1951 Speedway National League Division Two

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1951 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors16
ChampionsNorwich Stars
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Norwich Stars
Midland CupLeicester Hunters
Highest averageJack Young
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowNational League (Div 3)

The 1951 National League Division Two was the sixth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

Summary[edit]

The League was extended again with 18 teams starting the season. New entrants were Motherwell Eagles and there were again three teams promoted from Division Three - the champions Oxford Cheetahs,[1] third place finishers Leicester Hunters and Liverpool Chads (despite finishing 8th). Plymouth Devils moved back down in the opposite direction.[2]

Norwich Stars retained their title. However after the season had finished a fourth rider in five years was killed at their Firs Stadium. 21-year-old Bob Howes died after hitting the fence during a training practice race on 10 November 1951.[3][4]

Southampton Saints and Sheffield Tigers resigned in mid-season and their records were expunged.

Final table[edit]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Norwich Stars 30 24 0 6 48
2 Leicester Hunters 30 19 0 11 38
3 Edinburgh Monarchs 30 18 0 12 36
4 Coventry Bees 30 16 3 11 35
5 Walthamstow Wolves 30 17 0 13 34
6 Halifax Dukes 30 17 0 13 34
7 Motherwell Eagles 30 16 1 13 33
8 Ashfield Giants 30 16 0 14 32
9 Hanley Potters 30 15 0 15 30
10 Glasgow White City Tigers 30 14 1 15 29
11 Yarmouth Bloaters 30 13 1 16 27
12 Oxford Cheetahs 30 12 2 16 26
13 Liverpool Chads 30 12 1 17 25
14 Fleetwood Flyers 30 9 2 19 20
15 Cradley Heath Heathens 30 9 0 21 18
16 Newcastle Diamonds 30 7 1 22 15

Top Five Riders (League only)[edit]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Jack Young Australia Edinburgh 11.72
2 Bob Leverenz Australia Norwich 10.84
3 Derick Close England Newcastle/Motherwell 10.71
4 Tommy Miller Scotland Glasgow Tigers 10.70
5 Arthur Forrest England Halifax 10.30

National Trophy Stage Two[edit]

The 1951 National Trophy was the 14th 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. Norwich won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.[5]

Second Division qualifying first round

Date Team one Score Team two
14/05 Exeter 60-47 Oxford
10/05 Oxford 80-28 Exeter
09/05 Fleetwood 64-44 Newcastle
04/05 Southampton 60-48 Walthamstow
30/04 Newcastle 71-36 Fleetwood
30/04 Walthamstow 77-31 Southampton

Second Division Qualifying Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
28/05 Cradley Heath 58-49 Coventry
26/05 Coventry 48-60 Cradley Heath
24/05 Oxford 61-47 Yarmouth
22/05 Yarmouth 63-44 Oxford
21/05 Newcastle 47-70 Norwich
19/05 Norwich 79-29 Newcastle
14/05 Walthamstow 81-26 Stoke Hanley
12/05 Edinburgh 77-29 Leicester
12/05 Stoke Hanley 59-49 Walthamstow
11/05 Leicester 46-62 Edinburgh
11/05 Motherwell 39-69 Halifax
09/05 Halifax 79-29 Motherwell
08/05 Glasgow Ashfield 70-38 Liverpool
07/05 Liverpool 62-46 Glasgow Ashfield
- Glasgow w/o Sheffield

Second Division Qualifying quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
05/06 Glasgow Ashfield 71-37 Cradley Heath
30/05 Glasgow White City 64-44 Norwich
26/05 Edinburgh 68-40 Halifax
23/05 Halifax 68-39 Edinburgh
26/05 Norwich 14-4 Glasgow White City
11/06 Walthamstow 73-35 Yarmouth
09/06 Norwich 81-27 Glasgow White City
29/05 Yarmouth 57-51 Walthamstow

Second Division Qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
07/07 Norwich 67.5-40.5 Cradley Heath
11/06 Cradley Heath 83-25 Glasgow Ashfield
04/07 Halifax 71-37 Walthamstow
02/07 Walthamstow 74-34 Halifax

Second Division Qualifying final[edit]

First leg

Norwich Stars
Phil Clarke 17
Bob Leverenz 16
Paddy Mills 11
Fred Pawson 10
Jack Freeman 10
Alec Hunter 9
Fred Rogers 6
Bill Codling 4		83 – 25Walthamstow Wolves
Benny King 7
Pete Lansdale 6
Harry Edwards 5
Jimmy Grant 3
Alby Smith 2
Sid Clarke 1
Jim Boyd 1
Reg Reeves 0
[6][7]

Second leg

Walthamstow Wolves
Jim Boyd 12
Benny King 12
Archie Windmill 7
Reg Reeves 6
Harry Edwards 5
Pete Lansdale 4
Sid Clarke 2
Jimmy Grant 2		50 – 58Norwich Stars
Bob Leverenz 18
Fred Rogers 10
Phil Clarke 9
Jack Freeman 7
Fred Pawson 6
Alec Hunter 6
Paddy Mills 2
Bill Codling 0
[8][7]

Midland Cup[edit]

Leicester won the inaugural Midland Cup, which consisted of eight teams. There was one team from division 1, five teams from division 2 and two teams from division 3.

First round

Team one Team two Score
Hanley Wolverhampton 67–29, 60–30

Second round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Long Eaton 75–21, 52–44
Oxford Coventry 58–38, 37–59
Cradley Hanley 57–39, 45–50

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Coventry Leicester 49–45, 41–55
Birmingham Cradley 65–30, 62–34

Final[edit]

First leg

Birmingham
Graham Warren 14
Alan Hunt 11
Ron Mountford 10
Eric Boothroyd 7
Lionel Watling 3
Cyril Page 2
Roy Browning 1
Jim Tolley 0		48–48Leicester
Len Williams 14
Les Beaumont 10
Fred Perkins 7
Johnny Carpenter 7
Lionel Benson 4
Laurie Holland 4
Harwood Pike 2
Vic Pitcher 0

Second leg

Leicester
Len Williams 13
Lionel Benson 10
Fred Perkins 9
Johnny Carpenter 7
Les Beaumont 3
Harwood Pike 2
Laurie Holland 4
Jock Grierson 2		50–46Birmingham
Graham Warren 11
Alan Hunt 10
Eric Boothroyd 6
Ron Mountford 10
Cyril Page 4
Lionel Watling 3
Jim Tolley 2
Roy Browning 0
[9]

Leicester won on aggregate 98–94


Riders & final averages[edit]

Ashfield

Coventry

Cradley Heath

  • England Brian Shepherd 9.00
  • England Laurie Schofield 6.76
  • England Gil Craven 8.56
  • England Phil Malpass 7.86
  • England Guy Allott 6.55
  • England Les Tolley 6.51
  • England Harry Bastable 6.14
  • England Dick Tolley 5.15
  • England Dennis Hitchings 4.43
  • England Wilf Willstead 4.00
  • England Bill Clifton 3.52
  • Australia Don Prettejohn 1.74

Edinburgh

Fleetwood

  • England Norman Hargreaves 8.00
  • England Wilf Jay 7.93
  • England Don Potter 7.13
  • England Alf Parker 6.25
  • England Ray Harker 3.88
  • Scotland Angus McGuire 3.40
  • England Jeff Crawford 3.04
  • England Ray Moore 2.51
  • England Russ Pursehouse 2.09

Glasgow

Halifax

  • England Arthur Forrest 10.30
  • England Vic Emms 9.03
  • England Jack Hughes 7.70
  • England Al Allison 6.08
  • England Bill Crosland 5.71
  • England Ray Johnson 5.18
  • England Dyson Harper 4.86
  • Wales Jack Dawson 4.59
  • England George Stringer 2.71

Hanley

  • England Ken Adams 8.71
  • Australia Lindsay Mitchell 7.10
  • England Gil Blake 6.65
  • Australia Bill Harris 6.65
  • Guernsey Johnny Fitzparick 6.36
  • England Brian Pritchett 6.34
  • England Les Jenkins 6.32
  • England Ray Harris 5.80
  • England Bill Bridgett 1.00

Leicester

  • England Len Williams 9.42
  • Australia Lionel Benson 8.43
  • England Les Beaumont 8.24
  • England Harwood Pike 7.93
  • England Fred Perkins 6.86
  • England Joe Bowkis 6.55
  • Scotland Jock Grierson 6.17
  • England Cyril Page 5.30
  • England Ron Wilson 4.92
  • England Johnny Carpenter 4.65
  • England Vic Pitcher 3.45
  • New Zealand Laurie Holland 3.30

Liverpool

Motherwell

Newcastle

  • England Derick Close 10.25
  • England Son Mitchell 6.80
  • England Wal Morton 6.10
  • England Herby King 6.00
  • England Don Wilkinson 5.49
  • Australia Jack Chignell 5.46
  • Australia Don Lawson 4.56
  • England Peter Orpwood 4.45
  • England Norman Johnson 4.20
  • England Johnny Green 4.19
  • Australia Ernie Brecknell (Ernest Blight) 4.00
  • England Roy Dook 2.93
  • Canada Mike Tams 2.91

Norwich

Oxford

  • England Pat Clark 9.10
  • England Bill Kemp 7.23
  • England Roger Wise 7.15
  • England Bill Osborne 7.06
  • England Ernie Rawlins 7.03
  • England Harry Saunders 6.62
  • New Zealand Frank Boyle 5.53
  • England Cyril Quick 5.52
  • England Eric Irons 5.49
  • New Zealand Bob McFarlane 5.35
  • England Herby King 3.64

Sheffield (withdrew mid-season)

  • England Guy Allott 8.60
  • England Tommy Allott 8.00
  • England Len Williams 7.24
  • England Peter Orpwood 6.10
  • England Bill Dalton 5.89
  • New Zealand Charlie New 5.40
  • England Johnny Green 4.40
  • England Jack Winstanley 4.32
  • England Les Howe 2.60

Southampton (withdrew mid-season)

Walthamstow

Yarmouth

  • England Fred Brand 9.57
  • England Bob Baker 9.28
  • England Reg Morgan 6.53
  • England Cyril Quick 5.63
  • England Tip Mills 4.75
  • England Vic Ridgeon 4.45
  • England Sid Hipperson 4.23
  • England Stan Page 3.80
  • England Johnny White 3.70
  • England George Flower 2.59
  • England Alby Thomas 1.73

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The History of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  2. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. ^ "Speedway death". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. 10 November 1951. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Norwich The Firs Stadium". National Speedway Museum. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. ^ "1951 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ "Walthamstow Are Swamped". Weekly Dispatch (London). 29 July 1951. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ a b "Norwich 1951 results" (PDF). Speedway researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Sport Summary". Daily News (London). 31 July 1951. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Hunters' Cup Win in Last heat". Leicester Daily Mercury. 20 October 1951. Retrieved 5 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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