August 2 Tigers 36 Hackney 42 (British League)
Tigers operate rider replacement foe the absent Bo Josefsson and they accrue eight points from the facility. Russ Dent, still limping after his ankle injury the previous week, has a rough night, with two bike failures and a tapes exclusion curtailing his score. Willie Templeton isn’t on the pace at all but it is later revealed he has been struggling with bronchitis, a debilitating condition, for some time. Indeed his doctor is unhappy about him riding, but really we have no other riders available.
Oyvind Berg goes through the card unbeaten and also wrests the Scottish Match Race title from Bernie Persson, the holder.
Tigers Scorers
Berg 15, J McMillan 12, B McMillan 4, Whaley 2, Dent 1, W Templeton 1:
Hackney Scorers
Jansson 10, Pratt 9, Biggs 8, McGillivray 6, Everett 5, Lukehurst 4, Brown 0:
August 9 Glasgow Northern riders Championship Qualifying Round
For once an attractive field for an individual qualifying round, with Olsen, Person, Eide, Roper and best of all Monk among the visitors. It could have been better had Sjosten and Levai managed to make an appearance!
Monk is beaten by Olsen, who blots his perfect scorecard when missing the gate in his fourth ride. Olsen’s starting technique is the subject of some comment and many feel justice was done when he messed up. McMillan can’t get past Monk and Berg in his first two rides, but wins his remaining outings at a canter. Berg may well have won this round but has bike trouble in his fourth ride and runs a third in his final outing.
Bill McMillan goes quietly about his racing and finishes the evening with eleven, his best score since his injury. Bobby Beaton is first reserve and takes the place of the missing Levai. He scores one point by beating Brian Whaley.
Top Scorers
Monk 14, J McMillan 13, Olsen 12, B McMillan 11, Eide 11, Berg 10
Sadly neither Jim McMillan nor Oyvind Berg qualified from the Nordic British final at West Ham and Tigers fans dismay wasn’t exactly eased by the news that Coatbridge’s Eide had qualified comfortably for his first World Final where he would join team mate Persson. Quite an achievement for a Scottish track to have two riders in the sports “night of nights”, something we can only marvel at nowadays.
August 16 Tigers 51 Prague 27 (Challenge)
Russian tanks are invading Czechoslovakia during Prague’s tour and the visitors can be excused if their thoughts are elsewhere. The Glasgow fans sportingly give them a warm welcome. In the World Team Cup at Wembley in September the Czechs are similarly encouraged while the Russians are roundly booed.
Tonight’s meeting was in severe doubt after a cloud burst, a couple of hours before the start. Sterling work by the Glasgow Water Department clears the water and the meeting gets underway about ten minutes late. Charlie Monk guests for the Tigers, just like old times!
The visitors find the White City bends hard to handle and their only successes are in heats four and eight, races where the Tigers “big three” do not compete. Berg, Jim McMillan and Monk are all unbeaten by the opposition, while Bill McMillan and Templeton , both have a good pay night. Volf and Ledecky are the pick of the visitors, with the latter qualifying for the trophy final as fastest second.
Tigers Scorers
Berg 11, J McMillan 11, Monk 11, B McMillan 7, W Templeton 7, Dent 4, Whaley 0:
Prague Scorers
Volf 7, Ledecky 6, Holub 4, Svab 4, M Verner 3, V Verner 2, Tomicek :
August 17 Coatbridge 64 Tigers 32 (British League)
With Monk riding elsewhere, Martin Ashby is Tigers choice as a guest. He was impressive around Cliftonhill when riding for Britain against Sweden in June, but tonight, along with his new team mates, he is bemused by the exceedingly slick conditions, obviously prepared with the home team in mind. Tigers only success comes in the penultimate heat when Ashby and Jim McMillan take a 5-1 over Doug Templeton and a mechanically troubled Harkins.
Not a good night for the Tigers and to make things worse the interval sees the appearance of The Cobblers, a folk music group, that just about sums things up !!
Tigers Scorers
Ashby 10, J McMillan 7, Berg 6, W Templeton 5, Whaley 2, B McMillan 1,Dent 1:
Coatbridge Scorers
Persson 13, Hunter 13, Eide 13, D Templeton 9,Collins 7, Harkins 7, Hughson 2:
Bill McMillan leads Lex Milloy and Brian Whaley from an earlier encounter at Coatbridge
August 23 Tigers 57 Coatbridge 39 (Scottish Cup)
Promoter Whaley in his program notes bravely declares we can still do it tonight. Few Tigers fans share his optimism bur Coatbridge are obviously worried as they bring in Chris Pusey as a guest for Alex Hughson, the Monarchs reserve. Monk and Olsen are guests of a more standard nature. Tigers track Alf Wells who has been released by Newcastle in order for Alan Jay to join the Diamonds.
Monarchs get off to a good start and lead by four points after three heats, and really the Cup is now out of our reach. However Tigers get it together and are well in the lead by the interval. Some excitement in heat thirteen where Wells seems to break the tapes but is allowed back in the rerun. At the next attempt, Collins tries a blatant “roller” but catches the tapes. He is not best pleased a being excluded and come round for the restart. On seeing his exclusion light glowing, he drives through the tapes and, unsurprisingly, is fined by the referee. It certainly gave us something to boo about!
Hunter, who was in good form in the first leg, has a poor night with his crash here earlier in the season no doubt still preying on his mind. Berg suffers are rare White city defeat when Olsen gets the better of him.
Tigers Scorers
Berg 14, J McMillan 11, Monk 11, Dent 7, Wells 6, B McMillan 4, W Templeton 4:
Coatbridge Scorers
Olsen 12, Persson 11, D Templeton 6, Collins 6, Harkins 4, Pusey 3, Hunter 1:
August 27 West Ham 36 Tigers 42 (British League)
Tigers sportingly agree to West Ham’s request to bring forward this fixture, even though it will mean four meetings in as many days. The Hammers management are certainly grateful writing that Tigers “are certainly not one of the British League’s most fortuitous outfits, but one of the most helpful and co-operative we have encountered this summer” As it turns out things work in our favour. We are trailling by two points after heat four, in which Bill McMillan takes a fine win. In the next race homesters McKinlay and Stevens collide big time and both are taken to hospital. With Jim McMillan unbeaten and the Wells/ Dent pairing hard to split, Tigers go into the last heat two points up. Jim McMillan and Wells make no mistake and Leonard falls after an abortive attempt to catch them. Tigers have won their second away meeting of the season. Bill McMillan has his best ever away meeting, with two heat wins to his name. Now we are off to Poole!
Tigers Scorers
J McMillan 12, Berg 8, B McMillan 6, Wells 6, Dent 6, W Templeton 4, Whaley 0:
West Ham Scorers
Clarke 9, Leonard 8, Barclay 8, Hunter 6, McKinlay 3, Crowson 2,Stevens 0:
August 28 Poole 45 Tigers 33 (British League)
Jim McMillan returns to Wimborne Road, where he had a traumatic time with the third bend last year and underlines the huge progress he has made by scoring thirteen points and winning the second half trophy final. Berg falls in the opening heat while laying down to avoid partner Bill McMillan and has to be helped off the track. He has a quiet meeting thereafter, while Wells and Dent again prove to be a stuffy pairing by securing the minor placings in their races. Mudge topscores for Pirates, being beaten by McMillan in heat eleven, but it is reserve Cribb who catches the eye with three wins out of three, beating McMillan in the process.
Tigers Scorers
J McMillan 13, Wells 6, Dent 6, B McMillan 4, Berg 3, Whaley 1, W Templeton 0:
Poole Scorers
Mudge 14, Smith 13, Cribb 9, Laessing 4, Fossengen 3, Bungay 2,Vernam 0:
August 29 Oxford 42 Tigers 36 (British League)
If Lady Luck was smiling on us in London, she certainly evens things up tonight! Despite Wells missing his first two rides, the meeting is sill tied after ten heats. Tigers lose a 1-5 when Genz and McAuliffe disappear into the distance leaving Jim McMillan trailling in their wake. In the next race Dent beats Reeves with the hitherto unbeaten Berg picking up the third place, leaving Tigers two down going into the last race. Wells clutch jumps at the gate and he is excluded. As he has only had one ride, he can’t be replaced. If that wasn’t bad enough Jim McMillan’s handlebars break, although he manages to limp home for third place, quite an achievement!
Tigers Scorers
Berg 10, Dent 9, J McMillan 8, B McMillan 5, W Templeton 2, Wells 1,Whaley 1:
Oxford Scorers
Genz 12, Reeves 11, McAuliffe 7, Goody 5, Timmo 4, Bishop 3:
August 30 Tigers 44 King’s Lynn 34 (British League)
Four meetings in four days, so it’s no surprise that there are a few yawns in the pits, and a few yawning bikes too! Kings Lynn again have Bert Harkins guesting for them, replacing Clive Featherby, who doesn’t have the best of attendance records in Glasgow. With Howard Cole in good form in his first two races, the scores are close throughout. Heat nine sees Wells badly left at the gate and he throws down his bike in disgust. Perhaps surprisingly the referee stops the race and allows him back into the rerun. Now it’s the Stars time to be disgusted and team manager Cyril crane threatens to withdraw his team. There is quite a delay but eventually wiser council prevails and the heat is rerun. Harkins then breaks the tapes but the referee allows him back in too. If he had been excluded the Stars would have walked this time. Wells breaks down in when the race is finally run, s perhaps justice was done. Crane will later be fined by the BSPA for his actions. The meeting now has a decided edge to it and this spurs Tigers on. A 5-1 and two 4-2s clinch the meeting before the final race is started.
Tigers Scorers
Berg 11, J McMillan 10, B McMillan 7, Dent 6, Wells 5, W Templeton 5, Whaley 0:
King’s Lynn Scorers
Betts 9, Harkins 8, Cole 7, Featherby 6, Penniket 3, Belham 1, Crane 0:
The Tigers may have welcomed a quiet weekend after their marathon trip but quite a few are riding in the Scotland v England meeting at Coatbridge the following night, while Brian Whaley scores a maximum at Berwick. They all had a long lie in on Sunday morning however!