| Competition: | National League Division One |
| Competitors: | 7 |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Wembley Lions |
| Domesticcup2: | National Trophy |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Belle Vue Aces |
| Domesticcup3: | British Speedway Cup |
| Domesticcup3 Winners: | Wembley Lions |
| Domesticcup4: | Riders' champion |
| Domesticcup4 Winners: | Jack Parker |
| Domesticcup5: | London Cup |
| Domesticcup5 Winners: | New Cross Rangers |
| Highestaverage: | Vic Duggan |
| Leagues Below: | National League (Div 2) National League (Div 3) |
| Prevseason: | 1946 |
| Nextseason: | 1948 |
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]
Harringay Racers rejoined the league. Wembley Lions retained the title. Belle Vue retained the National Trophy.[2] [3] [4]
| 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
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]
QualifyingMiddlesbrough and Norwich qualified for the quarter finals by virtue of finishing 1st & 2nd in the Second Division Cup.
Quarterfinals
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | 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
| width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | 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 |
First leg
Second leg
Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 116–100.
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.[8] [9] There were three qualifying rounds, with 28 riders progressing to the Championship round, held over seven meetings.[8]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=200px | Rider | width=70px | Heat Scores | width=50px | 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 | Norman Parker | 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 |  Aub Lawson (res) | 0 0 - - - | 0 | ||||
| 17 | Dent Oliver (res) | 0 0 - - - | 0 | ||||
| 18 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
First round
| width=250 | Team one | width=120 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cross | 64–44, 55–52 | Wimbledon |
Semi final round
| width=250 | Team one | width=120 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wembley | 69–38, 51–57 | West Ham | |||
| New Cross | 74–34, 72–36 | Harringay |
First leg
Second leg
New Cross won on aggregate 110–105
Belle Vue
Harringay
New Cross
Odsal
Wembley
West Ham
Eric Chitty 9.54 Bill Matthews 2.55Wimbledon