1949 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League Division One
No. of competitors8
ChampionsWembley Lions
National TrophyBelle Vue Aces
London CupWembley Lions
Highest averageVic Duggan
Division/s belowNational League (Div 2)
National League (Div 3)

The 1949 National League Division One was the 15th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fourth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

Birmingham Brummies joined the league and the Anniversary (League) Cup was discontinued or the teams would have met each other six times in the league. Wembley Lions won the National League for the fourth time.[2][3][4]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wembley Lions 42 28 1 13 57
2 Belle Vue Aces 42 24 0 18 48
3 New Cross Rangers 42 24 0 18 48
4 West Ham Hammers 42 23 0 19 46
5 Odsal Boomerangs 42 22 1 19 45
6 Harringay Racers 42 18 0 24 36
7 Birmingham Brummies 42 16 1 25 32
8 Wimbledon Dons 42 11 1 30 23

Top Ten Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Vic Duggan Australia Harringay 10.65
2 Graham Warren Australia Birmingham 10.21
3 Jack Parker England Belle Vue 10.12
4 Wilbur Lamoreaux United States Birmingham 9.86
5 Dent Oliver England Belle Vue 9.60
6 Aub Lawson Australia West Ham 9.57
7 Norman Parker England Wimbledon 9.35
8 Bill Gilbert England Wembley 9.24
9 Tommy Price England Wembley 9.10
10 Ron Clarke England Odsal 8.79

National Trophy Stage Three

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. Belle Vue Aces won the third and final stage and were therefore declared the 1949 National Trophy champions.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/07Harringay60-47Bradford Odsal
23/07Bradford Odsal80-28Harringay

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
20/08Bradford Odsal70-38Birmingham
19/08Bristol47-60New Cross
18/08Wembley56-52West Ham
17/08New Cross55-53Bristol
16/08West Ham64-44Wembley
13/08Birmingham51-57Bradford Odsal
15/08Wimbledon58-50Belle Vue

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
17/09Belle Vue66-42Bradford Odsal
10/09Bradford Odsal54-54Belle Vue
07/09New Cross55-53West Ham
06/09West Ham64-44New Cross

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Ron Mason 17
Jack Parker 16
Bruce Semmens 11
Louis Lawson 10
Dent Oliver 7
Charles Cullum 8
Bob Harrison 5
George Smith 5
78 – 30West Ham Hammers
Aub Lawson 14
Malcolm Craven 6
Fred Curtis 3
Howdy Byford 3
Cliff Watson 2
Trevor Davies 2
Reg Fearman 0
Wally Green 0
[6]

Second leg

West Ham Hammers
Aub Lawson 15
Malcolm Craven 9
Cliff Watson 5
Fred Curtis 4
Howdy Byford 4
Wally Green 4
Reg Fearman 4
Frank Bettis 0
46 – 62Belle Vue Aces
Louis Lawson 16
Jack Parker 15
Charles Cullum 10
Dent Oliver 6
Ron Mason 5
Bruce Semmens 5
Ken Sharples 3
Bob Harrison 2
[6]

Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 140–76.

London Cup

First round

Team one Score Team two
New Cross57–50, 56–51Wimbledon
Walthamstow55–52, 48–60Harringay

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
West Ham65–43, 70–38New Cross
Wembley65–43, 57–51Harringay

Final

First leg

Wembley
Bill Kitchen 14
Bill Gilbert 11
Tommy Price 9
Split Waterman 8
George Wilks 7
58–50West Ham
Aub Lawson 18
Cliff Watson 8
Malcolm Craven 7
Wally Green 7
[7]

Second leg

West Ham
Aub Lawson 9
Howdy Byford 8
Cliff Watson 7
Kid Curtis 6
Malcolm Craven 6
42–66Wembley
Tommy Price 17
Bill Kitchen 16
George Wilks 11
Split Waterman 7
Freddie Williams 6
Bob Wells 6
[8]

Wembley won on aggregate 124–92

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Harringay

New Cross

Odsal

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. "1949 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. 1 2 "1949 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. "Byford beats Price". Daily News (London). 7 October 1949. Retrieved 24 September 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Wembley triumph in final of London Speedway Cup". Daily Herald. 12 October 1949. Retrieved 24 September 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
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