1962 Provincial Speedway League

The 1962 Provincial Speedway League was the third season of the Provincial League.

Summary

Thirteen speedway teams took part. Bradford, at their new venue at Greenfields Stadium, returned to the league after missing the previous season due to delays building their new track. The league season proved to be disastrous for Bradford and the club folded at the end of the year. New team Neath Welsh Dragons joined the league and Leicester joined after dropping down from the National League. Neath, near Port Talbot in Wales, was not a successful venue and many of their fixtures were raced at St. Austell. Rayleigh Rockets withdrew with promoters Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale citing falling gates and rider wage demands.
Poole won the league championship for the second year in a row. The Neath Welsh Dragons achieved what was described as the impossible by finishing second in the league standings.
The supplementary cup competitions were won by Sheffield, Poole and Wolverhampton respectively.

League

Final table

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Provincial League Knockout Cup

The 1962 Provincial League Knockout Cup was the third edition of the Knockout Cup for the Provincial League teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners.
First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
18/06	Newcastle	74–22	Sheffield
21/06	Middlesbrough	66–30	Cradley Heath
22/06	Leicester	32–64	Poole
22/06	Bradford	57–39	Neath
23/06	Edinburgh	71–25	Wolverhampton

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
11/08	Edinburgh	54–42	Middlesbrough
11/08	Stoke	61–31	Newcastle
14/08	Bradford	44–52	Poole
27/08	Exeter	53–43	Plymouth

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
10/09	Exeter	57–39	Edinburgh
15/09	Stoke	49–47	Poole

Supplemetary leagues

Northern League

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Sheffield	8	6	1	1	13
Middlesbrough	8	4	0	4	8
Edinburgh	8	4	0	4	8
Newcastle	8	4	0	4	8
Bradford	8	1	1	6	3

Southern League

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Poole	6	6	0	0	12
Exeter	6	2	1	3	5
Plymouth	6	2	1	3	5
Neath	6	1	0	5	2

Midland League

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Wolverhampton	6	4	0	2	8
Cradley Heath	6	3	0	3	6
Leicester	6	3	0	3	6
Stoke	6	2	1	4	5

Riders' Championship

Len Silver won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 22 September in front of 20,000 spectators. Four riders finished on 11 points forcing a race off.

Pos.

Rider

Pts

Total

Riders & final averages

Bradford

7.10
6.23
5.89
5.82
5.66
5.60
5.40
3.56
3.40
2.67

Cradley Heath

10.21
7.91
6.80
6.59
6.56
6.45
5.49
3.82
3.13

Edinburgh

9.36
8.45
7.05
7.66
6.67
6.24
4.44
3.94
3.80

Exeter

8.97
8.00
7.31
6.68
6.20
6.04
5.64

Leicester

7.85
7.25
6.58
6.36
6.24
5.57
5.35
4.50
4.46
3.59

Middlesbrough

10.15
8.83
7.38
6.36
5.49
4.33
3.20
2.18

Neath

9.43
7.74
Howdy Cornell 7.47
7.44
6.73
5.78
5.26
2.46

Newcastle

9.60
7.76
6.70
6.38
6.15
5.79
5.09
4.25
George Glen 4.05
3.20

Plymouth

9.74
8.87
7.31
Chris Blewett 6.84
5.96
5.63
3.25
2.87
2.42

Poole

10.04
9.30
8.41
7.78
7.54
6.74
6.05
3.25

Sheffield

10.21
9.60
9.58
7.98
6.11
3.76
3.35
3.30
2.97

Stoke

8.69
8.67
7.95
7.65
6.20
5.66
4.93
4.56
3.43
3.38

Wolverhampton

8.67
8.13
7.28
6.52
6.26
6.16
4.70
4.47
3.85
1.47