| Competition: | Southern Area League |
| Competitors: | 4 |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Rye House Roosters |
| Domesticcup2: | Riders' Champion |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Leo McAuliffe |
| League Above: | National League Div 1 National League Div 2 |
| Prevseason: | 1955 |
| Nextseason: | 1957 |
The 1956 Southern Area League was the third season of the regional third tier/division of speedway racing in the United Kingdom British teams. Brafield Flying Foxes were no longer competitors with Southern Rovers taking their place. Southern Rovers had no track and raced all their 'home' fixtures on away tracks.[1]
Rye House Roosters were the champions for the second consecutive season.[2] [3]
Although the Southern Area League continued, it became the second tier division instead of the third tier division. There was not another third division of British speedway until 1996 when the Conference was inaugurated.
| pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
| 1 | Rye House Roosters | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 17 | |
| 2 | Eastbourne Eagles | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 | |
| 3 | Southern Rovers | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | |
| 4 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Leo McAuliffe won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 30 September, after initially being postponed on the 9 September because of rain.[4] [5]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=180px | Rider | width=120px | Club | width=50px | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastbourne | 14 | |||||
| 2 | Jim Heard | Eastbourne | 12+3 | ||||
| 3 | Dave Slater | Rye House | 12+2 | ||||
| 4 | Pete Mould | California | 12+1 | ||||
| 5 | Gerry King | Rye House | 8 | ||||
| 6 | Brian Brett | Rye House | 8 | ||||
| 7 | Jimmy Gleed | California | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Vic Ridgeon | Rye House | 7 | ||||
| 9 | Ron Webb | California | 5 | ||||
| 10 | Eric Eadon | Southern Rovers | 5 | ||||
| 11 | Tom Reader | Eastbourne | 5 | ||||
| 12 | Neil Roberts (res) | Southern Rovers | 5 | ||||
| 13 | Bobby Croombs | Rye House | 4 | ||||
| 14 | California | 4 | |||||
| 15 | Dave Collett | Eastbourne | 3 | ||||
| 16 | Jim Chalkley | Rye House | 2 | ||||
| 17 | Ron Walton | California | 2 | ||||
| 18 | Colin Gooddy (res) | Southern Rovers | 1 |
The 1956 Southern Area League Cup was won by Rye House Roosters.[2]
First round
| width=250 | Team one | width=250 | Team two | width=80 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Rovers | Rye House | 50–58 | |||
| Eastbourne | California | 46–61 |
First leg
Second leg
California
Eastbourne
Rye House
Southern Rovers