Lessons From 1965

[Gatwick Rocket]

I have recently been researching the 1965 season and noticed a few interesting things from the events of that year that indicate speedway wasn't perfect in the good old days, and some of what disenfranchises supporters now has been going on for the last 50 years!

 

1. The almost complete absence of guest riders meant injuries massively impacted team performance. It is not surprising therefore that the use of guests or rider replacement was introduced to allow team's greater compensation for the loss of top riders.

 

2. Very few meetings were postponed or abandoned because of the weather. This probably meant there was some nights of very poor entertainment value for the fans to endure before promoters realised it was preferable to not start in the first place.

 

3. Not all the season's official fixtures were completed. Cradley Heath v Halifax was never staged after being postponed on 25 September due to rain, even though Cradley Heath ran through to 30 October including an end of season challenge and a blank Saturday in those five remaining weeks.

 

4. Promoters squabbled over the rules and results were changed after the event. The British League match between Swindon and Wimbledon on 3 July finished 41-37 on the night but was changed to 36-37 after Swindon's use of Clive Hitch was deemed ineligible. Then on 17 August Long Eaton lost at home to Oxford 38-39 but complained about Oxford's use of Danny Dunton, whose scores were initially expunged making it a home win before the original result and scores were reinstated on appeal.

 

5. Things didn't always go according to plan. On 8 July the Knockout Cup tie between Oxford and Wimbledon was run over the wrong heat format (!) although Wimbledon's 43-35 away win was allowed to stand.

 

6. Some promoters filled the calendar with challenge fixtures. Sheffield rode 15 challenge meetings (9 at home, 6 away) of which 5 were against Belle Vue.

 

7. Some promoters looked overseas for new talent rather than promote from the junior ranks. Edinburgh signed Bernt Persson late in September despite there being a number of Scottish juniors on the fringes of the team there or in Glasgow.

 

It was also remarkable to note how many teams lined up at the start of 1966 with sides that were virtually (if not completely) unchanged from the riders of the previous year. Belle Vue, Coventry, Hackney, West Ham and Wimbledon made no changes during the winter (Hackney and West Ham each promoted a junior into the team), others only had one new signing and even the most changed team of all (Long Eaton) tracked three of its side of 1965 plus a junior). Such loyalty is neither sought nor permitted in the modern era.

 

[arnieg]

I think you could add the near strangulation at birth of the British League before the season's start when riders and promoters were at loggerheads over pay to that list.

[norbold]

Point 6 is an interesting one. As far as I remember there wasn't a significant drop in crowd numbers for challenge matches and lesser individual trophies. People liked their weekly dose of speedway at the time, so anything was better than nothing. I don't think you'd get away with that these days. People just don't go so regularly, there is more picking and choosing.

[Grachan]

If you look at 1967, Swindon won the league title despite missing Barry Briggs for about a month. They had no guest facility and had to use their number 8.

 

Also, there was a meeting at Swindon held in pouring rain from the start. It was abandoned after heat 6. The match write up said that nobody could complain about the rain off as it should never have been started.

 

Swindon's match at King's Lynn was restaged due to King's Lynn using an ineligible rider in the first match. The restaging was the final match of te season and the one where Swindon clinched the title.

 

The Stars, by the way, were at the bottom of the league and wanted to sign Ove Fundin but were told they weren't allowed. He then signed for Belle Vue, who were in contention for top spot.

 

There was also an article in Speedway Star about the problems speedway faces and the lack of characters in the sport!

[waiheke1]

 

Also, there was a meeting at Swindon held in pouring rain from the start. It was abandoned after heat 6. The match write up said that nobody could complain about the rain off as it should never have been started.

 

 

iirc, a rain off after 6 heats meant no refund. i'm sure just a coincidence that the meeting managed to make it just to this cut off point.

[Grachan]

iirc, a rain off after 6 heats meant no refund. i'm sure just a coincidence that the meeting managed to make it just to this cut off point.

 

Absolutely. A complete rip off of the fans, which was a much more common occurance back in the 'heat 6' days.

[Guest compost]

Absolutely. A complete rip off of the fans, which was a much more common occurance back in the 'heat 6' days.

 

Actually you might be surprised.

 

I've done a quick analysis of 6 seasons and can come up with the following analysis.

1960.

178 League matches (2 not raced)

Abandoned prior to heat 6 – 1 National League

None abandoned after heat 5

A further 5 challenge matches were abandoned

% League abandoned 0.6%

 

1966

341 League matches (1 not raced)

None abandoned prior to heat 6

Abandoned after heat 5 – 3 but one result stood.

1 non-League match was abandoned prior to heat 6.

% League abandoned (and not standing) 0.6%

 

1967

342 League matches

2 abandoned prior to heat 6

3 abandoned after heat 5

3 non-league matches plus 1 pairs meetings meetings also abandoned (1 stood)

% League abandoned 1.5%

 

1968

432 League matches

3 abandoned prior to heat 6

2 abandoned after heat 5

Several results later changed or meetings changed from League to Challenge (not included in this analysis)

% League abandoned 1.2%

 

1995

463 League matches held (Cleveland withdrew but the matches they did raced are included in this total)

2 abandoned prior to heat 5

6 abandoned after heat 5 of which 2 results stood

A further 3 Cup matches were also abandoned 1 before heat 6 the other 2 after (1 result standing).

% League abandoned (and not standing) 1.3%

 

2009

416 League matches

3 abandoned prior to heat 6

11 abandoned after heat 5 but 10 results stand

In addition a total of 12 non-league matches were abandoned after heat 5 of which 7 results stood.

% League abandoned (and not standing) 0.96%

 

Hope this makes sense !

But the number of matches per season abandoned isn't that high especially not when you take into account the number who do get raced to an official result.

Didn't have time to total all meetings/matches up which is why the %'s only relate to League matches.

[daveallan81]

I ran figures for abandonments a while ago but I can't remember if I posted the results. Figures run from 1967 to date covering 1st and 2nd division matches only. They also include postponements. https://www.dropbox.com/s/zzge8z99asq1225/Abandonments.pdf?dl=0

[iris123]

I ran figures for abandonments a while ago but I can't remember if I posted the results. Figures run from 1967 to date covering 1st and 2nd division matches only. They also include postponements. https://www.dropbox.com/s/zzge8z99asq1225/Abandonments.pdf?dl=0

Nice work.Much as I thought really.That the end of the 80s saw a rise in abandonments and cancellations up until today.Riders less likely to ride in dodgy weather/conditions nowadays and it is one of the reasons I am less likely to travel when the forecast is iffy

[BOBBATH]

I have recently been researching the 1965 season and noticed a few interesting things from the events of that year that indicate speedway wasn't perfect in the good old days, and some of what disenfranchises supporters now has been going on for the last 50 years!

 

1. The almost complete absence of guest riders meant injuries massively impacted team performance. It is not surprising therefore that the use of guests or rider replacement was introduced to allow team's greater compensation for the loss of top riders.

 

2. Very few meetings were postponed or abandoned because of the weather. This probably meant there was some nights of very poor entertainment value for the fans to endure before promoters realised it was preferable to not start in the first place.

 

3. Not all the season's official fixtures were completed. Cradley Heath v Halifax was never staged after being postponed on 25 September due to rain, even though Cradley Heath ran through to 30 October including an end of season challenge and a blank Saturday in those five remaining weeks.

 

4. Promoters squabbled over the rules and results were changed after the event. The British League match between Swindon and Wimbledon on 3 July finished 41-37 on the night but was changed to 36-37 after Swindon's use of Clive Hitch was deemed ineligible. Then on 17 August Long Eaton lost at home to Oxford 38-39 but complained about Oxford's use of Danny Dunton, whose scores were initially expunged making it a home win before the original result and scores were reinstated on appeal.

 

5. Things didn't always go according to plan. On 8 July the Knockout Cup tie between Oxford and Wimbledon was run over the wrong heat format (!) although Wimbledon's 43-35 away win was allowed to stand.

 

6. Some promoters filled the calendar with challenge fixtures. Sheffield rode 15 challenge meetings (9 at home, 6 away) of which 5 were against Belle Vue.

 

7. Some promoters looked overseas for new talent rather than promote from the junior ranks. Edinburgh signed Bernt Persson late in September despite there being a number of Scottish juniors on the fringes of the team there or in Glasgow.

 

It was also remarkable to note how many teams lined up at the start of 1966 with sides that were virtually (if not completely) unchanged from the riders of the previous year. Belle Vue, Coventry, Hackney, West Ham and Wimbledon made no changes during the winter (Hackney and West Ham each promoted a junior into the team), others only had one new signing and even the most changed team of all (Long Eaton) tracked three of its side of 1965 plus a junior). Such loyalty is neither sought nor permitted in the modern era.

 

Glad to see this post started since 1965 was to me a golden year and the season I enjoyed the most. Wonderful for a PL fan like me to see the NL riders for the first time-some as good as I expected, others not so much(particularly on the rough Somerton Park, Newport track). Re point #1- I think the guest rider system was a curse and even if a star rider was injured it sometimes gave a chance to second halfers-rider replacement I could tolerate. Although were guest riders allowed in 65??-thought that started in BL in 1966-could be wrong. #6 Agreed-challenge matches were a waste of time but I still went just to see the racing. #2 -I looked back at my programmes(all of which I still have-holy cow that's 50 years ago) and I attended 4 rained off meetings. At Newport on 9 April (v. Exeter )abandoned after 4 heats, on 7 June (v. Hackney) after 8 heats, at Belle Vue on 4 Sept (v.Newport) after 8 heats and at Newport on 24 Sept (v. Coventry) after 1 heat -so I thought fair enough in my experience. First NL rider I ever saw was Brian Elliott then riding for Halifax, won his first ride against good old Dick Bradley(glad to see both these gents are still with us)-helluva race and I thought no way the PL guys can keep up with these guys -but was I wrong!!! Just for the record Brian finished 2nd in his second race to Peter Vandenberg and then won his third against Geoff Penniket, Vic White and Bob Jameson. Halifax had a wonderful team that year-with Eric Boocock, Dave Younghusband and Eric Boothroyd -all of whom were in the all conquering Dukes team of 1966( not forgetting of course Bob Jameson, Bert Kingston and -in 65- Clive Hitch. One thing I do wish was that in 65 there would have been bonus points for close away defeats. I recall that no-hopers Newport went to the mighty Wimbledon(their first visit to an ex NL track) early in the season and lost 40-38-they sure as hell deserved something for that amazing performance imho. Hope some of this brings back memories for other vets of 65.

[Chadster]

There were no guests in 1965 and no rider replacement. That came in the following season to replace an injured heat leader only. I think guests were allowed if 2 heat leaders were missing.

We shouldn't write off all challenge matches as duds. Some of the most fiercely contested meetings I ever witnessed were the early season challenges between Wimbledon and Hackney in the late 1980s. The league matches were quite tame in comparison. Wolves and Cradley fans will probably say the same things about the Dudley-Wolves Trophy meetings.

[Guest compost]

There were no guests in 1965 and no rider replacement. That came in the following season to replace an injured heat leader only. I think guests were allowed if 2 heat leaders were missing.

We shouldn't write off all challenge matches as duds. Some of the most fiercely contested meetings I ever witnessed were the early season challenges between Wimbledon and Hackney in the late 1980s. The league matches were quite tame in comparison. Wolves and Cradley fans will probably say the same things about the Dudley-Wolves Trophy meetings.

 

I'll probably get smacked down for this but Edinburgh (at least) used a Guest in a couple of official matches - Olle Nygren at Poole in the Cup on the 14th July & Ivan Mauger in the home league match against Belle Vue on the 24th September. So there must have been some facility for the use of Guests (though I've no idea what) in place during this season. This supports the OP.

[Chadster]

In the cup match Nygren replaced George Hunter who was on international duty that night. Can't explain the presence of Mauger in the league match, especially as the Monarchs had signed Bernt Persson by then.

[BL65]

In the cup match Nygren replaced George Hunter who was on international duty that night. Can't explain the presence of Mauger in the league match, especially as the Monarchs had signed Bernt Persson by then.

 

George Hunter walked out of the home meeting against Coventry on 7th August after one ride as he was unhappy with track conditions. He subsequently failed to appear in two away meetings, at Coventry on 11th September (his vehicle having reportedly broken down en route) and at Exeter on 13th September (when two other Monarchs also failed to arrive), following which he received a 21 day suspension from the BSPA. Edinburgh were given permission to use Ivan Mauger as a guest for the home meeting against Belle Vue on 24th September. George Hunter was successful in an appeal to reduce the length of his suspension, allowing him to take part in the Scottish Open Championship at Edinburgh on 2nd October.

[DavyH]

 

George Hunter walked out of the home meeting against Coventry on 7th August after one ride as he was unhappy with track conditions. He subsequently failed to appear in two away meetings, at Coventry on 11th September (his vehicle having reportedly broken down en route) and at Exeter on 13th September (when two other Monarchs also failed to arrive), following which he received a 21 day suspension from the BSPA. Edinburgh were given permission to use Ivan Mauger as a guest for the home meeting against Belle Vue on 24th September. George Hunter was successful in an appeal to reduce the length of his suspension, allowing him to take part in the Scottish Open Championship at Edinburgh on 2nd October.

Hope the Glasgow mafia don't read that we were cheating 50 years ago!!

[BL65]

Hope the Glasgow mafia don't read that we were cheating 50 years ago!!

 

It could be argued that Monarchs were weakened by having to include Ivan Mauger to replace George Hunter. At the end of the 1965 season George's league average was 9.41, whereas Ivan's was 8.81. I believe they only met in two races at Edinburgh in 1965, with George beating Ivan in both (26th June in the league and 2nd October in the Scottish Open). Ivan did have a bad injury at Wolverhampton on 16th April though and had not completely recovered when he made his comeback in the World Championship qualifying rounds 2 months later.

[BL65]

Glad to see this post started since 1965 was to me a golden year and the season I enjoyed the most. Wonderful for a PL fan like me to see the NL riders for the first time-some as good as I expected, others not so much(particularly on the rough Somerton Park, Newport track). Re point #1- I think the guest rider system was a curse and even if a star rider was injured it sometimes gave a chance to second halfers-rider replacement I could tolerate. Although were guest riders allowed in 65??-thought that started in BL in 1966-could be wrong. #6 Agreed-challenge matches were a waste of time but I still went just to see the racing. #2 -I looked back at my programmes(all of which I still have-holy cow that's 50 years ago) and I attended 4 rained off meetings. At Newport on 9 April (v. Exeter )abandoned after 4 heats, on 7 June (v. Hackney) after 8 heats, at Belle Vue on 4 Sept (v.Newport) after 8 heats and at Newport on 24 Sept (v. Coventry) after 1 heat -so I thought fair enough in my experience. First NL rider I ever saw was Brian Elliott then riding for Halifax, won his first ride against good old Dick Bradley(glad to see both these gents are still with us)-helluva race and I thought no way the PL guys can keep up with these guys -but was I wrong!!! Just for the record Brian finished 2nd in his second race to Peter Vandenberg and then won his third against Geoff Penniket, Vic White and Bob Jameson. Halifax had a wonderful team that year-with Eric Boocock, Dave Younghusband and Eric Boothroyd -all of whom were in the all conquering Dukes team of 1966( not forgetting of course Bob Jameson, Bert Kingston and -in 65- Clive Hitch. One thing I do wish was that in 65 there would have been bonus points for close away defeats. I recall that no-hopers Newport went to the mighty Wimbledon(their first visit to an ex NL track) early in the season and lost 40-38-they sure as hell deserved something for that amazing performance imho. Hope some of this brings back memories for other vets of 65.

 

The Newport performance at Wimbledon was in no small way due to the remarkable return to top form of 43 year old Jack Biggs, with a 12 point maximum.

 

I agree with you Bob that 1965 was a golden year, plenty of unpredictability over the season and some tremendous achievements by several of the former PL riders. Ivor Brown was mixing it with the very best prior to his injury in the Internationale at Wimbledon, George Hunter was scoring double figures in nearly every meeting, Charlie Monk averaged over 10 for Glasgow and won the Internationale, beating an all-star line up which included Briggs, Fundin, Knuts(s)on and Nordin, with Eric Boocock and Ivan Mauger also coming to the fore in the new British League.

 

Just to make you wince, I saw the Wasps crushed 64-14 at Wolverhampton towards the end of the season. To be fair, the Wolves had developed into a very strong team on their own track, with Pete Jarman, Bob Andrews, Tommy Sweetman and Cyril Francis having a good year, ably backed up by James Bond and Brian Maxted, who vied for the reserve slot. The key to the strength of the team though was the emergence of Jim Airey and Gordon Guasco, the latter only missing out on a reserve place at the World Final in a run-off at the British Final.

 

On a happier note for you though, three weeks later I saw Wasps win at injury hit Cradley Heath to end the season in style. As usual in those days there were plenty of cheering travelling fans supporting their team.

 

One of the best aspects of the 1965 season was that supporters knew there would be a meeting every week, mostly on the usual race night, the opposition would be varied due to there being 18 teams in the league and following the team was a habit, win or lose. I knew several people who went to watch Barry Briggs at Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath because of the pre-meeting publicity, having never been to speedway before.

[The White Knight]

 

The Newport performance at Wimbledon was in no small way due to the remarkable return to top form of 43 year old Jack Biggs, with a 12 point maximum.

 

I agree with you Bob that 1965 was a golden year, plenty of unpredictability over the season and some tremendous achievements by several of the former PL riders. Ivor Brown was mixing it with the very best prior to his injury in the Internationale at Wimbledon, George Hunter was scoring double figures in nearly every meeting, Charlie Monk averaged over 10 for Glasgow and won the Internationale, beating an all-star line up which included Briggs, Fundin, Knuts(s)on and Nordin, with Eric Boocock and Ivan Mauger also coming to the fore in the new British League.

 

Just to make you wince, I saw the Wasps crushed 64-14 at Wolverhampton towards the end of the season. To be fair, the Wolves had developed into a very strong team on their own track, with Pete Jarman, Bob Andrews, Tommy Sweetman and Cyril Francis having a good year, ably backed up by James Bond and Brian Maxted, who vied for the reserve slot. The key to the strength of the team though was the emergence of Jim Airey and Gordon Guasco, the latter only missing out on a reserve place at the World Final in a run-off at the British Final.

 

On a happier note for you though, three weeks later I saw Wasps win at injury hit Cradley Heath to end the season in style. As usual in those days there were plenty of cheering travelling fans supporting their team.

 

One of the best aspects of the 1965 season was that supporters knew there would be a meeting every week, mostly on the usual race night, the opposition would be varied due to there being 18 teams in the league and following the team was a habit, win or lose. I knew several people who went to watch Barry Briggs at Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath because of the pre-meeting publicity, having never been to speedway before.

I hope you are grateful to Sunderland 'Saints' for those two Riders, Colin McKee too.

 

Bridgett closed down our Track so that you could get those Riders back in 1964.

 

Am I bitter - too right I am - even after 51 years. :mad:

Edited November 19, 2015 by The White Knight

[BL65]

I hope you are grateful to Sunderland 'Saints' for those two Riders, Colin McKee too.

 

Bridgett closed down our Track so that you could get those Riders back in 1964.

 

Am I bitter - too right I am - even after 51 years. :mad:

 

I am not a Wolves supporter White Knight, although I have seen hundreds of meetings at Monmore Green over the years, so I am not 'grateful' for the action taken to close Sunderland down in 1964. Wolverhampton did indeed benefit significantly by the addition of Airey, McKee and Guasco in 1964. Airey and Guasco progressed in 1965, with Gordon being one of the top riders in the 1966 Wolverhampton team and Jim returning from Australia in 1967 after missing the previous season and then going on to be a top rider in the late 1960's and early 1970's, by which time he had moved elsewhere.

 

I believe that Sunderland were two good riders short in 1964. Just look at the difference the addition of just one guest rider made on occasions. Although suffering a run of heavy defeats otherwise, when Ivor Brown guested at home to Sheffield his 12 point score saw Saints only lose by 4, then 9 points from guest Jimmy Squibb saw Saints only lose by a point at Middlesbrough, 10 points from guest Pete Jarman at home to Glasgow contributed to a decisive win and 9 points from Ivor Brown helped towards a narrow home win over Newcastle. Sunderland could have been another of the Provincial League success stories, I believe the promoters just bit off more than they could chew. As with any business operation, it is all in the planning!

 

The decision to close the track part way through the season was in the hands of promoters with interests elsewhere. Those same promoters made an error of judgement regarding the team strength at the beginning of the season and they were never able to remedy this apart from the use of the occasional guest rider. Maybe they did not have the will to improve the situation in the end. There were a few other short-lived operations for a variety of reasons in the Provincial League between 1960 and 1964, including Bradford, Bristol, Leicester, Liverpool, Neath, New Cross, Rayleigh and Yarmouth. It was very much a period of 'open and close' and I was very sad to see all of those closures at the time.

[BOBBATH]

 

The Newport performance at Wimbledon was in no small way due to the remarkable return to top form of 43 year old Jack Biggs, with a 12 point maximum.

 

I agree with you Bob that 1965 was a golden year, plenty of unpredictability over the season and some tremendous achievements by several of the former PL riders. Ivor Brown was mixing it with the very best prior to his injury in the Internationale at Wimbledon, George Hunter was scoring double figures in nearly every meeting, Charlie Monk averaged over 10 for Glasgow and won the Internationale, beating an all-star line up which included Briggs, Fundin, Knuts(s)on and Nordin, with Eric Boocock and Ivan Mauger also coming to the fore in the new British League.

 

Just to make you wince, I saw the Wasps crushed 64-14 at Wolverhampton towards the end of the season. To be fair, the Wolves had developed into a very strong team on their own track, with Pete Jarman, Bob Andrews, Tommy Sweetman and Cyril Francis having a good year, ably backed up by James Bond and Brian Maxted, who vied for the reserve slot. The key to the strength of the team though was the emergence of Jim Airey and Gordon Guasco, the latter only missing out on a reserve place at the World Final in a run-off at the British Final.

 

On a happier note for you though, three weeks later I saw Wasps win at injury hit Cradley Heath to end the season in style. As usual in those days there were plenty of cheering travelling fans supporting their team.

 

One of the best aspects of the 1965 season was that supporters knew there would be a meeting every week, mostly on the usual race night, the opposition would be varied due to there being 18 teams in the league and following the team was a habit, win or lose. I knew several people who went to watch Barry Briggs at Wolverhampton and Cradley Heath because of the pre-meeting publicity, having never been to speedway before.

OH NO- October 8th 1964-a day that will live in infamy- my own personal Pearl Harbour!!!!! I am still wincing, BL1965--the only point the Wasps took off Wolves that night was when Alby Golden in Heat 2 finished behind Cyril Francis and ahead of Jim Airey.(This is not from memory as I still have my 1965 Speedway stars) It gets worse-it was my 18th birthday(you don't have to send me a card next year!!), I had just started my first year at Nottingham Univ. I got German measles-was put in quarantine and missed all the first weeks' social dances etc.-where many of my friends picked up girls(or birds as we used to call them--is that term still used??)-poor me,this is the story of my life, I have never recovered!! Couple of points- if Newport had had Dick Bradley (he was never replaced after getting injured against Sheffield at Somerton Park early in the season-the dreaded Clive Featherby being the miscreant(I like that word) who knocked Dick off his bike) we might have picked up a few more points. Newport in 1965 had a perfect League home record -not so good away-only 2 wins (at Long Eaton where we won 32-46 I hitch-hiked up to see it and we won only because of the terrible injury record of Long Eaton who had started the season so well)) and our old rivals Cradley Heath which you had the good luck to attend -wish I'd been there!!.Glad you recall Jack Biggs great year at age 43 in 1965-amazing stuff. A side bar- I was in touch with Dick Bradley's daughter who kindly responded to one of my posts-Dick is a gent and is now one of the oldest surviving World Finalists-and apparently recalls the crash that ended his speedway riding career. Clearly Oct 8th 1964 must have been a dark and stormy night(registered trademark comment) for the Wasps to lose so heavily-it made such an impression on me that I felt betrayed when Peter Vandenberg defected to the dreaded Wolves in 66 or 67.Monmore Green is a track I never got to go to-I'd guess it is now a shadow of its former self. Clearly 1965 was indeed a golden year and thanx a million for starting this great thread. P.S. if you go on youtube and enter the words "Clive Featherby" you can see him hear and talk about his speedway career- a very tough guy in a universe of tough guys!!).