June 2 Tigers 48 King’s Lynn 30 (British League)
King’s Lynn are struggling with their team as heat leaders Terry Betts, Peter Moore and David Crane are all out. Eric Boocock and Bert Harkins are drafted in as guests for Betts and Moore and Rider Replacement is operated to cover for Crane. The guests have a night of contrasting fortunes, with Eric Boocock is the most impressive visitor of the season scoring a six ride maximum, while Harkins has an unfortunate time, having two pairs of spectacles broken while racing. He ends up riding with one lens taped up, a speedway version of Lord Nelson! For the tigers Alf Wells gets close to Eric Boocock in an exciting heat thirteen but is pipped on the run in. Nils Ringstrom has his best meeting with a score of seven paid eleven. Brian Whaley, too, is in good form with three paid four from his two starts in the reserve berth, Incidentally his father, Les, was in the pits giving advice and support – it certainly seems to have helped!
Tigers Scorers
W Templeton 10, Wells 9, Monk 9, Ringstrom 7, Josefsson 6, J McMillan 4, Whaley 3:
King’s Lynn Scorers
E Boocock 18, Featherby 7, Harkins 2, Mills 2, D White 1, Middleton 0:
June 6 West Ham 67 Tigers 29 (K.O.Cup)
Another Custom House hammering from the Hammers! Charlie Monk has been experimenting with a JAP motor in an ESO frame, something that appals Barry Briggs! Possibly he is riding the hybrid tonight and he now knows why Briggo thinks it is such a bad idea! Jim McMillan is our only heat winner, beating Tony Clarke and Stan Stevens in heat nine. Alf Wells has bike troubles and pulls out of the meeting after two rides.
Referee Day tries to enliven a boring meeting when he calls a dead heat between the two Hammers in heat ten, being unable to split McKinlay and Simmons - bet the statisticians were pleased about that!!
Tigers Scorers
J McMillan 8, Ringstrom 5, Monk 4, W Templeton 4, Wells 3, Josefsson 3, Whaley 2:
West Ham Scorers
Harrfeldt 14, McKinlay 13.5, Hunter 12, Simmons 11.5, Leonard 11, Clarke 4, Stevens 2:
June 9 Tigers 32 West Ham 46 (British League)
Just days after our heavy defeat in London, West Ham were very much favourites to win tonight, and they did so with plenty to spare! Nils Ringstrom falls in heat one and bends his frame. He finds his bike is just about unrideable and, after two abortive rides, pulls out of the meeting. Charlie Monk is the only Tiger to challenge the might of the Hammers top four but even he has to give best to the McKinlay/Simmons pairing in heat nine. Monk and Jim McMillan manage two 4-2s early on, keeping the Tigers in contention, being only two points down after heat five. West Ham go on a rampage thereafter and are leading 40-26 after heat eleven. McKinlay wins heat twelve with Bo Josefsson seemingly beating Harrfeldt in a close finish for second place. However referee Cuthbert sees it differently! There is considerable uproar but really it is academic. May be fired up by this injustice, Monk and Wells go out and take a 5-1 in the final race.
Definitely not a night to be fondly remembered
Tigers Scorers
Monk 13, Josefsson 7, Wells 6, J McMillan 2, W Templeton 2, Whaley 1, Ringstrom 1:
West Ham Scorers
McKinlay 11, Harrfeldt 9, Simmons 9, Hunter 8, Stevens 5, Leonard 4, Clarke 0:
June 16 Four Team challenge
After two heavy defeats the Tigers supporters morale is pretty low, but tonight meeting provides something that is always a real tonic – the humiliation of the Monarchs! In a well crafted line up, all teams have two heat leaders and two second strings. However both Hunter and Doug Templeton have “howlers”, although the former has bike troubles in two races. Maury Mattingly returns after a break an scores a solid seven points. Nygren and Mauger again prove they give good value when given open bookings, both getting double figures.
The Europeans are tied with the Tigers with four races to go, but Tigers provide three heat winners and a second place to clinch the meeting by just to points. Edinburgh take six races to open their account, causing some hilarity on the terraces. A night to cheer Tigers fans up no end!
Tigers 33 (Monk 12, Wells 10, W Templeton 8, J McMillan 2, Whaley 1
Europeans 31 (Mauger 10, Eide 9 Mattingly 7, Berg 5)
Stockholm 22 (Nygren 10, Persson 5, Ringstrom 5, Josefsson 2)
Edinburgh 9 (Hunter 4, Harkins 3, D Templeton 1, Landels 0, Omand 0)
June 23 Great Britain 66 Sweden 41 (Fourth Test)
Test matches at White City during the sixties invariably prove an anti-climax, with the visitors generally under strength. Sadly tonight follows this trend, with Fundin having a prior engagement with car racing in Sweden, and, even more incredibly, Harryson and Jansson are excused to race in the Hackney versus Newport league meeting! Nils Ringstrom and Bo Josefsson are drafted in but not surprisingly are well out of their depth. The Nygren/Michanek pairing offers stuffy resistance and Nordin too is good value as Sweden’s leading scorer. Apart from that Great Britain run riot. The meeting is remembered for a truly incredible incident when Charlie Monk and Ron Mountford were set for a 5-1 when Mountford knocked partner Monk off. My school pals and I were standing on the back straight tonight – the higher admission and program costs meant that we have forsaken our usual vantage point in the stand – and we got a great view of Mountford hurtling into the third bend at an amazing speed – amazing that he thought he could get round the bend at that speed. He rammed Monk midships and skittled him towards the fence. Monk was badly shaken and his bike more so! He was out for the night. Mountford , who was roundly booed for the rest of meeting, was later to have claimed that his foot slipped off his footrest.
Eric Boocock again showed his liking for the Paisley road West track, recording a paid maximum. He received good support from brother Nigel and partner Barry Briggs. Gunnar Malmquist made his White City debut scoring only one point from five races. It would prove to be his only appearance in Glasgow although he features prominently in the 1968 history!
Great Britain Scorers
E Boocock 15, N Boocock 14, Briggs 12, G Hunter 9, Mauger 7, Monk 5, Mountford 4, McKinlay 0:
Sweden Scorer
Nordin 12, Nygren 10, Persson 10, Michanek 7, Josefsson 1, Malmquist 1, Ringstrom 0, Larsson 0:
June 24 Cradley Heath 37 Tigers 41 (British League)
Tigers get a bit of luck in a last heat decider. The unbeaten Ivor Brown falls whem challenging Willie Templeton, leaving Templeton and Jim McMillan to romp home ahead of reserve Ken Wakefield. Bo Josefsson has his best meeting to date, scoring eight points. Willie Templeton enjoys the heavy going and knocks up a fine nine points, his best away score of the season. Both ably back up Charlie Monk, who is just pipped to a maximum when Ivor Brown heads him home after a great scrap in heat seven. Jim McMillan scores a vital six points and turns the meeting Tigers way in heat ten when he comes from last to second to join partner Monk for a 5-1 which puts Tigers into the lead. Alf Wells (again!) has bike problems, leading to the proverbial “early bath”
It is a night of contrasting fortunes for former Tigers now riding for Cradley. Graham Coombes has a heavy fall in the opening race and manages three points. Chris Julians revelling on he muddy track looses only to Charlie Monk in two encounters
Tigers Scorers
Monk 11, W Templeton 9, Josefsson 8, J McMillan 6, Ringstrom 4, Mattingly 2, Wells 1:
Cradley Heath Scorers
Julians 10, Brown 9, Berquist 7, Brett 6, Coombes 3, Wakefield 2, Hockaday 0:
June 30 Tigers 46 Cradley Heath 32 (British League)
Tigers achieve the double over Cradley with an untroubled win. Charlie Monk scores his now expected maximum and gets good support from Alf Wells and Willie Templeton who both score ten paid eleven, missing out on their maximums when meeting up with the Ivor Brown / Graham Coombes pairing. Coombes has a great start to the meeting, winning his first two races but a puncture in is third race seends his unbeaten run. Maury Mattingly was due to ride at reserve but missed his flight north and arrives too late to ride in the league meeting. He does, however, take part in the second half and manages a win and a second place. Chris Julians has a spectacular spill in his third outing, tearing down a section of the back straight fence. This is repaired fairly quickly, unlike the Julians bike which is decidedly second hand!
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12, Wells 10, W Templeton 10, J McMillan 5, Josefsson 4, Ringstrom 4, Whaley 1:
Cradley Heath Scorers
Brett 8, Coombes 7, Brown 6, Berquist 5, Julians 3, Hockaday 2, Wakefield 1: