1956 Speedway National League Explained

Competition:	National League
Competitors:	7
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Wimbledon Dons
Domesticcup2:	National Trophy
Domesticcup2 Winners:	Wimbledon Dons
Highestaverage:	Barry Briggs
Leagues Below:	National League (Div 2) 1956 Southern Area League
Prevseason:	1955
Nextseason:	1957

The 1956 National League Division One was the 22nd season and eleventh post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

The league consisted of seven teams after the West Ham Hammers ceased competitive speedway racing at the end of 1955. Poole Pirates came up from the second tier to replace them. Match line-ups were increased to eight riders after a single season with seven riders. Wimbledon won their third successive National League Championship.^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

Norwich Stars rider Malcolm Flood died on 2 April, at Poole. The 25-year-old rider suffered fatal injuries despite an earlier warning from the race steward that he was riding too erratically into the bends.^[5]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	24	17	1	6	35
2	Wembley Lions	24	14	1	9	29
3	Birmingham Brummies	24	12	1	11	25
4	Norwich Stars	24	10	4	10	24
5	Belle Vue Aces	24	11	1	12	23
6	Poole Pirates	24	9	2	13	20
7	Bradford Tudors	24	6	0	18	12

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Barry Briggs		Wimbledon	10.53
2	Ove Fundin		Norwich	10.34
3	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.32
4	Brian Crutcher		Wembley	10.16
5	Alan Hunt		Birmingham	9.53
6	Peter Moore		Wimbledon	9.20
7	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	9.07
8	Jack Biggs		Poole	8.71
9	Dick Fisher		Belle Vue	8.40
10	Ron Johnston		Belle Vue	8.38

National Trophy Stage Two

The 1956 National Trophy was the 19th 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. Wimbledon won the second and final stage and were therefore declared the 1956 National Trophy champions.^[6]

For Stage One - see Stage One

First round

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
26/07	Wembley	60-47	Birmingham
24/07	Southampton	64-44	Norwich
21/07	Belle Vue	72-36	Poole
21/07	Birmingham	61-47	Wembley
21/07	Bradford Odsal	38-70	Wimbledon
21/07	Norwich	77-31	Southampton
16/07	Poole	54-54	Belle Vue
16/07	Wimbledon	79-29	Bradford Odsal

Semifinals

width=80	Date	width=250	Team one	width=80	Score	width=250	Team two
01/09	Belle Vue	83-25	Birmingham
17/08	Birmingham	64-44	Belle Vue
13/08	Wimbledon	68-40	Norwich
04/08	Norwich	56-52	Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 108–107.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

9.07
8.38
8.40
7.39
6.74
6.29
5.48
5.47
5.26
3.90
4.13
3.60

Birmingham

9.53
Doug Davies 8.22
7.74
7.48
5.16
Neil Mortimer 5.15
4.63
Arthur Duncan 3.90
2.89

Bradford

7.64
6.31
5.98
5.68
5.60
5.49
4.96
4.90
4.00
3.06

Norwich

10.34
7.83
7.60
6.43
6.30
5.91
5.78
5.03
4.88
4.36
1.50

Poole

8.71
7.76
7.60
6.00
5.95
5.33
5.31
5.05
4.67
3.83

Wembley

10.16
7.54
7.43
7.36
6.86
6.43
6.29
5.88
5.14
2.67

Wimbledon

10.53
10.32
9.20
7.88
6.47
5.38
4.94
2.56

Notes and References

Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
Web site: Year by Year. Speedway Researcher. 12 August 2021.
Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964). Official British Speedway website. 12 August 2021.
News: Speedway rider died after warning . Birmingham Daily Post . 10 April 1956 . 13 August 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
Web site: 1956 National Trophy. Speedway archive.