1955 Speedway National League Division Two

1955 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors9
ChampionsPoole Pirates
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Poole Pirates
Highest averageKen McKinlay
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowSouthern League

The 1955 National League Division Two was the tenth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

Summary

[edit]

The only change in the list of teams that finished the previous season was the replacement of Motherwell Eagles with Weymouth Scorchers. Poole Pirates won the title.[1]

Weymouth Scorchers withdrew after 7 league fixtures,[2] Bristol Bulldogs withdrew after 14 after the Bulldogs pomoter George Allen pulled the plug on the team citing poor attendances.[3]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 32 23 0 9 46
2 Coventry Bees 32 19 0 3 38
3 Rayleigh Rockets 32 15 2 15 32
4 Oxford Cheetahs 32 15 1 16 31
5 Southampton Saints 32 15 0 17 30
6 Ipswich Witches 32 13 3 16 29
7 Leicester Hunters 32 14 0 18 28
8 Swindon Robins 32 14 0 18 28
9 Exeter Falcons 32 13 0 29 26

Top Five Riders (League only)

[edit]
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ken McKinlay Scotland Leicester 10.48
2 Jack Geran Australia Exeter 10.38
3 Dick Bradley England Bristol/Southampton 10.25
4 Ken Middleditch England Poole 9.96
5 Neil Street Australia Exeter 9.49

National Trophy Stage One

[edit]

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. Poole won stage one and qualified for second and final stage.[4]

Division Two First round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/04 Rayleigh 48-60 Poole
22/04 Bristol 62-46 Ipswich
22/04 Weymouth 49-59 Southampton
21/04 Ipswich 81-27 Bristol
19/04 Southampton 70-38 Weymouth
18/04 Poole 69-39 Rayleigh

Division Two Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/05 Exeter 55-53 Swindon
14/05 Coventry 75-33 Oxford
14/05 Swindon 66-42 Exeter
13/05 Leicester 49-59 Southampton
12/05 Ipswich 66-41 Poole
12/05 Oxford 66-42 Coventry
10/05 Southampton 59-49 Leicester
09/05 Poole 70-37 Ipswich

Division Two semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
13/06 Poole 68-40 Swindon
04/06 Coventry 54-54 Southampton
04/06 Swindon 62-46 Poole
31/05 Southampton 56-52 Coventry

Division Two final

[edit]

First leg

Southampton Saints
Ernie Rawlins 14
Dick Bradley 12
Brian Hanham 3
Bluey Scott 7
Alby Golden 4
Charlie May 3
Cyril Roger (guest) 2
Johnny Fitzpatrick 1		46 – 62Poole Pirates
Ken Middleditch 16
Jim Squibb 14
Norman Strachan 7
Bill Holden 7
Terry Small 7
Ernie Brecknell 6
Alan Kidd 5
Tony Lewis 0
[5]

Second leg

Poole Pirates
Terry Small 16
Bill Holden 14
Alan Kidd 11
Jim Squibb 11
Ken Middleditch 7
Norman Strachan 7
Tony Lewis 6
Fred Parkins 1		73 – 35Southampton Saints
Dick Bradley 13
Ernie Rawlins 5
Bluey Scott 5
Frank Johnson (guest) 4
Charlie May 4
Johnny Fitzpatrick 3
Alby Golden 1
Brian Hanham 0
[5]

Midland Cup

[edit]

For the Midland Cup see the 1955 Speedway National League.

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Bristol (withdrew)

Coventry

Exeter

Ipswich

Leicester

Oxford

Poole

Rayleigh

Southampton

Swindon

Weymouth (withdrew)

  • England Ron Barrett 7.50
  • Australia Ernie Brecknell (Ernest Blight) 6.86
  • England Ken Adams 5.83
  • England Danny Dunton 5.53
  • England Frank Johnson 4.88
  • England Ernie Lessiter 3.29
  • England Gerald Pugh 2.15
  • England Roy Bowers 1.82

See also

[edit]

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  3. ^ "Poor response to speedway support appeal". Bristol Evening Post. 2 October 1954. Retrieved 5 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "1955 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ a b "1955 results" (PDF). Speedway researcher. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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