1956 Speedway National League

1956 Speedway National League

League	National League
No. of competitors	7
Champions	Wimbledon Dons
National Trophy	Wimbledon Dons
Highest average	Barry Briggs
Division/s below	National League (Div 2) 1956 Southern Area League
← 1955 1957 →

The 1956 National League Division One was the 22nd season and eleventh post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. ^[1]

Summary

The league consisted of seven teams after the West Ham Hammers ceased competitive speedway racing at the end of 1955. ^[2] Poole Pirates came up from the second tier to replace them. Match line-ups were increased to eight riders after a single season with seven riders. Wimbledon won their third successive National League Championship. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Norwich Stars rider Malcolm Flood died on 2 April, at Poole. The 25-year-old rider suffered fatal injuries despite an earlier warning from the race steward that he was riding too erratically into the bends. ^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	24	17	1	6	35
2	Wembley Lions	24	14	1	9	29
3	Birmingham Brummies	24	12	1	11	25
4	Norwich Stars	24	10	4	10	24
5	Belle Vue Aces	24	11	1	12	23
6	Poole Pirates	24	9	2	13	20
7	Bradford Tudors	24	6	0	18	12

Fixtures & results

A fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	BRA	NOR	PP	WEM	WIM
Belle Vue		45–39	42–39	42–42	57–27	54–30	47–36
Birmingham	45–39		48–35	48–36	61–23	33–50	42–42
Bradford	50–33	43–41		37–47	55–28	32–52	33–51
Norwich	53–30	27–57	50–34		42–42	42–42	37–47
Poole	49–32	54–30	55–29	43–41		55–29	48–36
Wembley	61–23	50–33	57–27	48–35	45–39		38–46
Wimbledon	49–35	51–32	56–28	64–20	51–33	48–36

Source: ^[7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	BRA	NOR	PP	WEM	WIM
Belle Vue		60–23	55–29	44–40	53–31	37–47	36–47
Birmingham	44–40		51–33	41–43	51–33	50–32	56–28
Bradford	39–45	41–43		46–38	43–41	35–49	43–41
Norwich	39–44	50–34	60–24		56–28	52–32	43–41
Poole	46–38	40–44	53–31	42–42		55–29	41–43
Wembley	54–30	46–38	63–20	41–43	51–32		44–40
Wimbledon	53–30	61–23	50–34	51–33	50–34	49–35

Source: ^[8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Barry Briggs		Wimbledon	10.53
2	Ove Fundin		Norwich	10.34
3	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.32
4	Brian Crutcher		Wembley	10.16
5	Alan Hunt		Birmingham	9.53
6	Peter Moore		Wimbledon	9.20
7	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	9.07
8	Jack Biggs		Poole	8.71
9	Dick Fisher		Belle Vue	8.40
10	Ron Johnston		Belle Vue	8.38

National Trophy Stage Two

The 1956 National Trophy was the 19th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of two stages; stage one was for the second-tier clubs, stage two was for the top-tier clubs. Wimbledon won the second and final stage and were therefore declared the 1956 National Trophy champions. ^[9]

• For Stage One - see Stage One

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
26/07	Wembley	60-47	Birmingham
24/07	Southampton	64-44	Norwich
21/07	Belle Vue	72-36	Poole
21/07	Birmingham	61-47	Wembley
21/07	Bradford Odsal	38-70	Wimbledon
21/07	Norwich	77-31	Southampton
16/07	Poole	54-54	Belle Vue
16/07	Wimbledon	79-29	Bradford Odsal

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/09	Belle Vue	83-25	Birmingham
17/08	Birmingham	64-44	Belle Vue
13/08	Wimbledon	68-40	Norwich
04/08	Norwich	56-52	Wimbledon

Final

First leg

8 September 1956

Belle Vue Aces Peter Craven 17 Dick Fisher 17 Peter Williams 9 Bob Duckworth 8 Ron Johnston 6 Ken Sharples 5 Tink Maynard 3 Brian Craven 3	68 – 39	Wimbledon Dons Peter Moore 10 Ronnie Moore 8 Barry Briggs 8 Ron How 4 Cyril Maidment 4 Alf Hagon 3 Bob Andrews 3 Cyril Brine 0
	[10]

Hyde Road Stadium

Second leg

10 September 1956

Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 16 Peter Moore 14 Barry Briggs 11 Cyril Maidment 9 Cyril Brine 9 Ron How 6 Alf Hagon 3 Bob Andrews 1	69 – 39	Belle Vue Aces Peter Craven 12 Ron Johnston 8 Alf Webster 5 Peter Williams 4 Bob Duckworth 3 Ken Sharples 3 Brian Craven 3 Dick Fisher 1
	[10]

Wimbledon Stadium

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 108–107.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Craven 9.07
• Ron Johnston 8.38
• Dick Fisher 8.40
• Bob Duckworth 7.39
• Ken Sharples 6.74
• Brian Craven 6.29
• Alf Webster 5.48
• Slant Payling 5.47
• Tink Maynard 5.26
• Peter Williams 3.90
• Fred Rogers 4.13
• Frank Johnson 3.60

Birmingham

• Alan Hunt 9.53
• Doug Davies 8.22
• Eric Boothroyd 7.74
• Ron Mountford 7.48
• Jim Tolley 5.16
• Neil Mortimer 5.15
• Harry Bastable 4.63
• Arthur Duncan 3.90
• Derrick Tailby 2.89

Bradford

• Arthur Forrest 7.64
• Nigel Boocock 6.31
• Arthur Wright 5.98
• Guy Allott 5.68
• Eddie Rigg 5.60
• Jimmy Gooch 5.49
• Ron Clarke 4.96
• Des Haswell 4.90
• Al Allison 4.00
• Dent Oliver 3.06

Norwich

• Ove Fundin 10.34
• Aub Lawson 7.83
• Gerry Hussey 7.60
• Phil Clarke 6.43
• Billy Bales 6.30
• Harry Edwards 5.91
• Geoff Pymar 5.78
• Reg Trott 5.03
• Fred Brand 4.88
• Peter Atkins 4.36
• Derek Strutt 1.50

Poole

• Jack Biggs 8.71
• Cyril Roger 7.76
• Ken Middleditch 7.60
• Jack Geran 6.00
• Jimmy Squibb 5.95
• Bill Holden 5.33
• Terry Small 5.31
• Alan Kidd 5.05
• Bert Roger 4.67
• Norman Strachan 3.83

Wembley

• Brian Crutcher 10.16
• Tommy Price 7.54
• Eric French 7.43
• Split Waterman 7.36
• Jimmy Gooch 6.86
• Mike Broadbank 6.43
• Trevor Redmond 6.29
• Ray Cresp 5.88
• Freddie Williams 5.14
• Merv Hannam 2.67

Wimbledon

• Barry Briggs 10.53
• Ronnie Moore 10.32
• Peter Moore 9.20
• Ron How 7.88
• Cyril Brine 6.47
• Bob Andrews 5.38
• Alf Hagon 4.94
• Gil Goldfinch 2.56

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "London Loses Another Speedway Side" . Daily Herald. 21 February 1956. Retrieved 26 February 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
6. "Speedway rider died after warning" . Birmingham Daily Post. 10 April 1956. Retrieved 13 August 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "1956 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
8. "1956 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
9. "1956 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
10. "1956 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.