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1946 Speedway National League
British speedway league season
British speedway league season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| competition | National League |
| competitors | 6 |
| domesticcup1 | Champions |
| domesticcup1 winners | Wembley Lions |
| domesticcup2 | National Trophy |
| domesticcup2 winners | Belle Vue Aces |
| domesticcup3 | A.C.U Cup |
| domesticcup3 winners | Belle Vue Aces |
| domesticcup4 | Riders' champion |
| domesticcup4 winners | Tommy Price |
| domesticcup5 | London Cup |
| domesticcup5 winners | Wembley Lions |
| highestaverage | Eric Langton |
| leagues below | Northern League |
| prevseason | 1939 |
| nextseason | 1947 |
The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.
The league had been abandoned seven years previously due to the outbreak of World War II. Record attendances were attracted with Wembley Lions attracting an average of 50,000 and the league as a whole a total of six and a half million. From the abandoned 1939 season, Southampton Saints and Harringay Tigers were no longer racing whilst Odsal Boomerangs brought National League speedway to Bradford for the first time.
Wembley Lions won their second National League title.
On 6 July, a crowd of 34,0000 at Odsal Stadium witnessed Odsal Boomerangs lose to Belle Vue Aces. During the match Albert 'Aussie' Rosenfeld, son of Albert Rosenfeld hit the fence and was taken to St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, with a suspected fractured skull. He died 10 days later, on 16 July 1946.
National League Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wembley Lions | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 36 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 25 |
| 3 | Odsal Boomerangs | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 19 |
| 4 | Wimbledon Dons | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 17 |
| 5 | New Cross Rangers | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 13 |
| 6 | West Ham Hammers | 20 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 |
Fixtures & results
A fixtures
B fixtures
A.C.U. Cup
On account of the small number of teams in the league the ACU Cup was run in a league format. Belle Vue Aces came out on top.
Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belle Vue Aces | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 2 | Wembley Lions | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| 3 | New Cross Rangers | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Odsal Boomerangs | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 5 | Wimbledon Dons | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 | West Ham Hammers | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
Such was the dearth of new riders caused by the war that all of the top ten riders were established pre-war riders and none were below the age of 32.
Top Ten Riders (League only)
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Langton | ENG | Belle Vue Aces |
| 2 | Jack Parker | ENG | Belle Vue Aces |
| 3 | Bill Kitchen | ENG | Wembley Lions |
| 4 | Ron Johnson | AUS | New Cross Rangers |
| 5 | Eric Chitty | CAN | West Ham Hammers |
| 6 | Norman Parker | ENG | Wimbledon Dons |
| 7 | Tommy Price | ENG | Wembley Lions |
| 8 | Alec Statham | ENG | Odsal Boomerangs |
| 9 | Ron Clarke | ENG | Odsal Boomerangs |
| 10 | Bill Longley | AUS | Odsal Boomerangs |
National Trophy
The 1946 National Trophy was the tenth edition (if including the 1939 abandoned competition) or ninth edition (if not including) of the Knockout Cup. Teams from the lower 1946 Speedway Northern League competed in the event.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04/05 | Birmingham | 56–48 | Norwich |
| 27/04 | Norwich | 53–51 | Birmingham |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25/05 | Birmingham | 61–45 | Middlesbrough |
| 16/05 | Middlesbrough | 58–50 | Birmingham |
| 29/04 | Newcastle | 49–56 | Middlesbrough |
| 25/04 | Middlesbrough | 55–51 | Newcastle |
| 25/04 | Sheffield | 61–47 | Glasgow White City |
| 24/04 | Glasgow White City | 61–47 | Sheffield |
| 09/05 | |||
| replay | Sheffield | 63–44 | Glasgow White City |
| 08/05 | |||
| replay | Glasgow White City | 62–45 | Sheffield |
Quarterfinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22/06 | Birmingham | 31–77 | Wembley |
| 13/06 | Wembley | 80–27 | Birmingham |
| 20/07 | Bradford Odsal | 72–36 | Sheffield |
| 04/07 | Sheffield | 48–60 | Bradford Odsal |
| 02/07 | West Ham | 55–52 | Wimbledon |
| 01/07 | Wimbledon | 63–44 | West Ham |
| 08/06 | Belle Vue | 58–49 | New Cross |
| 12/06 | New Cross | 50–57 | Belle Vue |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25/07 | Wembley | 50–57 | Belle Vue |
| 13/07 | Belle Vue | 60–48 | Wembley |
| 19/08 | Wimbledon | 62–46 | Bradford Odsal |
| 03/08 | Bradford Odsal | 53–55 | Wimbledon |
Final
First leg Norman Parker 13 Lloyd Goffe 10 Oliver Hart 9 George Saunders 9 Arch Windmill 6 Dick Harris 6 Mike Erskine 5 Cyril Brine 1 Jack Parker 13 Bill Pitcher 10 Wally Lloyd 10 Eric Langton 8 Ron Mason 2 Jim Boyd 2 Ralph Horne 1 Dent Oliver 0 Second leg Wally Lloyd 18 Jack Parker 14 Bill Pitcher 11 Eric Langton 8 Jim Boyd 6 Dent Oliver 3 Louis Lawson 2 Ron Mason 1 Norman Parker 11 Oliver Hart 10 Dick Harris 7 Mike Erskine 7 Lloyd Goffe 3 George Saunders 3 Cyril Brine 2 Arch Windmill 2
Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 109–106.
Riders' Championship
Tommy Price won the British Riders' Championship final held at Empire Stadium on 12 September, in front of 85,000 spectators. There were no less than 23 qualifying rounds, where riders from National and Northern League tracks respectively, competed in six meetings each.
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- f=fell
London Cup
First round
| Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|
| New Cross | 59–49, 46–60 | Wimbledon |
| West Ham | 62–46, 43–65 | Wembley |
Final
First leg Norman Parker 17 Oliver Hart 13 Archie Windmill 7 Cyril Brine 6 Dick Harris 2 George Saunders 1 Lloyd Goffe 1 Charlie Dugard 1 Bill Kitchen 13 George Wilks 11 Tommy Price 9 Bill Gilbert 9 Alf Bottoms 7 Bob Wells 4 Roy Craighead 2 Charlie May 0
Second leg Tommy Price 16 Bill Kitchen 14 Bill Gilbert 8 Alf Bottoms 7 Roy Craighead 2 George Wilks 2 Bob Wells 1 Charlie May 1 Norman Parker 10 Lloyd Goffe 7 Oliver Hart 7 Cyril Brine 7 Archie Windmill 6 George Saunders 3 Dick Harris 2 harlie Dugard 0
Wembley won on aggregate 121–95
Riders & final averages
Belle Vue
- 11.13
- 11.00
- 8.46
- 6.91
- 5.00
- 4.92
- 3.90
- 4.67
- 1.45
New Cross
- 10.69
- 9.52
- 8.63
- 8.24
- 4.14
- 4.12
- 3.78
- RSA Keith Harvey 3.40
- 3.06
- 2.29
- 2.13
- 0.57
Odsal
- 9.72
- 9.50
- 9.20
- 8.39
- 6.90
- 2.93
- 2.86
- 2.00
- 1.33
- 1.25
- 1.24
- 0.80
- 0.60
Wembley
- 10.75
- 10.00
- 9.00
- 5.90
- 5.72
- 5.66
- 5.50
- 5.11
- 4.90
West Ham
- CAN Eric Chitty 10.30
- 9.03
- 8.40
- 7.89
- 4.73
- 4.14
- 3.47
- 3.39
- 3.23
- 3.23
- 3.00
- 2.45
- 2.29
Wimbledon
- 10.12
- 8.23
- 7.58
- 6.29
- 5.82
- 5.69
- 5.38
- 4.38
- 4.00
- 4.00
References
References
- "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- "Year by Year".
- Dalling, P. (2011). ''The Golden Age Of Speedway''. The History Press. {{ISBN. 0-7524-5831-0
- Rogers, Martin. (1978). "The Illustrated History of Speedway". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
- "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)".
- (8 July 1946). "Speedway's biggest 34,000". Bradford Observer.
- (16 July 1946). "Injured speedway rider dies". Hull Daily Mail.
- "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
- "1946 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
- "1946 National Trophy".
- "1946 fixtures".
- (13 September 1946). "Tommy Price wins Speedway Championship". Daily Herald.
- (30 August 1946). "Wembley Win Cup Final". South Western Star.
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