1957 Speedway National League Explained

Competition:	National League
Competitors:	11
Domesticcup1:	Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:	Swindon Robins
Highestaverage:	Peter Craven
Leagues Below:	1957 Southern Area League
Prevseason:	1956
Nextseason:	1958

The 1957 National League was the 23rd season and the twelfth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

The closure of Wembley Lions, Bradford Tudors and Poole Pirates left the league with only four teams, so the seven sides in Division Two merged to make an eleven-team first tier and so Division Two became defunct.^{[2] [3]}

Bradford Tudors returned to replace Birmingham Brummies mid-season (in early August)^{[4] [5]} and Swindon Robins followed up their Division Two title in 1956 with the Division One title in 1957.^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Swindon Robins	20	15	1	4	31
2	Belle Vue Aces	20	15	0	5	30
3	Wimbledon Dons	20	12	0	8	24
4	Norwich Stars	20	11	0	9	22
5	Leicester Hunters	20	10	1	9	21
6	Southampton Saints	20	9	0	11	18
7	Bradford Tudors	20	9	0	11	18
8	Coventry Bees	20	9	0	11	18
9	Oxford Cheetahs	20	7	1	12	15
10	Ipswich Witches	20	6	0	14	12
11	Rayleigh Rockets	20	5	1	14	11

• Bradford Tudors replaced Birmingham Brummies mid-season.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	11.18
2	Ove Fundin		Norwich	10.38
3	Bob Roger		Swindon	10.27
4	Ron Johnston		Belle Vue	10.27
5	Barry Briggs		Wimbledon	10.00
6	Ken McKinlay		Leicester	9.77
7	Brian Crutcher		Southampton	9.76
8	Aub Lawson		Norwich	9.73
9	Peter Moore		Ipswich	9.64
10	Dick Bradley		Southampton	9.48

National Trophy

The National Trophy was not held during 1957.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• 11.18
• 10.27
• 6.92
• 6.78
• 6.00
• 5.60
• 4.71
• 3.73
• 3.24
• 0.73

Bradford/Birmingham

• 9.42
• 7.92
• 7.84
• 7.37/6.78
• 7.23
• 7.15
• 5.21
• 5.19/4.93
• 5.05
• 4.76
• 4.00
• 3.20

Coventry

• 8.43
• 8.07
• 6.53
• 6.34
• 6.04
• 4.00
• 3.35
• 3.31
• 3.07
• 2.81
• 2.30

Ipswich

• 9.64
• 9.13
• 8.17
• 6.04
• 5.36
• 4.67
• 4.09
• 3.79
• 3.84
• 3.03
• 2.82
• 1.00

Leicester

• 9.77
• 8.40
• 8.04
• 6.71
• 6.47
• 4.67
• 3.88
• 3.31
• 3.25
• 1.54
• 0.62

Norwich

• 10.38
• 9.73
• 9.41
• 7.60
• 5.87
• 3.91
• 3.68
• 2.75
• 2.58
• 2.33
• 2.05

Oxford

• 8.38
• 6.92
• 7.81
• 6.29
• 5.51
• 5.10
• 5.00
• 4.00
• 3.64

Rayleigh

• 8.00
• 6.93
• 6.38
• 5.98
• 5.97
• 5.91
• 5.40
• 3.72

Southampton

• 9.76
• 9.48
• 7.17
• 6.00
• 5.68
• 5.54
• 5.03
• 5.06

Swindon

• 10.27
• 8.61
• 8.17
• 7.54
• 6.70
• 6.44
• 6.40
• 5.21

Wimbledon

• 10.00
• 8.31
• 8.00
• 7.29
• 6.52
• 6.04
• 5.86
• 4.00
• 4.00
• 3.76

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
2. Web site: Year by Year. Speedway Researcher. 12 August 2021.
3. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964). Official British Speedway website. 12 August 2021.
4. News: This was Birmingham Speedway . Sports Argus . 3 August 1957 . 5 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
5. News: Norwich depleted . Leicester Evening Mail . 1 August 1957 . 5 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
6. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.