| Competition: | National League |
| Competitors: | 6 |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Wembley Lions |
| Domesticcup2: | National Trophy |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Belle Vue Aces |
| Domesticcup3: | A.C.U Cup |
| Domesticcup3 Winners: | Belle Vue Aces |
| Domesticcup4: | Riders' champion |
| Domesticcup4 Winners: | Tommy Price |
| Domesticcup5: | London Cup |
| Domesticcup5 Winners: | Wembley Lions |
| Highestaverage: | Eric Langton |
| Leagues Below: | Northern League |
| Prevseason: | 1939 |
| Nextseason: | 1947 |
The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.[1] [2]
The league had been abandoned seven years previously due to the outbreak of World War II. Record attendances were attracted with Wembley Lions attracting an average of 50,000 and the league as a whole a total of six and a half million.[3] From the abandoned 1939 season, Southampton Saints and Harringay Tigers were no longer racing whilst Odsal Boomerangs brought National League speedway to Bradford for the first time.[4] [5]
Wembley Lions won their second National League title.
On 6 July, a crowd of 34,0000 at Odsal Stadium witnessed Odsal Boomerangs lose to Belle Vue Aces. During the match Albert 'Aussie' Rosenfeld, son of Albert Rosenfeld hit the fence and was taken to St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, with a suspected fractured skull.[6] He died 10 days later, on 16 July 1946.[7]
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
| 1 | Wembley Lions | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 36 | |
| 2 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 25 | |
| 3 | Odsal Boomerangs | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 19 | |
| 4 | Wimbledon Dons | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 17 | |
| 5 | New Cross Rangers | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 13 | |
| 6 | West Ham Hammers | 20 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 |
On account of the small number of teams in the league the ACU Cup was run in a league format. Belle Vue Aces came out on top.
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 16 | |
| 2 | Wembley Lions | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 | |
| 3 | New Cross Rangers | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 | |
| 4 | Odsal Boomerangs | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 | |
| 5 | Wimbledon Dons | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 8 | |
| 6 | West Ham Hammers | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
Such was the dearth of new riders caused by the war that all of the top ten riders were established pre-war riders and none were below the age of 32.
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | ||
| 1 | Eric Langton | Belle Vue Aces | 11.13 | ||
| 2 | Jack Parker | Belle Vue Aces | 11.00 | ||
| 3 | Bill Kitchen | Wembley Lions | 10.75 | ||
| 4 | Ron Johnson | New Cross Rangers | 10.69 | ||
| 5 | Eric Chitty | West Ham Hammers | 10.30 | ||
| 6 | Norman Parker | Wimbledon Dons | 10.12 | ||
| 7 | Tommy Price | Wembley Lions | 10.00 | ||
| 8 | Alec Statham | Odsal Boomerangs | 9.72 | ||
| 9 | Ron Clarke | Odsal Boomerangs | 9.50 | ||
| 10 | Bill Longley | Odsal Boomerangs | 9.20 |
The 1946 National Trophy was the tenth edition (if including the 1939 abandoned competition) or ninth edition (if not including) of the Knockout Cup.[8] Teams from the lower 1946 Speedway Northern League competed in the event.
First round
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/05 | Birmingham | 56–48 | Norwich | ||||
| 27/04 | Norwich | 53–51 | Birmingham |
Second round
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25/05 | Birmingham | 61–45 | Middlesbrough | ||||
| 16/05 | Middlesbrough | 58–50 | Birmingham | ||||
| 29/04 | Newcastle | 49–56 | Middlesbrough | ||||
| 25/04 | Middlesbrough | 55–51 | Newcastle | ||||
| 25/04 | Sheffield | 61–47 | Glasgow White City | ||||
| 24/04 | Glasgow White City | 61–47 | Sheffield | ||||
| 09/05 replay | Sheffield | 63–44 | Glasgow White City | ||||
| 08/05 replay | Glasgow White City | 62–45 | Sheffield |
Quarterfinals
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22/06 | Birmingham | 31–77 | Wembley | ||||
| 13/06 | Wembley | 80–27 | Birmingham | ||||
| 20/07 | Bradford Odsal | 72–36 | Sheffield | ||||
| 04/07 | Sheffield | 48–60 | Bradford Odsal | ||||
| 02/07 | West Ham | 55–52 | Wimbledon | ||||
| 01/07 | Wimbledon | 63–44 | West Ham | ||||
| 08/06 | Belle Vue | 58–49 | New Cross | ||||
| 12/06 | New Cross | 50–57 | Belle Vue |
Semifinals
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25/07 | Wembley | 50–57 | Belle Vue | ||||
| 13/07 | Belle Vue | 60–48 | Wembley | ||||
| 19/08 | Wimbledon | 62–46 | Bradford Odsal | ||||
| 03/08 | Bradford Odsal | 53–55 | Wimbledon |
First legSecond leg
Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 109–106.
Tommy Price won the British Riders' Championship final held at Empire Stadium on 12 September, in front of 85,000 spectators.[9] [10] There were no less than 23 qualifying rounds, where riders from National and Northern League tracks respectively, competed in six meetings each.[9]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Heat Scores | width=50px | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 | |||||
| 2 | 3 3 2 2 3 | 13 | |||||
| 3 | 3 f 3 3 3 | 12 | |||||
| 4 | 2 1 3 3 2 | 11 | |||||
| 5 | 3 2 f 2 3 | 10 | |||||
| 6 | 2 3 1 2 2 | 10 | |||||
| 7 | 2 1 3 1 2 | 9 | |||||
| 8 | 1 3 2 1 1 | 8 | |||||
| 9 | f 2 3 2 f | 7 | |||||
| 10 | 1 1 1 0 2 | 5 | |||||
| 11 | 0 2 2 0 1 | 5 | |||||
| 12 | 0 1 0 2 1 | 4 | |||||
| 13 | 2 2 0 0 0 | 4 | |||||
| 14 | 0 0 0 1 1 | 2 | |||||
| 15 | 1 0 1 0 0 | 2 | |||||
| 16 | Ron Clarke (res) | 1 1 0 | 2 | ||||
| 16 | 0 0 0 - - | 0 |
First round
| width=250 | Team one | width=120 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cross | 59–49, 46–60 | Wimbledon | |||
| West Ham | 62–46, 43–65 | Wembley |
First leg
Second leg
Wembley won on aggregate 121–95
Belle Vue
New Cross
Odsal
Wembley
West Ham
Eric Chitty 10.30Wimbledon