1955 Speedway National League Division Two Explained

Competition:	National League Division Two
Competitors:	9
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup2:	National Trophy (Div 2 final)
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Poole Pirates
Highestaverage:	Ken McKinlay
League Above:	National League (Div 1)
Leagues Below:	Southern League
Prevseason:	1954
Nextseason:	1956

The 1955 National League Division Two was the tenth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

Summary

The only change in the list of teams that finished the previous season was the replacement of Motherwell Eagles with Weymouth Scorchers. Poole Pirates won the title.^[1]

Weymouth Scorchers withdrew after 7 league fixtures, Bristol Bulldogs withdrew after 14.^[2]

Final table

Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	Pts
1	Poole Pirates	32	23	0	9	46
2	Coventry Bees	32	19	0	3	38
3	Rayleigh Rockets	32	15	2	15	32
4	Oxford Cheetahs	32	15	1	16	31
5	Southampton Saints	32	15	0	17	30
6	Ipswich Witches	32	13	3	16	29
7	Leicester Hunters	32	14	0	18	28
8	Swindon Robins	32	14	0	18	28
9	Exeter Falcons	32	13	0	29	26

• Weymouth Scorchers and Bristol Bulldogs withdrew, records expunged.

Top Five Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ken McKinlay		Leicester	10.48
2	Jack Geran		Exeter	10.38
3	Dick Bradley		Bristol/Southampton	10.25
4	Ken Middleditch		Poole	9.96
5	Neil Street		Exeter	9.49

National Trophy Stage One

• For Stage Two - see Stage Two

The 1955 National Trophy was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of two stages; stage one was for the second tier clubs, stage two was for the top tier clubs. Poole won stage one and qualified for second and final stage.^[3]

Division Two First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
23/04	Rayleigh	48-60	Poole
22/04	Bristol	62-46	Ipswich
22/04	Weymouth	49-59	Southampton
21/04	Ipswich	81-27	Bristol
19/04	Southampton	70-38	Weymouth
18/04	Poole	69-39	Rayleigh

Division Two Second round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
23/05	Exeter	55-53	Swindon
14/05	Coventry	75-33	Oxford
14/05	Swindon	66-42	Exeter
13/05	Leicester	49-59	Southampton
12/05	Ipswich	66-41	Poole
12/05	Oxford	66-42	Coventry
10/05	Southampton	59-49	Leicester
09/05	Poole	70-37	Ipswich

Division Two semifinals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
13/06	Poole	68-40	Swindon
04/06	Coventry	54-54	Southampton
04/06	Swindon	62-46	Poole
31/05	Southampton	56-52	Coventry

Division Two final

First legSecond leg

Midland Cup

For the Midland Cup see the 1955 Speedway National League.

Riders & final averages

Bristol (withdrew)

• 10.79
• 7.87
• 6.81
• 5.38
• 4.14
• 3.88
• 3.23
• 2.40
• 2.40
• 1.12

Coventry

• 8.44
• 8.34
• 7.47
• 7.10
• 5.59
• 4.99
• 4.31
• 4.17
• 4.16

Exeter

• 10.38
• 9.49
• 6.93
• 6.40
• 5.62
• 4.82
• 4.63
• 4.32
• 3.18
• 2.63

Ipswich

• 9.45
• 8.28
• 8.08
• (George Snailum) 5.91
• 5.64
• 4.98
• 4.45
• 3.84
• 3.53
• 3.14
• 2.44
• 2.10

Leicester

• 10.48
• 7.26
• 6.71
• 6.29
• 5.82
• 5.10
• 4.82
• 2.74

Oxford

• 8.15
• 7.47
• 7.39
• 6.40
• 5.86
• 5.44
• 4.42
• 3.33
• 1.82

Poole

• 9.96
• 8.54
• 7.22
• 7.14
• 6.67
• 6.57
• 6.50
• 5.89
• 3.73

Rayleigh

• 9.32
• 8.99
• 7.69
• 6.88
• 6.57
• 5.26
• 4.55
• 3.50
• 3.16
• 2.86

Southampton

• 9.84
• 7.48
• 7.39
• 5.71
• 5.35
• 5.30
• 5.27
• 5.17
• 4.74

Swindon

• 8.81
• 8.61
• 8.16
• 6.98
• 5.76
• 4.93
• 3.41
• 4.37
• 3.24

Weymouth (withdrew)

• 7.50
• 6.86
• 5.83
• 5.53
• 4.88
• 3.29
• 2.15
• 1.82

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
2. Web site: Home . speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
3. Web site: 1955 National Trophy. Speedway archive.