September 1   Tigers   44   Oxford   34  (British League)

Tigers kick off September with a comfortable win although it is only in the final race that they build up their lead. Maury Mattingly misses his plane – again! Can’t the guy tell the time! – and Brian Whaley takes his place at reserve. Wells and McMillan concede 5-1s in their first two rides together but the strong Monk/Josefsson pairing makes amends and scores are tied after six races. Tigers provide every heat winner thereafter with the exception of the final race when Roy Trigg succeeds where many have failed and heads Monk home, no maximum tonight Charlie! Best for Oxford is Colin Goody who scores eleven, finishing second to Monk in his final race but ending Josefsson’s paid maximum bid at the same time.

Tigers Scorers

Monk 11, Wells 8, Josefsson 7, Dent 7, W Templeton 6, J McMillan 4Whaley 1:

Oxford Scorers

Goody 11, Trigg 9, Timmo 6, McAuliffe 4, Lukehurst 2, Reeves 1, Spittal 1:

 

 

September 2   Nelson  49    Tigers “B”  47  (Challenge)

 

Track impresario Mike Parker had opened Nelson, near Burnley, to run a short open licence season to test the demand for a Second Division for the following year. In these meetings, both the home team and the visitors comprised British League secondstrings supplemented by juniors. There did not seem to be any hard and fast rules over eligibility as Bo Josefsson rode for Tigers despite clearly being a heatleader, having a higher average than Maury Mattingly, Willie Templeton and Alf Wells, none of whom were booked for the meeting. The fact that Josefsson was based in Nottingham, considerably nearer Nelson than Glasgow, no doubt had a major bearing on his selection

Initially, the Tigers line up was planned to be

Russ Dent and Brian Whaley;

Jim McMillan and Bill McMillan;

                        Nils Ringstrom and Brian Collins,

                        with Brian Black as reserve.

However Ringstrom had returned to Sweden following a family bereavement, while Bill McMillan was still not fit enough to ride in a complete meeting and juniors Collins and Black seem to have got a better offer to ride elsewhere, presumably the second half at Old Meadowbank! Surprisingly Glasgow juniors Tom Blackwood and Mark Hall were passed over in favour of the little known Kenny Omand and Forbes McKenzie, both of whom featured in after the meeting practices at Old Meadowbank.

Jim McMillan had ridden at Nelson in two of their first three meetings and reported that the track was really square, being laid around a football pitch, but that they were hoping to lift the corner flag areas to give a more standard track shape! McMillan was beaten by Goog Allan in his first ride but won his remaining four outings comfortably. Dent, too had a productive evening with twelve paid thirteen. Mention should also be made of Omand’s heat win in heat four. Appleby was a local junior borrowed to complete our septet.

Tigers Scorers:

McMillan 14; Dent 12; Josefsson 9; Omand 4; Whaley 3; McKenzie 2; Appleby 3:

Nelson Scorers

Handley 13; Allan 11; Paynter 10; Winstanley 5; Burt 4; Munkasci 4; Burnett 2:

 

While the score from this meeting was widely reported at the time it was many years later before sight was seen of the heat results – a real collectors item!

Thanks to “Warren Edric” from “Easy Tiger” for furnishing these details

 

 

 

September 8   Tigers   46   Edinburgh   50  (Scottish Cup

Again the Scottish Cup tie is a meeting of two halves! After seven races tigers lead by ten points and, with no tactical substitutes being allowed, seem well placed to overcome the seventeen point deficit from the first leg in Edinburgh. However it all starts to go pear shaped! The impressive Berg wins heat eight beating Josefsson while Eide heads Willie Templeton. The next heat sees the hitherto unbeaten Jim McMillan trail in behind Doug Templeton and Bert Harkins who had scored only one point  from their previous outings. Harkins, rarely a star at White City, goes on to win his next two outings, while Jim McMillan fails to score again all night. Monk scores fourteen, losing out only to Berg whose sensational form tonight must have been a major factor in his close season move to join the Tigers. Dent suffers from magneto problems and fails to score and to compound Tigers woe, Edinburgh, with the cup wrapped up after heat twelve, go on to win the meeting.

Bill McMillan makes his long awaited comeback, winning the Progress Race ahead of three first season juniors.

Tigers Scorers

Monk 14, Josefsson 11, Wells 8, J McMillan 6, W Templeton 3, Mattingly 3, Dent 0:

Edinburgh Scorers

Berg 13, Hunter 10, Harkins 9, Persson 8, Eide 5, D Templeton 3, Landels 2:

 

 

 

 

September 13   Tigers   57   Wolverhampton   21  (British League)

The meeting starts with a match race between Whaley and Ringstrom for the vacant reserve spot as Dent had been unable to obtain a replacement magneto. Ringstrom is leading by a handsome margin when his bike fails. This just about sums up his season! Wolves are without Holmquist who apparently was taken ill the previous day. Airey and Maxted are the only Wolves worth watching as Tigers narrowly fail to reverse the 58-20 defeat at Monmore Green earlier in the year. At last the strong Monk/ Josefsson pairing is split and both riders respond with full maximums. This is the Swede’s first for Tigers. Willie Templeton joins them with a paid max, while only bike troubles stop Wells and Mattingly also being “max men”. Ernie Baker is another Wolf to fail to arrive and they borrow Bill McMillan to complete their team. He beats Whaley for third place in his first outing but the positions are reversed the next time they meet.

Tigers Scorers

Josefsson 12, Monk 12, W Templeton 10, Wells 8, J McMillan 8, Mattingly 6, Whaley 1:

Wolverhampton Scorers

 Maxted 6, Airey 4, Vandenberg 4, Handley 3, Hemus 3, B McMillan 1, Parry 0:

 

 

 

 

September 22   Tigers   53   Edinburgh   31  (Challenge)

Tigers were due to race a “Tigers Past” team tonight but with former Tiger Graham Coombes getting injured, this was no longer viable. Instead Edinburgh were invited back for a meeting to be run over the old eight man, fourteen heat formula, used in the 1950s. With Josefsson, having returned home, Ken McKinlay is booked as a guest replacement. Edinburgh are missing Persson and the emigrated Landels but replace them with their own juniors.

A large home win looks on the cards, although Tigers are without Wells who was fined by the Control Board for missing the away meting at Wimbledon. He is quite outraged about this, feeling that he wasn’t fit to ride that night. Additionally, having been disciplined by promoter Taylor for his absence, he argues, with some justification, that he is now being punished twice. “Double jeopardy” in legal terms. He is refusing to pay the fine and is suspended.

The meeting is an anticlimax and is nowhere near the standard of previous Glasgow/ Edinburgh clashes. Monk and guest McKinlay get maximums and are well backed by Willie Templeton, Mattingly and Jim McMillan. Reserves Bill McMillan and Whaley outpace their counterparts for their points. Berg again stars while Eide and Harkins again have a pretty wretched night.

Larry Lazarus wins the Veterans Race from Gordon Mitchell and Jim Blythe in a time of 98.0 seconds.

Tigers Scorers

Monk 12, McKinlay 12, Mattingly 8, W Templeton 7, J McMillan 6, Dent 4, B McMillan 2, Whaley 2:

Edinburgh Scorers

Berg 10, Hunter 8, D Templeton 8, Hughson 3, Eide 2, Harkins 0, Collins 0, Black 0:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 23   Swindon 52   Tigers 26    (British League)

Tonights score is actually an improvement on the last two attempts! Having scored twenty four in 1965 and twenty five last year, the progression continues with our boys managing twenty six tonight. Poole’s Pete Smith is drafted in as a guest for the suspended Wells and he is joint top scorer along with Monk. Both manage one heat win, both over the Ashby/ Keen pairing. Mattingly also wins a heatwhen he heads home in heat four, the “reserve race”. Actually, tigers provide the race winners in heats three, four and five! Thereafter the robins take control and run out easy winners. Briggs, Broadbanks and Kilby are all unbeaten by a Tiger.

Tigers Scorers

Monk 8, Smith 8, Mattingly 7, W Templeton 2, Whaley 1, J McMillan 0, Dent 0:

Swindon Scorers

Briggs 12, Broadbanks 11, Kilby 10, Ashby 9, Keen 4, Munday 3, Shuter3:

 

 

 

September 25   Exeter P   Tigers P    (British League)

 Tonight’s rain off must have been a real disappointment for the home promotion, with theTigers already in the south following their meeting at Swindon on Saturday. Exeter now have to bring the Tigers all the way back down from Glasgow for the restaging.

 

 

 

 

September 29   Glasgow Open Championship – Rained Off

 As a schoolboy, I was always pretty upset when a meeting was rained off, particularly as I had seen the Tigers versus Newcastle meeting being run when the track looked like a tributary of the River Clyde. If they could run that night, they could run on anything!

Tonight’s rain off was a bit of a surprise. It had rained through the night but had cleared up in the afternoon and there was sunshine when we arrived in Paisley Road West. Oh no! the gates were locked… it was off! Programs were on sale but unlike other postponements it wasn’t possible to wander in and stare at the track. Presumably the decision had been made hours earlier, in time to stop riders making an unnecessary journey.

Disappointingly there were no plans to restage the meeting. The season had just fizzled out! The program stated that Charlie Monk was returning to Australia the following week and had “opted out of his remaining meetings”. This may have had a bearing on the decision not to stage any more home meetings. Monk did ride in various meetings including the British League Riders Championship at Belle Vue. The misinformation was symptomatic of the lack of communication between the promotion and the rider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 9    Exeter    50    Tigers   28  (British League)

And so, the final curtain! Tigers beat Edinburgh by one point as Exeter trounce Scotland! Falcons stage a double header to ensure their fixtures are completed. Edinburgh manage twenty seven points while Tigers go one better but not a good night for those of a tartan persuasion.

Berg, who scored nine for Edinburgh in the first meeting, guests in place of Wells, who is no doubt heart broken at missing this fixture! Whaley also rides in both meetings, somehow appearing for Edinburgh in place of the programmed Brian Black. Real end of season stuff!

Mattingly and Jim McMillan have pretty undistinguished nights, conceding three 5-1s in their races together but each manage to win their other race – must be a moral in there somewhere! Berg stars in two 5-1s with partner Monk. These are the highlights o the night for Tigers. Exeter are solid throughout but unlike the first meeting, no Falcon goes unbeaten against the Tigers.

All that remains is the long journey home.

Tigers Scorers

Monk 10, Mattingly 6, Berg 4, Dent 3, J McMillan 3, W Templeton 2,Whaley 0:

Exeter Scorers

Street 10, Squibb 9, Sweetman 8, Geran 8, Blewett 7, Briggs 5, Cake 3:

 

 

                              Home           Race   Pts          Away               Race Pts         Match 

                  Mtgs   W    D     L     For     Ag          W    D    L     For       Ag          Pts

 

Swindon      36      18     0     0      887    514            6     0    12     649      752        48

Coventry    36       17     0     1     882    517            5     2    11     642      758         46

West Ham  36       17     0     1      862    540            4     3    11     652      748        45

Edinburgh   36      16     1     1      861    540            4     1    13     624      778        42

Hackney     36       17     1     0     824    578            3     0    15     578       822        41

Poole          36       16     1     1     829    572            1     2    15      633      767        37

Halifax       36       16     1     1      857    545            2     0    16     599      804        37

Wolves       36        17    0     1     824    573            1     1    16      599      803        37

Sheffield     36      16      1     1     796    605            2     0    16     538      866         37

Newcastle   36      16     0      2     807    595            2     0    16     579      822         36

Wimbledon 36      15     1     2      775    623            1     2    15     617      786        35

Newport      36      14     1      3     819    584            3     0    15     568      829        35

Glasgow     36       13     1     4     771    628            3     1    14     572      829        33

Oxford        36       15     1     2     881    592            1     0    17     558      841        33

Exeter         36       16     0     2     843    560            0     0    18     542      859        32

Belle Vue    36      14     0     4      756    643            2     0    16     578      821       32

L Eaton       36       13    3      2     749    654            1     0    17     573      827        31

Cradley       36       11    0      7     739    658            1     0    17     523      875        24

K Lynn       36       11     0     7     759    641            0     0    18     538      864        22