1955 Speedway National League

1955 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League
No. of competitors7
ChampionsWimbledon Dons
National TrophyNorwich Stars
Midland CupBirmingham Brummies
Highest averageJack Young
Division/s belowNational League (Div 2)
1955 Southern Area League

The 1955 Speedway National League was the 21st season and tenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

The league consisted of seven teams after the Harringay Racers ceased competitive speedway racing at the end of 1954. Match line-ups were reduced from eight riders to seven riders. Wimbledon won their second successive National League Championship. West Ham closed at the end of the season, blaming poor attendances.[2][3][4][5]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 24 16 2 6 34
2 Belle Vue Aces 24 15 0 9 30
3 Wembley Lions 24 11 1 12 23
4 Bradford Tudors 24 11 0 13 22
5 Birmingham Brummies 24 9 2 13 20
6 Norwich Stars 24 9 1 14 19
7 West Ham Hammers 24 8 2 14 18

Fixtures & results

A fixtures

Home \ Away BV BIR BRA NOR WEM WH WIM
Belle Vue 64–32 55–41 55–41 57–39 51–44 49–47
Birmingham 53–43 52–44 51–45 50–45 64–32 43–53
Bradford 61–35 62–34 68–28 46–50 56–39 51–45
Norwich 47–49 62–34 61–35 46–50 54–42 42–54
Wembley 66–30 68–28 61–35 66–30 50–46 49–47
West Ham 47–49 48–48 59–37 50–46 46–50 42–54
Wimbledon 72–24 73–22 59–37 70–26 49–46 63–33
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away BV BIR BRA NOR WEM WH WIM
Belle Vue 71–25 63–33 51–45 53–43 62–34 55–41
Birmingham 50–46 47–49 50–43 55–41 46–50 48–48
Bradford 63–33 52–44 47–49 55–41 51–45 52–44
Norwich 41–55 64–32 60–34 51–45 53–43 48–48
Wembley 38–57* 43–53* 41–45* 54–42* 46–50* 46–49*
West Ham 62–34 50–45 60–36 37–59 48–48 47–49
Wimbledon 50–45 67–28 56–40 53–43 51–45 44–52
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
  • Wembley Lions were forced to hold one set of their home fixtures at the away team's venue due to the ongoing installation of floodlights at Wembley Stadium from May.[8]

Top Ten Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Jack Young Australia West Ham 10.79
2 Ronnie Moore New Zealand Wimbledon 10.77
3 Ove Fundin Sweden Norwich 10.00
4 Barry Briggs New Zealand Wimbledon 9.79
5 Brian Crutcher England Wembley 9.34
6 Arthur Wright England Bradford 9.14
7 Peter Craven England Belle Vue 8.96
8 Arthur Forrest England Bradford 8.91
9 Ron Johnston New Zealand Belle Vue 8.61
10 Ken Sharples England Belle Vue 8.43

National Trophy Stage Two

The 1955 National Trophy was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of two stages; stage one was for the second-tier clubs, stage two was for the top-tier clubs. Norwich won the second and final stage and were therefore declared the 1955 National Trophy champions.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
04/08 Poole 56-52 Birmingham
16/07 Birmingham 56-52 Poole
16/07 Belle Vue 61-47 Wembley
16/07 Bradford Odsal 52-56 Wimbledon
16/07 Norwich 69-39 West Ham
14/07 Wembley 67-41 Belle Vue
12/07 West Ham 49-58 Norwich
11/07 Wimbledon 76-31 Bradford Odsal
18/08
replay		 Poole 69-39 Birmingham
17/08
replay		 Birmingham 67-41 Poole

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
29/08 Poole 58-50 Norwich
27/08 Norwich 82-26 Poole
15/08 Wimbledon 61-47 Wembley
04/08 Wembley 63-45 Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Wembley Lions
Brian Crutcher 15
Eric Williams 9
Freddie Williams 6
Ken Adams 4
Jimmy Gooch 4
Tommy Price 3
Trevor Redmond 2
Eric French 0		43 – 64Norwich Stars
Ove Fundin 16
Cyril Roger 11
Aub Lawson 10
Billy Bales 10
Harry Edwards 6
Phil Clarke 6
Fred Brand 4
Don Lawson 1
[10]

Second leg

Norwich Stars
Phil Clarke 15
Cyril Roger 9
Fred Brand 6
Harry Edwards 4
Reg Trott (guest) 5
Billy Bales 3
Don Lawson 2
Malcolm Flood 1		45 – 63Wembley Lions
Tommy Price 13
Brian Crutcher 11
Trevor Redmond 11
Eric French 8
Jimmy Gooch 8
Freddie Williams 5
Ken Adams 4
Eric Williams 3
[10]

Norwich were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 109–106.

Midland Cup

Birmingham won the Midland Cup for a third consecutive year. It consisted of four teams, there was one team from division 1 and three teams from division 2.[11]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Oxford Leicester 49–53, 29–73

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Coventry 66–36, 51–51

Final

First leg

Birmingham
Ron Mountford 15
Alan Hunt 13
Eric Boothroyd 13
Jim Tolley 12
Dennis Newton 6
Harry Bastable 6
Derrick Tailby 1		66–36Leicester
Ken McKinlay 16
Len Williams 8
Charlie Barsby 4
Ron Phillips 4
Barry East 2
Derek Close 1
Gordon McGregor 1

Second leg

Leicester
Ken McKinlay 18
Len Williams 12
Gordon McGregor 12
Ron Phillips 6
Fred Brand 5
Barry East 4
Charlie Barsby 3		60–42Birmingham
Junior Bainbridge 14
Jim Tolley 6
Alan Hunt 6
Eric Boothroyd 6
Harry Bastable 5
Dennis Newton 2
Derrick Tailby 3

Birmingham won on aggregate 108–96

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bradford

Norwich

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Speedway Archive: National League 1955".
  3. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  4. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  6. ^ "1955 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  7. ^ "1955 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  8. ^ "Chelsea Five in London XI". Daily Express. 3 May 1955. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "1955 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ a b "1955 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Hunters triumph but trophy lost". Leicester Evening Mail. 1 October 1955. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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