September 2 Tigers 54 Belle Vue 24 (British League)
Belle Vue hadn’t won an away meeting in the British League in the two seasons since its inception and there was no danger of their duck being broken tonight Dick Fisher and Gordon McGregor were only shadows of their former selves and Nevitt, Powell and Yacoby weren’t at the races. Charlie Monk got a full maximum but Cyril Maidment systematically destroyed the maximum hopes of Willie Templeton, Alf Wells and Bill McMillan. Jonny Faafeng has one of his better nights, recording two heat wins and a fall in his seven paid eight total. The latest update on Bluey Scott suggested that he may get medical clearance by the end of September although it is unclear whether this will be in time for Tigers last home league fixture against Wimbledon on the 23rd.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12; Templeton 11; Wells 10; Faafeng 7; B McMillan 6; Mattingly 5; J McMillan 3:
Belle Vue Scorers
Maidment 12; Levai 7; Fisher 2; Nevitt 1; Yacoby 1; McGregor 1; Powell 0:
Program notice for “Our Next Merry Meeting” proclaimed Cradley as “the team that has made a record three visits to Scotland without turning a wheel” – tempting fate or what?
September 9 Tigers v Cradley (British League)
No surprise that it rained all day! The meeting was called off at 6pm and both teams headed off early to Cradley for the away fixture. Incidentally, Graham Coombes was Cradley’s choice as a guest.
September 10 Cradley 41 Tigers 37 (British League)
Scores were close throughout, with Charlie Monk and Bill McMillan twice getting a 4-2 to keep Tigers in contention at the half way stage. However the meeting swung Cradley’s way in heat ten when former Tiger Chris Julians outpaced Charlie Monk and his partner Clive Featherby won his duel with Bill McMillan. This 4-2 put the Heathens four points up but, with junior Joe Weichlbauer programmed at number one and having two further rides, Tigers were still hopeful of taking something home. Heat eleven was split when Alf Wells and Jonny Faafeng chased Ivor Brown all the way to the flag. Charlie Monk avenged his earlier defeat by Chris Julians and Maury Mattingly took care of Chum Taylor, setting up a last heat decider with Tigers just two points down. Maury Mattingly took the rider replacement ride, breaking Trevor Redmond’s unwritten rule of having two rides in a row, and was well ahead of Cradley guest Geoff Mudge when his chain broke. A certain 4-2, which would have given Tigers a draw became a 2-4 and Cradley had won by 41-37. So close but so far! …again! Jonny Faafeng certainly took to the Dudley Wood track and gave one of his better away performances to date. Interesting that fellow Norwegian Nils Paulsen had also done well here on his debut last year.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 14; Faafeng 7; Mattingly 6; Wells 5; Templeton 3; B McMillan 2; J McMillan 0:
Cradley Scorers
Julians 11; Brown 11; Featherby 6; Mudge 6; Taylor 6; Weichlbauer 1; Wakefield 0:
September 12 Halifax 60 Tigers 18 (British League)
Dukes were battling for the league title and Tigers didn’t have a look in. Halifax ran up their highest score of the season. Eric Boocock was on the crest of a fine run of form, having been unbeaten in the last seven meetings, scoring five full and two paid maximums. Very little to report other than Charlie Monk was Tigers solitary heat winner in heat seven when he headed Eric Boothroyd and Bob Jameson. This ended Dukes’ run of five consecutive 5-1 s and was the only heat that was split. Willie Templeton and Alf Wells both gained a second place at the expense of Bob Jameson in a truly dire night.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 9; Templeton 5; Wells 3; Faafeng 1; B McMillan 0; Mattingly 0; J McMillan 0:
Halifax Scorers
Roper 11; Younghusband 11; Boothroyd 10; Boocock 9; Kingston 9; Gavros 5; Jameson 5:
September 16 Tigers 45 Newcastle 33 (British League)
Tigers welcomed back Bluey Scott who returned after a few trial laps prior to the meeting. It was a tense closely fought meeting and the tension was greatly increased by frequent tape breaking, with Ivan Mauger a leading culprit. As a consequence it was a late night at the White City! There was a highly debatable exclusion for Charlie Monk who fell in his first race when taking avoiding action to miss Ivan Mauger and Russ Dent. He went on to win all his remaining rides and beat Mauger in heat thirteen and also the trophy final in the second half. The scores were close early on but with Ivan Mauger suffering engine problems in successive races Tigers built up a good lead, which allowed them to win comfortably despite Alf Wells and Bluey Scott both falling in separate races. The good news for Bluey was that he was unhurt and that his ankle had withstood the tumble. Graham Coombes, after appearing in a number of roles at the White City this season, finally turned out for his own club!
Tigers Scorers
Templeton 10; Monk 9; Wells 7; B McMillan 6; Mattingly 5; Scott 4, Faafeng 4:
Newcastle Scorers
Brett 8; Coombes 7; Kelly 5; Mauger 5; Butterfield 3; Dent 3; Watkin 2:
Elsewhere:
Former Tiger, Nils Paulsen’s short spell with Exeter ended after sustaining a broken ankle after a fall. He was planning to return for Exeter the following season but never rode again in Britain. Maury Mattingly’s bad luck continued as his bike failed on the last bend while leading Bengt Jansson while competing for the vacant Scottish Match Race title.
September 23 Tigers 48 Wimbledon 29 (British League)
Wimbledon brought two busloads of fans for this Scottish double header, with the second meeting being at Edinburgh the following evening. Despite getting off to the best possible start with a 5-1 from Olle Nygren and Jim Tebby over Maury Mattingly and Willie Templeton, they never looked like repeating the previous years win. Tigers replied to the Don’s opening counter with three 5-1s of their own and were leading by ten points after six heats. Wimbledon then brought Olle Nygren out as a tactical substitute against Maury Mattingly and Willie Templeton, both of whom fell, gifting a 5-0 to the visitors. Maury hurt his hand and pulled out of the meeting, but despite this, Tigers won all the remaining heats, five by 4-2 and a 5-1 in heat ten when Alf Wells completed his paid maximum. Bluey Scott got back in the groove with nine paid ten, only losing to Olle Nygren and Charlie Monk rode to an untroubled maximum.
Olle Nygren brought the Silver Sash with him, having held it for nearly a month, which had seen successful defences at Kings Lynn, Poole and Newcastle as well as two home meetings. With both Charlie Monk and Alf Wells unbeaten, it was assumed that they tossed in the pits for the right to be the challenger. There was certainly no public display. However and wherever it was decided, Charlie was the challenger and he comfortably headed home the Swede to regain the title that he last held, albeit briefly, at the start of 1964. Olle Nygren gained some revenge by winning the second half trophy from Trevor Hedge and Charlie Monk. The Dons pair had obviously impressed promoter Redmond as he had booked them both for the following week’s Glasgow Open Championship. Also in the line up were Arne Pander, Ivan Mauger, Ray Wilson and Graham Coombes, the White City’s most popular, and indeed most frequent, visitor. Wimbledon lost their second Scottish meeting the following night and these defeats ended their league challenge
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12; Wells 11; Scott 9; Templeton 7; McMillan 5; Faafeng 4; Mattingly 0:
Wimbledon Scorers
Nygren 10; Luckhurst 6; Dugard 6; Hedge 4; Tebby 2; Childs 1; Jackson 0:
Elsewhere:
Barry Briggs won his fourth World title in Gothenberg with an unbeaten fifteen points. Sverre Harrfeldt and Antoni Woryna were second and third with fourteen and thirteen respectively. Ivan Mauger, making his World Final debut, finished fourth with eleven.
September 30 Glasgow Open Championship (White City)
This event was sponsored by a local photographic business, with the winner receiving £50. Sadly the field lost Arne Pander who was injured the previous evening and Trevor Hedge who was “unavailable”, hopefully nothing to do with his poor showing the previous week! Reserves Jim McMillan and Jimmy Tannock took their places, with Bill Landels coming in as an additional reserve. Bike troubles ended the hopes of Ray Wilson, unbeaten in his first two outings, and Alf Wells, who had eight from three starts. Both were out for the night with major problems. Bluey Scott and George Hunter both failed to finish in their first rides but unlike Wells and Wilson managed to remedy their faults and continue, although with little real hope of a rostrum place. Heavy showers before the meeting left the track greasy and Charlie Monk, Willie Templeton and Bert Harkins all had the misfortune to fall in two of their races, putting all of them out of contention. Olle Nygren and Ivan Mauger emerged as realistic contenders by managing to avoid the mayhem, which was all about them. After four rides Nygren had eleven and Mauger ten and they were due to meet in heat seventeen. Nygren won this race and clinched the title. Mauger was second and joint third, with ten points, were surprise packets Bill McMillan and Jonny Faafeng.
Edinburgh’s Scottish Open Championship was rained off twice in three nights. With the track waterlogged on Saturday October 1st, plans were laid to restage it on the following Monday. Sadly the weather was even worse then. Ian Hoskins even explored the possibility of an afternoon staging prior to the league meeting with Cradley, but, with Hibernian playing at nearby Easter Road that afternoon, this was ruled out the police authorities on crowd control and parking grounds. The 1966 Scottish Open would be the first meeting of 1967!