1956 Speedway National League

1956 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League
No. of competitors7
ChampionsWimbledon Dons
National TrophyWimbledon Dons
Highest averageBarry Briggs
Division/s belowNational League (Div 2)
1956 Southern Area League

The 1956 National League Division One was the 22nd season and eleventh post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

The league consisted of seven teams after the West Ham Hammers ceased competitive speedway racing at the end of 1955.[2] Poole Pirates came up from the second tier to replace them. Match line-ups were increased to eight riders after a single season with seven riders. Wimbledon won their third successive National League Championship.[3][4][5]

Norwich Stars rider Malcolm Flood died on 2 April, at Poole. The 25-year-old rider suffered fatal injuries despite an earlier warning from the race steward that he was riding too erratically into the bends.[6]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 24 17 1 6 35
2 Wembley Lions 24 14 1 9 29
3 Birmingham Brummies 24 12 1 11 25
4 Norwich Stars 24 10 4 10 24
5 Belle Vue Aces 24 11 1 12 23
6 Poole Pirates 24 9 2 13 20
7 Bradford Tudors 24 6 0 18 12

Fixtures & results

A fixtures

Home \ Away BV BIR BRA NOR PP WEM WIM
Belle Vue 45–39 42–39 42–42 57–27 54–30 47–36
Birmingham 45–39 48–35 48–36 61–23 33–50 42–42
Bradford 50–33 43–41 37–47 55–28 32–52 33–51
Norwich 53–30 27–57 50–34 42–42 42–42 37–47
Poole 49–32 54–30 55–29 43–41 55–29 48–36
Wembley 61–23 50–33 57–27 48–35 45–39 38–46
Wimbledon 49–35 51–32 56–28 64–20 51–33 48–36
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away BV BIR BRA NOR PP WEM WIM
Belle Vue 60–23 55–29 44–40 53–31 37–47 36–47
Birmingham 44–40 51–33 41–43 51–33 50–32 56–28
Bradford 39–45 41–43 46–38 43–41 35–49 43–41
Norwich 39–44 50–34 60–24 56–28 52–32 43–41
Poole 46–38 40–44 53–31 42–42 55–29 41–43
Wembley 54–30 46–38 63–20 41–43 51–32 44–40
Wimbledon 53–30 61–23 50–34 51–33 50–34 49–35
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Barry Briggs New Zealand Wimbledon 10.53
2 Ove Fundin Sweden Norwich 10.34
3 Ronnie Moore New Zealand Wimbledon 10.32
4 Brian Crutcher England Wembley 10.16
5 Alan Hunt England Birmingham 9.53
6 Peter Moore Australia Wimbledon 9.20
7 Peter Craven England Belle Vue 9.07
8 Jack Biggs Australia Poole 8.71
9 Dick Fisher England Belle Vue 8.40
10 Ron Johnston New Zealand Belle Vue 8.38

National Trophy Stage Two

The 1956 National Trophy was the 19th 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. Wimbledon won the second and final stage and were therefore declared the 1956 National Trophy champions.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
26/07 Wembley 60-47 Birmingham
24/07 Southampton 64-44 Norwich
21/07 Belle Vue 72-36 Poole
21/07 Birmingham 61-47 Wembley
21/07 Bradford Odsal 38-70 Wimbledon
21/07 Norwich 77-31 Southampton
16/07 Poole 54-54 Belle Vue
16/07 Wimbledon 79-29 Bradford Odsal

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/09 Belle Vue 83-25 Birmingham
17/08 Birmingham 64-44 Belle Vue
13/08 Wimbledon 68-40 Norwich
04/08 Norwich 56-52 Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Peter Craven 17
Dick Fisher 17
Peter Williams 9
Bob Duckworth 8
Ron Johnston 6
Ken Sharples 5
Tink Maynard 3
Brian Craven 3		68 – 39Wimbledon Dons
Peter Moore 10
Ronnie Moore 8
Barry Briggs 8
Ron How 4
Cyril Maidment 4
Alf Hagon 3
Bob Andrews 3
Cyril Brine 0
[10]

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons
Ronnie Moore 16
Peter Moore 14
Barry Briggs 11
Cyril Maidment 9
Cyril Brine 9
Ron How 6
Alf Hagon 3
Bob Andrews 1		69 – 39Belle Vue Aces
Peter Craven 12
Ron Johnston 8
Alf Webster 5
Peter Williams 4
Bob Duckworth 3
Ken Sharples 3
Brian Craven 3
Dick Fisher 1
[10]

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 108–107.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bradford

Norwich

Poole

Wembley

Wimbledon

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "London Loses Another Speedway Side". Daily Herald. 21 February 1956. Retrieved 26 February 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  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. ^ "Speedway rider died after warning". Birmingham Daily Post. 10 April 1956. Retrieved 13 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1956 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  8. ^ "1956 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  9. ^ "1956 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ a b "1956 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
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