Glasgow’s amazing start to the 1965 season

Tigers fans were in optimistic mood for the season opener against Hackney in the first ever British League meeting to be staged in Scotland. .New signings  Bluey Scott, replacing the retired Trevor Redmond, and Willie Templeton, whose move to The White City allowed Chris Julian to move to a track nearer his Cornwall home., were heavy scorers at the Paisley Road West track the previous year and now lined up in Tigers colours. Norwegian Nils Paulsen, Tigers third winter capture, was not available for the first two weeks of the season due to commitments back home in Norway and Chris Julian would turn out in his absence.

Colin Pratt, who had a perfect record against the Tigers having scored two maximums in both Provincial League fixtures last year, was missing from the Hackney line up and Tigers fans fancied that a good home win was on the cards. STV sent their cameras to record the meeting which proved to be a massacre.

Chris Julian had bike problems in heat two; Bruce Ovenden completely missed the gate and trailled in last in the next race; and Charlie Monk had bike problems which saw him pull up in heat nine while well in the lead. Otherwise the Tigers scored 5-1s in all the other heats, which did not really make for particularly exciting viewing.

Willie Templeton won heat one in 78.2 seconds, just half a second outside the track record and went on to complete a paid maximum, as did his partner Maury Mattingly. Bluey Scott became the first Tiger to score a full maximum in the British League.

The following week’s meeting against league newcomers Halifax was rained off. With Nils Paulsen due to arrive in a few days time, this was to have been Chris Julian final meeting as a Tiger. Trevor Redmond presented him with a silver salver in recognition of his services.

Easter weekend brought the first visit of a former National League team when Coventry headed north. And apprehension in the home supporters ranks was unjustified as Tigers proved definitively that former Provincial League teams would be more than a match for their National League counterparts, certainly at home. Maury Mattingly beat Nigel Boocock in heat one in 77.8 seconds, just 0.1 seconds outside the track record. Charlie Monk did even better setting up a new track record of 76.4 while beating Nigel Boocock in heat nine. In between, Coventry put up an inept performance with World Finalist Jim Lightfoot and England international Ron Mountford completely at sea. Coventry complained bitterly about the track being deep, the bends being shallow and just about everything else! Charlie Monk equalled his new track record in heat thirteen suggesting there was little wrong with the track.

Nils Paulsen made his Tigers debut and his four paid six would have been more but for a fall while leading heat eight. Nigel Boocock was the only visitor to finish ahead of a Tiger and spoiled the maximum hopes of Willie Templeton, Bluey Scott and Bruce Ovenden. Maury Mattingly scored his second consecutive paid maximum while Graham Coombes was again unbeaten in the reserve slot.

Charlie Monk won the second half Easter Egg trophy, a huge Easter Egg, which was subsequently taken to Yorkhill Sick Kids hospital by Tigers skipper Maury Mattingly.

The following night brought great joy for those in the red and white at Old Meadowbank

Willie Templeton returned to his old track and gave his best ever performance there, scoring eleven and only having his maximum spoiled by a narrow defeat from George Hunter in his last race.

Tigers hit Edinburgh hard in the early heats. Willie Templeton beat George Hunter in heat one in 65.8, just 0.4 seconds outside the track record. With Maury Mattingly third, Tigers were two up. Bluey Scott put in a great ride in heat two to pass the team riding Colin McKee and Doug Templeton. Charlie Monk and Bruce Ovenden took a 5-1 with Charlie setting a new track record of 65.0. When Graham Coombes and Willie Templeton repeated the treatment in heat four, Tigers were ten points ahead. This lead was extended to twelve after Willie Templeton beat brother Doug in heat six with Maury Mattingly again getting the vital third place.

Heat seven saw Monarchs reduce the leeway with a 4-2 as George Hunter equalled the track record in beating Charlie Monk but Tigers struck back immediately with a 4-2 of their own courtesy of a Graham Coombes win and a third from Nils Paulsen. Tigers then weathered Monarchs tactical substitutes which saw both Doug Templeton and George Hunter get extra rides before an Edinburgh 5-1 in the final heat gave the score line a far closer margin than the racing suggested.

Unbeaten after three meetings, Tigers headed down to Owlerton for a battle of the Tigers. Despite rallying from being ten points down mid meeting Tigers were never really in with a chance of winning but 42-36 shows they made a reasonable fist of the meeting. Sheffield second strings consistently got the better of their opposite numbers in securing the minor placings. This lack of support meant that the efforts of Bluey Scott, Charlie Monk and Maury Mattingly were ultimately to no avail.

Bluey Scott top scored with thirteen points and Charlie Monk scored two bonus points in this meeting, ending with 10+2 from five rides. This was quite newsworthy, as he would only score four in the entire British League campaign!  Maury Mattingly with eight again impressed on a track that he considered among his favourites. Nils Paulsen and Bruce Ovenden failed to score while Willie Templeton and Graham Coombes gained the bulk of their points against Sheffield reserve Stan Holey who made his only Sheffield appearance in this fixture.

Edinburgh were the next visitors and failed to take an early chance to avenge the recent home defeat. Tigers confirmed their superiority over Edinburgh with a comfortable win, their second in a week against their deadly rivals. The score was close over the early heats and by the end of heat six Edinburgh had provided four of the six race winners, with Charlie Monk being the only Tiger to have taken the chequered flag to that point. However no Tiger had been unplaced and Tigers held a four-point lead. They cut loose in the next three races, culminating in Charlie Monk handing George Hunter his only defeat of the night in heat nine in a time of 76.6, just 0.2 seconds outside the track record. This took their lead to twelve points and, after weathering Edinburgh tactical substitutions, went on to clinch the meeting by eighteen points.

Edinburgh had little to offer apart from George Hunter and Doug Templeton who scored fourteen and ten respectively. For Tigers, Charlie Monk was again unbeaten and Nils Paulsen continued to settle in, having his best score to date with seven paid nine.

More excitement as April closed with a visit of the much celebrated Wimbledon Dons.

Top of the league and everything went wrong! Maury Mattingly was on a standby ticket and was unable to get on two flights. He finally arrived at half past eight by which time it was too late to take part. Graham Coombes moved to number one with Bill McMillan getting his chance at reserve. Trevor Redmond’s programme notes commented that Graham Coombes was avoiding the mechanical mishaps of last season. Kiss of death! The Coombes bike seized solid and he was unplaced in two outings. Charlie Monk was chasing Trevor Hedge to the line in heat five when his bike reared up and flipped over. Despite the fact that he was well over the finishing line, he was disqualified for not being in contact with his bike. However he recovered to beat Olle Nygren in heat nine and, with Bruce Ovenden third, Tigers had a four-point lead.

The impressive Hedge/Dugard pairing had little trouble in taking a 5-1 over Willie Templeton and the mechanically struggling Graham Coombes to level the scores with two heats remaining. Heat twelve saw the unbeaten Bluey Scott loop at the gate but a fine ride by Bruce Ovenden split Olle Nygren and Reg Luckhurst. However Tigers were now two down going into the last heat. Trevor Hedge made a good gate and outpaced the still shaken Charlie Monk. To compound Glasgow’s woe John Edwards finished ahead of Bill McMillan.

Wimbledon certainly enjoyed their first visit to the White City. Olle Nygren complimented the track surface. Hopefully Coventry were made aware of his comments

May Day dawned with the Tigers making their first visit to Belle Vue and it was Belle Vue who were shouting “Mayday Mayday” as Dick Fisher had injured his shoulder the previous night at Wolverhampton. With no rider replacement scheme or guests, he bravely opted to give it a go. Sadly for the Aces, he had to withdraw after two pointless rides. Tigers’ heatleaders were in impressive form and all scored double figures with Charlie Monk scoring a paid maximum, his only one of the season. Maury Mattingly’s eleven was to prove to be his best away score of the season. Graham Coombes revelled on his return to his former track and scores a match deciding four paid five from three rides. Glasgow had now won two away meetings out of three and this win took them back to the top of the league. A quite remarkable achievement for a side that finished at the bottom of the Provincial League and were only narginally strengthened by recruiting Nils Paulsen in place of Bill McMillan who dropped to number eight.