1946 Speedway National League

The 1946 National League was the 12th season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain and the first post-war season.[1][2]

1946 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League
ChampionsWembley Lions
No. of competitors6
National TrophyBelle Vue Aces
A.C.U CupBelle Vue Aces
Riders' championTommy Price
London CupWembley Lions
Highest averageEric Langton
Division/s belowNorthern League

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.[3] 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.[4][5]

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.[6] He died 10 days later, on 16 July 1946.[7]

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

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.

A.C.U. Cup 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 England Belle Vue Aces 11.13
2 Jack Parker England Belle Vue Aces 11.00
3 Bill Kitchen England Wembley Lions 10.75
4 Ron Johnson Australia New Cross Rangers 10.69
5 Eric Chitty Canada West Ham Hammers 10.30
6 Norman Parker England Wimbledon Dons 10.12
7 Tommy Price England Wembley Lions 10.00
8 Alec Statham England Odsal Boomerangs 9.72
9 Ron Clarke England Odsal Boomerangs 9.50
10 Bill Longley Australia Odsal Boomerangs 9.20

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.[8] Teams from the lower 1946 Speedway Northern League competed in the event.

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
04/05Birmingham56–48Norwich
27/04Norwich53–51Birmingham

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/05Birmingham61–45Middlesbrough
16/05Middlesbrough58–50Birmingham
29/04Newcastle49–56Middlesbrough
25/04Middlesbrough55–51Newcastle
25/04Sheffield61–47Glasgow White City
24/04Glasgow White City61–47Sheffield
09/05
replay		Sheffield63–44Glasgow White City
08/05
replay		Glasgow White City62–45Sheffield

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
22/06Birmingham31–77Wembley
13/06Wembley80–27Birmingham
20/07Bradford Odsal72–36Sheffield
04/07Sheffield48–60Bradford Odsal
02/07West Ham55–52Wimbledon
01/07Wimbledon63–44West Ham
08/06Belle Vue58–49New Cross
12/06New Cross50–57Belle Vue

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
25/07Wembley50–57Belle Vue
13/07Belle Vue60–48Wembley
19/08Wimbledon62–46Bradford Odsal
03/08Bradford Odsal53–55Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Wimbledon Dons
Norman Parker 13
Lloyd Goffe 10
Oliver Hart 9
George Saunders 9
Arch Windmill 6
Dick Harris 6
Mike Erskine 5
Cyril Brine 1		61 – 46Belle Vue Aces
Jack Parker 13
Bill Pitcher 10
Wally Lloyd 10
Eric Langton 8
Ron Mason 2
Jim Boyd 2
Ralph Horne 1
Dent Oliver 0
[9]

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces
Wally Lloyd 18
Jack Parker 14
Bill Pitcher 11
Eric Langton 8
Jim Boyd 6
Dent Oliver 3
Louis Lawson 2
Ron Mason 1		63 – 45Wimbledon Dons
Norman Parker 11
Oliver Hart 10
Dick Harris 7
Mike Erskine 7
Lloyd Goffe 3
George Saunders 3
Cyril Brine 2
Arch Windmill 2
[9]

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.[10][11] There were no less than 23 qualifying rounds, where riders from National and Northern League tracks respectively, competed in six meetings each.[10]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1England Tommy Price3 3 3 3 315
2England Bill Kitchen3 3 2 2 313
3England Jack Parker3 f 3 3 312
4England Eric Langton2 1 3 3 211
5England Malcolm Craven3 2 f 2 310
6England Norman Parker2 3 1 2 210
7Canada Eric Chitty2 1 3 1 29
8England Frank Hodgson1 3 2 1 18
9Australia Ron Johnsonf 2 3 2 f7
10Australia Bert Spencer1 1 1 0 25
11England Wally Lloyd0 2 2 0 15
12England Jeff Lloyd0 1 0 2 14
13Australia Bill Longley2 2 0 0 04
14England Tommy Allott0 0 0 1 12
15England Ernie Price1 0 1 0 02
16England Ron Clarke (res)1 1 02
16England Alec Statham0 0 0 - -0
  • f=fell

London Cup

First round

Team one Score Team two
New Cross59–49, 46–60Wimbledon
West Ham62–46, 43–65Wembley

Final

First leg

Wimbledon
Norman Parker 17
Oliver Hart 13
Archie Windmill 7
Cyril Brine 6
Dick Harris 2
George Saunders 1
Lloyd Goffe 1
Charlie Dugard 1		53–55Wembley
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

Wembley
Tommy Price 16
Bill Kitchen 14
Bill Gilbert 8
Alf Bottoms 7
Roy Craighead 2
George Wilks 2
Bob Wells 1
Charlie May 1		66–42Wimbledon
Norman Parker 10
Lloyd Goffe 7
Oliver Hart 7
Cyril Brine 7
Archie Windmill 6
George Saunders 3
Dick Harris 2
harlie Dugard 0
[12]

Wembley won on aggregate 121–95

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

New Cross

Odsal

  • England Alec Statham 9.72
  • England Ron Clarke 9.50
  • Australia Bill Longley 9.20
  • England Ernie Price 8.39
  • England Fred Tuck 6.90
  • England Albert Rosenfeld 2.93
  • England Vic Pitcher 2.86
  • England Bill Osborne 2.00
  • England Red Hamley 1.33
  • England Jack White 1.25
  • England Charlie Oates 1.24
  • England Stan Beardsall 0.80
  • England Ron Stringer 0.60

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  3. Dalling, P. (2011). The Golden Age Of Speedway. The History Press. ISBN 0-7524-5831-0
  4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  6. "Speedway's biggest 34,000". Bradford Observer. 8 July 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Injured speedway rider dies". Hull Daily Mail. 16 July 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "1946 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  9. "1946 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  10. "1946 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  11. "Tommy Price wins Speedway Championship". Daily Herald. 13 September 1946. Retrieved 3 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Wembley Win Cup Final". South Western Star. 30 August 1946. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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