| Competition: | Southern Area League |
| Competitors: | 4 |
| Domesticcup1: | Champions |
| Domesticcup1 Winners: | Rayleigh II/Southern Rovers |
| Domesticcup2: | Riders' Championship |
| Domesticcup2 Winners: | Leo McAuliffe |
| League Above: | National League |
| Prevseason: | 1956 |
| Nextseason: | 1959 |
The 1957 Southern Area League was the fourth season of the Southern Area League but the first as the regional second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams.[1]
California Poppies were no longer competitors with the promotion and nickname moving to Aldershot. The Southern Rovers team who had been without a track in the previous season had found a new home at Rayleigh and were also referred to as Rayleigh II.
Southern Rovers were the champions.[2]
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rayleigh II/Southern Rovers | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2 | Eastbourne Eagles | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 | |
| 3 | Rye House Roosters | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 | |
| 4 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Rider | Team | C.M.A. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerry King | Rye House | 10.30 | |
| 2 | Jim Heard | Eastbourne | 10.27 | |
| 3 | Frank Bettis | Eastbourne | 9.50 | |
| 4 | Colin Gooddy | Rayleigh/Southern Rovers | 9.33 | |
| 5 | Ross Gilbertson | Aldershot | 9.30 |
Leo McAuliffe won the Riders' Championship for the second successive season. The final was held at Arlington Stadium on 29 September. Remarkably McAuliffe and Maury Conway dead heated in the run off to decide the champion after both riders finished on 13 points. A second run off was required in which McAuliffe won by a wheel. The winning trophy was presented by Barry Briggs.[4] [5]
| width=25px | Pos. | width=180px | Rider | width=200px | Club | width=50px | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rayleigh/Southern Rovers | 13+3 | |||||
| 2 | Maury Conway | Eastbourne | 13+2 | ||||
| 3 | Jim Heard | Eastbourne | 12 | ||||
| 4 | Aldershot | 11 | |||||
| 5 | Noel Conway | Eastbourne | 10 | ||||
| 6 | Pat Flanagan | Aldershot | 9 | ||||
| 7 | Ron Walton | Aldershot | 8 | ||||
| 8 | Rayleigh/Southern Rovers | 8 | |||||
| 9 | Bobby Croombs | Rye House | 8 | ||||
| 10 | Bryan Meredith | Rayleigh/Southern Rovers | 6 | ||||
| 11 | Alan Brett | Rye House | 5 | ||||
| 12 | Ronnie Rolfe | Rye House | 5 | ||||
| 13 | Alan Lunn | Rye House | 4 | ||||
| 14 | Dave Still | Rye House | 4 | ||||
| 15 | Pete Mould | Aldershot | 3 | ||||
| 16 | Les Searle (res) | Eastbourne | 1 | ||||
| 17 | Dave Slater (res) | Rye House | 1 |
Aldershot
Eastbourne
Rye House
Rayleigh II/Southern Rovers