September 3 Tigers 46 Belle Vue 32 (British League)
The terracings were buzzing with Charlie Monk’s controversial elimination at West Ham. Some supporters had organised petitions but the news that Trevor Redmond had lodged a protest with the Control Board raised hopes that justice would eventually be done.
Nils Paulsen was expected to be back in Tigers line up but didn’t show up. Presumably his collarbone was still bothering him and he had stayed at home in Norway to recuperate further. This gave cause for concern that he may not be fit in time for next weeks important KO Cup clash with West Ham. Willie Templeton made a welcome return and was programmed at number six as Charlie Monk’s partner. He had a quiet night scoring two points. Charlie scored eleven points after being beaten by Cyril Maidment in his first race. Graham Coombes again excelled with nine paid ten while Maury Mattingly scored ten, his best home score for quite some time. For Belle Vue, Dick Fisher and Cyril Maidment were the top scorers with thirteen and twelve respectively. Former Tiger Gordon McGregor scored six from five rides without setting the heather on fire. The remaining Aces were poor value, scoring only one point between them.
The season will run for seven more weeks but this will prove to be Tigers last win of 1965!
Tigers Scorers
Monk 11; Mattingly 10; Coombes 9; Scott 6; Ovenden 4; McMillan 4; Templeton 2:
Belle Vue Scorers
Fisher 13; Maidment 12; McGregor 6; Yacoby 1;Nevitt 0; Powell 0; Schofield 0:
September 4 Wimbledon 49 Tigers 29 (British League)
Tigers first ever visit to Wimbledon got off to a bad start and by mid meeting they were sixteen points behind and a drubbing looked on the cards. However, aided by tactical substitute rides for Charlie Monk and Maury Mattingly, they stopped the rot and actually managed three heat advantages. Charlie Monk ran up thirteen points and dented the maximum hopes of all the Dons except their skipper Olle Nygren. Maury Mattingly scored seven from five rides, including a heat win.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 13; Mattingly 7; Coombes 3; Scott 2; McMillan 2; Templeton 1; Ovenden 1:
Wimbledon Scorers
Nygren 11; Luckhurst 11; Dugard 10; Tebby 8; Hedge 6; Edwards 3; Hughes 0:
September 5 World Team Cup , Kempten , West Germany
The Tigers supporters club arranged for the Tigers “who had passports” to stay overnight in London and fly to Germany the following morning to watch he World Team Cup final in Kempten. A splendid gesture but given the mechanical problems soon to be encountered perhaps the more traditional spare parts would have been more appropriate! Bruce Ovenden still remembers the trip, in particular the cheap beer and the rickety plane. In helping Charlie Monk to recline his seat, they only succeeded in pulling it out of its mooring and ripping a hole in the floor!
Trevor Redmond was selected as the team manager due to his previous experience of organising trips abroad. He certainly had his work cut out as the British party were badly delayed on the flight out. Nigel Boocock smashed his bike in the morning practice and Maury Mattingly was roped in to help rebuild the front end. Trevor Redmond ended up being both team manager and Clerk of the Course. Both Barry Briggs and Charlie Monk had bike problems and finished with just one point each. Ken McKinlay and Nigel Boocock were left to carry the flag and their scores of seven and six respectively went along way to relegating the Russian side to last place. Poland won the Cup by a narrow margin from Sweden
The Speedway Control Board upheld Tigers’ appeal and ordered that heat twenty should be rerun at West Ham the following Tuesday, just four days before the Wembley final. This was a quite incredible outcome but from a Glasgow viewpoint it seemed the correct one. However the Management Committee subsequently over turned this verdict ruling that it would set a dangerous precedent that umpires decisions on matters of fact could be reversed On reflection they probably were correct. Tigers’ fans were distraught but derived some comfort from the idea that Charlie would surely qualify for the next years World Final. Sadly 1965 was to prove to be his high water mark in this competition
September 10 Tigers 43 West Ham 50 (K O Cup Semi Final)
West Ham arrived at Glasgow unbeaten in the British League since the end of July and a 44-34 win at Edinburgh the previous week confirmed that they were in top form. Trevor Redmond had spent some time pondering over his best line up for this sixteen-heat meeting. Charlie Monk lined up at number three; so that he would meet Hammers top riders, Ken McKinlay and Sverre Harrfeldt, in heat four. Nils Paulsen was programmed at number five, partnering Maury Mattingly. The more controversial move was including Bill McMillan in the team at number four, with the reserve spot to be decided by a pre meeting match race between Willie Templeton and Bruce Ovenden. A strong reserve would be useful should anyone run into problems, particularly Nils Paulsen who was riding for the first time since breaking his collarbone in the previous KO Cup round. However it seemed unlikely that the riders’ averages would justify this choice. Willie Templeton won the run off and lined up at number seven. Charlie Monk’s move paid dividends as he headed home the Hammers pair but the Tigers had a tough time containing the Hammers heat leaders but, by packing the minor positions, were still level after twelve heats.
Heat thirteen was to prove unlucky for the White City men. Willie Templeton, who had won his two programmed rides, was brought in to replace Maury Mattingly. Partner Nils Paulsen fell and Willie’s bike slowed badly on the third lap, giving West Ham a 5-1. He had blown his motor and was out for the night. However Hammers lead was quickly reversed when Charlie Monk and Bluey Scott had little difficulty in beating Trott and Leonard to even the scores with two races remaining.
The penultimate heat saw no less than four exclusions, with cries for a fifth! Firstly Malcolm Simmonds was excluded under the two minutes rule and was replaced by reserve Tony Clarke. The race was stopped after Nils Paulsen fell, with the Norwegian being excluded as the prime cause of the stoppage while Tony Clarke was also ruled out of the rerun for not being under power when the race was stopped. Graham Coombes lined up against Sverre Harrfeldt but his bike failed on the second lap. He tried desperately to restart it but was eventually lapped while pushing it down the back straight. His red exclusion light glowed on the gantry. Harrfeldt was out by himself and was cruising round. As he came round he final bend he slowed completely and used both hands to remove his goggles. He finished in a time of 97.8 seconds and got an appropriate reception from the White City faithful. Cries for his exclusion for not making a bona fide attempt to race fell on deaf ears but it really was academic as McKinlay and Hunter took the expected 5-1 over Maury Mattingly and Bill McMillan in the final race.
West Ham had now won two consecutive away KO Cup ties and would go on to win both legs of the final against Exeter
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12; Scott 8; Templeton 7; Paulsen 5; McMillan 4; Coombes 4; Mattingly 3:
West Ham Scorers
McKinlay 14; Harrfeldt 13; Hunter 11; Simmons 7; Leonard 2 Trott 2; Clarke 1:
September 17 Tigers v Sheffield (British League)
Rained off at 6.30 with the track flooded. Tigers probably weren’t too disappointed as it is doubtful that they could have tracked a full strength team
A short item in the program headed “Exodus” said that Charlie Monk, Bluey Scott, Graham Coombes and Bruce Ovenden were all intending to return to their respective homes in Australia and New Zealand.
September 18 World Final at Wembley
Tigers Supporters Club ran eight buses down to London and they saw Bjorn Knuttson take his first, and only, World title. Igor Plechanov and Ove Fundin were second and third respectively, with Barry Briggs, having a poor night by his standards, finishing fourth.
The British contingent were disappointing with McKinlay and Gooch, both of whom qualified on the back of the debatable heat twenty in the British Final, scoring four and three respectively. Surely Charlie Monk would have done considerably better had he qualified.
Bengt Jansson, just twenty-two years old, made an impressive debut with ten points to finish joint fourth.
September 24 Tigers 31 Halifax 17 (British League)
The meeting started in persistent drizzle and only Dave Younghusband impressed for the Dukes, whose first attempt to race at the White City had been rained off in April. Tigers had a comfortable 31-17 lead at the end of heat eight and, with Younghusband already having had a tactical substitute ride, a large home win looked on the cards. Heat nine started in a drizzle but a deluge mid race quickly saturated the track and Charlie Monk slid into the pits fence on the last lap. The race was stopped and, with no prospect of further racing, the meeting abandoned. It was ten minutes before the rain abated sufficiently to allow the crowd to disperse. It was widely assumed that Tigers would be awarded the league points.
Tigers Scorers
Templeton 7; Monk 6; Paulsen 6; Mattingly 4; Scott 3; McMillan 3; Coombes 2:
Halifax Scorers
Younghusband 9; Roper 3; Boocock 2; Gavros 2; Elliott 1; Boothroyd 0; Kingston 0: