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.

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	BV	BB	COV	IPS	LEI	NOR	OX	RAY	SOT	SWI	WIM
Belle Vue		58–38	60–36	58–38	61–35	63–33	60–36	64–32	57–39	55–41	58–38
Birmingham/Bradford	20–22		67–29	55–41	61–35	52–44	58–37	62–34	57–39	66–30	49–47
Coventry	44–51	50–46		63–32	55–41	49–47	60–36	55–41	52–44	49–47	49–47
Ipswich	45–51	59–37	53–43		41–55	46–50	54–41	67–29	48–47	47–49	46–50
Leiceter	52–44	56–40	54–42	42–54		52–44	58–38	56–39	58–34	48–48	62–34
Norwich	47–49	59–37	68–28	69–27	52–44		61–35	59–37	42–54	50–46	62–34
Oxford	50–46	53–43	54–42	50–46	46–50	47–49		57–34	51–44	37–59	34–62
Raleigh	44–52	67–29	62–34	56–40	62–34	46–50	48–48		47–49	38–58	39–56
Southampton	67–29	59–37	72–24	71–25	65–31	51–45	50–46	46–50		47–49	47–48
Swindon	63–33	77–19	70–26	61–35	64–32	51–45	61–35	63–33	62–34		55–41
Wimbledon	52–43	65–31	58–38	54–42	53–43	57–39	46–49	55–41	53–43	47–49

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

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 and 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.
7. "1957 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 January 2025.