1950 Speedway National League Division Two Explained

Competition:	National League Division Two
Competitors:	15
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Norwich Stars
Domesticcup2:	National Trophy (Div 2 final)
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Halifax Dukes
Highest Average:	Jack Young
League Above:	National League (Div 1)
Leagues Below:	National League (Div 3)
Prevseason:	1949
Nextseason:	1951

The 1950 National League Division Two was the fifth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

The League was extended again to 15 teams with the promotion from Division Three of Halifax Dukes, Plymouth, Yarmouth and Hanley. Bristol Bulldogs, champions for the previous two seasons, moved up to Division One.^[2]

Norwich Stars claimed the title by a single point.

On 1 July 1950, two riders were killed on the same night. Jock Shead riding for Halifax Dukes was killed at The Firs Stadium, (the third rider in four years to be killed at the track) during the semi-final of the National Trophy. Shead's bike collided with another bike and he somersaulted before landing, he was take to hospital but died shortly afterwards. A second rider was killed on the same night in a division 1 fixture.^[3]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Norwich Stars	28	18	1	9	37
2	Glasgow Tigers	28	18	0	10	36
3	Cradley Heath Heathens	28	18	0	10	36
4	Coventry Bees	28	16	0	12	32
5	Walthamstow Wolves	28	16	0	12	32
6	Halifax Dukes	28	16	0	12	32
7	Southampton Saints	28	14	1	13	29
8	Edinburgh Monarchs	28	14	1	13	29
9	Plymouth Devils	28	13	0	15	26
10	Sheffield Tars	28	13	0	15	26
11	Ashfield Giants	28	12	0	16	24
12	Yarmouth Bloaters	28	12	0	16	24
13	Newcastle Diamonds	28	10	0	18	20
14	Hanley Potters	28	9	2	17	20
15	Fleetwood Flyers	28	8	1	19	17

Top Five Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Jack Young		Edinburgh	11.24
2	Arthur Forrest		Halifax	11.00
3	Alan Hunt		Cradley Heath	10.44
4	Bob Oakley		Southampton	10.43
5	Phil Clarke		Norwich	9.91

National Trophy Stage Two

The 1950 National Trophy was the 13th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Halifax won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.^[4]

• For Stage One - see Stage One
• For Stage Three - see Stage Three

Second Division Qualifying First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
26/05	Halifax	71-37	Oxford
25/05	Oxford	68-40	Halifax
27/05	Coventry	64-44	Newcastle
29/05	Newcastle	62-45	Coventry
27/05	Norwich	63-44	Fleetwood
31/05	Fleetwood	48-59	Norwich
31/05	Glasgow White City	70-38	Stoke Hanley
27/05	Stoke Hanley	65-43	Glasgow White City
30/05	Ashfield Giants	61-47	Cradley Heath
29/05	Cradley Heath	60-47	Ashfield Giants
26/05	Sheffield	77-31	Plymouth
25/05	Plymouth	56-51	Sheffield
30/05	Yarmouth	57-50	Walthamstow
29/05	Walthamstow	66-42	Yarmouth
30/05	Southampton	62-46	Edinburgh
27/05	Edinburgh	48-60	Southampton

Second Division Qualifying Second round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
10/06	Coventry	53-53	Halifax
09/06	Halifax	68-40	Coventry
10/06	Norwich	78-30	Glasgow White City
07/06	Glasgow White City	70-38	Norwich
20/06	Ashfield Giants	63-44	Sheffield
09/06	Sheffield	57-51	Ashfield Giants
20/06	Southampton	59-49	Walthamstow
19/06	Walthamstow	67-41	Southampton

Second Division Qualifying semifinals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
01/07	Norwich	58-50	Halifax
30/06	Halifax	69-39	Norwich
04/07	Ashfield Giants	67-41	Walthamstow
26/06	Walthamstow	66-41	Ashfield Giants

Second Division Qualifying final

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
11/07	Ashfield Giants	58-50	Halifax
14/07	Halifax	64-43	Ashfield Giants

First legSecond leg

Ashfield

• 9.56
• 8.61
• 7.68
• 5.91
• 5.10
• 6.28
• 4.72
• 2.92
• 2.91
• 2.81
• 2.42
• 2.36
• 2.33

Coventry

• 8.94
• 8.93
• 7.78
• 7.70
• 7.59
• 7.15
• 5.74
• 4.41
• 3.92

Cradley Heath

• 10.44
• 7.75
• 7.26
• 7.25
• 6.97
• 6.93
• 6.52
• 5.94
• 5.33
• 5.14
• 4.67
• 4.35
• 3.00

Edinburgh

• 11.24
• 8.68
• 8.00
• 7.09
• 5.49
• 5.41
• 4.76
• 4.42
• 4.27
• 3.79
• 3.02

Fleetwood

• 7.60
• 7.05
• 6.45
• 6.00
• 5.87
• 5.69
• 4.27
• 3.20
• 2.80
• 2.92

Glasgow

• 9.78
• 8.68
• 7.57
• 7.06
• 6.87
• 6.84
• 6.74
• 6.29
• 6.03
• 5.58
• 2.26

Halifax

• 11.00
• 9.61
• 8.40
• 7.04
• 6.76
• 6.58
• 5.03
• 4.20
• 3.79
• 3.57
• 0.47

Hanley

• 7.11
• 7.01
• 6.44
• 6.34
• 6.22
• 5.41
• 5.04
• 4.86
• 4.00

Newcastle

• 9.79
• 9.67
• 7.11
• 6.10
• 5.60
• 5.59
• 5.56
• 5.37
• 4.24
• 4.00
• 4.00

Norwich

• 9.91
• (Horace Burke) 7.76
• 8.98
• 7.46
• 6.95
• 6.46
• 6.42
• 5.50
• 5.19
• 4.16

Plymouth

• 9.48
• 8.68
• 8.32
• 6.27
• 5.68
• 5.59
• 5.17
• 4.96
• 2.46
• 2.19

Sheffield

• 8.04
• 7.53
• 7.36
• 7.28
• 6.75
• 6.46
• 6.36
• 6.22
• 5.60
• 4.88
• 3.33
• 2.93
• 0.73

Southampton

• 10.43
• 8.42
• 8.36
• 8.23
• 6.58
• 6.58
• 5.90
• 5.33
• 5.31
• 5.00
• 2.48
• 2.00

Walthamstow

• 8.76
• 7.92
• 7.40
• 7.08
• 6.70
• 7.93
• 6.11
• 5.74
• 4.90
• 4.87
• 3.56

Yarmouth

• 7.11
• 7.00
• 6.75
• 6.41
• 5.90
• 5.66
• 5.28
• 4.74
• 4.73
• 2.09

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: Speedway Researcher . December 8, 2022.
3. News: Two Riders Killed . Weekly Dispatch (London) . 2 July 1950 . 12 August 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
4. Web site: 1950 National Trophy. Speedway archive.