The Northern Cup
Few Tigers fans were aware of the state of play in this competition as practically nothing had been written about it in the program and no mention was made in the Scottish regional section in the Speedway Star. As far as Glasgow was concerned this was very much a “ghost” competition.
Eric Boothroyd had reopened Middlesbrough under an open licence and rather than stage a series of meaningless challenge matches had devised the Northern Cup competition. Halifax, Sheffield and Newcastle had sufficient open dates to allow them to race each other and were enthusiastic participants. Glasgow and Edinburgh were keen to take the booking at Middlesbrough but did not feel they had sufficient home dates to race all the other teams. Indeed with C-R-A-D-L-E-Y spelling “rain”, they could not have fulfilled these obligations. Scores in the British League meetings would be used instead. They did agree to stage a home meeting against the Bears, but both ran out of suitable dates. In any case Middlesbrough’s “team” had disappeared! The Bears used three guest heatleaders in all Northern Cup meetings and had hoped to develop their own second strings. They tracked guys like Alan Jay, Kevin Torpie and Vic Lonsdale. The former had been injured riding for Kings Lynn, while the other two had retired and drifted into obscurity.
For the record, Halifax won the Cup, three points clear of Sheffield.
Home Race Pts Away Race Pts Tot
P W L For Ag MP W L For Ag MP BP Pts
Halifax 10 5 0 256 134 5 2 3 191 198 2 5 12
Sheffield 10 5 0 233 155 5 1 4 166 222 1 3 9
Newcastle 10 5 0 241 147 5 0 5 164 225 0 3.5 8.5
Glasgow 9 4 0 172 139 4 1 4 149 239 1 0 5
Edinburgh 9 3 1 178 133 3 0 5 134 256 0 1 4
Mid’sboro 10 2 3 195 194 2 0 3 98 135 0 0.5 0.5
November
The final British League fixtures were raced off on October 24th when Newcastle and Wimbledon beat Belle Vue and Poole respectively. The Cradley versus Edinburgh fixture was never staged leaving the final table looking like
Tigers had finished eighth which was to prove to be their highest position in the British League. After a shaky start to the season when Charlie Monk suffered terrible bike problems, their home form was the equal of just about any team in the league, with only Swindon coming out on top at the White City. Away from home, they often put up a good show without really worrying their hosts. Bluey Scott’s absence was adequately covered by the new rider replacement rule although this was not always used to best advantage. However young Jim McMillan gained valuable experience, which was to pay dividends later at a time when Tigers really needed it.
The 1966 team: Back Row (l to r) Templeton, Monk Mattingly Coombes, Wells, and Redmond
Front row McMillan and Scott
Ian Hoskins went on a well-deserved holiday to Norway where he had signed a young Norwegian called Oyvind Berg, who would later become one of the most popular Tigers of all time.
Some sick minds were around at this time and some minor local papers seemed prepare to publish any sensational story from any source without checking its veracity. In quick succession, Trevor Redmond was called upon to deny stories that Charlie Monk had been banned for life for unspecified reasons and later that he had been killed in Australia. Neither had a shred of truth!
Tigers’ fans were cheered by speculation in the Speedway Star that Graham Coombes might be on his way back to Glasgow although there was concern when Eric Linden suggested Trevor Redmond might be too occupied in restarting speedway in Cornwall to continue commuting to Glasgow each week. Bluey Scott , although going to Australia was reported to be buying a house in Motherwell and seemed certain to return for the 1967 season. Also a training track was to open in Breich in West Lothian.
Tigers’ supporters were stunned when they first heard the news that Trevor Redmond had sold his interest in the Tigers to Borders farmer Danny Taylor. On reflection it was realized that Trevor was first and foremost an entrepreneur and a pioneer and that the weekly grind of travelling the length of the country was taking its toll. Equally, he was a shrewd businessman and would have known that the line of the proposed M8 motorway extension cut through the east end of the White City stadium, casting doubts over the Tigers’ long term future there. Although this was unlikely to be a problem for a number of years, there were other, more immediate, concerns to be considered. Despite a successful season, crowds had levelled out from the highs of the previous term, when Tigers led the British League and Charlie Monk looked like conquering the speedway world. Monk was now living in Wakefield and was contemplating a transfer request to a track nearer this base.
Maury Mattingly and Bluey Scott were both in the veteran category. Maury was an ever present during the last season and seemed to have sorted out his travelling arrangements so that, unlike previous years, he had not missed any flights north. Perhaps he was leaving earlier or perhaps he was no longer using the risky standby tickets. However he seemed to be plagued almost continually by mechanical problems, and his future with the Tigers was uncertain. Although Bluey had returned to Australia as soon as the season had finished, he was reported to be buying a house in Motherwell, so it seemed highly likely that he would be planning to ride again he following year, but like Mattingly he could not be expected to ride forever and the thorny problem of attracting heat leader to Scotland would again raise its head. All in all this was an opportune time to sell
Tigers’ new promoter Danny Taylor planning the new season with Ian Hoskins
Trevor was reportedly going to be involved in forming a Cornish League, with Plymouth joining St Austell and Newton Abbott in a junior league venture. Nothing came of this although Plymouth, under the Mawdsley and Lansdale banner, were founder members of British League Division Two in 1968. Other plans to develop speedway in California never got off the ground and little was heard of him for a couple of years, during which he devoted more time to his farm.
1966 Averages
Jonny Faafeng Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 1 0 1 2 2.00
British League Home 13 52 10 62 43 5.77
British League Away 14 44 11 55 44 5.00
Scottish Cup Home 1 2 1 3 4 3.00
Scottish Cup Away 1 0 0 0 2 0.00
Overall Home 14 54 11 55 47 5.74
Overall Away 16 45 11 56 48 4.58
Overall Total 30 99 22 111 95 5.11
Maury Mattingly Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 7 0 7 5 5.60
British League Home 18 110 12 122 67 7.28
British League Away 18 89 9 98 71 5.52
Scottish Cup Home 1 11 0 11 5 8.80
Scottish Cup Away 1 10 1 11 6 7.33
Overall Home 19 121 12 133 72 7.39
Overall Away 20 106 10 116 82 5.66
Overall Total 39 227 22 249 154 6.47
Bill McMillan Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 2 0 2 5 1.60
British League Home 18 86 26 112 64 7.00
British League Away 18 43 10 53 67 3.16
Scottish Cup Home 1 6 2 8 5 6.40
Scottish Cup Away 1 5 2 7 5 5.60
Overall Home 19 92 28 120 69 6.96
Overall Away 20 50 12 62 77 3.22
Overall Total 39 142 40 182 146 4.97
Charlie Monk Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 13 0 13 5 10.40
British League Home 18 171 3 174 70 9.94
British League Away 18 178 1 179 83 8.63
Scottish Cup Home 1 15 0 15 5 12.00
Scottish Cup Away 1 14 1 15 6 10.00
Overall Home 19 186 3 189 75 10.08
Overall Away 20 205 2 207 94 8.81
Overall Total 39 391 5 396 169 9.37
Jim McMillan Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
British League Home 5 12 3 15 11 5.45
British League Away 8 5 3 8 15 2.13
Scottish Cup Home 1 4 0 4 3 5.33
Overall Home 6 16 3 19 14 5.64
Overall Away 8 5 3 8 15 2.13
Overall Total 14 21 6 27 29 3.79
Alf Wells Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 6 0 6 5 4.80
British League Home 18 153 15 168 73 9.21
British League Away 16 83 12 95 66 5.76
Scottish Cup Home 1 12 0 12 5 9.60
Scottish Cup Away 1 6 0 6 5 4.00
Overall Home 19 165 15 180 78 9.23
Overall Away 18 95 12 107 77 5.56
Overall Total 37 260 27 287 155 7.41
Bluey Scott Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 6 1 7 5 5.60
British League Home 14 88 11 99 51 7.76
British League Away 7 39 4 41 29 5.93
Overall Home 14 88 11 99 51 7.76
Overall Away 8 45 5 50 34 5.88
Overall Total 22 133 16 149 185 7.01
Willie Templeton Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
KO Cup Away 1 4 2 6 5 4.80
British League Home 18 137 23 160 73 8.77
British League Away 18 76 11 87 72 4.83
Scottish Cup Home 1 7 3 10 5 8.00
Scottish Cup Away 1 8 1 9 6 6.00
Overall Home 19 144 26 170 78 8.72
Overall Away 20 88 14 102 83 4.92
Overall Total 39 232 40 272 161 6.76
Also Rode Meetings Points BP Total Rides CMA
Graham Coombes 2 8 4 12 8 6.00
Joe Hicks 2 0 0 0 4 0.00
Jack Monteith 1 0 0 0 2 0.00
Guests
Ian Champion (L Eaton) 1 3 1 4 4 4.00
Tom Leadbetter (L Eaton) 1 1 0 1 2 2.00
Dai Evans (Wolverhampton) 1 0 0 0 2 0.00
Doug Templeton (Glasgow) 1 3 0 3 4 3.00
Roy Trigg (West Ham) 1 9 0 9 4 9.00
Ray Wilson (K Lynn) 1 5 2 7 4 7.00