The 1963 Provincial Speedway League was the fourth season of the Provincial League in the United Kingdom.[1] Thirteen speedway teams took part.
| League | Provincial League |
|---|---|
| No. of competitors | 13 |
| Champions | Wolverhampton Wolves |
| Knockout Cup | Cradley Heathens |
| Individual | Ivan Mauger |
| Highest average | George Hunter |
| Division/s above | 1963 National League |
Season summary
Thirteen teams competed again as in 1962, despite the loss of four teams. At the start of the year Neath had folded, and their place was taken by the new track at St Austell. After finishing at the bottom of the table the previous year, Bradford and Leicester were no longer running due to financial difficulties and Plymouth had also withdrawn. Long Eaton returned to competitive racing after 12 years,[2] a new track opened at Hackney, and Rayleigh returned under new ownership after a missing the 1962 season. New Cross Rangers would have made it 14 teams after returning but closed down in August, never to re-open.[3][4]
Wolverhampton won the league but there was controversy at the end of the year when Wolverhampton refused to move up to the National League, which was dwindling in numbers. This would lead to the Provincial League running outside of the jurisdiction of the Speedway Control Board for the 1964 season.[5][6]
Final table
| Pos | Team | M | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 31 |
| 2 | Stoke Potters | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 29 |
| 3 | Poole Pirates | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 28 |
| 4 | Sheffield Tigers | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 28 |
| 5 | St Austell Gulls | 24 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 28 |
| 6 | Newcastle Diamonds | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 27 |
| 7 | Exeter Falcons | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 25 |
| 8 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 25 |
| 9 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 23 |
| 10 | Hackney Hawks | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 21 |
| 11 | Middlesbrough Bears | 24 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 20 |
| 12 | Long Eaton Archers | 24 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 16 |
| 13 | Rayleigh Rockets | 24 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 11 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
- New Cross Rangers resigned in mid-season - record expunged.
Top five riders (League only)
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
| 1 | George Hunter |  | Edinburgh | 11.09 |
| 2 | Ivan Mauger |  | Newcastle | 10.42 |
| 3 | Ivor Brown |  | Cradley | 10.30 |
| 4 | Jimmy Squibb | | New Cross/Exeter | 10.30 |
| 5 | Clive Featherby | | Sheffield | 10.05 |
Provincial League Knockout Cup
The 1963 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Cradley Heathens were the winners.[7]
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/04 | New Cross | 58–37 | St Austell |
| 03/06 | Rayleigh | 35–61 | Stoke |
| 18/06 | Long Eaton | 43–52 | Newcastle |
| 20/06 | Middlesbrough | 58–38 | Wolverhampton |
| 20/06 | Sheffield | 57–39 | Exeter |
| 03/07 | Poole | 50–46 | Edinburgh |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08/07 | Newcastle | 65–31 | Middlesbrough |
| 10/07 | Hackney | 54–42 | New Cross |
| 10/07 | Poole | 44–52 | Sheffield |
| 05/08 | Cradley Heath | 55–41 | Stoke |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/08 | Newcastle | 60–36 | Hackney |
| 31/08 | Cradley Heath | 61–35 | Sheffield |
Final
First leg
| Newcastle Peter Kelly 13 Mike Watkin 12 Jack Winstanley 6 Ray Day 6 Russ Dent 6 Dennis Jenkins 6 Milton Cazely 1 | 50 - 45 | Cradley Heath Ivor Brown 14 Harry Bastable 12 John Edwards 9 Derek Timms 5 Alan Totney 4 Ivor Davies 1 John Hart 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [8] |
Second leg
| Cradley Heath Ivor Brown 15 John Hart 15 John Edwards 13 Derek Timms 8 Harry Bastable 6 Alan Totney 6 Joe Westwood 1 | 64 - 32 | Newcastle Peter Kelly 10 Bob Duckworth 8 Mike Watkin 6 Jack Winstanley 3 Ray Day 3 Maury Robinson 2 Dennis Jenkins 0 |
|---|---|---|
| [9] |
Riders' Championship
Ivan Mauger won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 28 September.[10]
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Mauger | 3,2,3,3 | 11+3 |
| 2 | Jack Kitchen | 3,2,3,3 | 11+2 |
| 3 | Ross Gilbertson | 1,3,3,2 | 9+3+1 |
| 4 | George Hunter | 1,2,3,3 | 9+4+0 |
| 5 |  Ray Cresp | 3,1,2,3 | 9+2 |
| 6 | Clive Featherby | 3,2,2,2 | 9+1 |
| 7 | Maury Mattingley | 2,3,2,2 | 9+0 |
| 8 | Doug Templeton | 3,2,3,0 | 8 |
| 9 | Ivor Brown | 2,1,2,3 | 8 |
| 10 | Geoff Mudge | 1,3,2,1 | 7 |
| 11 | Eric Boocock | 2,1,1,3 | 7 |
| 12 | Jimmy Squibb | 2,3,0,1 | 6 |
| 13 | Rick France | 2,3,0,0 | 5 |
| 14 | Ron Bagley | 3,0,1,1 | 5 |
| 15 | Charlie Monk | 0,0,3,2 | 5 |
| 16 | Colin Pratt | 2,2,0,0 | 4 |
| 17 | Cliff Cox | 1,0,2,1 | 3 |
| 18 | Les McGillivray | 1,0,0,2 | 3 |
| 19 | George Major | 0,1,0,2 | 3 |
| 20 | Trevor Redmond | 0,1,1, | 3 |
| 21 | John Hart | 0,2,0,0 | 2 |
| 22 | Ken Adams | 0,0,1,1 | 2 |
| 23 | Maury McDermott | 1,0,1,0 | 2 |
| 24 | Norman Hunter | 0,1,1,0 | 2 |
Riders & final averages
Cradley Heath
-
Ivor Brown 10.30 - John Hart 7.84
- Harry Bastable 6.04
- John Edwards 5.98
- Alan Totney 5.55
- Ivor Davies 5.26
- Derek Timms 4.71
- John Belcher 3.70
- Joe Westwood 2.00
Edinburgh
-
George Hunter 11.09 -
Wayne Briggs 9.21 - Doug Templeton 9.19
- Willie Templeton 8.09
-
Ken Cameron 7.64 - Alf Wells 5.13
- Jimmy Tannock 4.36
- Bill Landels 3.58
- Dudley McKean 3.36
- Bill McMillan 2.85
Exeter
- Len Silver 9.58
- Alan Cowland 8.40
- Cliff Cox 8.29
- Francis Cann 7.79
- Pete Lansdale 6.94
- Howdy Byford 5.88
- Dennis Day 5.29
- Pat Flanagan 4.73
- George Summers 4.00
- Gordon Bailey 3.29
Hackney
- Norman Hunter 10.04
- Trevor Hedge 6.67
- Jimmy Heard 6.53
- Colin McKee 6.47
- Tich Read (George Snailum) 5.70
- Malcolm Simmons 5.33
- John Poyser 4.52
- Pete Sampson 4.27
- Wal Morton 3.77
- Ronnie Rolfe 3.76
Long Eaton
- Charlie Monk 9.11
- Danny Dunton 7.80
- Bluey Scott 7.16
- Gil Goldfinch 5.58
- Jon Erskine 5.87
- Norman Storer 5.03
- Ken Vale 4.99
- Slant Payling 4.65
- Vic White 4.23
- Tony Eadon 3.75
- Geoff Penniket 3.64
Middlesbrough
- Eric Boothroyd 9.63
- Eric Boocock 8.50
- Dave Younghusband 7.92
-
Johnny Fitzpatrick 6.08 - Clive Hitch 6.08
- John Mills 4.00
- Kevin Torpie 3.46
- Allan Butterfield 3.19
Newcastle
- Ivan Mauger 10.42
- Brian Craven 9.29
- Bob Duckworth 6.44
- Peter Kelly 6.00
- Mike Watkin 5.84
- Russ Dent 3.50
- Jack Winstanley 3.45
- Ivan Crozier 2.74
New Cross (withdrew mid-season)
- Jimmy Squibb 9.93
- Stan Stevens 6.72
- Bob Dugard 6.59
- John Dugard 5.16
- Geoff Penniket 5.11
- Reg Reeves 4.67
- Des Lukehurst 3.28
- Eddie Reeves 1.85
- Terry Stone 1.82
Poole
- Ross Gilbertson 9.92
- Geoff Mudge 8.98
- Tony Lewis 8.42
- Norman Strachan 7.19
- Pete Smith 5.35
- Tim Bungay 5.31
- Keith Whipp 3.89
- Pete Munday 3.79
Rayleigh
- Les McGillivray 8.47
- Maury McDermott 7.76
- Stan Clark 6.15
- Vic Ridgeon 5.97
- Derek Strutt 5.75
- Harry Edwards 5.74
- Roy Bowers 4.62
- Sandy McGillivray 3.20
- John Mills 2.73
St Austell
- Trevor Redmond 8.50
- Chris Julian 7.88
- George Major 6.93
- Ray Cresp 6.56
Chris Blewett 5.81- Glyn Chandler 5.44
- Ray Wickett 5.02
- Bob Warner 4.00
Sheffield
- Clive Featherby 10.05
- Jack Kitchen 9.91
- Tommy Roper 7.43
- Ron Bagley 7.10
- Dent Oliver 6.78
- Alan Jay 5.70
- Tony Robinson 5.64
- John Dews 5.61
- Vic Lonsdale (Jack Thorp) 5.57
- John Dews 5.61
- Ken Handscombe 2.67
Stoke
- Colin Pratt 9.67
- Pete Jarman 9.13
- Ken Adams 7.47
- Eric Hockaday 7.44
-
Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 5.57 - Ron Sharp 4.81
- Roy Bowers 4.47
- Ray Harris 4.14
-
Sándor Lévai 2.92
Wolverhampton
- Tommy Sweetman 8.50
- Maury Mattingley 7.88
- Graham Warren 7.59
- Dave Hemus 6.93
- Rick France 6.56
- Ernie Baker 5.49
- Cyril Francis 5.44
- James Bond 5.02
- Les Jenkins 5.81