1965–66 Regionalliga, Regionalliga Berlin
The 1965–66 season saw seven new clubs in the league, 1. FC Neukölln, VfB Hermsdorf, Lichterfelder SU, SC Tegel, SC Gatow and SC Staaken, all promoted from the Amateurliga as the Regionalliga had been expanded from 10 to 16 clubs, while Hertha BSC Berlin had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.


1965–66 Regionalliga, Regionalliga West
The 1965–66 season saw two new clubs in the league, VfL Bochum and VfB Bottrop, both promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.


1965–66 Regionalliga, Regionalliga Südwest
The 1965–66 season saw one new club in the league, SV Alsenborn, promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.


1965–66 Regionalliga, Regionalliga Süd
The 1965–66 season saw three new clubs in the league, Opel Rüsselsheim, VfR Pforzheim and SpVgg Weiden, all promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.


1965–66 Regionalliga, Bundesliga promotion round, Qualifying
The runners-up of the Regionalliga Nord and Regionalliga Südwest played a two-leg decider to determine which team qualified for the group stage, which 1. FC Saarbrücken won on aggregate.


1965–66 Rheinlandliga
The 1965–66 Rheinlandliga was the 14th season of the highest amateur class of the Rhineland Football Association under the name of 1. Amateurliga Rheinland. It was a predecessor of today's Rheinlandliga.


1965–66 Rheinlandliga, Results
Rhineland champion was Germania Metternich. SSV Mülheim participated as a Rhineland representative in the German football amateur championship 1966, failed in the quarter finale against the Baden representative Amicitia Viernheim.


1965–66 Rheinlandliga, Results
The relegation to the second amateur league was made by the newcomer SV Prüm and SV Niederlahnstein.


1965–66 Rheinlandliga, Results
For the subsequent 1966–67 season, FC Horchheim, SV Ehrang and TuS Marienberg came up from the 2. Amateur league.


1965–66 Rochdale A.F.C. season
The 1965–66 season saw Rochdale compete for their 7th consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division.


1965–66 Roller Hockey Champions Cup
The 1965–66 Roller Hockey Champions Cup was the first edition of the Roller Hockey Champions Cup organized by CERH.


1965–66 Roller Hockey Champions Cup, Teams
The champions of the main European leagues played this competition, consisting in a double-legged knockout tournament.


1965–66 Romanian Hockey League season
The 1965–66 Romanian Hockey League season was the 36th season of the Romanian Hockey League. Six teams participated in the league, and Steaua Bucuresti won the championship.


1965–66 Rugby Union County Championship
The 1965–66 Rugby Union County Championship was the 66th edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time.


1965–66 Rugby Union County Championship
Middlesex won the competition for the fifth time after defeating Lancashire in the final.


1965–66 SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin season
The 1965–66 season was SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin's first and only season in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football. They finished 18th in the Bundesliga and were relegated to the Regionalliga Berlin, having set multiple Bundesliga records such as least points, fewest goals, most goals conceded and fewest wins. They were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal in the first round by 1. FC Köln.


1965–66 SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin season, Season summary
Tasmania Berlin were added to the league just two weeks before the start of the season after city rivals Hertha BSC had been thrown out on financial irregularities. They were not even first choice for a replacement as the Berlin representative, as they had only finished in third place in Regionalliga Berlin. But when champions Tennis Borussia were considered too weak after failing in the promotion play-off rounds and therefore were not asked, and runners-up Spandauer SV declined their interest in a Bundesliga spot as well, Tasmania gladly accepted the invitation by the German FA.


1965–66 SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin season, Season summary
The decision turned out to be a fatal one for the club. Tasmania's team was never capable of competing in the Bundesliga. They set up a various number of records, including, among others, lowest point total (8), fewest wins (2), most losses (28), fewest goals scored (15), most goals against (108) and lowest match attendance for a Bundesliga game (827 against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 15 January 1966). Most of the records are still intact.


1965–66 SEC Bastia season
French football club SEC Bastia's 1965–66 season. Finished fourth place in league and thus qualified to play French Division 1 play-off for promotion. Play-off matches took two wins and two defeats, and was unable rise in Division 1. Coupe de France "last 32" round was eliminated in the defeated 1-0 in Ajaccio.


1965–66 SEC Bastia season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1965–66 SK Rapid Wien season
The 1965–66 SK Rapid Wien season was the 68th season in club history.


1965–66 SM-sarja season
The 1965–66 SM-sarja season was the 35th season of the SM-sarja, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 12 teams participated in the league, and Ilves Tampere won the championship.


1965–66 San Francisco Warriors season
The 1965–66 NBA season was the Warriors' 20th season in the NBA and 4th in the San Francisco Bay Area.


1965–66 Scottish Cup
The 1965–66 Scottish Cup was the 81st staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Celtic in the replayed final.


1965–66 Scottish Division One
The 1965–66 Scottish Division One was won by Celtic by two points over city rivals Rangers. Morton and Hamilton Academical finished 17th and 18th respectively and were relegated to the 1966-67 Second Division.


1965–66 Scottish Division Two
The 1965–66 Scottish Second Division was won by Ayr United who, along with second placed Airdrieonians, were promoted to the First Division. Forfar Athletic finished bottom.


1965–66 Scottish Football League
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by BHGbot (talk | contribs) at 12:11, 19 June 2020 (WP:BHGbot 6 (List 5): eponymous category first, per MOS:CATORDER; WP:GENFIXES). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1965–66 Scottish Inter-District Championship
The 1965–66 Scottish Inter-District Championship was a rugby union competition for Scotland's district teams.


1965–66 Scottish League Cup
The 1965–66 Scottish League Cup was the twentieth season of Scotland's second football knockout competition. The competition was won by Celtic, who defeated Rangers in the Final.


1965–66 Segunda División
The 1965–66 Segunda División season was the 35th since its establishment and was played between 5 September 1965 and 3 April 1966.


1965–66 Segunda División, Overview before the season
32 teams joined the league, including 4 relegated from the 1964–65 La Liga and 4 promoted from the 1964–65 Tercera División.


1965–66 Serie A, Teams
Brescia, Napoli and SPAL had been promoted from Serie B.


1965–66 Serie A (ice hockey) season
The 1965–66 Serie A season was the 32nd season of the Serie A, the top level of ice hockey in Italy. Five teams participated in the league, and SG Cortina won the championship.


1965–66 Serie B
The Serie B 1965–66 was the thirty-fourth tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation.


1965–66 Serie B, Teams
Novara, Pisa and Reggina had been promoted from Serie C, while Genoa, Messina and Mantova had been relegated from Serie A.


1965–66 Serie C
The 1965–66 Serie C was the twenty-eighth edition of Serie C, the third highest league in the Italian football league system.


1965–66 Sheffield Shield season
The 1965–66 Sheffield Shield season was the 64th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. New South Wales won the championship.


1965–66 Shell Shield season
The 1965–66 Shell Shield season was the inaugural edition of what is now the Regional Four Day Competition, the domestic first-class cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The tournament was sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, with matches played from 27 January to 14 March 1966.


1965–66 Shell Shield season
Five teams contested the tournament – Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and a Combined Islands team (drawn from the Leeward and Windward Islands). Each team played the others once, making for a total of ten matches. Barbados were undefeated during the competition, winning three matches and drawing the other to win the inaugural title. Jamaican batsman Easton McMorris and Barbadian bowler David Holford, led the tournament in runs and wickets, respectively.


1965–66 Shell Shield season, Statistics, Most runs
The top five run-scorers are included in this table, listed by runs scored and then by batting average.


1965–66 Shell Shield season, Statistics, Most wickets
The top five wicket-takers are listed in this table, listed by wickets taken and then by bowling average.


1965–66 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
The 1965–66 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season  was a near average season, despite beginning unusually early on August 9 with the formation of an early-season tropical depression, Anne.


1965–66 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Tropical Cyclone Carol–Daisy
Carol-Daisy formed on December 25, entered the basin on January 1 and dissipated the next day.


1965–66 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Tropical Cyclone Denise
On January 7, Cyclone Denise passed north of Mauritius, producing wind gusts of 170 km/h (110 mph). Later, the storm crossed over Réunion, dropping record rainfall. Over a 24-hour period, Denise dropped 1,825 mm (71.9 in) of rainfall at Foc Foc, Réunion, of which 1,144 mm (45.0 in) fell over 12 hours; both precipitation totals are the highest recorded worldwide for their respective durations. Over 48 hours, precipitation totaled 2,230 mm (88 in) at Bras Sec. The heavy rains caused flooding that killed three people, and caused severe road and crop damage.


1965–66 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Moderate Tropical Storm Martha–Judith
Judith was the tenth cyclone of the season and was formed in the Australian basin on February 23.


1965–66 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Tropical Cyclone Nellie
Nellie was formed in the Australian basin and existed from March 21 to 23.


1965–66 Southern Football League
The 1965–66 Southern Football League season was the 63rd in the history of the league, an English football competition.


1965–66 Southern Football League
Weymouth won the championship for the second time in a row, whilst Barnet, Bath City, Burton Albion and Hillingdon Borough were all promoted to the Premier Division. Nine Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.


1965–66 Southern Football League, Premier Division
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:


1965–66 Southern Football League, Division One
Division One expanded up to 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:


1965–66 Southern Football League, Football League elections
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 14 non-League clubs applied for election, including nine Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.


1965–66 Soviet Cup
The 1965–66 Soviet Cup was an association football cup competition of the Soviet Union. The winner of the competition, Dinamo Kiev qualified for the continental tournament.


1965–66 Soviet Cup (ice hockey)
The 1965–66 Soviet Cup was the eighth edition of the Soviet Cup ice hockey tournament, and the first since 1961. 61 teams participated in the tournament, which was won by CSKA Moscow for the fifth consecutive season.


1965–66 Soviet League season
The 1965–66 Soviet Championship League season was the 20th season of the Soviet Championship League, the top level of ice hockey in the Soviet Union. 10 teams participated in the league, and CSKA Moscow won the championship.


1965–66 Spartan League
The 1965–66 Spartan League season was the 48th in the history of Spartan League. The league consisted of 18 teams.


1965–66 Spartan League, League table
The division featured 18 teams, 16 from last season and 2 new teams:


1965–66 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team
The 1965–66 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 1965–66 NCAA men's basketball season. The team was coached by Daniel Lynch, who was in his eighteenth year at the helm of the St. Francis Terriers. The Terriers played their homes games at the 69th Regiment Armory. This is the team's first year in the newly organized Metropolitan Collegiate Conference.


1965–66 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team
The Terriers finished the season at 5–17 overall and 0–9 in conference play.


1965–66 St. John's Redmen basketball team
The 1965–66 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1965–66 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Lou Carnesecca in his first year at the school after Joe Lapchick's retirement. St. John's home games were played at Alumni Hall and Madison Square Garden.


1965–66 St. Louis Hawks season
The 1965–66 NBA season was the Hawks' 17th season in the NBA and 11th season in St. Louis.


1965–66 Stoke City F.C. season
The 1965–66 season was Stoke City's 59th season in the Football League and the 35th in the First Division.


1965–66 Stoke City F.C. season
Stoke had an inconsistent season as they found themselves being able to score a good number of goals but at the same time conceded many as well, scoring 65 goals and conceding 64. Stoke's final league position in 1965–66 was 10th, a modest improvement on the previous campaign.


1965–66 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League
The manager, chairman, directors and the supporters, all seemed happy with the squad for the 1965–66 season. But problems arose in defence as they started to concede a worrying number of goals with West Bromwich Albion hitting six while Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday all put four past a leaky Stoke defence. However Stoke were also scoring an equal number of goals themselves as Northampton Town were beaten 6–2 with Ritchie again scoring four goals. Stoke finished the season in a respectable position of 10th. At the end of the season both Jimmy McIlroy and Bill Asprey left the club after having a good careers at the Victoria Ground. The 1965–66 season also saw the introduction of the substitute, Stoke's first sub being Keith Bebbington.


1965–66 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League
Tony Waddington tried to sign Swedish international Sven-Gunnar Larsson early in the season and actually played him in a friendly against Dynamo Moscow, but permission was denied by the FA and Stoke were fined £100.


1965–66 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, FA Cup
Stoke were drawn at home to Third Division side Walsall in the third round and were to shock Stoke with a 2–0 win. Bobby Irvine played in the match and a produced a woeful performance and his mistake cost Stoke the match and also his Stoke career as he never played for the club again.


1965–66 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League Cup
Stoke went out of this season's League Cup in the fourth round losing 2–1 away at Burnley after knocking out both Norwich City and Chesterfield.


1965–66 Sussex County Football League
The 1965–66 Sussex County Football League season was the 41st in the history of Sussex County Football League a football competition in England.


1965–66 Sussex County Football League, Division One
Division One featured 14 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with two new clubs, promoted from Division Two:


1965–66 Sussex County Football League, Division Two
Division Two featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with two new clubs, relegated from Division One:


1965–66 Swedish Division I season
The 1965–66 Swedish Division I season was the 22nd season of Swedish Division I. Brynas IF won the league title by beating Vastra Frolunda IF in the playoff final.


1965–66 TSV 1860 Munich season
The 1965–66 TSV 1860 Munich season was the third season since the foundation of the Bundesliga in 1963. This season, 1860 München won the Bundesliga title. The club was  eliminated in the first round of the DFB-Pokal by SV Werder Bremen and in the quarterfinals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by Chelsea F.C.. The top goal scorer this season was Friedhelm Konietzka who scored 26 goals in the Bundesliga and 33 goals overall. Željko Perušić, Ludwig Bründl, Alfred Kohlhäufl, Helmut Richert and Konietzka joined the club this season. Stevan Bena, Engelbert Kraus and Alfred Pyka left the club this season.


1965–66 Taça de Portugal
The 1965–66 Taça de Portugal was the 26th edition of the Portuguese football knockout tournament, organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The 1965–66 Taça de Portugal began on 6 November 1965. The final was played on 22 May 1966 at the Estádio Nacional.


1965–66 Taça de Portugal
Vitória de Setúbal were the previous holders, having defeated Benfica 3–1 in the previous season's final. Defending champions Vitória de Setúbal reached the final but were unable to regain the Taça de Portugal as Braga defeated the Sadinos 1–0 to claim their first Taça de Portugal.


1965–66 Taça de Portugal, First round
Ties were played between the 6–21 November, whilst replays were played at a later date. Unlike previous editions, two legged first round cup ties were abolished which meant that each cup tie would be contested over one leg. In case a match was tied, the tie would be replayed at a later date. Teams from the Primeira Liga (I) and the Portuguese Second Division (II) entered at this stage.


1965–66 Taça de Portugal, Second round
Ties were played between the 1–10 December and the 22 February, whilst replays were played at a later date. Due to the odd number of teams involved at this stage of the competition, Cova da Piedade qualified for the next round due to having no opponent to face at this stage of the competition.


1965–66 Taça de Portugal, Third round
Ties were played between the 9–20 March. Third round ties were contested over two legs. Due to the odd number of teams involved at this stage of the competition, Beira-Mar and Vitória de Setúbal qualified for the next round due to having no opponent to face at this stage of the competition. Lusitânia, Marítimo,  and Mindelense were invited to participate in the competition.


1965–66 Tercera División
The 1965–66 Tercera División season was the 30th since its establishment.


1965–66 Tercera División, Play-offs, Promotion/Relegation Segunda División, First Round
Cartagena was qualified by beating 11 to 10 the number of corners, in the tiebreaker match.


1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team
The 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), led by Hall of Fame head coach Don Haskins. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so. The Miners only lost one game, a road loss to Seattle by two points. They won their games by an average of 15.2 points.


1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team
The Miners defeated Kentucky (an all-white program until 1969) 72–65 in the historic championship game, played on Saturday, March 19, at Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C.


1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team
The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and inspired the book and film Glory Road.


1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team, Roster, After the championship
The 1965–66 Texas Western basketball team faced many issues because of their race. For example, when they won the championship no one brought out a ladder for them to cut down the net. Nevil Shed had to hoist up Willie Worsley so he could do the honors. Also, they were not invited on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was customary for the NCAA Champions. Texas Western's (UTEP's) winning the basketball national championship helped promote the desegregation of athletics in the Southeastern Conference which had its first black basketball player in 1967.


1965–66 Toronto Maple Leafs season
The 1965–66 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 49th season in the National Hockey League (NHL).


1965–66 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Playoffs
For the fourth straight year,  Toronto met Montreal in the first round. The Canadiens were victorious over the Leafs in four straight games.


1965–66 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Transactions
The Maple Leafs were involved in the following transactions during the 1965–66 season.


1965–66 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Draft picks
The Maple Leafs opted not to participate in the 1965 NHL Amateur Draft, which was held on April 27, 1965, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.


1965–66 Turkish Cup
The 1965-66 Turkish Cup was the 4th edition of the annual tournament that determined the association football Süper Lig Turkish Cup (Turkish: Türkiye Kupası) champion under the auspices of the Turkish Football Federation (Turkish: Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu; TFF). Galatasaray successfully contested Beşiktaş 1–0 in the final. The results of the tournament also determined which clubs would be promoted or relegated.


1965–66 Turkish Cup, Quarter finals
In the Quarter Finals round, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Gençlerbirliği and Beşiktaş advanced to the Semi Finals round;  Denizli Karagücü, Ankaragücü, Adana Demirspor and Bursaspor were eliminated.


1965–66 Turkish Cup, Semi finals
In the Semi Finals round, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş advanced to the final; Fenerbahçe and Gençlerbirliği were eliminated.


1965–66 Tweede Divisie
The Dutch Tweede Divisie in the 1965–66 season was contested by 30 teams, divided in two groups. It would be the last season the Tweede Divisie would be divided in two. From next season onwards, all teams would participate in one league. This also meant that more teams than before were promoted to the Eerste Divisie. No teams had to relegate to amateur football.


1965–66 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
The 1965–66 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1965–66 NCAA College Division men's basketball season. This was the program's first season competing in intercollegiate athletics. The Anteaters were led by first year head coach Danny Rogers and played their home games at Campus Hall. They finished their inaugural season 15–11.


1965–66 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
The 1965–66 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team finished the season in second place, under head coach John R. Wooden. It won the Los Angeles Classic Championship and completed the year with an 18–8 overall record.


1965–66 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team, Preseason
The 1965–1966 UCLA Bruin team was the ranked No. 1 in preseason polls. On November 27, 1965, the freshmen team, led by Lew Alcindor, defeated the varsity team 75–60 in the first game in the new Pauley Pavilion. Alcindor scored 31 points and had 21 rebounds in that game although the defeat had no effect on the varsity's national ranking. The Bruins were still number one the following week.


1965–66 United States network television schedule
The following is the 1965–66 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1965 through August 1966. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1964–65 season.


1965–66 United States network television schedule
This season, ABC and CBS began televising a majority of their prime-time programs in color, while almost all of NBC's fall schedule was in color, with the exception of the war drama Convoy and the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, with the former being canned after 13 episodes and the latter moving to color the following season. As most of the primetime programming was made in color, this season's schedule indicates the remaining black-and-white content with a "(B/W)" indicative.


1965–66 United States network television schedule
New series are highlighted in bold while endings are highlighted in italics.


1965–66 United States network television schedule
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.


1965–66 United States network television schedule, Schedule, Monday
Note: Art Linkletter's Hollywood Talent Scouts replaced The Steve Lawrence Show in December. The Avengers replaced Ben Casey in March.


1965–66 United States network television schedule, Schedule, Friday
Note: The Farmer's Daughter took over the 9:30–10 time period on ABC, effective November 5, because many viewers were not home to watch Peyton Place on Fridays. Starting November 1, Peyton Place was seen Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. In the winter of 1966, The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show replaced Convoy on its timeslot, which was transmitted live in color.


1965–66 United States network television schedule, Schedule, Saturday
Note: Even though ABC Scope was scheduled at 10:30 PM, not one major station (including WABC-TV New York, the network's flagship station) carried it in that time period, preferring to schedule local or syndicated programming in its place. Most affiliates aired it in "fringe time" during the weekend.


1965–66 United States network television schedule, By network, NBC
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.


1965–66 United States network television schedule (daytime)
The 1965–66 daytime network television schedule for the three major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the weekday daytime hours from September 1965 to August 1966.


1965–66 United States network television schedule (daytime)
Talk shows are highlighted in yellow, local programming is white, reruns of prime-time programming are orange, game shows are pink, soap operas are chartreuse, news programs are gold and all others are light blue. New series are highlighted in bold.


1965–66 United States network television schedule (late night)
These were the late night Monday-Friday schedules on all three networks for each calendar season beginning at September 1965. All times are Eastern/Pacific.


1965–66 United States network television schedule (late night)
Talk/Variety shows are highlighted in yellow, Local News & Programs are highlighted in white.


1965–66 WHL season
The 1965–66 WHL season was the fourteenth season of the Western Hockey League. Six teams played a 72-game schedule, and the Victoria Maple Leafs were the Lester Patrick Cup champions, defeating the as Portland Buckaroos four games to three in the final series.


1965–66 WHL season
Billy McNeill of Vancouver was named the most valuable player, while Cliff Schmautz of Portland led the league in scoring.


1965–66 WHL season, Playoffs
The Victoria Maple Leafs defeated the Portland Buckaroos 4 games to 3 to win the Lester Patrick Cup.


1965–66 WHL season, Bibliography
This ice hockey competition article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .


1965–66 WIHL season
1965–66 was the 19th season of the Western International Hockey League.


1965–66 WIHL season
Prior to the commencement of the 1965–66 WIHL season it was announced that the Cranbrook Royals would be added to the league, with the result being that the WIHL would comprise six teams. In addition to the Washington-based Spokane Jets, the other teams that made up the 1965-66 version of the WIHL were the British Columbia-based Kimberley Dynamiters, Nelson Maple Leafs, Rossland Warriors and Trail Smoke Eaters.


1965–66 WIHL season, Playoffs, Final (best of 7)
The Kimberley Dynamiters advanced to the 1965-66 Western Canada Allan Cup Playoffs.


1965–66 Washington Huskies men's basketball team
The 1965–66 Washington Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Washington for the 1965–66 NCAA college basketball season. Led by third-year head coach Mac Duckworth, the Huskies were members of the Athletic Association of Western Universities (Pacific-8) and played their home games on campus at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, Washington.


1965–66 Washington Huskies men's basketball team
The Huskies were 10–15 overall in the regular season and 4–10 in conference play, tied for last in the standings.


1965–66 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
The 1965–66 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University for the 1965–66 college basketball season. Led by eighth-year head coach Marv Harshman, the Cougars were members of the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU, Pac-8) and played their home games on campus at Bohler Gymnasium in Pullman, Washington.


1965–66 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
The Cougars were 15–11 overall in the regular season and 6–8 in conference play, tied for fourth in the standings.


1965–66 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
The fifteen wins were the most for Washington State in fourteen years.


1965–66 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team
The 1965–66 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1965–66 NCAA University Division basketball season. In the third season of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by sixth-year head coach Dick Motta and played their home games on campus at Wildcat Gym in Ogden, Utah. They were 20–5 overall and 8–2 in conference play.


1965–66 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team
Weber State and Gonzaga were co-champions of the Big Sky; it did not yet have an automatic berth to the 22-team NCAA Tournament, which came two years later. The conference tournament was a full decade away.


1965–66 Welsh Cup
The 1965–66 FAW Welsh Cup is the 79th season of the annual knockout tournament for competitive football teams in Wales.


1965–66 Welsh Cup, Fifth round
Ten winners from the Fourth round and six new clubs.


1965–66 West Ham United F.C. season
West Ham, a United Football Club, managed to reach the semi-final of the Cup Winners Cup losing 5–2 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund.


1965–66 West Ham United F.C. season
The previous month West Ham lost the League Cup Final after leading in the first leg, to West Brom.


1965–66 West Ham United F.C. season
Bobby Moore managed to lift one trophy later that summer as fellow Hammers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters secured England's World Cup triumph, with goals against West Germany.


1965–66 West Ham United F.C. season
Johnny Byrne was also in Alf Ramsey's 28 man England squad which assembled at Lilleshall on 6 June 1966.


1965–66 West Midlands (Regional) League
The 1965–66 West Midlands (Regional) League season was the 66th in the history of the West Midlands (Regional) League, an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and southern Staffordshire.


1965–66 West Midlands (Regional) League
At the end of the previous season the second division was introduced. It was made up largely of reserve sides of non-league clubs, the majority of which were in the league’s new ‘Premier Division’.


1965–66 West Midlands (Regional) League, Premier Division
The Premier Division featured 17 clubs which competed in the league last season, along with three new clubs:


1965–66 Western Football League
The 1965–66 season was the 64th in the history of the Western Football League.


1965–66 Western Football League
The champions for the second time in their history, and the second season in succession, were Welton Rovers, who completed the season unbeaten.


1965–66 Western Football League, Final table
The league was reduced from 22 clubs to 18 after Bath City Reserves, Bristol City Reserves, Chippenham Town, Poole Town Reserves and Yeovil Town Reserves all left the league. One new club joined:


1965–66 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team
The 1965–66 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers men's basketball team represented Western Kentucky University during the 1965-66 NCAA University Division Basketball season. The Hilltoppers were led by Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year John Oldham and OVC Player of the Year Clem Haskins. WKU won the OVC tournament and season championship, as well as the conference's automatic bid to the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament, where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and finished 3rd in the Mideast Region. The conference tournament was held in December and had no impact on the conference standing; the conference NCAA tournament bid was awarded to the season champion.


1965–66 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team
This team was the recipient of what many Hilltopper fans referred to as “the worst call in NCAA tournament history.”  In the second-round game against Michigan, Western Kentucky forced a jump ball with seconds left, while leading by 1 point. Western Kentucky's Greg Smith was called for a foul during the jump and Michigan's Cazzie Russell made two free throws to win the game. Still pictures show Russell not jumping on the play and then leaning in to make contact with Smith.


1965–66 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team
Haskins was joined on the All-Conference and OVC Tournament teams by Steve Cunningham, Dwight Smith, and Greg Smith


1965–66 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team
The 1965–1966 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented University of Wisconsin–Madison. The head coach was John Erickson, coaching his seventh season with the Badgers. The team played their home games at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wisconsin and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.


1965–66 Women's European Cup (handball)
The 1965–66 Women's European Champions Cup was the 6th edition of the Europe's competition for national champions women's handball clubs, taking place from 9 January to 16 April 1966.


1965–66 Women's European Cup (handball)
HC Copenhague entered the competition as title holder, after beating in past season's final Budapesti Spartacus. Copenhague reached once again the final, but this year the Danish team was defeated by SC Leipzig. It was the first time that an East-German team won the title.


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup
The 1965–66 Yorkshire Cup was the fifty-eighth occasion on which the  Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup
Bradford Northern winning the trophy by beating Hunslet by the score of 17-8


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup
The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 17,522 and receipts were £4,359


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup, Background
This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the  same at sixteen.


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup, Background
This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup, Competition and Results, Final, Teams and Scorers
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments
1  * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was  40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments, General information for those unfamiliar
The Rugby League Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from  the  county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from  outside the  county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden.


1965–66 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments, General information for those unfamiliar
The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars)


1965–66 Yorkshire Football League
The 1965–66 Yorkshire Football League was the 40th season in the history of the Yorkshire Football League, a football competition in England.


1965–66 Yorkshire Football League, Division One
Division One featured 12 clubs which competed in the previous season, along with four new clubs, promoted from Division Two:


1965–66 Yorkshire Football League, Division Two
Division Two featured eleven clubs which competed in the previous season, along with six new clubs.


1965–66 Yugoslav Cup
The 1965–66 Yugoslav Cup was the 19th season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (Serbo-Croatian: Kup Jugoslavije), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (Kup Maršala Tita), since its establishment in 1946.


1965–66 Yugoslav Cup, Round of 16
In the following tables winning teams are marked in bold; teams from outside top level are marked in italic script.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League
The 1965–66 Yugoslav First League season was the 20th season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna liga), the top level association football league of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. Sixteen teams contested the competition, with Vojvodina winning their first national title.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair")
Though the events in question had taken place fourteen months earlier, the beginning of the 1965-66 season and subsequently the rest of the campaign were marked by revelations of match fixing that took place in May and June 1964, during the concluding weeks of the 1963-64 season.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair")
In late August 1965, two weeks into the league season, FK Željezničar, Hajduk Split, and NK Trešnjevka were found guilty of fixing matches at the end of the 1963-64 season. Their guilt was based on a written statement by the Željo goalkeeper Ranko Planinić who decided to come forward some 14 months after the fact. In his statement, Planinić claims on the record that his club threw matches against Hajduk and Trešnjevka towards the end of the 1963-64 season in return for financial compensation that those two relegation-threatened teams paid in order to avoid the drop. Specifically, Planinić claims that the match played on 31 May 1964 in Split when Hajduk beat Željezničar 4-0 was fixed, as well as the match on 7 June 1964 in Sarajevo when Željo and Trešnjevka tied 3-3. He was in Željo's goal for both matches.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair")
Planinić made the information public in August 1965 by approaching the Večernje novine journalist Alija Resulović who in turn took Planinić's testimony in form of an interview and the piece was published by the paper, circulated in 100,000 copies at the time. In his 2006 book Ona vremena, Resulović claims to have contacted FK Željezničar's president Nusret Mahić right before submitting the piece for print, informing him of Planinić's allegations, seeking comment, and even offering to sit on the information if he (Mahić) thinks it necessary. Resulović further claims that Mahić's response was: "Publish it all! It's all a lie that Planinić concocted as revenge for being fined for an incident he caused at a training session".


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair")
The explosive testimony immediately erupted in a nationwide scandal that became known as the 'Planinić Affair'. Yugoslav First League had been plagued by rumours of widespread match-fixing on multiple occasions over the preceding decade, however, this was the first occasion that a player came forward and substantiated those claims on the record.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Punishment
On Friday, 27 August 1965, following a fifteen-hour investigative process, the Yugoslav FA's (FSJ) disciplinary body (disciplinski sud) presided over by Svetozar Savić handed out the following penalties:


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Punishment
Disciplinary body president Svetozar Savić also announced that the investigation had revealed that Željezničar was paid YUD1.5 million by Hajduk Split, and YUD4 million by Trešnjevka for these matches. Some of the money Trešnjevka paid was obtained from the Zagreb Fair where some of Trešnjevka's board members were employed at. As a reference point, the price of a daily newspaper at the time was YUD40.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Punishment
Furthermore, NK Hajduk Split, NK Trešnjevka, and FK Željezničar were relegated to the Yugoslav Second League's Western Division, effective immediately. The decision further entailed reorganization of the 1965–66 Yugoslav First League that was already two weeks into its run via reducing the number of clubs from 16 to 13 and voiding all the 1965-66 Yugoslav First League matches played by Hajduk, Trešnjevka, and Željezničar up to that point (6 matches in total). It also meant expanding the 1965–66 Yugoslav Second League Western Division from 18 to 21 clubs.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Punishment
The draconian punishment caused widespread shock and approval among the Yugoslav public with each of the FSJ's six sub-federations except for SR Croatia's expressing strong support of the decision. Fans of Hajduk, Trešnjevka, and Željezničar organized street protests in their respective cities with the Split demonstration being the most attended. The three clubs quickly lodged an appeal with the FSJ.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Appeals
On Friday, 9 September 1965, the Yugoslav FA's appeals commission announced its decisions. The main punishment for the three clubs was reduced to points-deduction. Željo, Hajduk, and Trešnjevka were docked 6, 5, and 5 points, respectively.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Appeals
All of the individual punishments for players and club management members were upheld.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Aftermath
As a result of missing two of their best players, Željezničar struggled mightily to avoid relegation. For the crucial league matches in the survival fight towards the end of the season, Ivica Osim was allowed back on the pitch and Željo barely avoided relegation. Osim's goal against Radnički Niš is especially remembered as it effectively kept Željo in the First League.


1965–66 Yugoslav First League, Revelation of match-fixing from May–June 1964 ("Planinić affair"), Aftermath
Despite taking active part in both fixed matches, Planinić got off unpunished. In the years since, Planinić's motivation to become a whistleblower was sometimes questioned in the media outlets close to the punished clubs with some claiming that he did it out of spite because his contract negotiations with FK Željezničar stalled in August 1965.


1965–66 Yugoslav Ice Hockey League season
The 1965–66 Yugoslav Ice Hockey League season was the 24th season of the Yugoslav Ice Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Yugoslavia. Eight teams participated in the league, and Jesenice have won the championship.


1965–66 Yugoslav Second League
The 1965–66 Yugoslav Second League season was the 20th season of the Second Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Druga savezna liga), the second level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The league was contested in two regional groups (West Division and East Division), with 18 clubs each, two more than in the previous season.


1965–66 Yugoslav Second League, West Division, Teams
A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including thirteen sides from the 1964–65 season and five sides promoted from the third tier leagues played in the 1964–65 season. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.


1965–66 Yugoslav Second League, West Division, Teams
There were no teams relegated from the 1964–65 Yugoslav First League. The five clubs promoted to the second level were Bosna, Leotar, Segesta, Slovan and Zadar. At the winter break, Slovan abandoned competition due to lack of funding.


1965–66 Yugoslav Second League, East Division, Teams
A total of eighteen teams contested the league, including thirteen sides from the 1964–65 season, one club relegated from the 1964–65 Yugoslav First League and four sides promoted from the third tier leagues played in the 1964–65 season. The league was contested in a double round robin format, with each club playing every other club twice, for a total of 34 rounds. Two points were awarded for wins and one point for draws.


1965–66 Yugoslav Second League, East Division, Teams
Sutjeska were relegated from the 1964–65 Yugoslav First League after finishing in the 15th place of the league table. The four clubs promoted to the second level were Lovćen, Radnički Sombor, Sloboda Titovo Užice and Sloga Kraljevo.


1965–66 ice hockey Bundesliga season
The 1965–66 Ice hockey Bundesliga season was the eighth season of the Ice hockey Bundesliga, the top level of ice hockey in Germany. 10 teams participated in the league, and EC Bad Tolz won the championship.


1965–66 in Belgian football
The 1965–66 season was the 63rd season of competitive football in Belgium. RSC Anderlechtois won their 12th Division I title and became the club with the most championship wins in Belgium. They also entered the 1965–66 European Champion Clubs' Cup as Belgian title holder. As RSC Anderlechtois was also the Cup holder, the losing finalist Standard Liège entered the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup. RFC Liégeois, R Daring Club de Bruxelles and R Antwerp FC all played the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Standard Liège won the Belgian Cup final against rivals RSC Anderlechtois (1-0). The Belgium national football team ended their 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with pain, and a defeat to Bulgaria in a play-off game for the World Cup finals qualification (2-1 in Florence, Italy).


1965–66 in Belgian football, Overview
At the end of the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification group 1, Bulgaria and Belgium were both leader of the group ahead of Israel with 6 points each. Although Belgium had a better goal difference, a play-off game was played on a neutral ground (in Florence, Italy) to decide the World Cup qualifier from Group 1. Belgium lost the game 2-1 and so Bulgaria qualified for the World Cup finals in England.


1965–66 in Belgian football, Overview
At the end of the season, R Berchem Sport and RCS Brugeois were relegated to Division II and were replaced by KSV Waregem and R Charleroi SC from Division II. Charleroi were promoted after winning a play-off game 2-0 against K Waterschei SV Thor Genk, after both teams finished the season in 2nd place with 37 points. The bottom 2 clubs in Division II (RCS Verviétois and KFC Turnhout) were relegated to Division III, to be replaced by KRC Mechelen and SK Beveren-Waas from Division III. The bottom club of each Division III league (RU Hutoise FC, VV Verbroedering Maasmechelen, RCS Schaerbeek and RFC La Rhodienne) were relegated to the Promotion, to be replaced by RAA Louviéroise, KSC Hasselt, KFC Brasschaat, Voorwaarts Tienen and KSC Eendracht Aalst from Promotion.


1965–66 in Belgian football, European competitions
RSC Anderlechtois advanced to the First Round of the 1965–66 European Champion Clubs' Cup by beating Fenerbahçe of Turkey (drew 0-0 away, won 5-1 at home). In the First Round, they beat Derry City of Northern Ireland, who withdrew after Anderlecht won the first leg 9-0 in Brussels. In the Quarter Finals, RSC Anderlechtois lost to Real Madrid of Spain in spite of a 1-0 home win (the Spaniards won the second leg 4-2, and would eventually win their 6th European Cup trophy).


1965–66 in Belgian football, European competitions
Standard Liège defeated Cardiff City of Wales in the First Round of the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup (won 2-1 away,  1-0 at home), but lost in the Second Round to Liverpool FC (lost 1-3 away, 1-2 at home).


1965–66 in Belgian football, European competitions
Three Belgian clubs entered the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: R Antwerp FC beat Glentoran FC of Northern Ireland (won 1-0 at home, draw 3-3 away), while RFC Liégeois lost to NK Zagreb of Yugoslavia (won 1-0 at home, lost 0-2 away), and R Daring Club de Bruxelles lost to AIK Fotboll of Sweden (lost 1-3 at home, drew 0-0 away). In the second round, Antwerp lost to FC Barcelona of Spain (won 2-1 at home, lost 0-2 away).


1965–66 in English football
The 1965–66 season was the 86th season of competitive football in England.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
7 October 1965: An experiment to broadcast a live game to another ground takes place. Cardiff City play Coventry City and the match is broadcast to a crowd of 10,000 at Coventry's ground Highfield Road.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
11 December 1965: Victory for Liverpool over Arsenal sees the Kopites open up a three-point gap over Burnley in second at the top of the Football League, while West Bromwich Albion – formerly in third – slide down the table after Leeds United hit them for four. Leeds are not the only beneficiaries of WBA's defeat: Tottenham Hotspur's London derby win over Chelsea and Sheffield United's point against Nottingham Forest are enough for both to go above the Albion. Leeds, Tottenham, and Sheffield United have all gained 25 points, though the South Yorkshire side have played one more match than the other two. In the third tier, Walsall forward George Kirby is attacked by pitch-invading Millwall supporters.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
12 February 1966: Division Three table-toppers Hull City beat top-flight Nottingham Forest at Boothferry Park in the FA Cup fourth round.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
20 March 1966: The Jules Rimet Trophy, prize for winning the FIFA World Cup, is stolen from an exhibition at Central Hall, Westminster, where it was on show in the run-up to this summer's World Cup in England.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
27 March 1966: The World Cup is recovered by Pickles, a mongrel dog, in South London.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
16 April 1966: Liverpool seal the First Division title for the seventh time in their history with a 2–0 home win over Stoke City.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
5 May 1966: Liverpool are beaten 2–1 (a.e.t.) by West German side Borussia Dortmund in the 1966 final of the European Cup Winners' Cup at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
14 May 1966: Everton win the FA Cup with a 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the final at Wembley Stadium, despite going 2–0 down in the 57th minute.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
11 July 1966: England, as the host nation, begin their World Cup campaign with a goalless draw against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
16 July 1966: England's World Cup campaign continues with a 2–0 win over Mexico (goals coming from Bobby Charlton and Roger Hunt) that moves them closes to qualifying for the next stage of the competition.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
20 July 1966: England qualify for the next stage of the World Cup with a 2–0 win over France in their final group game. Roger Hunt scores both of England's goals.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
23 July 1966: England beat Argentina 1–0 in the World Cup quarter-final thanks to a goal by Geoff Hurst.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
26 July 1966: England reach the World Cup final by beating Portugal 2–1 in the semi-final. Bobby Charlton scores both of England's goals.


1965–66 in English football, Diary of the season
30 July 1966: England win the World Cup with a 4–2 win over West Germany in extra time. Geoff Hurst scores a hat-trick, with Martin Peters scoring the other goal.


1965–66 in English football, Honours
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition


1965–66 in English football, Football League, First Division
Liverpool, FA Cup winners the previous season and league champions in 1964, won the First Division title with a six-point gap over last season's runners-up Leeds United, who finished level on points with Burnley. Manchester United, who also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, ended their defence of the league title with a fourth-place finish. Chelsea finished fifth to maintain their standing as one of the First Division's top club sides. West Bromwich Albion finished sixth and won the League Cup.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, First Division
11th placed Everton compensated for a disappointing league campaign by winning the FA Cup for the first time in the postwar era.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, First Division
12th placed West Ham United perhaps had the biggest influence on the English game in 1966, with England's World Cup winning team featuring captain Bobby Moore and goalscorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, First Division
Blackburn Rovers went down in bottom place, a woeful 15 points adrift of safety. Northampton Town's brave first (and to date, only) season among the elite ended in relegation.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, Second Division
Manchester City's three-year exile from the top flight ended in promotion as Second Division champions, and they were joined in promotion by runners-up Southampton, who had never played in the First Division before. Coventry City missed out on a First Division debut by a single point, while Bristol City came just three points short of reclaiming the First Division place which had last been theirs in 1911.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, Second Division
Leyton Orient and Middlesbrough were relegated to the Third Division.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, Third Division
Champions Hull City and runners-up Millwall made the step upwards from the Third Division to the Second.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, Third Division
York City, Brentford, Exeter City and Southend United were relegated to the Fourth Division.


1965–66 in English football, Football League, Fourth Division
Doncaster Rovers enjoyed some much-overdue success by clinching the Fourth Division title and a place in the Third Division. Also promote were Darlington, Torquay United and Colchester United. Bradford City had to apply for re-election to the league for the second time in four seasons - loss of their league place would have made them the first former winners of a major trophy to be voted out of the Football League.


1965–66 in Scottish football
The 1965–66 season was the 93rd season of competitive football in Scotland and the 69th season of Scottish league football.


1965–66 in Scottish football, Overview
After the openness of recent years, the Old Firm came back strongly this season. Celtic won their first title under the management of Jock Stein, their first since 1954 and rivals Rangers finished as runners-up. For the only time in Scottish football, the Old Firm teams finished first and second in all three domestic competitions.


1965–66 in Scottish football, Other honours, County
* – aggregate over two legs – play off – trophy shared


1965–66 in Scottish football, Scotland national team
The Scottish national football side failed to qualify for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, which was ultimately won by the host nation England.


1965–66 snooker season
The 1965–66 snooker season was the series of professional snooker tournaments played between July 1965 and June 1966. The following table outlines the results for the season's events.


1965–66 Știința Craiova season
The 1965–66 Știința Craiova season is the 18th season in the club's history, and the 2nd consecutive in Divizia A, the top league of Romanian football.


1966
1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1966th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 966th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 66th  year of the 20th century, and the  7th   year of the 1960s decade.


1966
In February, Luna 9 makes the first controlled landing of a spacecraft on the Moon. The Cultural Revolution begins in China in May, and there are coups d'état throughout the world.


1966 1. divisjon
The 1965 1. divisjon was the 22nd completed season of top division football in Norway.


1966 1. divisjon, Overview
It was contested by 10 teams, and Skeid won the championship, their first title. Both newcomers, Lisleby and Hødd, were relegated back to the 2. divisjon.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring
The 1966 12 Hours of Sebring was an endurance race held at the 5.2 mile (8.3 km) Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida, United States on March 26, 1966. It was the sixteenth running of the endurance classic and the second round of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship season. The race proved to be a disastrous event; one of the darkest in American motorsports history.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Pre-race
Ford had just come off a 1-2-3 triumph at the first 24 Hours of Daytona in February, with two of their seven-liter engined GT40 Mk.II's being run by Carroll Shelby. They had effectively trounced Ferrari and Porsche, and were looking to do the same thing at Sebring in March.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Pre-race
Ford's assault on Sebring (which has always been a good preparation run for Le Mans) was unprecedented, considering that a mega-corporation like Ford was taking their endurance racing commitment so seriously. There were 11 GT40 Mk. I's, Mk.II's and a special X-1 Roadster (which was a heavily modified GT40 Mk. I with an aluminum chassis, a Mk.II nose, no roof and a seven-liter 427 engine, the same motor in a Mk.II) at Sebring- these cars were entered by at least five teams- all of whom had direct factory support.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Pre-race
The two main works teams, however, were the Los Angeles-based Shelby-American, a team with direct connections to Ford and seasoned with much road-racing experience in Europe and North America; and the Charlotte-based Holman & Moody team, which was known for its successes in NASCAR. There were also two works Ferrari's (originally there were supposed to be 5) and two Chaparral 2D's. American Dan Gurney qualified his Shelby-entered Mk.II on pole position with a lap record of 2:54.6, followed by the new Ferrari 330P3 of Bob Bondurant and Mike Parkes, then a Mk. I of Britons Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, then another Mk.II of Americans Mark Donohue and Walt Hansgen, then the X-1 of Briton Ken Miles and American Lloyd Ruby and then a Chaparral 2D of Americans Jim Hall and Hap Sharp.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
Sportscar races in the 1960s usually had Le Mans starts (which had started the late 1920s), where the drivers who started the race stood on one side of the track, waited for the host country's starter flag to drop, ran across the track towards their cars, jumped into the cockpit and drove off. This happened at 10:30 a.m. American Eastern time, and Gurney, who started the race in the pole sitting car, did not get going.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
In fact, his Ford GT40 Mk.II's 7-liter engine would not start and the car sat on the pit straight motionless while all the other cars passed it. After huge amounts of time were lost, the Shelby mechanics were able to start the engine, and Gurney sped off. The works Ferrari 330P3 led the race until being passed by a GT40 Mk. I being driven by Graham Hill. Hill led the first lap, followed by the 330P3, a North American Racing Team entered 330P2, a Corvette Stingray being driven by local Dick Thompson, the Donohue/Hansgen Mk.II, 2 more Mk. I's, a Porsche and a Chaparral 2D being driven by Hap Sharp.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
But Gurney's car was not out of contention. He drove very hard and passed 27 cars on the first lap alone. He continued to push hard and by the 44th lap, about 2 hours into the race- he set a new lap record of 2:54.8 at an average speed of 107.8 mph, and soon after he passed Miles in the GT40 X-1 Roadster to take the lead. Gurney and Miles, both driving Shelby entered cars, started to battle and began passing and re-passing each other for the lead.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
This did not sit well with Shelby, who signaled to both drivers to slow down because he felt it was way too early in the race to risk breaking the cars. This signal was promptly ignored by both drivers, so Shelby walked over to the pit wall and hammered his fist in the air at both drivers, indicating them to "knock it off." The drivers complied, and they simmered down into the 3-minute range, protecting Gurney who was in the lead.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
1 hour and 20 minutes in, one of the Chaparrals driven by American Phil Hill and Swede Jo Bonnier retired with a persistent oil leak that had plagued their car all weekend. Hill admitted that the team could not find the leak in the car; it was eventually found but the car retired from the race. And eight laps later, the other Chaparral of Sharp and Hall retired with suspension problems. The cars had to take on 300 pounds of extra weight in order to comply with the rules, which hurt the car's performance and reliability.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
But at 2:40 p.m., tragedy struck. A Comstock Racing entered GT40 Mk. I driven by Canadian Bob McLean was coming out of Big Bend, and while approaching the famous hairpin, the car's gearbox seized, the rear brakes locked up, and the car slid off the narrow service road used for the race. It then crashed into a ditch and started to barrel roll, and it then made very hard contact with a telephone pole. The point of contact was where one of the fuel tanks were, and the car burst into flames. McLean was trapped inside, and the few marshals at Sebring were inadequately equipped to put out the inferno, and McLean perished in the fire. He was 32 years old. When word of McLean's death reached the Comstock Racing camp, they withdrew their other GT40 Mk. I from the race.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
But the race continued on, unabated as McLean's GT40 burned and burned. Safety in motor racing in those days was practically non-existent. One such example was that the Warehouse straight after the hairpin at Sebring ran right past warehouses, planes, towers and other obstructions that were completely unprotected from the race, and some people sometimes stood or even sat 2–3 feet from the track.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
Come the halfway point, 4:30 p.m., the order was the Gurney/Jerry Grant GT40 Mk.II, the works 330P3 of Parkes/Bondurant, the Miles/Ruby GT40 X-1 and the Pedro Rodriguez/Mario Andretti Ferrari 365P2 entered by NART. Around Lap 172, during the transition from day to night, Bondurant showed up to the Ferrari camp on the back of a spectator's scooter. The 330P3 was parked out near the hairpin with a seized gearbox, and was effectively out. So the order was Ford 1-2 (both Shelby-run) with the NART Ferrari 3rd.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
But then, disaster struck again. With less than 2 hours to go, the third placed NART 365P2 went into the pits, with Rodriguez going out and Andretti going in. Andretti took the car out, and on his first lap out, he was caught and passed (not for position) by Don Wester in a Porsche 906 going through the famous hairpin. On the Warehouse straight, Andretti re-passed Wester and pulled away from the Porsche.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
All of a sudden, while he was changing gears down from 4th to 3rd for the slow Webster turns at 140 mph, a part on the Ferrari's gearbox broke, and the car went from 4th to 1st, the rear wheels locked up and the Ferrari spun wildly out of control. While the hapless Andretti was spinning, Wester saw an opportunity to pass Andretti without incident. But Wester's plan failed appallingly- while underbraking for the Webster turns, the Ferrari was still going very quickly, and it then hit the back of Wester's Porsche.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
The Porsche spun out of control, went off the track, and it then went plowing into a group of spectators standing in an area where no one from the general public was allowed to be, and finally crashed hard into a warehouse, destroying the car. 4 spectators were killed in this tragedy- 46-year-old Willis Edenfield, Sr. and his two sons, 20-year-old Willis Jr. and 9-year-old Mark were killed instantly, and 38-year-old Patricia Heacock died of her injuries hours later. Wester was knocked unconscious, but he survived with minor injuries; and this horrific incident was not known to the public until the day after.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
The Ferrari went into a sand bank, and Andretti was able to get going again, but his front lights were destroyed after his contact with Wester and the sandbank, so he drove back to the pits in almost total darkness. He made it back to the pits, unaware of the horror that had taken place. The car retired after a pit fire when Andretti started the engine, destroying a number of important components, making it unable to continue.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
This essentially paved the way forward for Ford to dominate yet again, with both Shelby GT40's leading 1-2. Gurney and Grant were still leading- and on the last lap, while Gurney was driving, the car's engine failed. People at the pits were expecting Gurney to take victory—but Ken Miles crossed the finish line first in the GT40 X-1. Gurney was pushing his GT40 Mk.II on the course, and he made it to the finish line.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
Pushing a car during the race was illegal, particularly with no lights on or with any reference of visibility, thus Gurney's GT40 car was disqualified, and the Holman/Moody entered GT40 Mk.II was awarded 2nd place. 3rd was an Essex Wire entered GT40 Mk. I of Skip Scott and Peter Revson, and then a works Porsche finished 4th.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
After the race, chief race organizer Alec Ullmann and the other people involved in the organization of the race were heavily criticized for their lack of safety preparation, particularly for the McLean GT40 Mk. I accident. The facilities and the track at Sebring were also heavily criticized- the track was very narrow and people and buildings were unprotected from the cars, and the cars were unprotected from other roadside obstructions such as telephone poles, trees, and ditches.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
Because of the poor condition of Sebring's facilities and the difficulty in maintaining security at the track which led to the deaths of 5 people, a ten-year contract was signed to move the 12-hour event to West Palm Beach, Florida. An unusual series of heavy rains at West Palm Beach made it obvious that the track could not be ready in time for the 1967 race.


1966 12 Hours of Sebring, Race
Thus the contract was voided and the 12-hour event was again held at Sebring after efforts were made to improve safety for spectators and drivers, which included the elimination of the Webster turns and the implementation of the Warehouse chicane. This was done to move the track's Warehouse straight further away from the airport's warehouses, towers and other buildings located from where the original Warehouse straight ran through. Sebring has held the 12-hour event every year since. The circuit, located in an airport, never had any safety issues ever again.


1966 2. divisjon
The 1966 2. divisjon was a Norwegian second-tier football league season.


1966 2. divisjon
The league was contested by 16 teams, divided into two groups; A and B. The winners of group A and B were promoted to the 1967 1. divisjon. The two lowest placed teams in both groups were relegated to the 3. divisjon.


1966 2. divisjon, Overview, Summary
Strømsgodset won group A with 20 points. Rosenborg won group B with 25 points. Both teams were promoted to the 1967 1. divisjon.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 34th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 18 and 19 June 1966. It was also the seventh round of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship season. This was the first overall win at Le Mans for the Ford GT40 as well as the first overall win for an American constructor. It was also the debut Le Mans start for two significant drivers:  Henri Pescarolo, who went on to set the record for the most starts at Le Mans; and Jacky Ickx, whose record of six Le Mans victories stood until beaten by Tom Kristensen in 2005.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
1966 saw the advent of a completely new set of regulations from the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale – the FIA's regulations body) – the FIA Appendix J, redefining the categories of motorsport in a numerical list. GT cars were now Group 3 and Prototypes were now Group 6. Two new classes for Sports Cars were Group 4 and Group 5 for 'Special Sports Cars' (Group 1 and 2 covered Touring Cars, Group 7 led to the Can-Am series, with Group 8 and 9 for single-seaters).


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
As Group 7 were ineligible for FIA events, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) opened its entry list to Group 3, 4 and 6. The FIA mandated minimum annual production runs of 500 cars for Group 3 (up from 100 previously) and 50 for Group 4,  which also had a maximum engine capacity of 5000cc. There were no engine limits on the GTs or Prototypes. As before, the Groups were split up in classes based on engine size, there was a sliding scale of a minimum weight based on the increasing engine size (from 450 to 1000 kg for 500 to 7000cc) as was fuel-tank capacity (60 to 160 litres).


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
Along with the new Appendix J, after four years of focus on GT racing the FIA announced the International Manufacturer's Championship, for Group 6 Prototypes (2L / >2L), and the International Sports Car Championship for Group 4 (1.3L / 2L / 5L).


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
With the new regulations this year the ACO received a huge 103 entry requests. Such was the interest in Group 6 there were 43 prototypes on the starting grid and only 3 GT cars:


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
After 2 years of its 3-year program, Ford had very little to show for its immense investment. Extensive work was done in the wind tunnel, and improving the brakes, handling and engine – not least improving the fuel economy. The 7-litre Ford nascar race-engine now put out ca550bhp but was registed as"485hp" as a result of Fords lowered rev-limit setting for the 24h race. But the new year started with promise with Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby winning both the inaugural 24 Hours of Daytona and then 12 Hours of Sebring.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Copying Ferrari's tactic of overwhelming numbers, they put in fifteen Mark II entrants; eight were accepted by the ACO. This time six were built and prepared by Holman & Moody. Shelby ran three cars himself for Americans Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant, Miles was now paired with New Zealander Denny Hulme after Ruby had been injured in a plane crash a month earlier. The third car was the all-Kiwi pairing of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Holman & Moody, the successful Ford NASCAR race team also brought another trio of GT40`s as backups, – for Mark Donohue/Paul Hawkins, Ronnie Bucknum/Dick Hutcherson, and Lucien Bianchi/Mario Andretti. One of the big improvements Holman & Moody brought with them was a quick-change brakepad system to save time in the pits.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The British team Alan Mann Racing had two cars prepared by Ford Advanced Vehicles, for Graham Hill/Dick Thompson and John Whitmore/Frank Gardner. Each of the eight cars was painted in a colour from the Mustang road-car range.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Ferrari's response to the Mk II was the new Ferrari 330 P3. Shorter and wider than the P2, it kept the same 4-litre engine but with fuel-injection now put out 420 bhp. The works team had a pair of closed-cockpit versions for John Surtees/Ludovico Scarfiotti and former winners Lorenzo Bandini/Jean Guichet. An open-cockpit variant was given to the North American Racing Team (NART) for Pedro Rodriguez/Richie Ginther. But their race preparation had been limited by strike action in Italy.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
NART also entered a long-tailed P2, rebodied by Piero Drogo and driven by last year's winner Masten Gregory with Bob Bondurant. There were also P2/P3 hybrids for the Ecurie Francorchamps (Dumay/"Beurlys") and Scuderia Filipinetti (Mairesse/Müller. Finally there was a P2 Spyder for Maranello Concessionaires (Attwood/Piper). Fighting on two fronts, the company also took on Porsche in the 2-litre class with its Dino 206 S with a pair from NART and another for Maranello. Nino Vaccarella, race winner in 1964, was furious when he found out he was ‘demoted’ to drive the Dino rather than the P3 and threatened to walk out, but did, in the end run the car.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Chevrolet was the other player in the over 2-litre class. Ex-Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini had fallen out with Renzo Rivolta and with his own company brought his new design, the P538, but still using the 5.3L Chevrolet engine. The other Chevy was in Texan Jim Hall's Chaparral 2D. The 5.3L small block put out 420 bhp and had a semi-automatic transmission. Driven by Phil Hill and Jo Bonnier, they made a big impact winning the Nürburgring round just two weeks earlier.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Porsche came with a new model – the 906 designed by the team led by Ferdinand Piëch. With the 2.0L flat-6 engine from the 911, it had recently been homologated for Group 4 with the requisite 50 cars. It was race-proven too, after winning the Targa Florio the month before. However three langheck (long-tail) prototypes were also entered by the works team, driven by Hans Herrmann/Herbert Linge, Jo Siffert/Colin Davis and Udo Schütz/Peter de Klerk.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Alfa Romeo, and its works team Autodelta, had withdrawn from racing for a year to prepare a new car for 1967. But this year, a significant new manufacturer entered the fray: Matra had bought out Automobiles René Bonnet in 1964, rebadging the Djet. However it was a new design that was entered. The M620 had a 2-litre version of the BRM Formula 1 engine developing 245 bhp that could match the Porsches in speed, making 275 kp/h (170 mph). The three cars were driven by up and coming young French single-seater drivers Jean-Pierre Beltoise/Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud/Henri Pescarolo and Jo Schlesser with Welshman Alan Rees.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Remarkably, given British dominance of the race barely a decade earlier, there were only three British cars in this year's race. Defending class-champions Austin-Healey had two works entries. The other was a Marcos Engineering kit-car based on a Mini Cooper 'S' chassis. Entered by Frenchman Hubert Giraud and driven by Jean-Louis Marnat and Claude Ballot-Lena, the team was able to get a works engine and gearbox from BMC. The spectators laughed at the small car and its apparent resemblance to a flea. But the Mini Marcos would become the 'darling of the crowds' later on in the race.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Alpine, after its poor showing in the previous year, returned with 6 cars. The new A210 had a 1.3L Gordini-Renault engine with a Porsche gearbox making it more durable if only a little faster at 245 kp/h (150 mph). This year a new customer team, the Ecurie Savin-Calberson was supported by Alpine, with former Index winner Roger Delageneste.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Charles Deutsch (CD) brought his new aerodynamic SP66. The car was powered by a 1130cc Peugeot engine, marking the return of the French company last seen in the 1938 race. Another competitor in the small prototypes was ASA. Originally a Ferrari design by Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini before their famous walk-out from Ferrari, it was sold to the new Italian company and uprated with a 1290cc engine giving 125 bhp. Two cars were entered, one by ASA and one by NART.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The new Group 4 category started attracting interest as the earlier prototypes were meeting the homologation and production requirements. There were six GT40s entered by customer teams, with the 4.7L engine. Jochen Rindt, the previous year's winner, had moved across from Ferrari to Ford, in the new Canadian Comstock Racing Team. They joined Ford France, Scuderia Filipinetti and new privateers Scuderia Bear and Essex Wire. Joining Skip Scott, team owner of the Essex Wire team, was a 21-year old Jacky Ickx in his Le Mans debut.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Up against them was Ed Hugus’ modified Ferrari 275 GTB and the Equipe Nationale Belge ran its 250 LM. Porsche also ran three regular 906s in the Sports category, two works entries as well as one for their Paris importer Toto Veuillet.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
With Shelby now fully concentrated on the Ford program, the Cobra GTs were abandoned. There were only three GT entries: the Ferrari customer teams Ecurie Francorchamps and Maranello Concessionaires both entered a 275 GTB. The third was a quiet though significant entry: Jacques Dewes, ever the pioneering privateer, brought the first Porsche 911 to Le Mans. Production of what would become the ubiquitous Le Mans car had started in late 1964 and the new 911 S model had its ‘boxer’ 6-cylinder engine tuned to 160 bhp.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Finally, in a subcompetition of its own, there was the tire race between Firestone, Dunlop, and Goodyear.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
Once again there was rain at the April testing weekend. And once again there was tragedy with a fatal accident. American Walt Hansgen's Ford hit water on the pit straight and aquaplaned. He aimed for the escape road at the end of the straight, not realising it was blocked by a sandbank, which he hit at about 190 km/h (120 mph). Taken with critical injuries to the American military hospital at Orléans, he died five days later.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
A notable absentee at the test weekend was the Ferrari works team. Chris Amon was fastest at the test weekend in the experimental Ford J-car with a 3:34.4 lap. But come race-week it was Gurney who put in the fastest qualifying lap of 3:30.6, a second faster than his stablemates Miles, Gardner and McLaren. Ginther was 5th in the fastest Ferrari with a 3:33.0, with Parkes and Bandini in 7th and 8th respectively. Phil Hill, in the Chaparral, broke up the Ford-Ferrari procession in 10th.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
Jo Siffert put the quickest Porsche 22nd on the grid with 3:51.0, with Nino Vaccarella's Ferrari in 24th (3:53.5) and Jo Schlesser's Matra just behind it (3:53.5). Over the test weekend, Mauro Bianchi had surprised many in the 1-litre Alpine, going as fast as the 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossas. The quickest Alpine in practice was Toivonen/Jansson (4:20.1), well ahead of the best CD (Ogier/Laurent 4:27.5) and the Austin-Healey's (4:45.1) and ASAs (4:49.8).


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
There were also two significant dramas in practice. The biggest news was the walkout of Ferrari's lead driver John Surtees. He and team manager Eugenio Dragoni had decided that he, as the fastest Ferrari driver and driving with Mike Parkes, would act as the hare to bait and break the Fords. He was also still recovering from a big accident the previous year and would hand over to Scarfiotti if he got overly tired. Yet during raceweek, with news that new FIAT chairman Gianni Agnelli would be at the race, Dragoni changed the plan, putting Scarfiotti (Agnelli's nephew) in first. Surtees was furious and stormed off to Maranello to argue his case with Enzo Ferrari. Not listened to, Surtees, Ferrari's 1964 F1 World Champion, quit the team.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
The second incident was more serious – Dick Thompson in the Alan Mann Ford Mk II collided with Dick Holqvist who was going far slower in the Scuderia Bear Ford GT40 and pulled right in front of him at Maison Blanche. Holqvist spun off with heavy damage, while Thompson was able to get back to the pits. While repairing the damage, officials told the team that they were disqualified for Thompson leaving the scene of a major accident.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
Thompson was adamant he had advised pit officials, and in the hearing Ford's director of racing Leo Beebe threatened to withdraw all Fords. He was supported by Huschke von Hanstein who was prepared to withdraw the Porsche team as well. In the end, the car was reinstated though Thompson was banned. This still posed a problem for Ford as they were lacking spare drivers, with injuries with A.J. Foyt, Jackie Stewart and Lloyd Ruby. In the end Australian Brian Muir, who was in England was flown over to France. He did his two laps, his first ever at Le Mans on raceday morning to qualify.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
On a cool and cloudy afternoon, it was Henry Ford II this year who was the honorary starter. Last-minute raindrops caused a flurry of tyre changes and some cars switched from Firestone to Goodyear or Dunlop. At the end of the first lap Ford's cars led – Hill ahead of Gurney then Bucknum, Parkes in the Ferrari, followed by Whitmore's Ford, the Chaparral, then the GT40s of Scott and Rindt. There had been instant excitement when Edgar Berney spun his Bizzarrini on the start-line amongst the crowd of departing cars.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
Miles had to pit after the first lap to fix his door after colliding with Whitmore's Ford at the start, Ford team engineer Phil Remington fixes the door with a mallet. Also pitting on the first lap was Paul Hawkins whose Ford broke a halfshaft going down the Mulsanne Straight lurching him sideways at nearly 350 km/h. The Holman & Moody crew took 70 minutes to repair it only for Mark Donohue to have the rear boot blow off down the Mulsanne and find the differential had been terminally damaged.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
On the third lap Gurney took the lead, which he held onto until the first pit-stops. McLaren was being delayed by his tyres going off, so the team quietly changed from Firestones to Goodyears. After only 9 laps, Rindt's Ford blew its engine at the end of the Mulsanne straight, so there would be no consecutive win. At the end of the first hour Fords were 1-2-3, with Gurney leading by 24 seconds from Graham Hill and Bucknum. Fourth, 20 seconds further back, was the first NART Ferrari, of Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Miles had been putting in extremely fast laps, breaking the lap record and getting back up to 5th place. Parkes was 6th ahead of Bonnier in the Chaparral who had already been lapped. Within another hour Miles and Hulme had taken the lead.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
At 8pm, only the Miles and Gurney Fords and Rodiguez's Ferrari were on the lead lap (#64). At dusk it started to drizzle, reducing the power advantage of the big Fords, and allowing the Ferraris to keep in touch. The Fords were further delayed as a number chose to change brake pads early. By then all three Dinos were out with mechanical issues, removing one threat to Porsche. A major accident occurred when Jean-Claude Ogier's CD got loose on spilt oil at the Mulsanne kink and was hit hard side-on by François Pasquier in the NART ASA. Both cars hit the wall and caught fire,  and Ogier was taken to the hospital with two broken arms.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
After 6 hours, heavy rain was pouring down. Ginther's NART Ferrari was leading from Parkes, chased by the Fords of Miles and Gurney on the same lap, McLaren a lap behind then Bandini and Andretti two laps back. But Andretti was soon sidelined with a blown headgasket, as was the Hill/Muir Ford which had broken its front suspension coming out of Arnage corner. As the rain eased, the Fords of Miles and Gurney retook the lead. Just before midnight Robert Buchet aquaplaned coming over the crest at the Dunlop Bridge and crashed the French Porsche. The Chaparral had been running well initially, getting as high as 5th, until a broken alternator stopped them also just before midnight while running in 8th.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
Another heavy downpour at 12.30 contributed to a big accident in the Esses. Guichet had just spun his Ferrari in the rain and got away when Buchet arrived and crashed his Porsche. Then Schlesser's Matra ran into the CD of Georges Heligouin avoiding the accident. As the damage was being cleared, Scarfiotti crashed his P3 into the Matra and all four cars were wrecked, although only Scarfiotti was taken to hospital, with minor bruising.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
During the night the Ferraris started to suffer from overheating. When the NART P3 retired from 4th with a broken gearbox at 3am, and the Filipinetti car of Mairesse/Müller from 5th an hour later, the Ferrari challenge was spent – there would be no privateer-saviours for the marque this year. At halfway the Ford Mk IIs held the top-4 places (Miles/Hulme, Gurney/Grant, McLaren/Amon, Bucknum/Hutcherson) with GT40s in 5-6-8: Essex, Filipinetti and Ford-France (Revson/Scott, Spoerry/Sutcliffe, Ligier/Grossman). Siffert/Davis were leading a train of Porsches in 7th and the nearest Ferrari was the Bandini/Guichet P3 limping in 12th. Ford told their cars to drop to 4-minute laps, but Gurney and Miles kept racing hard for the lead.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
What could have been a procession was anything but for Ford. At 8 am, a pit-stop for the Filipinetti Ford running 5th spilled petrol on a rear tyre. On his out-lap Spoerry lost traction and spun at the Esses wrecking the car. The Ford-France and Essex cars had already retired with engine issues during the night.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
At 9am the Gurney/Grant car, which had been dicing for the lead with Miles & Hulme (against strict team orders), retired from 1st when the car blew a headgasket. That left Ford with only three Mk IIs left (albeit running 1-2-3) as all the GT40s had retired as well. Porsches now held the next five places and the two Ferrari GTs were 9th and 10th chased by the Alpines.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
With the field covered it was now that Leo Beebe, Ford racing director, contrived to stage a dead heat by having his two lead cars cross the line simultaneously. The ACO told him this would not be possible — given the staggered starting formation, the #2 car would have covered 20 metres further, and thus be the race winner. But Beebe pushed on with his plan anyway.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
At the last pit stop, the Mark IIs were still in front. Miles/Hulme were leading, followed by McLaren/Amon holding station on the same lap. The gold Bucknum/Hutcherson car was third, but twelve laps behind. Miles was told to ease off to allow McLaren to catch up with him. Just before 4pm, it started to drizzle again. As it turned out McLaren's #2 car crossed the finish line just ahead and was declared the winner. Miles, upset about the team orders, lifted off to allow McLaren to finish a length ahead.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
At their last pitstop, the 7th-placed Porsche of Peter Gregg and Sten Axelsson was stopped by engine problems. Gregg parked the car waiting for the last lap, but at 3.50pm he could not get it restarted and missed the formation finish. The other Porsches came in 4th to 7th led by Siffert/Davis, who also claimed the Index of Performance. The Stommelen/Klass car in 7th was the first, and only, Sports car to finish. Finally, the new 911 GT ran well and finished 14th starting a long record of success.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Four Alpines finished this year, 9-11-12-13, with that of Delageneste/Cheinisse from the Ecurie Savin-Calberson winning the Thermal Efficiency Index. The final finisher was the little Mini Marcos. Formerly the object of laughter, it had become a crowd favourite running like clockwork. As car after car ran into trouble and dropped out, the little Marcos, by this time nicknamed 'la puce bleue' (the blue flea) wailed on. Despite finishing 26 laps behind the rest of the field. the car eventually came home at an incredible 15th overall.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
It had taken three attempts for Ford to win Indianapolis and the NASCAR Championship, and now it added the Le Mans 24 Hours. Chrysler had first entered in 1925, and after 41 years it was the first win for an American car. The official Ford press release, dated July 5, 1966, claimed:


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The McLaren-Amon and the Miles-Hulme cars were running within seconds of each other as the race neared its end, with the Bucknum-Hutcherson car hanging back as insurance. A decision was made in the Ford pits to have the cars finish side by side in what hopefully would be considered a dead heat. All three cars went over the finish in formation, but any chance for a dead heat disappeared when officials discovered a rule that in case of a tie, the car that had started further down the grid had travelled the farther distance.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Since McLaren and Amon had started 60 feet behind Miles and Hulme, they were declared the winners. Both New Zealanders who now reside in England, it was the most important victory yet for the two youngsters. McLaren, who builds his own Formula and sports cars, is 28. Amon 22, is the youngest winner in the history of the event. It was a record shattering performance as the winning car covered more miles (3,009.3) at a faster speed (125.38 mph) than any previous entry. It demonstrated that production engines could compete with racing powerplants and that an American-built car could top Europe's best.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The Ford team's decision was a big disappointment for Ken Miles, who was aiming for the 'Endurance Racing Triple Crown'—winning Daytona-Sebring-Le Mans—as a reward for his investment in the GT40 development. "I'm disappointed, of course, but what are you going to do about it." Beebe also later admitted he had been annoyed with Miles racing Gurney, disregarding team orders by potentially risking the cars' endurance. Two months later, Ken Miles died at Riverside while testing the next generation Ford GT40 J-Car, which became the MkIV that won Le Mans in 1967.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
In a race of attrition it was fortunate the big teams brought such quantity – only 3 of the 13 Fords finished and only the two GTs finished from the 14 Ferraris entered. By contrast, 5 of the 7 Porsches finished (including their 911 in the GT class) as did four of the six Alpines, showing much better reliability. It was the first time that the 3000 miles/125 mph mark had been exceeded.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
With the bitter failure of Ferrari's 330 P3 mirroring the failure of the Ford prototypes the previous year (and with salt rubbed into the wound with Ford's formation finish), the "Ford-Ferrari War" moved into its climactic phase. The Le Mans results boosted Ford over Ferrari for the 1966 Manufacturers' Championship. Ford's answer to Ferrari's next weapon, the 330 P4, was delayed by development problems, handing Ferrari a rematch with the Mk IIs that so dominated them at LeMans, at the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
After a defective batch of transaxle shafts sank Ford's effort, Ferrari took a 1-2-3 finish with their new P4s and returned the favor of Ford's victory formation. Ford's Mark IV was ready in time for the 12 Hours of Sebring, where it won on its maiden outing. Three more examples were produced and prepared for the Le Mans 24 Hours, while Ford's championship hopes rested on the older GT40s and the new GT40-derived Mirages to gain points in the intervening races.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
After a disappointing showing at Monza a controversial denial of championship points from a Mirage win at the Spa event, Ford saw limited opportunity for taking the Manufacturers' title again and instead concentrated on a last hurrah at Le Mans, where the leading Mark IV, driven by Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt, won handily. Ferrari took the Manufacturers' title for 1967, edging up-and-coming Porsche by two points.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The Ford-Ferrari War was ended by new rules for 1968 that eliminated the P4s and Mark IVs from eligibility for the Sports Prototype class with a 3-litre engine capacity limit. The GT40s met the production requirement and 5 litre limit for homologation in the new Group 4 class. Ferrari found the production requirement for homologating the P4 under Group 4 daunting and withdrew from competition in the sport-racer classes.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Neither Ford nor Ferrari fielded a factory team for the Manufacturers' Championship that year; however, the John Wyer team running the Group 4 GT40s brought home the title for Ford and in 1969 achieved wins with the GT40 at Sebring and Le Mans. When Ferrari was able to enter a homologated car for 1970, the class they competed in was dominated by the Porsche 917.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Several cars of the original 24-hours race have survived and have been restored to their former glory. The crowd-pleasing Mini Marcos was club raced, rallied and hill climbed, road registered twice and repainted five times only to be stolen in the night of 30 October 1975 from beneath a flat in Paris. Three days earlier Marcos-boss Harold Dermott had made a deal to buy the car with the intention to restore it and put on museum display. Several people searched for the car ever since, but it was only found back in December 2016 in Portugal by Dutchman Jeroen Booij.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, Go Like Hell
The race became the subject of a 2009 book, detailing the race and the famous background rivalry between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II, by A.J. Baime titled "Go Like Hell"—the words shouted by Bruce McLaren to Chris Amon as they drove to their famous victory. Chris Amon was interviewed in 2016:


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, Go Like Hell
Bruce drove the first stints. I recall it was damp and we were running on intermediate Firestone tires and at 210–220 mph [355 kmh] on the Mulsanne Straight, the tires were shedding tread. I took over from Bruce and he spoke to Firestone and they generously said we could switch to the Goodyears the other GT40s were running. Bruce said to me we had to drive the doors off the thing, so we did. There was a bit of history to that.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, Go Like Hell
We had both driven the first two 7.0-litre cars at Le Mans the previous year: Bruce with Ken Miles and myself with Phil Hill. We were warned to be careful with the gearbox as they were new and unproven, and both cars retired with gearbox failures. As a result, when I went to Daytona for the 24 hours, paired with Bruce, I suggested to Bruce that we set a fairly conservative pace for the race, and whilst we might be running out of the top three in the early stages, we might be the only one there at the end.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, Go Like Hell
We finished fifth. For Le Mans, we decided to set a pace for ourselves. This strategy fell apart when our tires started losing treads early in the race and we lost considerable time. When I was called in to change tires, I think Bruce's frustration had reached boiling point, he put his head through the car door and said 'Go like hell!'." At the finish: "the idea was that the leading GT40s would cross the line together, but in practice, it wasn't possible to have a dead heat. We weren't sure who had won initially."


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, Go Like Hell
Rumors of a movie adaptation of the book, an Amazon best seller, circulated from 2013 to 2015. The book attained a "4.5 star" rating by book review website GoodReads.com.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, The 24 Hour War
A 2016 documentary film, produced and directed by Americans Nate Adams and comedian Adam Carolla, features the Le Mans rivalry between Ferrari and Ford. The production was well received critically, attaining a "100%" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, The 24 Hour War
In 1966, Ford won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time. The following year, they won again. The year after that, they won a third time. And in 1969, a fourth.


1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Legacy in popular culture, The 24 Hour War
That achievement was arguably the greatest in the company's history. It came after years of struggle, more than a few public failures, and enough burnt cash to refloat the Titanic. Ford's Sixties Le Mans program was famously the result of a dispute between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari–Ford had tried to purchase Ferrari (the company), only to have Enzo shut down the sale at the last minute. Ford the man vowed to get even, aiming his considerable resources at Ferrari's Le Mans record. The resulting warpath employed everyone from Bruce McLaren to Carroll Shelby and Indy 500 legend A.J. Foyt, putting the stops to Ferrari's unbroken, five-year winning streak at La Sarthe.