1953 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors9
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Highest averageTommy Miller
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowSouthern League

The 1953 National League Division Two was the eighth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

The League was reduced at the start of the season again to 10 teams with Oxford Cheetahs dropping down to the Southern League whilst Ashfield closed and Liverpool folded mid-season. Cradley Heath 'merged' with Wolverhampton from the Southern League but used the Wolverhampton Wasps moniker, so to all intents and purposes they had closed.[2][3]

Coventry Bees clinched their first title by a single point.[4]

Wolverhampton rider Mike Rogers died on 6 June 1953, the day after receiving critical injuries at Monmore Green Stadium racing against Liverpool. The 22-year-old lost control of his bike and fell heavily before being transported to the Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton.[5]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 32 19 1 12 39
2 Poole Pirates 32 18 2 12 38
3 Yarmouth Bloaters 32 18 0 14 36
4 Glasgow White City Tigers 32 16 2 14 34
5 Edinburgh Monarchs 32 15 1 16 31
6 Motherwell Eagles 32 15 0 17 30
7 Wolverhampton Wasps 32 13 1 18 27
8 Leicester Hunters 32 13 1 18 27
9 Stoke Potters 32 12 2 18 26

Liverpool Chads withdrew mid-season - record expunged.

Top Five Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Tommy Miller Scotland Glasgow 10.81
2 Don Cuppleditch England Edinburgh 10.36
3 Fred Brand England Yarmouth 9.97
4 Derick Close England Motherwell 9.92
5 Len Williams England Leicester 9.78

National Trophy

For the National Trophy see the 1953 Speedway National League.

Midland Cup

For the Midland Cup see the 1953 Speedway National League.

Riders & final averages

Coventry

  • New Zealand Charlie New 9.08
  • England Peter Brough 8.00
  • England Johnny Reason 7.72
  • Australia Les Hewitt 7.71
  • England Vic Emms 6.60
  • England Stan Williams 6.11
  • England Reg Duval 6.73
  • England Derrick Tailby 6.04
  • England Jack Wright 5.51

Edinburgh

  • England Don Cuppleditch 10.36
  • New Zealand Dick Campbell 8.32
  • Scotland Bob Mark 7.38
  • England Harold Fairhurst 7.17
  • South Africa Roy Bester 7.05
  • England Eddie Lack 5.89
  • England Jeff Crawford 3.62
  • England Wilf Jay 3.34
  • Scotland Harry Darling 3.20
  • Scotland Jimmy Cox 2.85

Glasgow

Leicester

Liverpool (withdrew)

  • England Peter Robinson 8.69
  • England Bill Griffiths 7.19
  • Australia Tommy Anderson 5.81
  • England Harry Welch 5.64
  • South Africa Fred Wills 5.61
  • England Gil Blake 5.57
  • England Tommy Allott 4.84
  • England Cyril Cooper 3.51
  • England Stan Bradbury 2.84
  • England Johnny Greenwood 0.31

Motherwell

  • England Derick Close 9.92
  • Scotland Gordon McGregor 8.55
  • England Cyril Cooper 8.50
  • Australia Ron Phillips 7.32
  • Australia Noel Watson 6.92
  • England Johnny Green 6.60
  • England Guy Allott 5.80
  • Scotland Scott Hall 4.77
  • Australia Bluey Scott 4.07
  • Scotland Jimmy Tannock 3.20

Poole

Stoke

  • England Ken Adams 8.44
  • England Reg Fearman 7.90
  • England Don Potter 7.68
  • England Jack Hughes 7.41
  • England Les Jenkins 6.31
  • England Ron Peace 6.17
  • Guernsey Johnny Fitzparick 6.08
  • South Africa Fred Wills 5.60
  • England Ray Harris 5.05
  • England Bill Dalton 4.85
  • England Alf Parker 4.00
  • England Paddy Mills 3.71
  • England Allan Hailstone 2.21
  • Australia Joey Peck 1.26

Wolverhampton

  • England Harry Bastable 8.04
  • England Brian Shepherd 8.00
  • England Jim Tolley 7.75
  • England Derek Braithwaite 6.78
  • England Ivor Davies 6.38
  • England Eric Irons 5.77
  • England Les Tolley 5.59
  • England Benny King 4.54
  • England Phil Malpass 3.17
  • England Harry Saunders 2.86
  • Australia Bill Jemison 2.22
  • England Harry Wardropper 1.67

Yarmouth

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  4. ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. ↑ "Speedway rider dies after fall". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 8 June 1953. Retrieved 13 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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