1948 Speedway National League Division Two

1948 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors9
ChampionsBristol Bulldogs
National Trophy (Div 2 final)Birmingham Brummies
Highest averageFred Tuck
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowNational League (Div 3)

The 1948 National League Division Two was the third post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Edinburgh Monarchs were new participants as the league was extended to 9 teams.[1]

Bristol Bulldogs were crowned champions, whilst Wigan Warriors were replaced by Fleetwood Flyers after just 3 away matches with their entire team transferring.[2]

32-year-old Bill Wilson of the Middlesbrough Bears was fatally injured, on 3 July at Norwich and died two days later in hospital.[3][4]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Bristol Bulldogs 32 23 0 9 46
2 Birmingham Brummies 32 20 1 11 41
3 Middlesbrough Bears 32 18 2 12 38
4 Sheffield Tigers 32 17 1 14 35
5 Norwich Stars 32 17 0 15 34
6 Glasgow White City Tigers 32 14 3 15 31
7 Newcastle Diamonds 32 11 0 21 22
8 Fleetwood Flyers 32 10 1 21 21
9 Edinburgh Monarchs 32 10 0 22 20

The Anniversary Cup for Division Two was run in a league format. Birmingham Brummies came out on top.

Anniversary Cup (Div 2) Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Birmingham Brummies 16 12 0 4 24
2 Sheffield Tigers 16 9 0 7 16
3 Bristol Bulldogs 16 8 0 8 16
4 Glasgow White City Tigers 16 8 0 8 16
5 Middlesbrough Bears 16 8 0 8 16
6 Norwich Stars 16 7 1 8 15
7 Fleetwood Flyers 16 7 1 8 15
8 Newcastle Diamonds 16 6 0 10 12
9 Edinburgh Monarchs 16 6 0 10 12

Top Five Riders (League only)

[edit]
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Fred Tuck England Bristol 10.20
2 Frank Hodgson England Middlesbrough 9.84
3 Graham Warren Australia Birmingham 9.84
4 Wilf Plant England Middlesbrough/Fleetwood 9.24
5 Jack Hunt New Zealand Newcastle 9.22

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1948 Trophy (sponsored by the Daily Mail) was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup.[5] The Qualifying event for Division 3 teams saw Southampton Saints win the final and qualify for the Elimination event. The Elimination event for Division 2 teams saw Birmingham Brummies win the final and qualify for the Quarter Finals proper.

Elimination Event First Round

Date Team One Score Team Two
19/06 Birmingham 79-29 Southampton
15/06 Southampton 41-66 Birmingham
16/06 Glasgow White City 70-38 Edinburgh
19/06 Edinburgh 62-46 Glasgow White City

Elimination Second Round

Date Team One Score Team Two
17/06 Sheffield 55-53 Norwich
19/06 Norwich 76-32 Sheffield
03/07 Birmingham 80-28 Glasgow White City
23/06 Glasgow White City 45.5-61.5 Birmingham
18/06 Bristol 65-43 Fleetwood
22/06 Fleetwood 69-39 Bristol
14/06 Newcastle 41-65 Middlesbrough
17/06 Middlesbrough 67-40 Newcastle

Elimination Third Round

Date Team One Score Team Two
26/07 Birmingham 75-33 Fleetwood
13/07 Fleetwood 49-59 Birmingham
03/07 Norwich 66-41 Middlesbrough
01/07 Middlesbrough 53-54 Norwich

Elimination Final

[edit]

First leg

Norwich Stars
Aussie Powell 15
Paddy Mills 12
Ted Bravery 9
Geoff Revett 9
Sid Littlewood 9
Phil Clarke 7
Jack Freeman 3
Reg Morgan 0		64 – 43Birmingham Brummies
Graham Warren 15
Charlie May 10
Doug McLachlan 6
Geoff Bennett 5
Buck Whitby 4
Arthur Payne 2
Stan Dell 1
Brian Wilson 0
[6][7]

Second leg

Birmingham Brummies
Graham Warren 15
Arthur Payne 14
Stan Dell 13
Doug McLachlan 9
Brian Wilson 9
Geoff Bennett 8
Charlie May 6
Buck Whitby 5		79 – 28Norwich Stars
Paddy Mills 10
Ossie Powell 5
Phil Clarke 5
Geoff Revett 3
Ted Bravery 2
Sid Littlewood 2
Jack Freeman 1
Reg Morgan 0
[8][7]

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Birmingham

Bristol

Edinburgh

Fleetwood

  • England Wilf Plant 9.47
  • England Dick Geary] 9.03
  • England Norman Hargreaves 7.46
  • England Jack Gordon 6.06
  • England Cyril Cooper 5.68
  • England Reg Lambourne 5.18
  • England Ron Hart 4.70
  • England Ernie Appleby 4.54
  • England Percy Brine 4.14
  • Australia Dick Seers 2.40
  • England Jack Winstanley 1.60

Glasgow

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Norwich

Sheffield

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Norwich the Firs Stadium". National Speedway Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Still unconscious". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 5 July 1948. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "1948 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ "Norwich feat". Weekly Dispatch (London). 1 August 1948. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ a b "Norwich 1948 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Speedway win for Blues". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 3 August 1948. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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