West Ham, Coventry, Swindon, Newport, Halifax and Belle Vue. Many of these are sadly defunct but most of the big names are all there. 3. Other Matches at White City in 1965 Apart from British League Matches White City hosted an International Match between Scotland and England which Scotland won 62-46, a World Championship Qualifying Round, won by Charlie Monk, a KO Cup 2nd Round Match against Sheffield which Glasgow won 64-32, a World Championship Semi-Final, won by Charlie Monk, a KO Cup 3rd Round match against Swindon, which Glasgow won 49-46, The Scottish Cup (see above) and a KO Cup Semi-Final match against West Ham (the result of which I would need to search for). 4. Other Matches at Old Meadowbank in 1965 Apart from league matches the other competitions that year at Old Meadowbank were the KO Cup, the Scottish Cup, a World Championship qualifying round, the Scottish Open Riders' Championship and two Internationals: Scotland v England (which Scotland won 60-48) and Scotland v Russia (which Russia won 57-51). nThe World Final that year was held at Wembley. Not a bad programme for a season's racing. The following week Glasgow and Edinburgh were both at home to Newport - Glasgow on the Friday night and Edinburgh on the Saturday night. The big guns for Newport that year were: Alby Golden, Jack Biggs and Pete Vandenberg. Would you believe it? Newport were top of the league at the time!

The Last Heat Heat 16…George Hunter,Charlie Monk, Maury Mattingly, Kevin Torpie …. Monarchs 3, Tigers 3 …. Monarchs 54, Tigers 41….Agg: Monarchs 95, Tigers 96 Time 66.6 Well there were no last heat shocks. George Hunter was fast away and never challenged for the lead but Charlie Monk and Maury Mattingly for the Tigers were just too fast for Kevin Torpie who nonetheless tried his heart out and was not far behind the Glasgow riders hoping for a slip-up. However with no last minute falls or engine failures the Tigers pair were content to take the three points required and won the cup for Glasgow by one solitary point over the 32 heats. So the jubilant Glasgow fans made their way home by bus, train or car to celebrate a fine win in a match where at one point they had looked to have lost their chance. For the Edinburgh fans it was across to the Golden Gates (the pub across the road from Old Meadowbank – btw it’s still there!) to drown their sorrows or, for the non-drinkers, back home with a bag of chips to watch the Quatermass Experiment on the TV. But both sets of fans would have to admit that over the two legs they had seen a classic match – a real credit to the sport of Speedway – without any semblance of crowd trouble.

The half-time interval is over and it’s on with the racing again. The Edinburgh supporters seem to be in good spirits now that their side is within touching distance of the overall lead and the Glasgow fans are looking a bit apprehensive. Let’s see what happened…… Heat 9…Alf Wells, Kevin Torpie Bruce Ovenden, Bernie Lagrosse… Monarchs 5, Tigers 1…. Monarchs 34, Glasgow 19….Agg: Monarchs 75, Tigers 74 Time 68.8 The Monarchs supporters went wild as they take the aggregate lead for the first time in this match in the second of the two reserves races. There’s no doubt this was a blow to the Tigers’ hopes but at least they have the consolation of having the two reserves races out of the way for the rest of the match. Kevin Torpie is very happy having completed his two programmed rides unbeaten. Heat 10…Charlie MonkColin McKee, Henry Harrfeldt,Graham Coombes ….Monarchs 3, Tigers 3….Monarchs 37, Tigers 22….Agg: Monarchs 78, Tigers 77 Time 66.2 Charlie Monk scorched to victory for Glasgow in a fast time but the Tigers were disappointed that key man Graham Coombes failed to score. Nonetheless the heat is drawn and Edinburgh remain one point ahead overall. Heat 11…Ross Nickisson,Bruce Ovenden, George Hunter,Bluey Scott ef …. Monarchs 4, Tigers 2…. Monarchs 41, Tigers 24 ….Agg: Monarchs 82, Tigers 79 Time 70.4 Both sides can claim to have had bad luck in this race. First of all with Bluey Scott out in front from George Hunter George’s engine developed a problem on the first lap, third bend which saw him unable to do little more than coast round and he was passed by Ross Nickisson and Bruce Ovenden. Just when it looked as though Glasgow were set to take a 2-4 Bluey Scott then suffered engine failure when way out in the lead on the same bend one lap later. This allowed Ross Nickisson to take a most unexpected race win in the slowest winning time of the night from Bruce Ovenden with George Hunter cruising to the third place point. Glasgow were cursing their luck as they lost the heat 4-2 and Edinburgh were now three points ahead on aggregate with things looking gloomy for Glasgow. Heat 12…Doug Templeton, Maury Mattingly, Bill McMillan Alf Wells….Monarchs 3, Tigers 3 ….Monarchs 44, Tigers 27 ….Agg: Monarchs 85, Tigers 82 Time 67.4 As expected Doug Templeton took the race win in fine style from Maury Mattingly but full credit went to Tigers’ reserve Bill McMillan for the third place point ahead of the disappointing Alf Wells. Glasgow are still hanging in there and Edinburgh just can’t seem to get away from them. Heat 13…Charlie Monk, Graham Coombes George Hunter, Ross Nickisson …. Monarchs 1, Tigers 5….Monarchs 45, Tigers 32….Agg: Monarchs 86, Tigers 87 Time 66.2 What a shock!! Edinburgh fans were stunned when their hero George Hunter was beaten into third place by Charlie Monk and Graham Coombes obviously anxious to make up for his last race blip. Another fast time was set by Charlie Monk but even the Glasgow fans could hardly have expected Graham Coombes to follow him home for the big 1-5. The Tigers fans were ecstatic as they go back in front by one point on aggregate again. Just three heats to go and the atmosphere was electric with the Tigers galvanised by this result. Still the Monarchs have two of their big guns out in the next heat so perhaps the Glasgow euphoria was premature. Heat 14…Doug Templeton, Colin McKee Bill McMillan, Bruce Ovenden ef …. Monarchs 5, Tigers 1 ….Monarchs 50, Glasgow 33 ….Agg: Monarchs 91, Tigers 88 Time 68.0 As expected Glasgow lost this race by the maximum. It was too much to expect Bill McMillan to give the Edinburgh heat leaders a run for their money and the loss of Willie Templeton was never more openly exposed than in this heat. So Edinburgh reverse the score of the previous heat and lead on aggregate again by three points. However Doug Templeton and Colin McKee have finished their races for the Monarchs so maybe Glasgow can cash in to some degree. Heat 15…Graham Coombes, Bluey Scott Henry Harrfeldt, Ross Nickisson ef …. Monarchs 1, Tigers 5 …. Monarchs 51, Tigers 38….Agg: Monarchs 92, Tigers 93 Time 67.8 A disaster for Edinburgh as Graham Coombes yet again gave the Monarchs a set back by winning the race while his partner, Bluey Scott, provided the second place to give Glasgow the big 1-5 just when it was needed. Now it was the Tigers who had gone back into the lead by one point on aggregate and the match was balanced on a knife-edge with just the final race to come. Well there we were with 31 of the 32 heats completed and both sides going into the last heat with only one point separating them – in Glasgow’s favour. Edinburgh were programmed to have George Hunter and Alf Wells in the last heat while Glasgow lined up with Maury Mattingly and Charlie Monk. Edinburgh needed an advantage from the heat while three points from it would see the trophy go back to Glasgow. After some thought Ian Hoskins, the Edinburgh Team Manager, decided to replace the out of touch Alf Wells by reserve Kevin Torpie whose fast gating brought him lots of points. He was unbeaten from his two races but had not faced the likes of Mattingly and Monk so it was a bit of a gamble particularly since he left gaps for the opposition by drifting wide on the corners. Out came the riders from both teams with the roar of the crowd growing louder. As they arrived at the tapes a hush descended while the fans held their breath in anticipation. Then with the engines screaming the tapes went up and………………………………………………………………………… Well you’ll have to wait until 11.30pm or just slightly thereafter when I will post the details of that last heat – heat 16. Could George Hunter and Kevin Torpie get the advantage they needed for victory or would Charlie Monk and Maury Mattingly get the result they needed to lift the cup. Tune in later to find out (if you’re still interested of course!)

Scottish Cup……. Edinburgh Monarchs v. Glasgow Tigers From Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh – Saturday, 21 August 1965 Well a massive crowd has assembled for the second leg of this Scottish Cup tie. There is a very large contingent of Glasgow Tigers supporters who have travelled through from Glasgow – some by train from Glasgow Queen Street to Piershill Station which is situated right next to the track and involves only a short walk up Clockmill Lane to get to the turnstiles. Edinburgh will be tracking the same team which lost by 41-55 at the White City, Glasgow last night but the bad news for Glasgow is that Willie Templeton is still ill and will not be able to race. Glasgow have reshuffled the team and Bill McMillan is promoted from reserve to number 2 while Bernie Lagrosse comes into the reserve berth. The atmosphere is building and the excitement is almost tangible as with all of these fixtures. Neither side feels confident of winning and this match could go all the way. So, if you don’t enjoy the racing, wallow in the tension and air of expectancy as the two sides prepare for battle. There are no tactical substitutes allowed in either leg of this match and the match will be raced over 16 heats. Also the number 7 rider is the only reserve so the only change that either team manager can make is to use the reserve. The teams line up as follows: Edinburgh Monarchs 1. Colin McKee 2. Henry Harrfeldt 3. Doug Templeton (Captain) 4. Alf Wells 5. George Hunter 6. Ross Nickisson 7. Kevin Torpie (Reserve) Team Manager: Ian Hoskins Glasgow Tigers 1. Maury Mattingly (Captain) 2. Bill McMillan 3. Bluey Scott 4. Bruce Ovenden 5. Charlie Monk 6. Graham Coombes 7. Bernie Lagrosse (Reserve) Team Manager: Trevor Redmond *********************** Heat Details: Heat 1…(rerun) Colin McKee, Bill McMillan, Maury Mattingly ef gate, Henry Harrfeldt f excl …. Monarchs 3, Tigers 2…. Monarchs 3, Tigers 2….Agg: Monarchs 44, Tigers 57 Time 69.0 Drama from the off! In the first running of the heat Henry Harrfeldt fell on the first turn on lap 2 and was excluded from the rerun. In the rerun Maury Mattingly’s bike packed up at the strarting gate so there were only two finishers with Colin McKee heading home Bill McMillan to give Edinburgh a one point lead in the second leg. Heat 2…Doug Templeton, Alf Wells, , Bluey Scott, Bruce Ovenden …. Monarchs 5, Tigers 1 …. Monarchs 8, Tigers 3 ….Agg: Monarchs 49, Tigers 58 Time 68.2 Just what the Monarchs wanted – a quick start to pull back the deficit from the first leg. Already the Tigers overall lead is down to 9 points. Heat 3…Henry Harrfeldt, Kevin Torpie, , Bill McMillan, Bernie Lagrosse …. Monarchs 5, Tigers 1 ….Monarchs 13, Tigers 4…. Agg: Monarchs 54, Tigers 59Time 70.2 The first of the two reserve races brought, not unexpectedly, Edinburgh another 5-1. Kevin Torpie’s quick start put him in the driving seat although yet again he drifted very wide on the bends but held on to second place. This was always going to be a problem heat for Glasgow and so it proved. The overall lead is now down to only 5 points and Glasgow will be looking to make better progress. Heat 4… Doug Templeton , Maury Mattingly, , Colin McKee, Bluey Scott…. Monarchs 4, Glasgow 2 ….Monarchs 17, Tigers 6 ….Agg: Monarchs 58, Tigers 61 Time 67.8 Another heat advantage for Edinburgh as Doug Templeton saw off the challenge of Maury Mattingly but Colin McKee takes the vital third place point from Bluey Scott. That’s two poor races from Bluey and the Glasgow supporters will be hoping he manages to sort out his problems. The aggregate lead is now down to 3 points. Heat 5…George Hunter, Graham Coombes, Ross Nickisson, Charlie Monk f, rem, ret …. Monarchs 4, Glasgow 2 …. Monarchs 21, Tigers 8 …. Monarchs 62, Tigers 63 Time 66.0 Another disastrous heat for Glasgow. Charlie Monk fell on the first corner but there was no restart. He remounted his machine but eventually retired at the end of the third lap. This is not like Charlie and he will be livid at contributing to Glasgow’s poor start to this match. Meanwhile George Hunter won the race in the fastest time of the night and the ever trying Graham Coombes picked up second place. It’s a gift point for Ross Nickisson and Glasgow’s aggregate lead has all but disappeared. Heat 6… Bluey Scott , Henry Harrfeldt, Colin McKee Bruce Ovenden …. Monarchs 3, Tigers 3 …. Monarchs 24, Tigers 11 ….Agg: Monarchs 65, Tigers 66 Time 68.8 At last Glasgow provide a race winner as Bluey Scott puts the disappointment of his previous two races behind him by beating the Edinburgh boys for a share of the spoils. Strangely it took Edinburgh until heat 6 to provide their first race winner last night. Heat 7… Charlie Monk Doug Templeton, Graham Coombes, Alf Wells…. Monarchs 2, Tigers 4 …. Monarchs 26, Tigers 15 ….Agg: Monarchs 67, Tigers 70 Time 66.8 No mistakes this time for Charlie Monk who saw off Doug Templeton for the race win and Graham Coombes picked up a vital third place point to give Glasgow their first heat advantage of the night. This increases their overall aggregate lead to three points again. Heat 8…George Hunter, Maury Mattingly, Bill McMillan Ross Nickisson…. Monarchs 3, Tigers 3….Monarchs 29, Tigers 18….Agg: Monarchs 70, Tigers 73 Time 67.2 Glasgow continue to dig in to defend their lead by sharing the heat. George Hunter was off and away but Maury Mattingly and Bill McMillan headed home Ross Nickisson. So at the half-way stage of the second leg, Glasgow look to have recovered from the early Monarchs’ blitz and still hold the aggregate lead. However it’s now down to only 3 points and it’s anyone’s guess (except mine and anyone else who remembers the match) how it’s going to pan out. The remaining dramatic 8 heats will be posted tomorrow night so don’t miss it!

After the match comments It looked as though after heat 9 Glasgow might run riot but Edinburgh fought back with determination to pull back two points over the last seven heats. Heat 15 may prove crucial. Glasgow must have hoped for at least a 4-2 with Charlie Monk and Graham Coombes in it but instead with both riders falling they conceded a 1-5 to Edinburgh which has the match on a knife edge for tomorrow night at Old Meadowbank. Edinburgh will be hoping for some points from numbers 6 and 7 where tonight Ross Nickisson never looked like scoring and the White City bends were far too tight for Kevin Torpie’s liking. For Glasgow the big worry is whether Willie Templeton will have recovered sufficiently from his illness to take his place tomorrow night. Willie is an Old Meadowbank specialist having ridden for the Monarchs there for many years and his absence will be a real blow for the Tigers. They did well tonight considering that they were effectively only a six man team with Willie failing to score in two races before withdrawing from the meeting. They will be well pleased tonight with the ‘tail’. Graham Coombes, Bruce Ovenden and Bill McMillan scored 23+3 to give the heat leaders excellent back-up. It looks like a huge support will be travelling through to Edinburgh tomorrow night for the second leg. A 14 point lead will not be easy for Edinburgh to overturn but anything can happen in these derby matches.

Scottish Cup……. Glasgow Tigers v. Edinburgh Monarchs From White City Stadium, Paisley Road, Glasgow – Friday, 20 August 1965 This match and the second leg which will follow afterwards actually took place in 1965. The two sides were not perhaps the best ever to have represented the colours of their teams but nevertheless they served up a Scottish Cup tie which was as pulsating and dramatic as any seen between the sides. I will post 8 heats tonight, 8 heats tomorrow then the 16 heats of the second leg on Monday and Tuesday. So sit back and enjoy the matches which took place at the now defunct stadia of White City, Glasgow and Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh. Neither side was at full strength going into these ties. Glasgow had lost Nils Paulsen with a broken collar bone and Edinburgh were without Jimmy Tannock who had fallen down a mountain slope and broken an ankle while out grouse shooting (it’s true, I kid you not!). Bill Landels was also missing from the Monarchs side with a broken thumb and Praven Andreasen was another missing from the blue and gold ranks as was Bert Harkins with a leg injury. There were no tactical substitutes allowed in either leg of this match and each match was raced over 16 heats. Also the number 7 rider was the only reserve so the only change that either team manager could make was to use the reserve. The teams lined up as follows: Glasgow Tigers 1. Bluey Scott 2. Maury Mattingly (Captain) 3. Willie Templeton 4. Graham Coombes 5. Charlie Monk 6. Bruce Ovenden 7. Bill McMillan (Reserve) Team Manager: Trevor Redmond Edinburgh Monarchs 1. Colin McKee 2. Henry Harrfeldt 3. Douglas Templeton (Captain) 4. Alf Wells 5. George Hunter 6. Ross Nickisson 7. Kevin Torpie (Reserve) Team Manager: Ian Hoskins *********************** Heat Details: Heat 1...Bluey Scott, Maury Mattingly, Colin McKee, Henry Harrfeldt Tigers 5, Monarchs 1 Time 82.6 (White City was a huge track!). Bluey Scott made the gate followed by Henry Harrfeldt but Harrfeldt fell coming out of the second bend on the opening lap and the Glasgow men were off to a perfect start with a big 5-1. Heat 2...Graham Coombes , Alf Wells, Doug Templeton Willie Templeton Tigers 3, Monarchs 3 Tigers 8, Monarchs 4 Time 82.2 Willie Templeton was still recovering from a bout of flu and wasn’t 100% fit. Heat 3...Maury Mattingly , Henry Harrfeldt , , Bill McMillan Kevin Torpie Tigers 4, Monarchs 2 Tigers 12, Monarchs 6 Time 82.4 The race formula had what we now know as heat 8 as heat 3 and was radically different from the one used today. So a fine win for the Glasgow skipper, Maury Mattingly, put the Tigers 6 ahead after three heats. Heat 4... Bluey Scott , Colin McKee, Doug Templeton , Willie Templeton n/f Tigers 3, Monarchs 3 Tigers 15, Monarchs 9 Time 82.8 Willie Templeton pulled up on the second bend of the last lap while lying third and took no further part in the meeting. His remaining three rides were all taken by reserve, Bill McMillan. Heat 5...Charlie Monk, George Hunter, Bruce Ovenden, Ross Nickisson Tigers 4, Monarchs 2 Tigers 19. Monarchs 11 Time 81.0 Enter the two giants of the fray – Charlie Monk for Glasgow and George Hunter for Edinburgh. This time it was Charlie Monk who claimed the victory in what turned out to be the fastest time of the night. So Glasgow had stretched their lead to 8 points with this 4-2 and Edinburgh had yet to supply a heat winner. Heat 6... Doug Templeton , Bluey Scott, Maury Mattingly, Alf Wells Tigers, 3, Monarchs 3 Tigers 22, Monarchs 14 Time 83.8 At last the Monarchs fans have something to shout about as Doug Templeton provides their first race winner of the match. There is no advantage though as the Glasgow riders fill the minor places. Heat 7... George Hunter Graham Coombes, Bill McMillan, Ross Nickisson Tigers 3, Monarchs 3 Tigers, 25, Monarchs 17 Time 85.0 Another race winner for the Monarchs with George Hunter leading home the field but there was no chance of a heat advantage for them as Ross Nickisson fell at the back on the third bend of the opening lap. Heat 8...Charlie Monk, Bruce Ovenden, Henry Harrfeldt, Colin McKee Tigers 5, Monarchs 1 Tigers 30, Monarchs 18 Time 84.0 A bad heat for the Monarchs as Glasgow inspired by Charlie Monk take their second 5-1 of the match to open a 12 point lead which is beginning to cause Monarchs some worries. It didn’t help the Edinburgh cause when Colin McKee fell at the third bend of the opening lap. Heat 9… Bill McMillan, Graham Coombes, Alf Wells, Kevin Torpie Tigers, 5, Monarchs 1 Tigers, 35, Monarchs 19 Time 86.4 Another disastrous heat for Edinburgh as the second of the second string/reserve races results in a maximum for Glasgow who are now pulling away strongly with a 16 point lead. Edinburgh need to steady the ship over the next 7 heats if they hope to have any chance of overall success. Heat 10…George Hunter, Maury Mattingly, Bluey Scott, Ross Nickisson Tigers, 3, Monarchs 3 Tigers 38, Monarchs 22 Time 84.0 George Hunter comes to the Monarchs’ rescue again with his second heat win but again Glasgow fill the minor places to protect their 16 point lead Heat 11…Charlie Monk, Doug Templeton, Bruce Ovenden, Alf Wells Tigers 4, Monarchs 2 Tigers 42, Monarchs 24 Time 83.2 Alf Wells suffered an engine failure on the third lap, second bend but was in last place at the time. Charlie Monk chalks up his third consecutive race win as Glasgow extend their lead even further to 18 points. Heat 12… Henry Harrfeldt, Bill McMillan, Colin McKee, Graham Coombes, Tigers 2, Monarchs 4 Tigers 44, Monarchs 28 Time 86.4 At last Edinburgh win a heat. Graham Coombes was unlucky though to suffer an engine failure on the third lap while holding second place to let Colin McKee through for the vital third place point. Heat 13… George Hunter, Charlie Monk, Bill McMillan, Kevin Torpie Tigers 3, Monarchs 3 Tigers 47, Monarchs 31 Time 82.8 A fantastic heat as George Hunter holds off Charlie Monk for all four laps but again he has no back-up and the heat is drawn. Heat 14…Bluey Scott, Henry Harrfeldt, Alf Wells, Bill McMillan Tigers 3, Edinburgh 3 Tigers 50, Edinburgh 34 Time 84.8 Bill McMillan comes in for Willie Templeton again but fails to score as Bluey Scott heads home the two Monarchs. Heat 15… Bruce Ovenden, Doug Templeton. Maury Mattingly Ross Nickisson Tigers 4, Monarchs 2 Tigers 54, Monarchs 36 Time 86.4 An excellent win for Tigers second string Bruce Ovenden from Doug Templeton. The Glasgow 4-2 extends their lead to 18 points again with just one heat to go. Heat 16… (rerun) George Hunter, Colin McKee, Graham Coombes f. rem, Charlie Monk f. excl. Tigers 1, Monarchs 5 Tigers 55, Monarchs 41 A disastrous last heat for Glasgow. In the first running of the heat Charlie Monk came down on the third bend of the first lap whilst chasing George Hunter. He was excluded and in the rerun Graham Coombes came down on the same spot but remounted to complete the race while the Monarchs pairing cruised to a 5-1. This means that Glasgow take a 14 point lead to Old Meadowbank tomorrow night. Will it be enough. Tune in tomorrow and read what happens in the first eight heats of the second leg. Scorers: Glasgow – Bluey Scott 12+1 (5), Charlie Monk 11 (5), Maury Mattingly 9+2 (5), Graham Coombes 8 (5), Bill McMillan 8+2 (6), Bruce Ovenden 7+1 (4), Willie Templeton 0 (2). Edinburgh – George Hunter 14 (5), Doug Templeton 9+1 (5), Henry Harrfeldt 8 (5), Colin McKee 6+1 (5), Alf Wells 4+1 (5), Ross Nickisson 0 (4), Kevin Torpie 0 (3).

So sorry to hear this news. I well remember Jimmy from the days of Old Meadowbank, Edinburgh and the Provicial League - it must have been some drive up from the South of England in those days. RIP

Jeeze what a load of sour grapes! I didn't notice Hans Anderson putting up much resistance to Scott Nicholls passing him a few yards after Peter Karlsson. Nicholls would never have passed Karlsson anyway by the looks of the speed the two riders had during the race. Why all this talk about being robbed? Great Britain had some good breaks too particularly from the referee who allowed Scott Nicholls back in for a rerun with all 4 when he should have thrown him out. Remember too that the Swedes really should have had it sewn up much earlier by playing their Joker when 6 points in arrears - they would have won by 4 points not one! It was really sad though that it took so long before the Swedes were properly congratulated on their win. I guess it was more important to hammer on about why GB had lost and find excuses to convince us that we really were the best. That reminds me of another sporting event this summer when the same thing happened.