1947 Speedway National League
League | National League Division One |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 7 |
Champions | Wembley Lions |
National Trophy | Belle Vue Aces |
British Speedway Cup | Wembley Lions |
Riders' champion | Jack Parker |
London Cup | New Cross Rangers |
Highest average | Vic Duggan |
Division/s below | National League (Div 2) National League (Div 3) |
The 1947 National League Division One was the 13th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]
Summary
[edit]Harringay Racers rejoined the league. Wembley Lions retained the title. Belle Vue retained the National Trophy.[2][3][4]
Final Table Division One
[edit]Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wembley Lions | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 38 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 31 |
3 | Wimbledon Dons | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 27 |
4 | Odsal Boomerangs | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 21 |
5 | New Cross Rangers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 20 |
6 | West Ham Hammers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 16 |
7 | Harringay Racers | 24 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 15 |
On account of the small number of teams in the league the British Speedway Cup was run in a league format. Wembley Lions won all their matches, home and away, to complete a double.
British Speedway Cup
[edit]Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wembley Lions | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
2 | New Cross Rangers | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
3 | Wimbledon Dons | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
4 | Belle Vue Aces | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
5 | Harringay Racers | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
6 | West Ham Hammers | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
7 | Odsal Boomerangs | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
Top Ten Riders (League only)
[edit]Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vic Duggan | ![]() |
Harringay | 11.54 |
2 | Bill Kitchen | ![]() |
Wembley | 10.74 |
3 | Norman Parker | ![]() |
Wimbledon | 10.35 |
4 | Alec Statham | ![]() |
Odsal | 10.25 |
5 | Tommy Price | ![]() |
Wembley | 10.00 |
6= | Eric Chitty | ![]() |
West Ham | 9.54 |
6= | Malcolm Craven | ![]() |
New Cross | 9.54 |
8 | George Wilks | ![]() |
Wembley | 9.46 |
9 | Eric Langton | ![]() |
Belle Vue | 9.44 |
10 | Jack Parker | ![]() |
Belle Vue | 9.32 |
National Trophy
[edit]The 1947 National Trophy was the tenth edition of the Knockout Cup.[5]
During the National Trophy quarter final match between Wembley and Harringay (on 15 August) the 27-year-old Wembley rider Nelson 'Bronco' Wilson received fatal injuries in the fourth heat. He died in the Prince of Wales Hospital, Tottenham, the following day from a fractured skull.[6] Remarkably another rider Cyril Anderson of the Norwich Stars was killed instantly on the same evening, during the Division Two Best Pairs.[7]
Qualifying Middlesbrough and Norwich qualified for the quarter finals by virtue of finishing 1st & 2nd in the Second Division Cup.
Quarterfinals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
07/08 | Wembley | 61–45 | Harringay |
07/08 | Middlesbrough | 40–68 | Wimbledon |
09/08 | Belle Vue | 67–41 | New Cross |
11/08 | Wimbledon | 77–31 | Middlesbrough |
12/08 | West Ham | 54–54 | Bradford Odsal |
13/08 | New Cross | 61–46 | Belle Vue |
15/08 | Harringay | 47–58 | Wembley |
16/08 | Bradford Odsal | 53–55 | West Ham |
Semifinals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
25/08 | Wimbledon | 59–49 | Belle Vue |
02/09 | West Ham | 55–51 | Wembley |
04/09 | Wembley | 68–40 | West Ham |
06/09 | Belle Vue | 82–25 | Wimbledon |
Final
[edit]First leg
Wembley Lions Tommy Price 14 Bill Kitchen 13 George Wilks 10 Split Waterman 6 Bill Gilbert 6 Bob Wells 5 Charlie May 1 Roy Craighead 0 | 55 – 53 | Belle Vue Aces Eric Langton 13 Jack Parker 13 Louis Lawson 8 Jim Boyd 7 Wally Lloyd 6 Wally Hull 3 Dent Oliver 2 Bill Pitcher 1 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Second leg
Belle Vue Aces Jack Parker 16 Louis Lawson 12 Eric Langton 11 Wally Lloyd 6 Dent Oliver 7 Jim Boyd 6 Wally Hull 4 Bill Pitcher 1 | 63 – 45 | Wembley Lions Bill Kitchen 14 Tommy Price 13 Split Waterman 9 George Wilks 4 Roy Craighead 3 Bob Wells 2 Charlie May 0 Bill Gilbert 0 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 116–100.
Riders' Championship
[edit]Jack Parker won the British Riders' Championship final held at Empire Stadium on 11 September. Parker won the title after a run off and also broke the halfway (2 laps) track record (37.6 secs) in heat 2.[9][10] There were three qualifying rounds, with 28 riders progressing to the Championship round, held over seven meetings.[9]
Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 3 3 2 3 | 14+3 |
2 | ![]() |
3 3 2 3 3 | 14+2 |
3 | ![]() |
2 1 2 3 3 | 11 |
4 | ![]() |
1 2 3 2 2 | 10 |
5 | ![]() |
2 2 2 1 2 | 9 |
6 | ![]() |
3 2 3 F - | 8 |
7 | ![]() |
0 1 3 2 2 | 8 |
8 | ![]() |
1 3 2 1 1 | 8 |
9 | ![]() |
2 2 2 1 1 | 8 |
10 | ![]() |
3 1 1 0 3 | 8 |
11 | ![]() |
2 F 1 3 F | 6 |
12 | ![]() |
1 3 0 2 0 | 6 |
13 | ![]() |
0 3 1 1 1 | 6 |
14 | ![]() |
1 0 1 0 2 | 4 |
15 | ![]() |
0 F F 3 1 | 4 |
16 | ![]() |
1 0 0 1 F | 2 |
16 | ![]() |
0 0 - - - | 0 |
17 | ![]() |
0 0 - - - | 0 |
18 | ![]() |
0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
- f=fell
London Cup
[edit]First round
Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|
New Cross | 64–44, 55–52 | Wimbledon |
Semi final round
Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|
Wembley | 69–38, 51–57 | West Ham |
New Cross | 74–34, 72–36 | Harringay |
Final
[edit]First leg
New Cross Ron Johnson 11 Bill Longley 10 Lionel Van Praag 7 Jeff Lloyd 8 Ray Moore 7 Frank Lawrence 2 Eric French 2 Geoff Pymar 2 | 49–58 | Wembley Bill Kitchen 17 George Wilks 12 Split Waterman 11 Tommy Price 7 Bob Wells 5 Roy Craighead 3 Bill Gilbert 3 Charlie May 0 |
---|---|---|
Second leg
Wembley Tommy Price 14 Bill Kitchen 12 Bill Gilbert 6 George Wilks 4 Bob Wells 4 Charlie May 3 Split Waterman 3 Roy Craighead 1 | 47–61 | New Cross Ron Johnson 15 Jeff Lloyd 13 Bill Longley 10 Geoff Pymar 8 Eric French 6 Ray Moore 5 Lionel Van Praag 4 Frank Lawrence 0 |
---|---|---|
[11] |
New Cross won on aggregate 110–105
Riders & final averages
[edit]Belle Vue
-
Eric Langton 9.44
-
Jack Parker 9.32
-
Dent Oliver 8.50
-
Wally Lloyd 7.87
-
Bill Pitcher 7.29
-
Jim Boyd 6.68
-
Louis Lawson 5.39
-
Ron Mason 4.47
-
Dick Campbell 4.44
-
Wally Hull 3.80
-
Brian Wilson 3.36
Harringay
-
Vic Duggan 11.54
-
Frank Dolan 8.00
-
Ray Duggan 7.32
-
Joe Abbott 6.53
-
Wal Morton 4.78
-
Buck Whitby 4.16
-
Jack Arnfield 3.49
-
Nobby Stock 4.20
-
Norman Lindsay 3.18
-
Jack Biggs 3.00
-
Danny Lee 2.11
-
Joe Bowkis 1.48
New Cross
-
Ron Johnson 8.88
-
Jeff Lloyd 7.43
-
Bill Longley 7.83
-
Geoff Pymar 7.71
-
Lionel Van Praag 7.68
-
Ray Moore 5.04
-
Eric French 5.96
-
Frank Lawrence 3.86
Keith Harvey 3.20
-
Mick Mitchell 4.20
Odsal
-
Alec Statham 10.25
-
Ernie Price 8.64
-
Ron Clarke 8.51
-
Max Grosskreutz 7.07
-
Oliver Hart 6.90
-
Ron Mason 6.29
-
Fred Tuck 4.90
-
Eddie Rigg 4.00
-
Bill Osborne 3.48
-
Bill Baird 3.24
-
Fred Rogers 3.00
-
Jack White 2.40
-
Stan Beardsall 2.29
-
George Mudgway 1.18
-
Al Allison 1.00
Wembley
-
Bill Kitchen 10.74
-
Tommy Price 10.00
-
George Wilks 9.46
-
Split Waterman 7.75
-
Bronco Wilson 6.21
-
Bill Gilbert 5.47
-
Bob Wells 4.88
-
Roy Craighead 6.10
-
Charlie May 3.33
West Ham
Eric Chitty 9.54
-
Malcolm Craven 9.54
-
Tommy Croombs 6.09
-
Bob Harrison 5.78
-
Howdy Byford 5.67
-
Cliff Parkinson 5.60
-
Aub Lawson 5.06
-
Cliff Watson 4.46
-
Benny King 3.83
-
Buck Whitby 3.35
-
Phil Bishop 2.58
Bill Matthews 2.55
-
Jack Cooley 0.92
Wimbledon
-
Norman Parker 10.35
-
Les Wotton 8.50
-
Lloyd Goffe 7.70
-
Cyril Brine 6.00
-
Mike Erskine 5.98
-
Arch Windmill 5.36
-
George Saunders 4.51
-
Dick Harris 5.61
-
Ron Howes 1.33
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ "Belle Vue Win". Daily Mirror. 13 October 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Cricket for a Kiddies' Fund". Nottingham Evening Post. 16 August 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Another Speedway rider killed". Weekly Dispatch (London). 17 August 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "1947 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ a b "1947 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Speedway title for Jack Parker". Bradford Observer. 12 September 1947. Retrieved 3 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "New Cross make a comeback". Norwood News. 26 September 1947. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.