The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.[1][2]
League | National League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 6 |
Champions | Wembley Lions |
National Trophy | Belle Vue Aces |
A.C.U Cup | Belle Vue Aces |
Riders' champion | Tommy Price |
London Cup | Wembley Lions |
Highest average | Eric Langton |
Division/s below | Northern League |
The league had been abandoned seven years previously due to the outbreak of World War II. Record attendances were attracted with Wembley Lions attracting an average of 50,000 and the league as a whole a total of six and a half million.[3] From the abandoned 1939 season, Southampton Saints and Harringay Tigers were no longer racing whilst Odsal Boomerangs brought National League speedway to Bradford for the first time.[4][5]
Wembley Lions won their second National League title.
On 6 July, a crowd of 34,0000 at Odsal Stadium witnessed Odsal Boomerangs lose to Belle Vue Aces. During the match Albert 'Aussie' Rosenfeld, son of Albert Rosenfeld hit the fence and was taken to St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, with a suspected fractured skull.[6] He died 10 days later, on 16 July 1946.[7]
National League Final table
editPos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wembley Lions | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 36 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 25 |
3 | Odsal Boomerangs | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 19 |
4 | Wimbledon Dons | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 17 |
5 | New Cross Rangers | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 13 |
6 | West Ham Hammers | 20 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 |
Fixtures & results
editA fixtures
editB fixtures
editA.C.U. Cup
editOn account of the small number of teams in the league the ACU Cup was run in a league format. Belle Vue Aces came out on top.
Final table
editPos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Belle Vue Aces | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
2 | Wembley Lions | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
3 | New Cross Rangers | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
4 | Odsal Boomerangs | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
5 | Wimbledon Dons | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
6 | West Ham Hammers | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
Such was the dearth of new riders caused by the war that all of the top ten riders were established pre-war riders and none were below the age of 32.
Top Ten Riders (League only)
editNational Trophy
editThe 1946 National Trophy was the tenth edition (if including the 1939 abandoned competition) or ninth edition (if not including) of the Knockout Cup.[10] Teams from the lower 1946 Speedway Northern League competed in the event.
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
04/05 | Birmingham | 56–48 | Norwich |
27/04 | Norwich | 53–51 | Birmingham |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
25/05 | Birmingham | 61–45 | Middlesbrough |
16/05 | Middlesbrough | 58–50 | Birmingham |
29/04 | Newcastle | 49–56 | Middlesbrough |
25/04 | Middlesbrough | 55–51 | Newcastle |
25/04 | Sheffield | 61–47 | Glasgow White City |
24/04 | Glasgow White City | 61–47 | Sheffield |
09/05 replay |
Sheffield | 63–44 | Glasgow White City |
08/05 replay |
Glasgow White City | 62–45 | Sheffield |
Quarterfinals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
22/06 | Birmingham | 31–77 | Wembley |
13/06 | Wembley | 80–27 | Birmingham |
20/07 | Bradford Odsal | 72–36 | Sheffield |
04/07 | Sheffield | 48–60 | Bradford Odsal |
02/07 | West Ham | 55–52 | Wimbledon |
01/07 | Wimbledon | 63–44 | West Ham |
08/06 | Belle Vue | 58–49 | New Cross |
12/06 | New Cross | 50–57 | Belle Vue |
Semifinals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
25/07 | Wembley | 50–57 | Belle Vue |
13/07 | Belle Vue | 60–48 | Wembley |
19/08 | Wimbledon | 62–46 | Bradford Odsal |
03/08 | Bradford Odsal | 53–55 | Wimbledon |
Final
editFirst leg
Wimbledon Dons Norman Parker 13 Lloyd Goffe 10 Oliver Hart 9 George Saunders 9 Arch Windmill 6 Dick Harris 6 Mike Erskine 5 Cyril Brine 1 | 61 – 46 | Belle Vue Aces Jack Parker 13 Bill Pitcher 10 Wally Lloyd 10 Eric Langton 8 Ron Mason 2 Jim Boyd 2 Ralph Horne 1 Dent Oliver 0 |
---|---|---|
[11] |
Second leg
Belle Vue Aces Wally Lloyd 18 Jack Parker 14 Bill Pitcher 11 Eric Langton 8 Jim Boyd 6 Dent Oliver 3 Louis Lawson 2 Ron Mason 1 | 63 – 45 | Wimbledon Dons Norman Parker 11 Oliver Hart 10 Dick Harris 7 Mike Erskine 7 Lloyd Goffe 3 George Saunders 3 Cyril Brine 2 Arch Windmill 2 |
---|---|---|
[11] |
Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 109–106.
Riders' Championship
editTommy Price won the British Riders' Championship final held at Empire Stadium on 12 September, in front of 85,000 spectators.[12][13] There were no less than 23 qualifying rounds, where riders from National and Northern League tracks respectively, competed in six meetings each.[12]
Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommy Price | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
2 | Bill Kitchen | 3 3 2 2 3 | 13 |
3 | Jack Parker | 3 f 3 3 3 | 12 |
4 | Eric Langton | 2 1 3 3 2 | 11 |
5 | Malcolm Craven | 3 2 f 2 3 | 10 |
6 | Norman Parker | 2 3 1 2 2 | 10 |
7 | Eric Chitty | 2 1 3 1 2 | 9 |
8 | Frank Hodgson | 1 3 2 1 1 | 8 |
9 | Ron Johnson | f 2 3 2 f | 7 |
10 | Bert Spencer | 1 1 1 0 2 | 5 |
11 | Wally Lloyd | 0 2 2 0 1 | 5 |
12 | Jeff Lloyd | 0 1 0 2 1 | 4 |
13 | Bill Longley | 2 2 0 0 0 | 4 |
14 | Tommy Allott | 0 0 0 1 1 | 2 |
15 | Ernie Price | 1 0 1 0 0 | 2 |
16 | Ron Clarke (res) | 1 1 0 | 2 |
16 | Alec Statham | 0 0 0 - - | 0 |
- f=fell
London Cup
editFirst round
Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|
New Cross | 59–49, 46–60 | Wimbledon |
West Ham | 62–46, 43–65 | Wembley |
Final
editFirst leg
Wimbledon Norman Parker 17 Oliver Hart 13 Archie Windmill 7 Cyril Brine 6 Dick Harris 2 George Saunders 1 Lloyd Goffe 1 Charlie Dugard 1 | 53–55 | Wembley Bill Kitchen 13 George Wilks 11 Tommy Price 9 Bill Gilbert 9 Alf Bottoms 7 Bob Wells 4 Roy Craighead 2 Charlie May 0 |
---|---|---|
Second leg
Wembley Tommy Price 16 Bill Kitchen 14 Bill Gilbert 8 Alf Bottoms 7 Roy Craighead 2 George Wilks 2 Bob Wells 1 Charlie May 1 | 66–42 | Wimbledon Norman Parker 10 Lloyd Goffe 7 Oliver Hart 7 Cyril Brine 7 Archie Windmill 6 George Saunders 3 Dick Harris 2 harlie Dugard 0 |
---|---|---|
[14] |
Wembley won on aggregate 121–95
Riders & final averages
editBelle Vue
- Eric Langton 11.13
- Jack Parker 11.00
- Wally Lloyd 8.46
- Bill Pitcher 6.91
- Dent Oliver 5.00
- Jim Boyd 4.92
- Ron Mason 3.90
- Harold Jackson 4.67
- Louis Lawson 1.45
New Cross
- Ron Johnson 10.69
- Eric French 9.52
- Geoff Pymar 8.63
- Les Wotton 8.24
- Phil Bishop 4.14
- Mick Mitchell 4.12
- Frank Lawrence 3.78
- Keith Harvey 3.40
- Les Webbon 3.06
- Ray Moore 2.29
- Jack Cooley 2.13
- Jack White 0.57
Odsal
- Alec Statham 9.72
- Ron Clarke 9.50
- Bill Longley 9.20
- Ernie Price 8.39
- Fred Tuck 6.90
- Albert Rosenfeld 2.93
- Vic Pitcher 2.86
- Bill Osborne 2.00
- Red Hamley 1.33
- Jack White 1.25
- Charlie Oates 1.24
- Stan Beardsall 0.80
- Ron Stringer 0.60
Wembley
- Bill Kitchen 10.75
- Tommy Price 10.00
- George Wilks 9.00
- Alf Bottoms 5.90
- Bill Gilbert 5.72
- Bob Wells 5.66
- Roy Craighead 5.50
- Bronco Wilson 5.11
- Charlie May 4.90
West Ham
- Eric Chitty 10.30
- Malcolm Craven 9.03
- Colin Watson 8.40
- Bob Harrison 7.89
- Jack Cooley 4.73
- Cyril Anderson 4.14
- Benny King 3.47
- Buck Whitby 3.39
- Frank Lawrence 3.23
- Ron Howes 3.23
- George Gower 3.00
- Bert Roger 2.45
- Dick Geary 2.29
Wimbledon
- Norman Parker 10.12
- Lloyd Goffe 8.23
- Oliver Hart 7.58
- Mike Erskine 6.29
- George Saunders 5.82
- Dick Harris 5.69
- Arch Windmill 5.38
- Charlie Dugard 4.38
- Alex Gray 4.00
- Cyril Brine 4.00
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ Dalling, P. (2011). The Golden Age Of Speedway. The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-5831-0
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ "Speedway's biggest 34,000". Bradford Observer. 8 July 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Injured speedway rider dies". Hull Daily Mail. 16 July 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "1946 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "1946 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ^ a b "1946 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Tommy Price wins Speedway Championship". Daily Herald. 13 September 1946. Retrieved 3 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Wembley Win Cup Final". South Western Star. 30 August 1946. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.