1954 Speedway National League Division Two

1954 Speedway National League Division Two

League	National League Division Two
No. of competitors	11
Champions	Bristol Bulldogs
Southern Shield	Bristol Bulldogs
Northern Shield	Lanarkshire Eagles
Riders' Championship	Ken Middleditch
Highest average	Ken McKinlay
Division/s above	National League (Div 1)
Division/s below	Southern League
← 1953 1955 →

The 1954 National League Division Two was the ninth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. ^[1]

Summary

The Southern League was replaced by the Southern Area League which resulted in Division Two taking in teams from the defunct Southern League. Only St Austell Gulls declined to step up to the national level, whilst from the previous season Yarmouth Bloaters were not issued a racing licence and Stoke Potters withdrew. Bristol Bulldogs moved down from Division One to make 15 teams starting the season. ^[2] However, Glasgow White City Tigers ^[3] and Wolverhampton Wasps both suffered a series of poor results in the Northern Shield and both withdrew before the league campaign started. ^[4]

Bristol Bulldogs won the league title. ^[5] Bristol also won the early season Southern Shield, ^[6] while Lanarkshire Eagles won the disrupted Northern Shield following the withdrawal of Glasgow and Wolverhampton. ^[7]

Plymouth Devils withdrew after one league fixture and Edinburgh Monarchs withdrew mid-way through the 1954 season citing financial losses and their Managing Director Frank Varey also resigned. ^[8]

League

Final table

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Bristol Bulldogs	20	14	0	6	28
2	Poole Pirates	20	12	0	8	24
3	Swindon Robins	20	11	0	9	22
4	Leicester Hunters	20	11	0	9	22
5	Ipswich Witches	20	10	0	10	20
6	Exeter Falcons	20	10	0	10	20
7	Oxford Cheetahs	20	10	0	10	20
8	Coventry Bees	20	10	0	10	20
9	Southampton Saints	20	9	0	11	18
10	Lanarkshire Eagles	20	9	0	11	18
11	Rayleigh Rockets	20	4	0	16	8

• Glasgow White City Tigers, Wolverhampton Wasps withdrew before league racing
• Plymouth Devils, Edinburgh Monarchs withdrew, record expunged.

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	BRI	COV	EX	IPS	LAN	LEI	OX	PP	RAY	SOT	SWI
Bristol		53–31	59–24	47–37	59–25	51–33	47–37	44.5–39.5	56–28	52–32	49–35
Coventry	43–41		45–38	48–36	57–27	37–46	38–46	43–41	52–31	53–31	35–48
Exeter	53–31	58–26		59–25	57–27	59–25	53–31	58–26	49–35	64–20	49–35
Ipswich	58–26	41–43	56–28		55–29	60–24	46–38	46–38	47–37	58–26	58–25
Lanarkshire	50–34	44–40	58–26	45–39		23–25	58–26	44–40	62–22	63–21	49–35
Leicester	39–45	37–47	62–22	45–39	54–30		56–28	54–30	62–22	54–30	39–45
Oxford	46–38	46–38	52–32	43–41	51–33	49–34		36–48	56–28	44–39	47–36
Poole	45–38	53–31	61–23	53–31	51–33	49–35	57–26		52–32	53–31	45–39
Rayleigh	39–45	40–44	54–30	37–47	49–35	37–47	56–28	33–51		46–38	41–43
Southampton	36–48	55–29	50–34	53–31	54–30	47–37	45–38	50–34	60–24		46–38
Swindon	39–45	57–27	49–35	62–22	49–17	38–46	45–39	54–30	50–34	48–36

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top five riders (league only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ken McKinlay		Leicester Hunters	10.88
2	Dick Bradley		Bristol Bulldogs	10.58
3	Ken Middleditch		Poole Pirates	10.03
5	Tommy Miller		Coventry Bees	9.90
4	Bob Roger		Swindon Robins	9.58

Shields

Southern Shield Team PL W D L Pts Bristol 14 11 0 3 22 Exeter 14 10 0 4 20 Poole 13 8 0 5 16 Swindon 14 8 0 6 16 Rayleigh 14 6 0 8 12 Oxford 14 5 0 9 10 Southampton 14 4 0 10 8 Plymouth 13 3 0 10 6

Northern Shield Team PL W D L Pts Lanarkshire 8 6 0 2 12 Coventry 8 5 1 2 11 Edinburgh 8 3 1 4 7 Ipswich 8 3 0 5 6 Leicester 8 2 0 6 4

Home \ Away BRI EX OX PLY PP RAY SOT SWI Bristol 58–26 51–33 55–29 59–25 59–24 51–33 53–30 Exeter 47–36 58–26 55–28 49–35 63–21 52–31 51–33 Oxford 52–30 34–49 53–31 45–39 47–37 56–28 37–46 Plymouth 36–48 45–39 51–33 – 37–47 44–39 31–53 Poole 56–28 49–35 49–35 46–38 49–35 59–25 55–29 Rayleigh 40–44 54–30 45–39 46–38 35–46 51–33 50–32 So'ton 41–43 40–44 48–36 44–40 44–40 63–21 40–44 Swindon 33–51 31–53 46–38 61–22 53–31 48–36 52–32 Source: [10] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Home \ Away COV ED GLA IPS LAN LEI WOL Coventry 57–27 n/a 52–32 40–43 50–34 64–20 Edinburgh 42–42 47–36 48–35 43–40 51–33 n/a Glasgow 32–51 38–45 n/a n/a n/a n/a Ipswich 47–37 54–30 48–36 32–52 46–38 n/a Lanarkshire 41–43 55–29 58–25 55–29 66–18 n/a Leicester 40–44 54–30 47–37 52–32 35–49 59–25 Wolves 30–54 49–35 n/a n/a 28–56 38.5–44.5 Source: [11] Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Riders' Championship

Ken Middleditch won the National League Division Two Rider's Championship. The final was held at Hyde Road on 16 October. ^{[12] [13]}

Pos.	Rider	Pts
1	Ken Middleditch	14
2	Ian Williams	13
=3	Bob Roger	11
=3	Terry Small	11
=3	Peter Robinson	11

National Trophy

For the National Trophy see the 1954 Speedway National League.

Midland Cup

For the Midland Cup see the 1954 Speedway National League.

Riders and final averages

Bristol

• Dick Bradley 10.58
• Jack Unstead 8.71
• Billy Hole 8.28
• Chum Taylor 7.25
• Tom Oakley 7.14
• Johnny Hole 6.03
• Roy Taylor 5.60
• Geoff Pymar 5.31
• Chris Boss 4.35
• Harry Serrurier 3.20
• Cliff Cox 2.86

Coventry

• Tommy Miller 9.90
• Charlie New 9.45
• Peter Reason 6.86
• Jim Lightfoot 6.61
• Johnny Reason 6.56
• Vic Emms 5.58
• Reg Duval 5.60
• Jack Hughes 5.38
• Les Tolley 5.20
• Derrick Tailby 4.30
• Bob Mark 4.92
• Peter Brough 3.00
• Jack Wright 2.33

Edinburgh (withdrew)

• Dick Campbell 9.87
• Don Cuppleditch 8.53
• Roy Bester 8.00
• Bert Clark 5.43
• Alf McIntosh 4.80
• Jimmy Cox 4.50
• Bob Mark 4.00
• Eddie Lack 4.00
• Bob Fletcher 3.73

Exeter

• Jack Geran 8.57
• Goog Hoskin 8.20
• Hugh Geddes 7.67
• John Hart 6.86
• Neil Street 6.55
• Alf Webster 5.94
• Vic Gent 5.93
• Don Hardy 5.13
• Johnny Sargeant 5.03
• Kevin Bock 3.33

Ipswich

• Junior Bainbridge 9.32
• Bert Edwards 8.85
• Dick Campbell 8.45
• Bob Sharp 6.38
• Tich Read (George Snailum) 6.31
• Reg Reeves 6.08
• Johnny Chamberlain 5.89
• Nobby Stock 5.44
• Dennis Day 5.33
• Len Silver 5.04
• Sid Clark 5.03
• Doug Papworth 3.68

Lanarkshire

• Derick Close 9.30
• Tommy Miller 7.70
• Ron Phillips 7.59
• Gordon McGregor 6.29
• Larry Lazarus 6.07
• Scott Hall 6.00
• Bluey Scott 5.96
• Johnny Green 5.46
• Cyril Cooper 4.95
• Doug Templeton 3.20

Leicester

• Ken McKinlay 10.88
• Roy Bester 8.25
• Jock Grierson 7.61
• Dennis Gray 6.53
• Reg Fearman 6.38
• Don Potter 6.26
• Bill Griffiths 5.93
• Len Williams 5.33
• Alf Parker 5.09
• Charlie Barsby 4.94
• Lionel Watling (James Goldingay) 3.05

Oxford

• Peter Robinson 8.85
• Ronnie Genz 8.10
• Bob Baker 6.34
• Bill Thatcher 6.30
• Kid Curtis 5.73
• Bill Osborne 5.71
• Bob Wells 5.45
• Frank Johnson 5.24
• Jim Gregory 4.87
• Bob McFarlane 4.86
• Dennis Newton 4.44

Plymouth (withdrew)

• Pete Lansdale 9.00
• Alan Smith 8.50
• Vic Gent 7.33
• Bill Thatcher 7.00
• Ken Holmes 7.00
• George Wall 5.14
• Harold Bull 4.79
• Kevin Hayden 4.26
• Jack Gates 4.00
• Hec Mayhead 4.00
• Kevin Bock 3.80

Poole

• Ken Middleditch 10.03
• Bill Holden 9.26
• Jimmy Squibb 7.76
• Terry Small 6.92
• Tony Lewis 6.55
• Johnny Thomson 6.78
• Allan Kidd 6.05
• Norman Strachan 5.50
• Vern McWilliams 3.20
• Fred Perkins 0.57

Rayleigh

• Gerry Jackson 8.43
• Peter Clark 8.20
• Les McGillivray 7.37
• Maury McDermott 5.81
• Pete Lansdale 5.46
• Tom O'Connor 4.73
• Frank Bettis 4.49
• Jules Benson 3.78
• George Wall 3.53
• Alby Smith 2.93
• Norman Street 2.00

Southampton

• Charlie May 7.33
• Brian Hanham 6.92
• Brian McKeown 6.82
• Johnny Fitzparick 6.62
• Ken Adams 6.46
• Ernie Rawlins 6.22
• Maury Mattingley 5.59
• Ernie Brecknell (Ernest Blight) 5.41
• Gerald Pugh 1.33

Swindon

• Bob Roger 9.58
• Mick Holland 8.00
• George White 6.79
• Ron Swaine 6.63
• Danny Malone 6.32
• Ian Williams 6.26
• Bob Jones 5.49
• Ray Harris 5.28
• Gordon Leigh 4.15

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References

1. "1954 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
2. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
3. "Speedway promoters receive another blow" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 April 1954. Retrieved 25 April 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Speedway Club out of League" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 May 1954. Retrieved 25 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Bulldogs win Div. II Title by Four Points" . Bristol Evening Post. 2 October 1954. Retrieved 5 October 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Ipswich out to stop Bulldogs Double at Knowle tonight" . Bristol Evening Post. 6 August 1954. Retrieved 24 June 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Eagles beat Monarchs To Win Speedway Shield" . Edinburgh Evening News. 5 June 1954. Retrieved 24 June 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Meadowbank closing down" . Edinburgh Evening News. 5 July 1954. Retrieved 21 April 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "1954 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
10. "1954 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
11. "1954 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
12. "Last Night's Speedway" . The People. 17 October 1954. Retrieved 13 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "CLUB HISTORY: 1950S". Swindon Speedway. Retrieved 13 June 2023.