THE HISTORY OF SPEEDWAY IN EDINBURGH : Part 3 The Provincial League Years 1964: CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE WRECKED BY INJURIES 1964 was the year the Provincial League went "black", following demands for reorganisation of the sport by the National League bosses which the PL felt were unreasonable. They decided to go their own way and there was a complete split for a year. From a spectator's viewpoint it made little difference other than the loss of the usual World Championship round (Pl men no longer being eligible). It also meant the calling-up of some new and untried referees, though they seemed no better or worse than the previous lot. Ex-Tiger Tommy Miller was amongst the new group. The team contained no surprises, and as usual they took time to find their feet. Even though Clive Featherby didn't arrive Sheffield won the opening Northern League match in spite of a Doug Templeton maximum. The first three away matches in the competition were all lost, and this included the first match against the re-born Glasgow Tigers for a decade. The Tigers had a top-heavy team and were thrashed 56-21 at Old Meadowbank, full maximums were scored by George Hunter, Wayne Briggs and Doug Templeton. Finally the away win bogey (they hadn't won since 1962) was cracked with two-in-row, a challenge at Middlesbrough, and a 47-30 triumph at Sunderland, and in both these matches Doug Templeton and George Hunter scored full maximums. They were matching each other point- for-point and giving a great lead, but after backing from Wayne Briggs and Willie Templeton the tail was as poor as ever. A Scotland v New zealand series was held in the north, and it could have been called Scotland v Ivan Mauger, for the great man rode unbeaten through the lot, 18 each time. The Scots won the series though, and it was a typical Provincial League arrangement - Australians Bluey Scott, Jim Airey and Gordon Guasco rode for the Kiwis at Meadowbank. Mauger was back again the following week and scored a full 12 as Newcastle were well beaten. He took the Silver Sash from George Hunter. The KO Cup campaign was short lived, Monarchs going out 45-51 in a torrid match at Cradley. It did seem though, that a big challenge was to be made for Provincial league honours. Over 200 points were piled up in home matches with Hackney, Wolverhampton, Long Eaton and Sheffield , and bustling Bill Landels was really coming to the fore. After a defeat at Exeter, the next three away matches brought 5 league points, from wins at Long Eaton and Glasgow plus a draw at Middlesbrough. The heat leaders did most of the scoring, but the backing was better. Scotland easily beat England at Old Meadowbank in spite of the usual brilliance of Jack Kitchen. Meadowbank experts Jimmy Squibb and Eric Boothroyd were relative failures against the home side which was a sort of Edinburgh / Glasgow select plus Ross Gilbertson of Poole. Four away matches in early July suggested that the team might just miss out on honours. Scores of 36, 36, 35, 36 at Poole, Newport, Cradley and Wolverhampton were quite respectable, but not championship form. George Hunter took a painful fall at Newport and missed the latter two, and this was just the tip of the injuries iceberg. Bill Landels injured a leg in the Scottish Best Pairs, and though it was not thought to be serious injury he eventually missed the rest of the season. Even worse, the tragic luck of Wayne Briggs took another bitter twist as he smashed his thigh at Newport, and that was the Kiwi gone for the rest of the year. This injury was followed by unlucky 38-40 defeats by Poole and Newcastle at Old Meadowbank, so the title challenge was well and truly spent. Next out was Alf Wells, injured at Newcastle, so without the two New Zealanders the side did well to win a thrilling Scottish Cup by 96-95 on aggregate over old rivals Glasgow. With two heats left of the second leg at Old Meadowbank, Tigers seemed in the driving seat, but Kevin Torpie produced the ride of his life to give Trevor Redmond his only defeat in heat 15. George Hunter had to split Maury Mattingly and Charlie Monk in the final heat, which he duly did. This was the first Scottish Cup for 11 years, but it still had a firm place in the Scottish season. In the Provincial League Riders' Championship George Hunter fought through to the final, but Doug Templeton suffered a broken wrist at Sheffield and lost out. The team was now totally depleted, and with Briggs, Doug Templeton, Wells and Landels all sidelined they did well to take 3 points from Newport and Glasgow at home, completing there League campaign. They did have the considerable assistance of Dave Younghusband over the last few matches, loaned from Middlesbrough who had completed their matches early. George Hunter flopped in the PLRC with only 4 points, but he made amends with a brilliant win in a thrilling Scottish Open, beating Charlie Monk in a run-off which had the crowd holding it's breath. THE HISTORY OF SPEEDWAY IN EDINBURGH : Part 3 The Provincial League Years EXETER 38 EDINBURGH 22 SHEFFIELD 19 NEWCASTLE 17 FOUR-TEAM TOURNAMENT Monday, 23rd March 1964 {At Exeter} EXETER Alan Cowland 3 3 2 2 - - 10 Cliff Cox 1 3 3 3 - - 10 Len Silver 1 2 2 - - - 5 Jimmy Squibb 3 3 3 1 - - 10 Des Luckhurst (r) 3 - - - - - 3 EDINBURGH Wayne Briggs 2 1 2 0 - - 5 Ross Gilbertson (g) 2 1 2 3 - - 8 Doug Templeton 2 1 0 2 - - 5 Willie Templeton 0 0 1 3 - - 4 SHEFFIELD Ron Bagley 0 1 1 X - - 2 Clive Featherby 0 2 1 - - - 3 Tommy Roper 3 2 2 2 - - 9 John Dews 2 2 1 E - - 5 Des Luckhurst (r) F - - - - - 0 NEWCASTLE Peter Kelly 1 X 1 - - - 2 Ivan Mauger 3 3 3 3 - - 12 Mike Watkin 0 0 0 1 - - 1 Jack Winstanley 1 0 0 1 - - 2 Pat Flanagan (r) 0 - - - - - 0 Ht 1 Cowland, Briggs, Kelly, Bagley 76.4 Ht 2 Mauger, Gilbertson, Cox, Featherby 76.2 Ht 3 Roper, D.Templeton, Silver, Watkin 79.4 Ht 4 Squibb, Dews, Winstanley, W.Templeton 78.2 Ht 5 Cox, Dews, Briggs, Watkin 76.4 Ht 6 Cowland, Roper, Gilbertson, Winstanley 78.2 Ht 7 Squibb, Featherby, D.Templeton, Kelly (f/exc) 80.4 Ht 8 Mauger, Silver, Bagley, W.Templeton 76.2 Ht 9 Luckhurst, Briggs, Featherby, Winstanley 78.4 Ht 10 Squibb, Gilbertson, Bagley, Watkin 78.2 Ht 11 Mauger, Cowland, Dews, D.Templeton 76.8 Ht 12 Cox, Roper, W.Templeton, Flanagan 79.4 Ht 13 Mauger, Roper, Squibb, Briggs 81.2 Ht 14 Gilbertson, Silver, Kelly, Dews (ef) 82.2 Ht 15 Cox, D.Templeton, Winstanley, Bagley (f/exc) 82.2 Ht 16 W.Templeton, Cowland, Watkin, Luckhurst (f) 85.6 MIDDLESBROUGH 40 EDINBURGH 37 Friday, 3rd April 1964 [Northern League] MIDDLESBROUGH Eric Boocock 3 3 3 2 - - 11 Clive Hitch 2' 2 1 0 - - 5 1 Bluey Scott 3 2 3 3 - - 11 Fred Greenwell 1 0 3 E - - 4 Dave Younghusband 2 3 3 0 - - 8 John Mills 0 0 0 - - - 0 Kevin Torpie 1' 0 0 - - - 1 1 EDINBURGH Willie Templeton 1 1 1' 2 - - 5 1 Doug Templeton 0 3 3 2 3 - 11 Wayne Briggs 2 2 2 1 - - 7 Bill Landels 0 1' 1' 1' - - 3 3 George Hunter 3 2 2 1' - - 8 1 Alf Wells 1 0 E - - - 1 Jimmy Tannock 0 2 - - - - 2 Ht 1 Boocock, Hitch, W.Templeton, D.Templeton 71.0 Ht 2 Scott, Briggs, Greenwell, Landels 75.2 Ht 3 Hunter, Younghusband, Wells, Mills 73.0 Ht 4 D.Templeton, Hitch, Torpie, Tannock 72.8 Ht 5 Younghusband, Briggs, Landels, Mills 73.0 Ht 6 D.Templeton, Scott, W.Templeton, Greenwell 71.6 Ht 7 Boocock, Hunter, Hitch, Wells 71.8 Ht 8 Greenwell, Tannock, Landels, Torpie 75.2 Ht 9 Younghusband, D.Templeton, W.Templeton, Torpie 73.0 Ht 10 Scott, Hunter, Greenwell (ef), Wells (ef) 72.8 Ht 11 Boocock, Briggs, Landels, Hitch 73.6 Ht 12 Scott, W.Templeton, Hunter, Mills 72.6 Ht 13 D.Templeton, Boocock, Briggs, Younghusband 73.0 THE HISTORY OF SPEEDWAY IN EDINBURGH : Part 3 The Provincial League Years EDINBURGH 36 SHEFFIELD 41 Saturday, 4th April 1964 [Northern League] EDINBURGH Willie Templeton 2' 1 0 0 - - 3 1 Doug Templeton 3 3 3 3 - - 12 Wayne Briggs 2 3 2 F - - 7 Bill Landels 0 0 1 - - - 1 George Hunter 2 E X 3 - - 5 Alf Wells 1' 1 E - - - 2 1 Jimmy Tannock 2' 0 1' 3 - - 6 2 SHEFFIELD Alan Jay 0 2 3 1' - - 6 1 Dent Oliver 1 1' 1 2' - - 5 2 Ron Bagley 3 3 1' 2 - - 9 1 Tommy Roper 1 2' 3 2 - - 8 1 Jack Kitchen 3 X 0 2 - - 5 John Dews 0 2 3 1' - - 6 1 Ken Hanscombe 0 2' - - - - 2 1 Ht 1 D.Templeton, W.Templeton, Oliver, Jay 67.9 Ht 2 Bagley, Briggs, Roper, Landels 68.4 Ht 3 Kitchen, Hunter, Wells, Dews 68.1 Ht 4 D.Templeton, Tannock, Oliver, Hanscombe 68.3 Ht 5 Bagley, Roper, Wells, Hunter (ef) 68.4 Ht 6 Briggs, Jay, Oliver, Landels 67.8 Ht 7 D.Templeton, Dews, W.Templeton, Kitchen (exc) 68.1 Ht 8 Roper, Hanscombe, Landels, Tannock 69.5 Ht 9 Jay, Oliver, Wells (ef), Hunter (exc) 70.0 Ht 10 Dews, Briggs, Tannock, Kitchen 68.0 Ht 11 D.Templeton, Roper, Bagley, W.Templeton 67.8 Ht 12 Tannock, Jay, kitchen, Briggs (f) 69.1 Ht 13 Hunter, Bagley, Dews, W.Templeton 68.2 RESERVE RACE Cameron, Tannock, Oliver, Harkins 69.8 DISCOVERY RACE Alec Hughson, Hicks, Hanlin, Stovan 71.0 EASTER TROPHY Ht 1 Landels, Oliver, Harkins, Jay (ef) 69.6 Ht 2 Tannock, Wells, Cameron, Dews 69.8 Final Tannock, wells, Landels, Oliver (ef) 69.7 THE GRAND SLAM Ht 1 Kitchen, Briggs, W.Templeton, Roper 68.6 Ht 2 Hunter, D.Templeton, Bagley, Featherby 68.8 Final D.Templeton, Briggs, Hunter, Kitchen 67.7 SHEFFIELD 46 EDINBURGH 32 Thursday, 9th April 1964 [Northern League] SHEFFIELD Alan Jay 1 0 0 3 - - 4 Clive Featherby 3 3 3 2 - - 11 Ron Bagley F 1' 2 F - - 3 1 Tommy Roper 2 2' 2 0 - - 6 1 Jack Kitchen 2' 3 2 2' - - 9 2 John Dews 3 2' 1' 2 - - 8 2 Dent Oliver 2' 3 - - - - 5 1 EDINBURGH Jimmy Tannock 0 0 1 - - - 1 George Hunter 2 0 3 3 3 - 11 Wayne Briggs 3 0 0 1 0 - 4 Bill Landels 1 1 1 0 - - 3 Doug Templeton 0 2 3 3 - - 8 Willie Templeton