1961 Speedway National League

1961 Speedway National League
League	National League
No. of competitors	10
Champions	Wimbledon Dons
National Trophy	Southampton Saints
Highest average	Ove Fundin
Division/s below	1961 Provincial League
	← 1960; 1962 →;

The 1961 National League was the 27th season and the sixteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

The entry list was identical to the previous year and although Wimbledon Dons won their seventh title in eight years, it would be their last.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	18	15	0	3	30
2	Southampton Saints	18	13	2	3	28
3	Coventry Bees	18	10	1	7	21
4	Belle Vue Aces	18	10	0	8	20
5	Swindon Robins	18	8	0	10	16
6	Ipswich Witches	18	7	1	10	15
7	Norwich Stars	18	7	0	11	14
8	New Cross Rangers	18	7	0	11	14
9	Oxford Cheetahs	18	6	1	11	13
10	Leicester Hunters	18	4	1	13	9

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ove Fundin	Norwich	11.51
2	Ronnie Moore	Wimbledon	11.17
3	Peter Craven	Belle Vue	10.95
4	Björn Knutson	Southampton	10.79
5	Arne Pander	Oxford	10.60
6	Barry Briggs	Southampton	10.13
7	Ron How	Wimbledon	10.05
8	Ron Johnston	Belle Vue	10.00
9	Ken McKinlay	Leicester	9.57
10	Bob Duckworth	Belle Vue	9.48

National Trophy

The 1961 National Trophy was the 23rd edition of the Knockout Cup. Southampton were the winners.^[5]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
15/06	Oxford	43-40	Southampton
13/06	Southampton	58-26	Oxford
10/06	Belle Vue	55-28	New Cross
07/06	New Cross	46-37	Belle Vue

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
17/08	Ipswich	44-40	Coventry
09/08	Norwich	43-40	Swindon
08/08	Southampton	52-32	Belle Vue
29/07	Belle Vue	47-37	Southampton
24/07	Wimbledon	46-38	Norwich
22/07	Norwich	52-32	Wimbledon
22/07	Swindon	66-18	Leicester
21/07	Leicester	38-45	Swindon

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/09	Swindon	56-28	Norwich
29/08	Southampton	57-27	Coventry
26/08	Coventry	49-35	Southampton
09/08	Norwich	43-40	Swindon

Final

First leg

19 September 1961

Southampton Saints Björn Knutson 15 Barry Briggs 14 Dick Bradley 9 Alby Golden 6 Peter Vandenberg 4 Cyril Roger 4 Chum Taylor 3	55 – 29	Swindon Robins Tadeusz Teodorowicz 7 Neil Street 6 Ian Williams 5 Brian Brett 4 George White 4 Mike Broadbank 2 Brian Meredith 1
	^[6]

Banister Court Stadium

Second leg

23 September 1961

Swindon Robins Tadeusz Teodorowicz 9 Mike Broadbank 8 George White 8 Brian Meredith 5 Ian Williams 4 Brian Brett 4 Neil Street 3	41 – 43	Southampton Saints Björn Knutson 15 Barry Briggs 13 Chum Taylor 8 Peter Vandenberg 4 Dick Bradley 3 Cyril Roger 0 Alby Golden 0
	^[6]

Abbey Stadium

Southampton were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 98–70.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Ipswich

Leicester

New Cross

Norwich

Oxford

Southampton

Björn Knutson 10.79
Barry Briggs 10.13
Jack Scott 8.80
Chum Taylor 7.83
Cyril Roger 6.73
Dick Bradley 5.59
Ross Gilbertson 5.00
Alby Golden 4.55
Peter Vandenberg 4.29

Swindon

Wimbledon

References

^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ 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 12 August 2021.
^ "1961 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
^ ^a ^b "1961 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

[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] "1961 National Trophy". Speedway archive.

[SR-6] "1961 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

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