The 1962 National League was the 28th season and the seventeenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

With the withdrawal of New Cross Rangers and with Leicester Hunters moving down to the Provincial League, the entry list was 8 teams and so home and away fixtures were raced twice. Southampton Saints broke the domination of Wimbledon Dons by winning their first National League title.[2][3][4]

Ipswich Witches' season was a complete disaster. Their new signing Olle Nygren did not even start the season due to ill-health and then Jack Unstead was killed in the first recorded fatal crash at Foxhall Stadium, on 13 April 1962.[5] The club later withdrew from the league due to financial issues and their results were expunged.[6]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Southampton Saints 24 18 0 6 36
2 Wimbledon Dons 24 14 1 9 29
3 Coventry Bees 24 13 0 11 26
4 Belle Vue Aces 24 12 0 12 24
5 Norwich Stars 24 12 0 12 24
6 Swindon Robins 24 9 2 13 20
7 Oxford Cheetahs 24 4 0 20 8

Fixtures and results

A fixtures

Home \ Away BV COV IPS NOR OX SOT SWI WIM
Belle Vue 29–49 38–40 51–27 44–34 42–36 43–35 34–44
Coventry 59–18 47–31 45–33 46–31 37–41 48–30 40–38
Ipswich 41–37 29–49 22–56 38–40 27–51 44–34 38–40
Norwich 37–41 35–43 n/a 50–28 42–36 51–26 35–43
Oxford 38–40 42–36 n/a 35–43 34–44 37–40 34.5–43.5
Southampton 46–32 50–28 60–18 53–25 60–18 48–30 46–32
Swindon 44–33 45–33 57–21 44–34 40–38 36–41 39–39
Wimbledon 52–26 43.5–34.5 52–26 54–24 53–25 47–30 59–19
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away BV COV IPS NOR OX SOT SWI WIM
Belle Vue 41–37 n/a 38–40 47–31 43–35 40–38 44–34
Coventry 48–30 n/a 53–25 55–23 47–31 45–33 46–32
Ipswich n/a n/a n/a 40–38 n/a n/a n/a
Norwich 46–32 40–38 n/a 52–26 47–31 50–28 40–38
Oxford 33–45 47–31 n/a 40–38 24–54 41–37 24–54
Southampton 49–29 52–26 n/a 58–20 59–19 42–35 53–25
Swindon 39–39 40–37 n/a 43–35 42–36 31–47 44–34
Wimbledon 53–25 46–31 42–36 38–40 49–29 36–42 47–31
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 Ronnie Moore New Zealand Wimbledon 10.14
2 Björn Knutson Sweden Southampton 9.89
3 Olle Nygren Sweden Swindon/Norwich 9.86
4 Peter Craven England Belle Vue 9.75
5 Barry Briggs New Zealand Southampton 9.64
6 Ove Fundin Sweden Norwich 9.30
7 Ron How England Wimbledon 9.30
8 Peter Moore Australia Ipswich/Swindon 9.02
9 Bob Andrews New Zealand Wimbledon 8.82
10 Ron Mountford England Coventry 8.74

National Trophy

The 1962 National Trophy was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/06 Wimbledon 49-35 Belle Vue
23/06 Belle Vue 46-38 Wimbledon
23/06 Swindon 51-33 Ipswich
22/06 Ipswich 42-40 Swindon
19/06 Southampton 56-28 Coventry
16/06 Norwich 33-51 Oxford
14/06 Oxford 47-37 Norwich
16/06 Coventry 41-43 Southampton

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
23/08 Oxford 45-39 Swindon
18/08 Swindon 59-25 Oxford
14/08 Southampton 42-42 Wimbledon
13/08 Wimbledon 50-33 Southampton

Final

First leg

Wimbledon Dons
Ronnie Moore 14
Ron How 14
Bob Andrews 11
Gerry Jackson 7
Cyril Brine 5
Leo McAuliffe 3
Jim Tebby 1		55 – 29Swindon Robins
Mike Broadbank 9
Arne Carlsson 7
Ian Williams 4
Martin Ashby 3
Peter Moore 3
Brian Brett 2
Neil Street 1
[10]

Second leg

Swindon Robins
Martin Ashby 15
Mike Broadbank 7
Peter Moore 7
Arne Carlsson 6
Neil Street 5
Ian Williams 3
Brian Brett 2		45 – 39Wimbledon Dons
Ronnie Moore 13
Ron How 12
Bob Andrews 9
Cyril Brine 3
Gerry Jackson 2
Jim Tebby 0
Leo McAuliffe 0
[10]

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 94–74.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Ipswich (resigned mid season)

Norwich

Oxford

Southampton

Swindon

Wimbledon

See also

References

  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. ^ "Rider killed in Speedway crash". Birmingham Daily Post. 14 April 1962. Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Close-Down at Ipswich". Daily Mirror. 27 July 1962. Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1962 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  8. ^ "1962 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  9. ^ "1962 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ a b "1962 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Speedway_National_League
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