Competition: | National League Division Two |
Competitors: | 12 |
Domesticcup1: | Champions |
Domesticcup1 Winners: | Poole Pirates |
Domesticcup2: | National Trophy (Div 2 final) |
Domesticcup2 Winners: | Poole Pirates |
Domesticcup3: | Midland Cup |
Domesticcup3 Winners: | Coventry Bees |
Highestaverage: | Tommy Miller |
League Above: | National League (Div 1) |
Leagues Below: | Southern League |
Prevseason: | 1951 |
Nextseason: | 1953 |
The 1952 National League Division Two was the seventh post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]
The post-war boom was now fading and the League was shortened to 12 teams with Division Three now defunct and continued only on a regional basis. Previous champions Norwich Stars had been promoted to Division One. Newcastle, Walthamstow and Halifax had closed whilst Fleetwood Flyers changed to Fleetwood Knights and ran only open meetings. Poole Pirates were the only new entrant, promoted from the former lower tier.[2]
Poole Pirates won the title, having won Division Three in the previous season.
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
1 | Poole Pirates | 44 | 31 | 1 | 12 | 63 | |
2 | Coventry Bees | 44 | 25 | 5 | 14 | 55 | |
3 | Leicester Hunters | 44 | 25 | 2 | 17 | 52 | |
4 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 44 | 24 | 0 | 20 | 48 | |
5 | Glasgow White City Tigers | 44 | 23 | 1 | 20 | 47 | |
6 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 44 | 21 | 4 | 19 | 46 | |
7 | Ashfield Giants | 44 | 19 | 3 | 22 | 41 | |
8 | Motherwell Eagles | 44 | 19 | 2 | 23 | 40 | |
9 | Yarmouth Bloaters | 44 | 20 | 0 | 24 | 40 | |
10 | Stoke Potters | 44 | 18 | 1 | 25 | 37 | |
11 | Liverpool Chads | 44 | 16 | 3 | 25 | 35 | |
12 | Oxford Cheetahs | 44 | 11 | 2 | 31 | 24 |
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | ||
1 | Tommy Miller | Glasgow | 10.91 | ||
2 | Derick Close | Motherwell | 10.57 | ||
3 | Fred Brand | Yarmouth | 9.82 | ||
4 | Brian Crutcher | Poole | 9.66 | ||
5 | Ken Middleditch | Poole | 9.63 |
The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third tier clubs, stage two was for the second tier 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. Poole won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.[3]
Second Division qualifying first round
width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
05/06 | Plymouth | 57-51 | Poole | ||||
02/06 | Poole | 67-41 | Plymouth | ||||
24/05 | Coventry | 71-36 | Motherwell | ||||
24/05 | Stoke | 71-37 | Cradley Heath | ||||
23/05 | Cradley Heath | 67-41 | Stoke | ||||
23/05 | Motherwell | 61-47 | Coventry | ||||
19/05 | Liverpool | 71-37 | Edinburgh | ||||
17/05 | Edinburgh | 67-41 | Liverpool | ||||
13/05 | Yarmouth | 61-47 | Leicester | ||||
09/05 | Leicester | 71-37 | Yarmouth |
Second Division Qualifying Second round
width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19/06 | Oxford | 53-55 | Poole | ||||
09/06 | Poole | 78-30 | Oxford | ||||
07/06 | Coventry | 52-55 | Leicester | ||||
07/06 | Stoke | 55-52 | Liverpool | ||||
06/06 | Leicester | 55-53 | Coventry | ||||
02/06 | Liverpool | 75.5-32.5 | Stoke | ||||
24/05 | Glasgow Ashfield | 52-56 | Glasgow White City | ||||
21/05 | Glasgow White City | 65-43 | Glasgow Ashfield |
Second Division Qualifying semifinals
width=80 | Date | width=250 | Team one | width=80 | Score | width=250 | Team two |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20/06 | Leicester | 46-62 | Glasgow White City | ||||
18/06 | Glasgow White City | 53-55 | Leicester | ||||
25/06 | Poole | 85-23 | Liverpool |
First legSecond leg
Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of eight teams. There was one team from division 1, five teams from division 2 and two teams from division 3.
First round
width=150 | Team one | width=150 | Team two | width=120 | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wolverhampton | Long Eaton | 69–26, 59–37 |
Second round
width=150 | Team one | width=150 | Team two | width=120 | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leicester | Stoke | 54–42, 42–53 | |||
Oxford | Wolverhampton | 62–34, 45–51 | |||
Cradley | Coventry | 50–46, 34–62 |
Semi final round
width=150 | Team one | width=150 | Team two | width=120 | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oxford | Coventry | 25–71, 26–70 | |||
Birmingham | Leicester | 70–26, 63–33 |
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 110–82
Ashfield
Coventry
Cradley Heath
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Leicester
Liverpool
Motherwell
Oxford
Poole
Stoke
Yarmouth