1956 Speedway National League

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.

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.

Final table

Fixtures & results

A fixtures

B fixtures

Top Ten Riders (League only)

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.

• For Stage One - see Stage One

First round

Semifinals

Final

First leg Peter Craven 17 Dick Fisher 17 Peter Williams 9 Bob Duckworth 8 Ron Johnston 6 Ken Sharples 5 Tink Maynard 3 Brian Craven 3 Peter Moore 10 Ronnie Moore 8 Barry Briggs 8 Ron How 4 Cyril Maidment 4 Alf Hagon 3 Bob Andrews 3 Cyril Brine 0

Second leg Ronnie Moore 16 Peter Moore 14 Barry Briggs 11 Cyril Maidment 9 Cyril Brine 9 Ron How 6 Alf Hagon 3 Bob Andrews 1 Peter Craven 12 Ron Johnston 8 Alf Webster 5 Peter Williams 4 Bob Duckworth 3 Ken Sharples 3 Brian Craven 3 Dick Fisher 1

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
• RSA Doug Davies 8.22
• 7.74
• 7.48
• 5.16
• RSA Neil Mortimer 5.15
• 4.63
• RSA 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

References

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. (21 February 1956). "London Loses Another Speedway Side".
3. "Year by Year".
4. Rogers, Martin. (1978). "The Illustrated History of Speedway". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)".
6. (10 April 1956). "Speedway rider died after warning". Birmingham Daily Post.
7. "1956 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
8. "1956 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
9. "1956 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
10. "1956 National Trophy".