1949 Speedway National League Division Two

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1949 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors12
ChampionsBristol Bulldogs
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Bristol Bulldogs
Highest averageBruce Semmens
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowNational League (Div 3)

The 1949 National League Division Two was the fourth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2]

Summary[edit]

The League was extended to 12 teams with the addition of new entrants Walthamstow Wolves and Ashfield Giants. Coventry Bees, Southampton Saints and Cradley Heath moved up from Division Three, with Cradley changing their nickname from Cubs to Heathens in the process. Two sides were missing from those that finished the previous season. Birmingham Brummies moved up to Division One and Middlesbrough Bears dropped out, although the promotion and most of their riders moved to the renamed Newcastle Magpies whose riders and promotion in turn had moved to Ashfield[3]

The Division Two Anniversary (League) Cup was discontinued as the expanded league programme gave the teams 44 league fixtures. Bristol Bulldogs retained their title.[4]

Final table[edit]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Bristol Bulldogs 44 34 1 9 69
2 Sheffield Tigers 44 29 1 14 59
3 Norwich Stars 44 27 0 17 54
4 Cradley Heath Heathens 44 25 0 19 50
5 Edinburgh Monarchs 44 24 0 20 48
6 Walthamstow Wolves 44 21 3 20 45
7 Southampton Saints 44 21 3 20 45
8 Glasgow Tigers 44 20 0 24 40
9 Fleetwood Flyers 44 18 1 25 37
10 Newcastle Magpies 44 17 1 26 35
11 Ashfield Giants 44 12 1 31 25
12 Coventry Bees 44 10 1 33 21

Top Five Riders (League only)[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Bruce Semmens England Sheffield 10.47
2 Billy Hole England Bristol 10.11
3 Jack Mountford England Bristol 9.75
4 Roger Wise England Bristol 9.56
5 Alan Hunt England Cradley Heath 9.45

National Trophy Stage Two[edit]

The 1949 National Trophy was the 12th 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. Bristol won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.[5]

Second Division qualifying first round

Date Team one Score Team two
07/06 Glasgow Ashfield 53-55 Cradley Heath
03/06 Cradley Heath 56-52 Glasgow Ashfield
15/06 Glasgow White City 67-41 Norwich
18/06 Norwich 71-36 Glasgow White City
22/06 Fleetwood 69-38 Stoke Hanley
18/06 Stoke Hanley 56-52 Fleetwood
17/06 Bristol 73-35 Sheffield
16/06 Sheffield 53-55 Bristol
31/05 Southampton 52-56 Walthamstow
30/05 Walthamstow 63-44 Southampton

Second Division Qualifying Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/06 Coventry 42-66 Bristol
24/06 Bristol 80-28 Coventry
02/07 Edinburgh 57-51 Fleetwood
29/06 Fleetwood 61-44 Edinburgh
02/07 Norwich 78-30 Newcastle
27/06 Newcastle 64-41 Norwich
24/06 Cradley Heath 66-41 Walthamstow
20/06 Walthamstow 64-39 Cradley Heath
08/07
replay		 Cradley Heath 71-37 Walthamstow
04/07
replay		 Walthamstow 62-44 Cradley Heath

Second Division Qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
23/07 Norwich 70.5-37.5 Cradley Heath
22/07 Cradley Heath 67-41 Norwich
13/07 Fleetwood 46-60 Bristol
08/07 Bristol 73-35 Fleetwood

Final[edit]

First leg

Bristol Bulldogs
Jack Mountford 18
Billy Hole 16
Eric Salmon 12
Roger Wise 11
Johnny Hole 10
Mike Beddoe 7
Dick Bradley 5
Chris Boss 0		79 – 29Norwich Stars
Phil Clarke 8
Bob Leverenz 6
Jack Freeman 5
Fred Rogers 4
Bert Spencer 3
Ted Bravery 2
Alec Hunter 1
Syd Littlewood 0
[6][7]

Second leg

Norwich Stars
Phil Clarke 18
Bob Leverenz 14
Ted Bravery 12
Bert Spencer 11
Fred Rogers 8
Syd Littlewood 8
Jack Freeman 4
Johnny Davies 1		76 – 32Bristol Bulldogs
Roger Wise 7
Jack Mountford 6
Billy Hole 6
Mike Beddoe 4
Dick Bradley 3
Eric Salmon 3
Johnny Hole 3
Graham Hole 0
[8][7]


Riders & final averages[edit]

Ashfield

Bristol

Coventry

  • England Bob Fletcher 7.70
  • England Derrick Tailby 6.35
  • England Bert Lacey 6.30
  • England Les Wotton 5.91
  • Australia Lionel Levy 5.76
  • Australia Les Hewitt 5.63
  • England Jack Gordon 5.00
  • England John Yates 4.79
  • England Roy Moreton 4.32
  • England Johnny Reason 4.00
  • England Ed Pye 3.83
  • England Jack Winstanley 3.74
  • England John Duncan White 3.17

Cradley Heath

  • England Alan Hunt 9.45
  • Wales Eric Williams 8.59
  • Australia Jack Arnfield 7.35
  • England Gil Craven 7.23
  • England Roy Moreton 6.72
  • England Geoff Godwin 5.76
  • England Bill Clifton 5.64
  • England Les Tolley 5.63
  • England Phil Malpass 5.56
  • England Les Beaumont 5.52
  • England Ray Beaumont 4.21

Edinburgh

Fleetwood

  • England Wilf Plant 8.67
  • England Cyril Cooper 8.45
  • England George Newton 8.12
  • England Norman Hargreaves 8.85
  • England Ernie Appleby 6.14
  • England Brian Wilson 4.96
  • England Don Potter 4.00
  • Australia Frank Malouf 3.95
  • England Ron Hart 3.59
  • England Fred Yates 3.14
  • Australia Percy Day 3.06
  • England Larry Young 2.90

Glasgow

Newcastle

Norwich

Sheffield

Southampton

Walthamstow

  • England Jim Boyd 9.10
  • England Wilf Jay 8.11
  • England Charlie May 8.07
  • England Benny King 7.52
  • England Harry Edwards 6.50
  • England Reg Reeves 6.39
  • England Arch Windmill 5.92
  • Australia Harold Bull 5.78
  • England Bill Osborne 5.39
  • England Dick Geary 5.27
  • Australia Ted Argall 2.59

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  4. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  5. ^ "1949 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ "Harringay win one leg, but lose in National Speedway Trophy". Daily Herald. 30 July 1949. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ a b "Norwich 1949 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Brilliant Norwich Rally in National Speedway Trophy". Daily Herald. 1 August 1949. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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