1957 Speedway National League

1957 Speedway National League

League	National League
No. of competitors	11
Champions	Swindon Robins
Highest average	Peter Craven
Division/s below	1957 Southern Area League
← 1956 1958 →

The 1957 National League was the 23rd season and the twelfth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. ^[1]

Summary

The closure of Wembley Lions, Bradford Tudors and Poole Pirates left the league with only four teams, so the seven sides in Division Two merged to make an eleven-team first tier and so Division Two became defunct. ^{[2] [3]}

Bradford Tudors returned to replace Birmingham Brummies mid-season (in early August) ^{[4] [5]} and Swindon Robins followed up their Division Two title in 1956 with the Division One title in 1957. ^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Swindon Robins	20	15	1	4	31
2	Belle Vue Aces	20	15	0	5	30
3	Wimbledon Dons	20	12	0	8	24
4	Norwich Stars	20	11	0	9	22
5	Leicester Hunters	20	10	1	9	21
6	Southampton Saints	20	9	0	11	18
7	Bradford Tudors*	20	9	0	11	18
8	Coventry Bees	20	9	0	11	18
9	Oxford Cheetahs	20	7	1	12	15
10	Ipswich Witches	20	6	0	14	12
11	Rayleigh Rockets	20	5	1	14	11

• Bradford Tudors replaced Birmingham Brummies mid-season.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	11.18
2	Ove Fundin		Norwich	10.38
3	Bob Roger		Swindon	10.27
4	Ron Johnston		Belle Vue	10.27
5	Barry Briggs		Wimbledon	10.00
6	Ken McKinlay		Leicester	9.77
7	Brian Crutcher		Southampton	9.76
8	Aub Lawson		Norwich	9.73
9	Peter Moore		Ipswich	9.64
10	Dick Bradley		Southampton	9.48

National Trophy

The National Trophy was not held during 1957.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Craven 11.18
• Ron Johnston 10.27
• Bob Duckworth 6.92
• Eddie Rigg 6.78
• Dick Fisher 6.00
• Tink Maynard 5.60
• Peter Williams 4.71
• Slant Payling 3.73
• Brian Craven 3.24
• Lew Grepp 0.73

Bradford/Birmingham

• Dan Forsberg 9.42
• Nigel Boocock 7.92
• Ron Clarke 7.84
• Eric Boothroyd 7.37/6.78
• Ron Mountford 7.23
• Arthur Forrest 7.15
• Al Allison 5.21
• Guy Allott 5.19/4.93
• Jim Tolley 5.05
• Trevor Redmond 4.76
• Harry Bastable 4.00
• Derrick Tailby 3.20

Coventry

• Per Olof Söderman 8.43
• Ron Mountford 8.07
• Jim Lightfoot 6.53
• Charlie New 6.34
• Reg Duval 6.04
• Les Owen 4.00
• Nick Nicholls 3.35
• Jim Tolley 3.31
• Eric Hockaday 3.07
• Arthur Wright 2.81
• Bob Mark 2.30

Ipswich

• Peter Moore 9.64
• Cyril Roger 9.13
• Aage Hansen 8.17
• Bob Sharp 6.04
• Bert Edwards 5.36
• Junior Bainbridge 4.67
• Jimmy Gooch 4.09
• Wal Morton 3.79
• Danny Dunton 3.84
• Johnny Fitzpatrick 3.03
• Len Silver 2.82
• Ken Last 1.00

Leicester

• Ken McKinlay 9.77
• Rune Sörmander 8.40
• Jack Geran 8.04
• Alf Hagon 6.71
• Harry Bastable 6.47
• Al Allison 4.67
• Charlie Barsby 3.88
• Bryan Elliott 3.31
• Reg Fearman 3.25
• Vic Hall 1.54
• Des Haswell 0.62

Norwich

• Ove Fundin 10.38
• Aub Lawson 9.73
• Phil Clarke 9.41
• Billy Bales 7.60
• Harry Edwards 5.87
• Geoff Pymar 3.91
• Derek Strutt 3.68
• Dave Hankins 2.75
• Reg Trott 2.58
• Barry East 2.33
• Wal Morton 2.05

Oxford

• Jack Biggs 8.38
• Gordon McGregor 6.92
• Ronnie Genz 7.81
• Dennis Newton 6.29
• Roy Bowers 5.51
• Howdy Byford 5.10
• Ray Cresp 5.00
• Maury McDermott 4.00
• Frank Johnson 3.64

Rayleigh

• Les McGillivray 8.00
• Jack Unstead 6.93
• Birger Forsberg 6.38
• Ken Adams 5.98
• Eric French 5.97
• Peter Clark 5.91
• Pete Lansdale 5.40
• Maury McDermott 3.72

Southampton

• Brian Crutcher 9.76
• Dick Bradley 9.48
• Brian Hanham 7.17
• Alby Golden 6.00
• Maury Mattingley 5.68
• Bill Holden 5.54
• Jimmy Squibb 5.03
• Johnny Hole 5.06

Swindon

• Bob Roger 10.27
• George White 8.61
• Ian Williams 8.17
• Ken Middleditch 7.54
• Neil Street 6.70
• Ernie Lessiter 6.44
• Al Sparrey 6.40
• Mike Broadbank 5.21

Wimbledon

• Barry Briggs 10.00
• Ron How 8.31
• Ronnie Moore 8.00
• Gerald Jackson 7.29
• Cyril Maidment 6.52
• Cyril Brine 6.04
• Split Waterman 5.86
• Gerry King 4.00
• Ivan Mauger 4.00
• Bob Andrews 3.76

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
3. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
4. "This was Birmingham Speedway" . Sports Argus. 3 August 1957. Retrieved 5 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Norwich depleted" . Leicester Evening Mail. 1 August 1957. Retrieved 5 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.