1961 Speedway National League

1961 Speedway National League

League	National League
No. of competitors	10
Champions	Wimbledon Dons
National Trophy	Southampton Saints
Highest average	Ove Fundin
Division/s below	1961 Provincial League
← 1960 1962 →

The 1961 National League was the 27th season and the sixteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. ^[1]

Summary

The entry list was identical to the previous year and although Wimbledon Dons won their seventh title in eight years, it would be their last. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	18	15	0	3	30
2	Southampton Saints	18	13	2	3	28
3	Coventry Bees	18	10	1	7	21
4	Belle Vue Aces	18	10	0	8	20
5	Swindon Robins	18	8	0	10	16
6	Ipswich Witches	18	7	1	10	15
7	Norwich Stars	18	7	0	11	14
8	New Cross Rangers	18	7	0	11	14
9	Oxford Cheetahs	18	6	1	11	13
10	Leicester Hunters	18	4	1	13	9

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	BV	COV	IPS	LEI	NC	NOR	OX	SOT	SWI	WIM
Belle Vue		57–21	44–34	52–26	60–17	40–38	48–30	44–34	43–35	48–30
Coventry	45–33		46–32	50–28	46–32	41–37	40–38	39–39	54–24	43–35
Ipswich	40–38	43–35		44–33	51–27	50–28	51–27	36–41	42–36	34–44
Leicester	35–43	34–44	39–39		46–32	40–38	42–36	36–42	50–28	37–41
New Cross	41–37	47–31	55–23	54–24		51–27	44–34	31–45	44–33	34–44
Norwich	40–38	37–41	46.5–31.5	49–29	55–23		43–23	45–33	52–26	37–41
Oxford	45–33	59–19	40–38	51–27	48–30	41–37		39–39	32–46	33–45
Southampton	42–36	53–25	49–29	56–22	56–22	53–25	45–33		42–36	49–29
Swindon	45–33	47–31	41–37	44–34	54–24	45–33	48–30	37–41		34–44
Wimbledon	44–34	53–25	51–27	61–17	60–18	54–24	52–26	49–29	53–24

Source: ^[5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top ten averages (league only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ove Fundin		Norwich	11.51
2	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	11.17
3	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	10.95
4	Björn Knutson		Southampton	10.79
5	Arne Pander		Oxford	10.60
6	Barry Briggs		Southampton	10.13
7	Ron How		Wimbledon	10.05
8	Ron Johnston		Belle Vue	10.00
9	Ken McKinlay		Leicester	9.57
10	Bob Duckworth		Belle Vue	9.48

National Trophy

The 1961 National Trophy was the 23rd edition of the Knockout Cup. Southampton were the winners. ^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
15/06	Oxford	43-40	Southampton
13/06	Southampton	58-26	Oxford
10/06	Belle Vue	55-28	New Cross
07/06	New Cross	46-37	Belle Vue

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
17/08	Ipswich	44-40	Coventry
09/08	Norwich	43-40	Swindon
08/08	Southampton	52-32	Belle Vue
29/07	Belle Vue	47-37	Southampton
24/07	Wimbledon	46-38	Norwich
22/07	Norwich	52-32	Wimbledon
22/07	Swindon	66-18	Leicester
21/07	Leicester	38-45	Swindon

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/09	Swindon	56-28	Norwich
29/08	Southampton	57-27	Coventry
26/08	Coventry	49-35	Southampton
09/08	Norwich	43-40	Swindon

Final

First leg

19 September 1961

Southampton Saints Björn Knutson 15 Barry Briggs 14 Dick Bradley 9 Alby Golden 6 Peter Vandenberg 4 Cyril Roger 4 Chum Taylor 3	55 – 29	Swindon Robins Tadeusz Teodorowicz 7 Neil Street 6 Ian Williams 5 Brian Brett 4 George White 4 Mike Broadbank 2 Brian Meredith 1
	[7]

Banister Court Stadium

Second leg

23 September 1961

Swindon Robins Tadeusz Teodorowicz 9 Mike Broadbank 8 George White 8 Brian Meredith 5 Ian Williams 4 Brian Brett 4 Neil Street 3	41 – 43	Southampton Saints Björn Knutson 15 Barry Briggs 13 Chum Taylor 8 Peter Vandenberg 4 Dick Bradley 3 Cyril Roger 0 Alby Golden 0
	[7]

Abbey Stadium

Southampton were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 98–70.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Peter Craven 10.95
• Ron Johnston 10.00
• Bob Duckworth 9.48
• Dick Fisher 7.30
• Jack Kitchen 5.90
• Slant Payling 3.60
• Jim Yacoby 3.25
• Bryce Subritzky 3.21
• Bill Powell 2.67
• Peter Kelly 2.00

Coventry

• Nigel Boocock 7.84
• Jack Young 7.73
• Les Owen 7.44
• Nick Nicholls 6.00
• Ron Mountford 5.97
• Kazimierz Bentke 5.10
• Maury Mattingley 4.00
• Jim Lightfoot 4.15

Ipswich

• Peter Moore 8.90
• Ray Cresp 8.39
• Jimmy Squibb 6.36
• Les McGillivray 6.34
• Colin Gooddy 5.85
• Jack Unstead 5.07
• Trevor Blokdyk 4.12
• Len Silver 4.00
• Dennis Day 2.29

Leicester

• Ken McKinlay 9.57
• Paweł Waloszek 6.92
• Jack Geran 6.47
• Bryan Elliott 5.39
• Charlie Barsby 5.33
• Alf Hagon 4.12
• Guy Allott 3.24
• Dave Hankins 2.72
• Neil Mortimer 2.61

New Cross

• Split Waterman 8.06
• Tommy Sweetman 8.00
• Doug Davies 6.96
• Eric Williams 6.54
• Jimmy Gooch 6.44
• Leo McAuliffe 6.17
• Reg Luckhurst 4.96
• Bengt Brannefors 4.00
• Johnny Fitzpatrick 4.33
• Bobby Croombs 3.75

Norwich

• Ove Fundin 11.51
• Johnny Chamberlain 7.77
• Billy Bales 7.67
• Dennis Newton 5.48
• Derek Strutt 4.80
• Reg Trott 4.37
• John Debbage 3.90
• Kurt W. Petersen 3.45
• Terry Betts 2.50
• Harry Edwards 2.40
• Trevor Hedge 0.00

Oxford

• Arne Pander 10.60
• Jack Biggs 8.72
• Ronnie Genz 8.16
• Gordon McGregor 6.56
• Howdy Byford 5.33
• Danny Dunton 5.27
• Reg Duval 3.72
• Jim Tebby 3.48
• George Major 1.85
• Roy Bowers 1.68

Southampton

• Björn Knutson 10.79
• Barry Briggs 10.13
• Jack Scott 8.80
• Chum Taylor 7.83
• Cyril Roger 6.73
• Dick Bradley 5.59
• Ross Gilbertson 5.00
• Alby Golden 4.55
• Peter Vandenberg 4.29

Swindon

• Neil Street 7.83
• George White 7.82
• Tadeusz Teodorowicz 7.52
• Mike Broadbank 6.96
• Ian Williams 6.22
• Arne Carlsson 6.00
• Martin Ashby 6.00
• Brian Meredith 5.39
• Brian Brett 4.85
• Bob Roger 1.00

Wimbledon

• Ronnie Moore 11.17
• Ron How 10.05
• Bob Andrews 9.04
• Jim Tebby 7.33
• Cyril Maidment 7.17
• Cyril Brine 7.14
• Gerald Jackson 5.58
• Gil Goldfinch 5.10
• Roy Trigg 0.00

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. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
5. "1961 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
6. "1961 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
7. "1961 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.