1951 Speedway National League

1951 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League Division One
No. of competitors9
ChampionsWembley Lions
National TrophyWimbledon Dons
London CupWembley Lions
Highest averageAub Lawson
Division/s belowNational League (Div 2)
National League (Div 3)

The 1951 National League Division One was the 17th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the sixth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. [1]

Summary

[edit]

The entrants were the same as the previous season as were the top three positions at the end of the season. Wembley Lions won the National League for the sixth time.[2][3][4]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wembley Lions 32 25 0 7 50
2 Belle Vue Aces 32 19 1 12 39
3 Wimbledon Dons 32 17 1 14 35
4 West Ham Hammers 32 16 1 15 33
5 Birmingham Brummies 32 16 0 16 32
6 Bristol Bulldogs 32 15 1 16 31
7 Harringay Racers 32 15 1 16 31
8 New Cross Rangers 32 9 1 22 19
9 Bradford Tudors 32 9 0 23 18

Top Ten Riders (League only)

[edit]
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Aub Lawson Australia West Ham 10.31
2 Ronnie Moore New Zealand Wimbledon 9.91
3 Freddie Williams Wales Wembley 9.76
4 Alan Hunt England Birmingham 9.75
5 Norman Parker England Wimbledon 9.56
6 Eddie Rigg England Bradford 9.29
7 Malcolm Craven England West Ham 9.25
8 Split Waterman England Harringay 9.07
9 Jack Parker England Belle Vue 9.03
10 Geoff Pymar England Bristol 8.95

National Trophy Stage Three

[edit]

The 1951 National Trophy was the 14th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Wimbledon won the third and final stage and were therefore declared the 1951 National Trophy champions.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
10/08 Bristol 74-34 Norwich
20/08 Norwich 75-33 Bristol
07/08 West Ham 72-35 Bradford Odsal
25/08 Bradford Odsal 43-65 West Ham

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
05/09 Belle Vue 46-62 Wembley
09/08 Wembley 52-55 Belle Vue
11/08 Birmingham 55-53 Wimbledon
20/08 Wimbledon 64-44 Birmingham
25/08 Norwich 63-45 Harringay
24/08 Harringay 65-42 Norwich
04/09 West Ham 62-46 New Cross
29/08 New Cross 65-43 West Ham

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
04/10 Wembley 78-29 New Cross
26/09 New Cross 53-55 Wembley
03/09 Wimbledon 65-43 Harringay
07/09 Harringay 40-68 Wimbledon

Final

[edit]

First leg

Wimbledon Dons
Ronnie Moore 15
Dennis Gray 15
Norman Parker 9
Cyril Brine 6
Ernie Roccio 3
Mike Erskine 3
Reg Trott 3
Jimmy Gibb 1		58 – 50Wembley Lions
Eric Williams 11
Tommy Price 8
Bob Oakley 7
Freddie Williams 7
Bruce Abernethy 5
George Wilks 6
Bill Kitchen 3
Jimmy Gooch 3
[6]

Second leg

Wembley Lions
Eric Williams 8
Bill Kitchen 6
Bob Oakley 6
Freddie Williams 5
George Wilks 5
Jimmy Gooch 5
Bruce Abernethy 4
Tommy Price 2		41 – 67Wimbledon Dons
Dennis Gray 18
Ronnie Moore 14
Ernie Roccio 13
Cyril Brine 11
Norman Parker 7
Jimmy Gibb 2
Reg Trott 1
Mike Erskine 1
[6]

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 125–91.

London Cup

[edit]

First round

Team one Score Team two
Wimbledon 55–51, 44–64 Wembley
Walthamstow 53–55, 29–78 West Ham

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
West Ham 57–51, 42–65 Harringay
New Cross 45–63, 38–70 Wembley

Final

[edit]

First leg

Wembley
Eric Williams 12
Bruce Abernethy 9
Tommy Price 9
Bob Oakley 8
Freddie Williams 6
George Wilks 6
Bill Kitchen 5
Jimmy Gooch 3		59–49Harringay
Olle Nygren 17
Jack Biggs 15
Jeff Lloyd 6
Ron How 4
Maurice McDermott 2
Jimmy Squibb 2
Danny Dunton 2
Nobby Stock 1

Second leg

Harringay
Olle Nygren 16
Split Waterman 15
Jack Biggs 6
Ron How 4
Nobby Stock 3
Cliff Watson 3
Jeff Lloyd 2
Jimmy Squibb 0		49–59Wembley
Eric Williams 11
Bruce Abernethy 10
Freddie Williams 9
Tommy Price 8
Bob Oakley 7
Jimmy Gooch 6
George Wilks 4
Bill Kitchen 4
[7]

Wembley won on aggregate 118–98

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bradford

Bristol

Harringay

New Cross

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. ^ "1951 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ a b "1951 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Wembley's Cup Final Win". Daily Herald. 15 September 1951. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1951_Speedway_National_League&oldid=1253516653"