1937 Provincial Speedway League Explained

Competition:	Provincial League
Competitors:	6
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Bristol Bulldogs
Domesticcup2:	Provincial Trophy
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Nottingham
Domesticcup3:	National Trophy (provincial final)
Domesticcup3 Winners:	Southampton Saints
Domesticcup4:	Coronation Cup
Domesticcup4 Winners:	Nottingham
Highestaverage:	Frank Goulden
League Above:	1937 National League
Prevseason:	1936
Nextseason:	1938

The 1937 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League. Seven speedway teams started the season. From the previous season's finishers, Plymouth Panthers had dropped out but Leicester, Birmingham (Hall Green) and Norwich Stars joined up. Leicester withdrew mid-season and their record was expunged. Liverpool Merseysiders also withdrew mid-season but their entry was taken over by Belle Vue. Bristol Bulldogs were the champions and moved up to the National League for the following season.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Due to the brevity of the season, teams also competed for the Provincial Trophy in a league format. Leicester had already folded before the competition started and as with the league, Belle Vue replaced Liverpool Merseysiders. Nottingham won the Provincial Trophy and completed a double by winning the Provincial League Coronation Cup.^[4]

Stan Hart was killed during a match at Hall Green Stadium between Birmingham and Belle Vue on 25 August. He fell during a heat and was hit by a rider behind.^{[5] [6]}

Final table

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Bristol Bulldogs	20	15	0	5	30
2	Southampton Saints	20	13	0	7	26
3	Nottingham	20	11	0	9	22
4	Liverpool Merseysiders+ Belle Vue Merseysiders+	20	8	0	12	16*
5	Norwich Stars	20	8	0	12	16
6	Birmingham Bulldogs	20	5	0	15	10

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

+ Liverpool scored 10 points from 11 matches, Belle Vue scored 6 from 9

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Leicester Hounds

Fixtures & results

B fixtures

Leading averages (league only)

width=200	Rider	width=200	Team	width=40	Average
Frank Goulden	Southampton	10.46
George Greenwood	Nottingham	9.55
Bert Jones	Southampton	9.21
	Bristol	9.15
Billy Dallison	Southampton	9.15

Provincial Trophy final table

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Nottingham	10	7	0	3	14
2	Bristol Bulldogs	10	6	1	3	13
3	Southampton Saints	10	6	0	4	12
4	Liverpool Merseysiders+ Belle Vue Merseysiders+	10	4	0	6	8
5	Birmingham (Hall Green)	10	3	1	6	7
6	Norwich Stars	10	3	0	7	6

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

+ Liverpool scored 2 points from 6 matches, Belle Vue scored 6 from 4

National Trophy

The 1937 National Trophy was the seventh edition of the Knockout Cup.^[7] Southampton Saints won the Provincial Final round and therefore qualified for the quarter finals proper (the round when the tier one sides entered the competition).

Provincial League first qualifying round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
03/05	Liverpool	57-26	Norwich
01/05	Norwich	30-51	Liverpool

Provincial League second qualifying round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
23/04	Bristol	48-36	Nottingham
20/04	Nottingham	rain	Bristol
04/05	Nottingham	46-37	Bristol
31/05	Liverpool	39-45	Southampton
25/05	Southampton	55-28	Liverpool

Final

First leg

Second leg

Southampton were the National Trophy Provincial Final winners, winning on aggregate 93-73.

Coronation Cup

The 1937 Coronation Cup was a one-off competition to mark the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. Nottingham won the Cup.^[8]

First round

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=250	scores
Bristol	Norwich	53–29, 47–35 (100–64 agg)
Southampton	Liverpool	41–42, 48–35 (89–77 agg)

Semifinals

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=250	scores
Nottingham	Bristol	55–29, 37–47 (92–76 agg)
Southampton	Birmingham	80–28, 40–41 (120–69 agg)

Final

width=250	Team one	width=250	Team two	width=250	scores
Nottingham	Southampton	61–23, 37–46 (98–69 agg)

Riders & final averages

Birmingham

• 8.00
• 7.88
• 7.41
• 7.42
• 7.38
• 6.17
• 5.33
• 5.00
• 4.77
• Keith Harvey 4.15
• 3.00
• 2.20

Bristol

• 9.15
• 9.01
• 9.00
• 8.73
• 8.67
• 7.25
• 6.75
• 5.92
• 6.40
• 5.50
• 5.42

Liverpool/Belle Vue

• 8.88/8.88
• 7.73/7.63
• 7.00/7.61
• 6.97/6.57
• 6.86/6.92
• 6.00/6.89
• 6.00/4.57
• 4.43/5.31
• x/3.73
• 5.00/4.14
• 4.27/3.65

Norwich

• 8.87
• 8.64
• 7.79
• 6.65
• 5.69
• 5.39
• 5.14
• 4.87
• 4.62
• 4.34
• 4.00
• 3.89
• 3.73

Nottingham

• 9.55
• 8.43
• 8.40
• 8.21
• 7.95
• 7.53
• 6.36
• 6.25
• 6.21
• 5.69
• 1.60

Southampton

• 10.46
• 9.21
• 9.15
• 9.01
• 8.38
• 6.14
• 4.85
• 4.94
• 3.50
• 3.29

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
2. Web site: Year by Year. Speedway Researcher. 6 August 2021.
3. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
4. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939). Official British Speedway website. 6 August 2021.
5. Web site: Birmingham (Hall Green Stadium) 1937. Speedway Museum. 6 August 2021.
6. Web site: Stan Hart. Motorsport Memorial. 6 August 2021.
7. Web site: 1937 National Trophy. Speedway archive.
8. Web site: Coronation Cup 1937. Speedway Archive. 16 August 2021.