1965 British League season

1965 British League season

League	British League
Season	1965
Champions	West Ham Hammers
No. of competitors	18
Knockout Cup	West Ham Hammers
Individual	Barry Briggs[1]
Highest average	Nigel Boocock
← 1964 1966 →

The 1965 British League season was the 31st season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom.^[2] It was also the first known as the new British League which was formed in 1965, along with the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA). The league was an amalgamation of the National League and the Provincial League.^[3]

Summary[]

Middlesbrough Bears did not join the new league and Norwich Stars had closed for good. Halifax Dukes were new entrants.1929-1977 ^[4]

West Ham Hammers were the first ever British League winners. It was their first league success since 1937. The West Ham team included Scot Ken McKinlay who finished the season third in the averages at 10.72 and the Norwegian champion Sverre Harrfeldt who finished fifth in the averages. They were supported well by British internationals Norman Hunter and Malcolm Simmons. The West Ham team completed the double when winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final they defeated Exeter Falcons 63-33.^[5] Sadly the season was not a complete success because during a challenge match at West Ham Stadium a junior rider called David John Wills was killed in a race after crashing.^[6] Wimbledon Dons headed by leading Swedish rider Olle Nygren fought West Ham throughout the season and only lost the league by a single point.

Final table[]

		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	West Ham Hammers	34	23	1	10	1430	1215	47
2	Wimbledon Dons	34	22	2	10	1396	1245	46
3	Coventry Bees	34	20	0	14	1384	1258	40
4	Oxford Cheetahs	34	19	2	13	1308	1340	40
5	Halifax Dukes	33	18	3	12	1322	1240	39
6	Newport Wasps	34	19	0	15	1360	1288	38
7	Wolverhampton Wolves	34	18	1	15	1429	1216	37
8	Hackney Hawks	34	18	1	15	1327.5	1319.5	37
9	Exeter Falcons	34	18	0	16	1325.5	1323.5	36
10	Poole Pirates	34	17	1	16	1378	1266	35
11	Sheffield Tigers	34	16	2	16	1300	1346	34
12	Newcastle Diamonds	34	16	1	17	1363	1282	33
13	Glasgow Tigers	34	15	1	18	1315	1329	31
14	Belle Vue Aces	34	15	0	19	1328	1312	30
15	Swindon Robins	34	13	2	19	1345	1300	28
16	Cradley Heathens	33	11	1	21	1132	1438	23
17	Edinburgh Monarchs	34	11	0	23	1173	1428	22
18	Long Eaton Archers	34	7	0	27	1107	1534	14

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Leading Riders by Averages[]

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Nigel Boocock		Coventry Bees	11.09
2	Barry Briggs		Swindon Robins	10.91
3	Ken McKinlay		West Ham Hammers	10.72
4	Mike Broadbanks		Swindon Robins	10.54
5	Sverre Harrfeldt		West Ham Hammers	10.35
6	Olle Nygren		Wimbledon Dons	10.31
7	Charlie Monk		Glasgow Tigers	10.22
8	Ron How		Oxford Cheetahs	10.16
9	Arne Pander		Oxford Cheetahs	10.01
10	Jimmy Gooch		Oxford Cheetahs	9.97
11	Cyril Maidment		Belle Vue Aces	9.65
12	Ronnie Genz		Poole Pirates	9.45
13	Eric Boocock		Halifax Dukes	9.43
14	Norman Hunter		West Ham Hammers	9.42
15	George Hunter		Edinburgh Monarchs	9.35
16	Ivor Brown		Cradley Heathens	9.27
17	Colin Gooddy		Exeter Falcons	9.24
18	Reg Luckhurst		Wimbledon Dons	9.14
19	Bill Andrew		Poole Pirates	9.07
20	Dave Younghusband		Halifax Dukes	9.06

Knockout Cup[]

West Ham Hammers won the Knockout Cup and completed the double of league and cup.

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

• 
• 
• Dick Fisher
• Cyril Maidment
• 
• 
• Sándor Lévai
• Leo McAuliffe
• 
• Dent Oliver
• Taffy Owen
• 
• 
• Vic White
• 

Coventry Bees[]

• 
• Nigel Boocock
• 
• 
• Rick France
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Jim Lightfoot
• Ron Mountford
• 
• 

Cradley Heath[]

• 
• Harry Bastable
• Ivor Brown
• 
• 
• 
• 
• John Hart
• 
• Ivor Hughes
• Chris Julian
• George Major
• 
• Leo McAuliffe
• 

Edinburgh Monarchs[]

• 
• 
• Wayne Briggs
• 
• Bert Harkins
• 
• + (+ rode under the name Tyburn Gallows)
• George Hunter
• 
• 
• 
• Bernt Persson
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Exeter Falcons[]

• 
• 
• 
• 
• Alan Cowland
• 
• 
• Jack Geran
• Colin Gooddy
• Ivor Hughes
• 
• Des Lukehurst
• 
• 
• 

Glasgow Tigers[]

• 
• 
• 
• Chris Julian
• 
• 
• Charlie Monk
• 
• 
• Nils Paulsen
• 
• 
• + (+ rode under the name Bernie Lagrosse)

Hackney Hawks[]

• Malcolm Brown
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Colin Pratt
• Reg Reeves
• Roy Trigg

Halifax Dukes[]

• Eric Boocock
• Eric Boothroyd
• 
• Bryan Elliott
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Tommy Roper
• Dave Younghusband

Long Eaton Archers[]

• 
• Terry Betts
• Howard Cole+ (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
• 
• Ray Cresp
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Ivor Hughes
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Peter Moore
• 
• Tommy Roper
• 
• 
• + (+ rode under the name of Tich Read)
• Norman Storer
• Ray Wilson
• 

Newcastle Diamonds[]

• 
• Brian Brett
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Ivan Mauger
• 
• Ken Sharples
• 
• 

Newport Wasps[]

• Jack Biggs
• Dick Bradley
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Peter Vandenberg
• Vic White

Oxford Cheetahs[]

• 
• 
• 
• 
• Danny Dunton
• 
• Jimmy Gooch
• 
• 
• 
• Ron How
• + (+ rode under the name Tyburn Gallows)
• 
• 
• Arne Pander
• 
• 
• 

Poole Pirates[]

• Bill Andrew
• Bruce Cribb
• Ronnie Genz
• 
• Alf Hagon
• Brian Leonard
• Geoff Mudge
• 
• Pete Smith
• 
• 
• 

Sheffield Tigers[]

1965

• Billy Bales
• Malcolm Brown
• 
• 
• John Dews
• 
• Arnold Haley
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Taffy Owen
• Tommy Roper

Swindon Robins[]

• Martin Ashby
• 
• Barry Briggs
• Mike Broadbank
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Bob Kilby
• 
• Frank Shuter
• 

West Ham Hammers[]

• 
• Bob Dugard
• 
• 
• Sverre Harrfeldt
• Alf Hagon
• 
• Norman Hunter
• 
• Brian Leonard
• Ken McKinlay
• 
• Malcolm Simmons
• 
• 
• 
• 

Wimbledon Dons[]

• 
• 
• Bob Dugard
• 
• Trevor Hedge
• 
• 
• Reg Luckhurst
• Olle Nygren
• 
• 
• 

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

• Jim Airey
• James Bond
• Bob Andrews
• 
• Gordon Guasco
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

See also[]

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References[]