The 1963 Provincial Speedway League was the fourth season of the Provincial League in the United Kingdom. Thirteen speedway teams took part.

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the previous year, Bradford and Leicester were no longer running due to financial difficulties and Plymouth had also withdrawn.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 under Reg Fearman, 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.

Speedway returned to Hackney Wick Stadium after an absence of 25 years under the promotion of Mike Parker and Reg Fearman.

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.

Cradley Heath won the Knockout Cup and the Midland League Championship, while Poole won the Southern League Championship and Sheffield the Northern League Championship.

League Final table Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Wolverhampton Wolves 24 15 1 8 312 Stoke Potters 24 14 1 9 293 Poole Pirates 24 14 0 10 284 Sheffield Tigers 24 14 0 10 285 St Austell Gulls 24 13 2 9 286 Newcastle Diamonds 24 13 1 10 277 Exeter Falcons 24 12 1 11 258 Edinburgh Monarchs 24 12 1 11 259 Cradley Heath Heathens 24 11 1 12 2310 Hackney Hawks 24 10 1 13 2111 Middlesbrough Bears 24 9 2 13 2012 Long Eaton Archers 24 7 2 15 1613 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.

Fixtures and results

+Newcastle awarded win 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.

First round Date Team one Score Team two30/04 New Cross 58–37 St Austell03/06 Rayleigh 35–61 Stoke18/06 Long Eaton 43–52 Newcastle20/06 Middlesbrough 58–38 Wolverhampton20/06 Sheffield 57–39 Exeter03/07 Poole 50–46 Edinburgh

Second round Date Team one Score Team two08/07 Newcastle 65–31 Middlesbrough10/07 Hackney 54–42 New Cross10/07 Poole 44–52 Sheffield05/08 Cradley Heath 55–41 Stoke

Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two12/08Newcastle 60–36 Hackney31/08 Cradley Heath 61–35 Sheffield

Final First leg

Second leg

Supplementary leagues

Northern League Team PL W D L PtsSheffield 6 4 0 2 8 Edinburgh 6 3 1 2 7 Newcastle 6 2 1 3 5 Middlesbrough 6 2 0 4 4

Southern League Team PL W D L PtsPoole 8 6 0 2 12 Exeter 8 5 0 3 10 New Cross 8 5 0 3 10 Hackney 8 3 0 5 6 Rayleigh 8 1 0 7 2

Midland League Team PL W D L PtsCradley Heath 6 5 0 1 10 Stoke 6 4 0 2 8 Long Eaton 6 2 0 4 4 Wolverhampton 6 1 0 5 2

Riders' Championship Ivan Mauger won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 28 September.

Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Ivan Mauger 3,2,3,3 11+32 Jack Kitchen 3,2,3,3 11+23 Ross Gilbertson 1,3,3,2 9+3+14 George Hunter 1,2,3,3 9+4+05 Ray Cresp 3,1,2,3 9+26 Clive Featherby 3,2,2,2 9+17 Maury Mattingley 2,3,2,2 9+08 Doug Templeton 3,2,3,0 89 Ivor Brown 2,1,2,3 810 Geoff Mudge 1,3,2,1 711 Eric Boocock 2,1,1,3 712 Jimmy Squibb 2,3,0,1 613 Rick France 2,3,0,0 514 Ron Bagley 3,0,1,1 515 Charlie Monk 0,0,3,2 516 Colin Pratt 2,2,0,0 417 Cliff Cox 1,0,2,1 318 Les McGillivray 1,0,0,2 319 George Major 0,1,0,2 320 Trevor Redmond 0,1,1, 321 John Hart 0,2,0,0 222 Ken Adams 0,0,1,1 223 Maury McDermott 1,0,1,0 224 Norman Hunter 0,1,1,0 2

Riders & final averages

Cradley Heath

10.30 7.84 6.04 5.98 5.55 5.26 4.71 3.70 2.00

Edinburgh

11.09 9.21 9.19 8.09 7.64 5.13 4.36 3.58 3.36 2.85

Exeter

9.58 8.40 8.29 7.79 6.94 5.88 5.29 4.73 4.00 3.29

Hackney

10.04 6.67 6.53 6.47 (George Snailum) 5.70 5.33 4.52 4.27 3.77 3.76

Long Eaton

9.11 7.80 7.16 5.58 5.87 5.03 4.99 4.65 4.23 3.75 3.64

Middlesbrough

9.63 8.50 7.92 6.08 6.08 4.00 3.46 3.19

Newcastle

10.42 9.29 6.44 6.00 5.84 3.50 3.45 2.74

New Cross (withdrew mid-season)

9.93 6.72 6.59 5.16 5.11 4.67 3.28 1.85 1.82

Poole

9.92 8.98 8.42 7.19 5.35 5.31 3.89 3.79

Rayleigh

8.47 7.76 6.15 5.97 5.75 5.74 4.62 3.20 2.73

St Austell

8.50 7.88 6.93 6.56 Chris Blewett 5.81 5.44 5.02 4.00

Sheffield

10.05 9.91 7.43 7.10 6.78 5.70 5.64 5.61 (Jack Thorp) 5.57 2.67

Stoke

9.67 9.13 7.47 7.44 (Kid Bodie) 5.57 4.81 4.47 4.14 2.92

Wolverhampton

8.50 7.88 7.59 6.93 6.56 5.49 5.44 5.02 5.81

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

References