1938 Speedway National League

The 1938 National League Division One was the tenth season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2][3][4]

1938 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League Division One
ChampionsNew Cross Rangers
No. of competitors7
National TrophyWimbledon Dons
A.C.U CupWest Ham Hammers
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageJack Milne
Division/s belowNational League (Div 2)

Summary

The only change from the previous season was Bristol Bulldogs moving up from the Provincial League and Hackney Wick Wolves moving down to take their place. They also swapped licences and riders as well as divisions.

New Cross Rangers won their first national title.

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 New Cross Rangers 24 15 1 8 31
2 West Ham Hammers 24 13 1 10 27
3 Wembley Lions 24 13 1 10 27
4 Wimbledon Dons 24 12 3 9 27
5 Belle Vue Aces 24 11 0 13 22
6 Harringay Tigers 24 10 1 13 21
7 Bristol Bulldogs 24 6 1 17 13

Top Ten Riders
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Jack Milne United States New Cross Rangers 10.96
2 Wilbur Lamoreaux United States Wimbledon Dons 10.93
3 Bluey Wilkinson Australia West Ham Hammers 10.67
4 Lionel van Praag Australia Wembley 10.50
5 Bill Kitchen England Belle Vue Aces 10.24
6 Cordy Milne United States Hackney Wick Wolves 9.46
7 Frank Varey England Belle Vue Aces 9.16
8 Jack Parker England Harringay Tigers 9.16
9 Les Wotton England Harringay Tigers 8.92
10 Frank Charles England Wembley 8.59

National Trophy

The 1938 National Trophy was the eighth edition of the Knockout Cup.[5]

Qualifying rounds

Norwich Stars won the Division Two final and therefore secured a place in the quarter-finals.

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/07Bristol50-56West Ham
05/07West Ham73-35Bristol
06/07New Cross50-57Wimbledon
07/07Wembley61-47Belle Vue
09/07Belle Vue60-48Wembley
11/07Wimbledon62-46New Cross
21/07Norwich58-50Harringay

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
06/08Norwich53-55Wembley
15/08Wimbledon78-29West Ham
16/08West Ham53-55Wimbledon
25/08Wembley38-15Norwich

Final

First leg

Wembley Lions
Lionel van Praag 12
Tommy Price 8
Cliff Parkinson 7
Malcolm Craven 6
Eric Gregory 6
Frank Charles 3
George Wilks 1
Dicky Case 0		43 – 65Wimbledon Dons
Wilbur Lamoreaux 18
Benny Kaufman 12
Geoff Pymar 11
Eric Collins 9
Wally Lloyd 8
Nobby Key 4
Norman Evans 2
Fred Leavis 1
[6]

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons
Eric Collins 15
Wilbur Lamoreaux 14
Wally Lloyd 11
Benny Kaufman 7
Geoff Pymar 5
Nobby Key 2
Norman Evans 2
Fred Leavis 2		58 – 49Wembley Lions
Frank Charles 12
Lionel van Praag 10
Malcolm Craven 8
George Wilks 7
Tommy Price 5
Eric Gregory 3
Wally Kilmister 2
Andy Menzies 2
[6]

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123-92.

A.C.U Cup

The 1938 Auto-Cycle Union Cup was the fifth edition of the Cup and was won by West Ham Hammers, which ended the five year winning run of Belle Vue. The groups were decided on the number of heat points scored within matches, rather than match wins.[7]

First round

Group 1

Team PL W D L Race Pts
West Ham Hammers 4 3 1 0 252
New Cross Rangers 4 1 1 2 227
Harringay Tigers 4 1 0 3 166

Group 2

Team PL W D L Race Pts
Wimbledon Dons 6 4 1 1 355
Wembley Lions 6 3 1 2 335
Belle Vue Aces 6 3 0 3 320
Bristol Bulldogs 6 1 0 5 283

Final
Date Team one Team two Score
05/09WimbedonWest Ham50–58
06/09West HamWimbledon64-43

London Cup

First round

Team one Score Team two
Harringay59–49, 44–60Wembley

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
Wimbledon66–42, 61–47Wembley
West Ham56–52, 46–62New Cross

Final

First leg

Wimbledon
Wilbur Lamoreaux 16
Benny Kaufman 13
Geoff Pymar 8
Eric Collins 6
Norman Evans 4
Wally Lloyd 5
Nobby Key 4
Fred Leavis 1		57–49New Cross
Jack Milne 13
Ron Johnson 11
George Newton 7
Clem Mitchell 6
Bill Longley 5
Stan Greatrex 3
Ray Duggan 2
Joe Francis 2

Second leg

New Cross
Jack Milne 18
Ron Johnson 10
Bill Longley 7
Stan Greatrex 5
Clem Mitchell 5
George Newton 5
Joe Francis 4
Ernie Evans 1		55–52Wimbledon
Benny Kaufman 15
Wilbur Lamoreaux 11
Norman Evans 7
Wally Lloyd 6
Geoff Pymar 4
Eric Collins 4
Nobby Key 3
Fred Leavis 2
[8]

Wimbledon won on aggregate 109–104

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Bristol

Harringay

New Cross

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. "1938 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. "1938 National Trophy" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. "1938 ACU Cup" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  8. "Speedway win for Wimbledon". Daily Herald. 11 October 1938. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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