1951 Speedway National League Explained

Competition:	National League Division One
Competitors:	9
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Wembley Lions
Domesticcup2:	National Trophy
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Wimbledon Dons
Domesticcup3:	London Cup
Domesticcup3 Winners:	Wembley Lions
Highestaverage:	Aub Lawson
Leagues Below:	National League (Div 2) National League (Div 3)
Prevseason:	1950
Nextseason:	1952

The 1951 National League Division One was the 17th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the sixth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

The entrants were the same as the previous season as were the top three positions at the end of the season. Wembley Lions won the National League for the sixth time.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wembley Lions	32	25	0	7	50
2	Belle Vue Aces	32	19	1	12	39
3	Wimbledon Dons	32	17	1	14	35
4	West Ham Hammers	32	16	1	15	33
5	Birmingham Brummies	32	16	0	16	32
6	Bristol Bulldogs	32	15	1	16	31
7	Harringay Racers	32	15	1	16	31
8	New Cross Rangers	32	9	1	22	19
9	Bradford Tudors	32	9	0	23	18

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Aub Lawson		West Ham	10.31
2	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	9.91
3	Freddie Williams		Wembley	9.76
4	Alan Hunt		Birmingham	9.75
5	Norman Parker		Wimbledon	9.56
6	Eddie Rigg		Bradford	9.29
7	Malcolm Craven		West Ham	9.25
8	Split Waterman		Harringay	9.07
9	Jack Parker		Belle Vue	9.03
10	Geoff Pymar		Bristol	8.95

National Trophy Stage Three

The 1951 National Trophy was the 14th 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. Wimbledon won the third and final stage and were therefore declared the 1951 National Trophy champions.^[5]

• For Stage One - see Stage One
• For Stage Two - see Stage Two

First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
10/08	Bristol	74-34	Norwich
20/08	Norwich	75-33	Bristol
07/08	West Ham	72-35	Bradford Odsal
25/08	Bradford Odsal	43-65	West Ham

Second round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
05/09	Belle Vue	46-62	Wembley
09/08	Wembley	52-55	Belle Vue
11/08	Birmingham	55-53	Wimbledon
20/08	Wimbledon	64-44	Birmingham
25/08	Norwich	63-45	Harringay
24/08	Harringay	65-42	Norwich
04/09	West Ham	62-46	New Cross
29/08	New Cross	65-43	West Ham

Semifinals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
04/10	Wembley	78-29	New Cross
26/09	New Cross	53-55	Wembley
03/09	Wimbledon	65-43	Harringay
07/09	Harringay	40-68	Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 125–91.

London Cup

First round

width=250	Team one	width=120	Score	width=250	Team two
Wimbledon	55–51, 44–64	Wembley
Walthamstow	53–55, 29–78	West Ham

Semi final round

width=250	Team one	width=120	Score	width=250	Team two
West Ham	57–51, 42–65	Harringay
New Cross	45–63, 38–70	Wembley

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wembley won on aggregate 118–98

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 9.03
• 7.84
• 7.66
• 7.46
• Henry Long 7.23
• 6.03
• 5.61
• 4.54
• 3.48
• 2.89
• Bob Serrurier 1.60

Birmingham

• 9.75
• 8.17
• 7.92
• 7.33
• 6.20
• 6.00
• 4.95
• 4.52
• (James Goldingay) 4.04
• 4.50
• 2.12
• inj

Bradford

• 9.29
• 7.04
• 6.00
• 4.88
• 4.74
• 4.59
• 4.15
• 3.92
• 3.69
• 3.65

Bristol

• 8.94
• 8.80
• 7.05
• 6.80
• 5.90
• 5.28
• 5.51
• 5.07
• 2.22

Harringay

• 9.07
• 8.31
• 8.13
• 8.29
• 6.39
• 5.91
• 5.45
• 5.09
• 4.75
• 4.10
• 4.00

New Cross

• 8.82
• 8.38
• 8.05
• 6.45
• 6.27
• 4.90
• 3.76
• 3.73
• 3.64
• 3.62
• 2.18
• 1.67
• 1.50
• 0.67

Wembley

• 9.76
• 8.36
• 8.27
• 8.11
• 7.62
• 7.53
• 7.06
• 5.74
• 2.94
• 2.67

West Ham

• 10.31
• 9.25
• 7.92
• Eric Chitty 7.05
• 5.30
• 5.27
• 5.00
• 3.41
• 2.86
• 1.43
• 1.40

Wimbledon

• 9.95
• 9.56
• 8.31
• 6.97
• 6.74
• Jimmie Gibb 5.18
• 3.79
• 3.65
• 3.00
• 1.44

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. 12 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 - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964). Official British Speedway website. 12 August 2021.
5. Web site: 1951 National Trophy. Speedway archive.