1939 Speedway National League Explained

Competition:	National League Division One
Competitors:	7
Leagues Below:	National League (Div 2)
Champion:	None
Domesticcup1:	National Trophy
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Belle Vue Aces & Wembley Lions
Domesticcup2:	London Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Wimbledon Dons
Highestaverage:	Cordy Milne
Prevseason:	1938
Nextseason:	1946

The 1939 National League Division One was an eleventh and unfinished season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Summary

Southampton Saints had moved up from Division Two and Bristol Bulldogs moved back down after just one season.

Belle Vue Aces were leading the championship ahead of Wimbledon Dons when the league was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II .

Table at the outbreak of war

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Belle Vue Aces	16	12	1	3	25
Wimbledon Dons	18	12	0	6	24
Wembley Lions	19	11	1	8	23
West Ham Hammers	19	9	0	10	18
Harringay Tigers	16	7	1	8	15
Southampton Saints	17	5	0	12	10
New Cross Rangers	19	4	1	14	9

Top Ten Riders at the outbreak of war

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Cordy Milne		Southampton	11.29
2	Wilbur Lamoreaux		Wimbledon	11.06
3	Bill Kitchen		Belle Vue	10.88
4	Vic Duggan		Wimbledon	10.67
5	Arthur Atkinson		West Ham	10.62
6	Lionel van Praag		Wembley	10.62
7	Jack Milne		New Cross	10.00
8	Jack Parker		Harringay	9.6
9	Eric Langton		Belle Vue	9.5
10	Jimmy Gibb		West Ham	8.58

National Trophy

The 1939 National Trophy was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup. Wembley and Belle Vue were declared joint winners following the abandonment of the final fixture due to the outbreak of the war.^{[5] [6]}

Qualifying rounds

Sheffield Tigers won the Division Two final and therefore secured a place in the quarter-finals.

Quarterfinals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
22/07	Belle Vue	67-40	Wimbledon
17/07	Wimbledon	51-56	Belle Vue
26/07	New Cross	57-51	Harringay
22/07	Harringay	52-54	New Cross
13/07	Wembley	64-45	West Ham
11/07	West Ham	62-46	Wembley
20/07	Sheffield	61-46	Southampton
26/07	Southampton	68-36	Sheffield

Semifinals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
26/08	Belle Vue	80-28	New Cross
16/08	New Cross	44-64	Belle Vue
31/08	Wembley	74-33	Southampton
30/08	Southampton	62-46	Wembley

Final

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
16/09	Wembley	not held	Belle Vue
21/09	Belle Vue	not held	Wembley

London Cup

First round

width=250	Team one	width=120	Score	width=250	Team two
Wimbledon	71–37, 42–64	Harringay

Semi final round

width=250	Team one	width=120	Score	width=250	Team two
West Ham	56–50, 50–57	New Cross
Wembley	55–52, 49–59	Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon won on aggregate 134–82

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 10.88
• 9.50
• 7.50
• 7.08
• 6.64
• 6.62
• 6.18
• 5.25
• 2.00

Harringay

• 9.60
• 7.79
• 6.94
• 6.88
• 6.71
• 6.18
• 4.53
• 4.33
• 2.00
• 1.68

New Cross

• 10.00
• 7.97
• 6.26
• 4.94
• 4.87
• 4.46
• Goldy Restall 3.78
• 3.52
• Emerson Rawding 1.78

Southampton

• 11.29
• 7.52
• 5.88
• 4.65
• 4.44
• 2.36
• 2.67
• 2.42
• 1.43

Wembley

• 10.61
• 8.32
• 8.17
• 7.85
• 7.57
• 6.74
• 6.43
• 5.07
• 4.73

West Ham

• 10.46
• Jimmie Gibb 8.58
• Eric Chitty 7.89
• 7.42
• 4.77
• 4.21
• 3.80
• 3.11
• 1.33

Wimbledon

• 11.06
• 10.67
• 8.53
• 6.44
• 5.73
• 4.35
• 3.47
• Emerson Rawding 3.09
• 1.71
• 1.71

See also

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

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: 1939 National Trophy. Speedway archive.
6. Web site: 1939 Cup. Speedway GB.