The 1954 National League Division One was the 20th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the ninth post-war season of the highest tier of speedway.[1]

Summary

Bristol dropped out of the league and joined the National League Division Two. Wimbledon won their first National League Championship, beginning a run of 7 titles in 8 years, ending a similar run by Wembley Lions. [2][3][4]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 28 21 2 5 44
2 Wembley Lions 28 20 0 8 40
3 Bradford Tudors 28 15 0 13 30
4 Norwich Stars 27 14 0 13 28
5 West Ham Hammers 28 11 1 16 23
6 Harringay Racers 28 10 1 17 21
7 Belle Vue Aces 27 9 0 18 18
8 Birmingham Brummies 28 9 0 19 18

Fixtures & results

A fixtures

Home \ Away BV BIR BRA HAR NOR WEM WH WIM
Belle Vue 46–38 41–53 47–37 37–47 37–46 37–47 47–37
Birmingham 45–39 44–40 59–25 43–41 31–52 46–38 36–48
Bradford 52–32 55–29 41–43 54–30 45–39 53–31 58–26
Harringay 48–35 41–43 48–36 56–28 27–57 47–37 37–46
Norwich 55–29 52–32 58–26 50–34 33–51 40–44 41–43
Wembley 67–17 65–19 53–31 45–39 50–34 54–30 33–51
West Ham 52–32 54–30 49–35 52–31 29–55 46–38 42–42
Wimbledon 60–24 61–23 62–22 48–36 57–26 43–40 53–31
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away BV BIR BRA HAR NOR WEM WH WIM
Belle Vue 59–24 50–34 57–27 39–45 25–59 50–33 43–41
Birmingham 38–44 40–44 57–27 43–41 32–52 43–41 35–49
Bradford 46–38 65–19 53–31 47–37 52–32 58–26 45–39
Harringay 53–31 50–33 46–38 39–45 30–54 48–36 32–52
Norwich n/a 63–21 44–40 49–35 47–37 53–31 49–35
Wembley 50–34 64–20 51–33 53–31 44–40 49–35 36–48
West Ham 48–36 48–35 44–40 40–44 45–39 32–51 41–43
Wimbledon 62–22 65–19 49–35 42–42 61–23 43–41 54–29
Source: [6]
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 10.59
2 Jack Young Australia West Ham 10.55
3 Geoff Mardon New Zealand Wimbledon 10.43
4 Eddie Rigg England Bradford 10.11
5 Arthur Forrest England Bradford 10.00
6 Brian Crutcher England Wembley 9.98
7 Eric Williams Wales Wembley 9.79
8 Barry Briggs New Zealand Wimbledon 9.39
9 Freddie Williams Wales Wembley 9.18
10 Split Waterman England Harringay 9.07

National Trophy

The 1954 National Trophy was the 17th edition of the Knockout Cup.[7]

Qualifying first round

Date Team one Score Team two
01/05 Edinburgh 60-48 Leicester
01/05 Rayleigh 65-43 Motherwell
30/04 Bristol 59-49 Oxford
30/04 Leicester 59-48 Edinburgh
30/04 Motherwell 64-44 Rayleigh
29/04 Ipswich 71-35 Southampton
29/04 Oxford 40-68 Bristol
29/04 Plymouth 45-63 Poole
27/04 Southampton 72-36 Ipswich
26/04 Exeter 59-49 Swindon
26/04 Poole 69-38 Plymouth
24/04 Swindon 65-43 Exeter
11/05
replay		 Southampton 62-46 Ipswich
06/05
replay		 Ipswich 56-52 Southampton

Qualifying second round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/05 Southampton 61-47 Coventry
22/05 Coventry 64-44 Southampton
22/05 Edinburgh 65-43 Rayleigh
22/05 Swindon 69-39 Wolverhampton
21/05 Bristol 61-47 Poole
21/05 Rayleigh 55-52 Edinburgh
21/05 Swindon w/o Wolverhampton
17/05 Poole 63-45 Bristol

Qualifying Final Round

Date Team one Score Team two
14/06 Poole 67-41 Swindon
12/06 Edinburgh 50-57 Coventry
12/06 Swindon 53-55 Poole
05/06 Coventry 56-52 Edinburgh

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
05/07 Coventry 41-66 Bradford Odsal
03/07 Belle Vue 71-37 Poole
03/07 Bradford Odsal 84-24 Coventry
28/06 Poole 46-62 Belle Vue

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
24/07 Belle Vue 61-47 Wimbledon
22/07 Wembley 70-37 West Ham
21/07 Harringay 54-54 Bradford Odsal
20/07 West Ham 50-58 Wembley
19/07 Wimbledon 76-32 Belle Vue
17/07 Bradford Odsal 78-30 Harringay
10/07 Birmingham 62-46 Norwich
08/07 Norwich 74-34 Birmingham

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
28/08 Bradford Odsal 63-45 Wembley
28/08 Norwich 64-44 Wimbledon
23/08 Wimbledon 51-57 Norwich
05/08 Wembley 63-44 Bradford Odsal

Final

First leg

Wembley Lions
Brian Crutcher 15
Eric Williams 12
Tommy Price 10
Freddie Williams 8
Fred Lang 7
Trevor Redmond 5
Eric French 4
Jimmy Gooch 0		61 – 46Norwich Stars
Fred Brand 10
Cyril Roger 8
Aub Lawson 7
Bob Oakley 7
Fred Rogers 5
Phil Clarke 4
Merv Neil 3
Billy Bales 2
[8]

Second leg

Norwich Stars
Merv Neil 14
Aub Lawson 11
Bob Oakley 8
Phil Clarke 6
Fred Rogers 4
Billy Bales 2
Cyril Roger 1
Fred Brand 0		46 – 62Wembley Lions
Brian Crutcher 14
Trevor Redmond 12
Freddie Williams 10
Eric Williams 8
Tommy Price 6
Fred Lang 6
Eric French 5
Jimmy Gooch 1
[8]

Wembley were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–92.

London Cup

First round

Team one Score Team two
Wimbledon 61–46, 56–52 Wembley

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
Harringay 44–63, 48–60 Wembley
Wimbledon 69–38, 53–55 West Ham

Final

First leg

Wembley
Freddie Williams 17
Tommy Price 12
Eric Williams 12
Brian Crutcher 10
Trevor Redmond 8
Eric French 6
Fred Lang 3
Jimmy Gooch 1		69–38Wimbledon
Peter Moore 11
Ronnie Moore 11
Geoff Mardon 4
Cyril Maidment 4
Don Perry 3
Reg Trott 3
Barry Briggs 2
Cyril Brine 0

Second leg

Wimbledon
Geoff Mardon 13
Ronnie Moore 8
Peter Moore 7
Barry Briggs 6
Cyril Brine 6
Cyril Maidment 5
Reg Trott 1
Bill Longley 1		47–61Wembley
Brian Crutcher 18
Eric Williams 15
Freddie Williams 8
Eric French 8
Jimmy Gooch 5
Trevor Redmond 5
Tommy Price 2
Fred Lang 0
[9]

Wembley won on aggregate 130–85

Midland Cup

Birmingham won the Midland Cup, which consisted of four teams. There was one team from division 1 and three teams from division 2.

First round

Team one Team two Score
Oxford Leicester 56–28, 47–49

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Oxford Coventry 61–35, 34–62

Final

First leg

Birmingham
Ron Mountford 12
Alan Hunt 11
Doug Davies 11
Hec Mayhead 7
Jim Tolley 6
Eric Boothroyd 6
Harry Bastable 2
Vic Hall 0		55–40Coventry
Charlie New 11
Tommy Miller 9
Jim Lightfoot 5
Johnnie Reason 4
Reg Duval 4
Derrick Tailby 4
Vic Emms 2
Bob Mark 1

Second leg

Coventry
Charlie New 11
Tommy Miller 9
Bob Mark 8
Johnnie Reason 7
Les Tolley 7
Derrick Tailby 6
Vic Emms 6
Jim Lightfoot 1		55–41Birmingham
Alan Hunt 12
Doug Davies 11
Jim Tolley 6
Eric Boothroyd 6
Vic Hall 3
Harry Bastable 1
Alan Pearce 1
Cyril Page 1
[10]

Birmingham won on aggregate 96–95

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bradford

Harringay

Norwich

Wembley

West Ham

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. ^ "1954 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  6. ^ "1954 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  7. ^ "1953 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  8. ^ a b "1954 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Wembley's Cup 9 times". Daily Herald. 31 August 1954. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Bees just failed in Midland Cup". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 18 October 1954. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Speedway_National_League
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