1958 Speedway National League

1958 Speedway National League

League	National League
No. of competitors	10
Champions	Wimbledon Dons
National Trophy	Belle Vue Aces
Highest average	Ove Fundin
← 1957 1959 →

The 1958 National League was the 24th season and the thirteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. ^[1]

Summary

Bradford Tudors who had dropped out at the start of the previous season only to return in mid-season, had dropped out again. Promoter Vic Gooden moved the entire promotion and team of Rayleigh Rockets to Poole Pirates. ^[2]

Wimbledon Dons won their fourth title in five years. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	18	12	2	4	26
2	Norwich Stars	18	12	0	6	24
3	Southampton Saints	18	11	0	7	22
4	Leicester Hunters	18	11	0	7	22
5	Belle Vue Aces	18	10	0	8	20
6	Swindon Robins	18	10	0	8	20
7	Coventry Bees	18	9	1	8	19
8	Oxford Cheetahs	18	5	2	11	12
9	Poole Pirates	18	6	0	12	12
10	Ipswich Witches	18	1	1	16	3

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	BV	COV	IPS	LEI	NOR	OX	PP	SOT	SWI	WIM
Belle Vue		52–44	63–33	63–33	57–39	66–30	73–23	65–31	47–48	51–45
Coventry	57–39		69–26	47–49	51–45	64–32	45–51	53–43	61–35	44–52
Ipswich	45–51	38–58		45–51	39–57	45–51	59–37	42–54	46–50	48–48
Leicester	46–50	58–38	61–35		58–38	56–40	52–44	52–44	49–47	54–42
Norwich	54–42	62–34	59–37	54–42		61–35	65–31	58–38	59–37	50–46
Oxford	50–46	48–48	54–42	46–50	46–49		53–43	55–40	47–49	48–48
Poole	54–42	39–57	56–40	48–47	30–66	58–38		45–51	49–47	33–63
Southampton	67–29	60–36	71–25	54–42	51–45	63–33	56–40		55–41	49–47
Swindon	56–40	41–54	66–30	57–39	50–46	56–40	66–30	56–40		42–54
Wimbledon	64–32	63–33	64–32	66–30	58–38	59–37	53–43	54–42	65–31

Source: ^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ove Fundin		Norwich	11.60
2	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	11.00
3	Ken McKinlay		Leicester	10.82
4	Barry Briggs		Wimbledon	10.43
5	Brian Crutcher		Southampton	10.03
6	Jack Young		Coventry	10.02
7	Peter Moore		Ipswich	9.73
8	Jack Biggs		Poole	9.69
9	Ron How		Wimbledon	9.47
10	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.09

National Trophy

The 1958 National Trophy was the 20th edition of the Knockout Cup. Belle Vue were the winners. ^[7]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
30/05	Leicester	65-54	Southampton
29/05	Oxford	58-61	Poole
27/05	Southampton	84-36	Leicester
26/05	Poole	60-60	Oxford

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
03/07	Ipswich	42-77	Swindon
30/06	Poole	49-71	Belle Vue
30/06	Wimbledon	67-53	Norwich
28/06	Belle Vue	80-40	Poole
28/06	Coventry	57-63	Southampton
28/06	Norwich	72-48	Wimbledon
28/06	Swindon	78-42	Ipswich
24/06	Southampton	78-42	Coventry

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
16/08	Norwich	69-51	Swindon
12/08	Southampton	60-59	Belle Vue
09/08	Belle Vue	77-43	Southampton
09/08	Swindon	60-60	Norwich

Final

First leg

11 September 1958

Belle Vue Aces Peter Craven 16 Ron Johnston 11 Dick Fisher 9 Eddie Rigg 8 Bob Duckworth 7 Bob McHugh 7 Slant Payling 6 Tink Maynard 4 Graham Beattie 4 Jack Kitchen 2	74 – 45	Norwich Stars Ove Fundin 16 Phil Clarke 8 Billy Bales 8 Aub Lawson 5 John Chamberlain 3 Clive Featherby 2 Dennis Newton 2 Jimmy Heard 1 Tommy Sweetman 0 Harry Edwards 0
	[8]

Hyde Road Stadium

Second leg

13 September 1958

Norwich Stars Ove Fundin 16 Billy Bales 10 Aub Lawson 5 Phil Clarke 4 Harry Edwards 4 John Chamberlain 8 Clive Featherby 4 Jimmy Heard 3 Tommy Sweetman 3 Dennis Newton 1	58 – 62	Belle Vue Aces Ron Johnston 10 Bob Duckworth 7 Peter Craven 15 Slant Payling 10 Dick Fisher 10 Tink Maynard 4 Eddie Rigg 2 Jack Kitchen 0 Graham Beattie 3 Bob McHugh 1
	[8]

The Firs Stadium

Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 136–103.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Craven 11.00
• Ron Johnston 7.90
• Dick Fisher 7.76
• Slant Payling 6.45
• Eddie Rigg 6.41
• Bob Duckworth 6.40
• Tink Maynard 5.33
• Peter Williams 5.28
• Jack Kitchen 1.25
• Graham Beattie 0.80

Coventry

• Jack Young 10.02
• Arthur Forrest 8.00
• Per Olof Söderman 7.78
• Jim Lightfoot 6.88
• Ron Mountford 6.64
• Maury Mattingley 5.47
• Reg Duval 4.89
• Nick Nicholls 4.46
• Les Owen 2.62

Ipswich

• Peter Moore 9.73
• Ray Cresp 6.39
• Nigel Boocock 4.93
• Tich Read (George Snailum) 3.89
• Jim Tebby 3.89
• Danny Dunton 3.81
• Bob Sharp 3.58
• Bert Edwards 3.50
• Jimmy Gooch 3.00

Leicester

• Ken McKinlay 10.82
• Jack Geran 9.08
• Gerry Hussey 7.65
• Bryan Elliott 5.46
• Alf Hagon 4.62
• Charlie Barsby 4.38
• Harry Bastable 3.89
• Guy Allott 2.86

Norwich

• Ove Fundin 11.60
• Aub Lawson 9.08
• Billy Bales 8.20
• Phil Clarke 7.19
• Dennis Newton 7.03
• Harry Edwards 5.44
• Johnny Chamberlain 4.76
• Reg Trott 4.30
• Arne Hendriksen 3.48
• Tich Read (George Snailum) 3.20
• Derek Strutt 2.35
• Clive Featherby 0.00

Oxford

• Charlie New 7.40
• Gordon McGregor 7.26
• Howdy Byford 6.75
• Ronnie Genz 6.48
• Arthur Wright 6.43
• Reg Duval 5.37
• Eric Boothroyd 5.35
• Dennis Newton 5.14
• Roy Bowers 4.24
• Colin Gooddy 2.00
• Brian Miller 1.60

Poole

• Jack Biggs 9.69
• Birger Forsberg 7.11
• Les McGillivray 6.23
• Ken Middleditch 6.12
• Jack Unstead 5.75
• Trevor Blokdyk 4.76
• Ken Adams 4.48
• Bill Holden 4.31
• Terry Small 3.91
• Maury McDermott 3.16

Southampton

• Brian Crutcher 10.03
• Dick Bradley 8.39
• Chum Taylor 7.73
• Split Waterman 7.47
• Brian Hanham 6.57
• Jimmy Squibb 6.33
• Alby Golden 5.74
• Leo McAuliffe 5.60
• Johnny Hole 5.25
• Ron Walton 3.67
• Brian Brett 3.40

Swindon

• George White 8.36
• Ian Williams 8.34
• Mike Broadbank 8.32
• Neil Street 8.00
• Roy Taylor 6.15
• Al Sparrey 4.47
• Ernie Lessiter 3.89
• Maury Conway 2.62
• Roy Moreton 2.48

Wimbledon

• Barry Briggs 10.43
• Ron How 9.47
• Ronnie Moore 9.09
• Gerald Jackson 6.76
• Cyril Maidment 6.73
• Cyril Brine 6.41
• Bob Andrews 5.82
• Gerry King 1.09

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "Speedway" . Sunday Mirror. 5 January 1958. Retrieved 20 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. "1958 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
7. "1958 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
8. "1958 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.