1948 Speedway National League Division Two

The 1948 National League Division Two was the third post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. Edinburgh Monarchs were new participants as the league was extended to 9 teams.[1]

1948 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
ChampionsBristol Bulldogs
No. of competitors9
National Trophy (Div 2 final)Birmingham Brummies
Highest averageFred Tuck
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowNational League (Div 3)

Bristol Bulldogs were crowned champions, whilst Wigan Warriors were replaced by Fleetwood Flyers after just 3 away matches with their entire team transferring.[2]

32-year-old Bill Wilson of the Middlesbrough Bears was fatally injured, on 3 July at Norwich and died two days later in hospital.[3][4]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Bristol Bulldogs 32 23 0 9 46
2 Birmingham Brummies 32 20 1 11 41
3 Middlesbrough Bears 32 18 2 12 38
4 Sheffield Tigers 32 17 1 14 35
5 Norwich Stars 32 17 0 15 34
6 Glasgow White City Tigers 32 14 3 15 31
7 Newcastle Diamonds 32 11 0 21 22
8 Fleetwood Flyers 32 10 1 21 21
9 Edinburgh Monarchs 32 10 0 22 20

The Anniversary Cup for Division Two was run in a league format. Birmingham Brummies came out on top.

Anniversary Cup (Div 2) Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Birmingham Brummies 16 12 0 4 24
2 Sheffield Tigers 16 9 0 7 16
3 Bristol Bulldogs 16 8 0 8 16
4 Glasgow White City Tigers 16 8 0 8 16
5 Middlesbrough Bears 16 8 0 8 16
6 Norwich Stars 16 7 1 8 15
7 Fleetwood Flyers 16 7 1 8 15
8 Newcastle Diamonds 16 6 0 10 12
9 Edinburgh Monarchs 16 6 0 10 12

Top Five Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Fred Tuck England Bristol Bulldogs 10.20
2 Frank Hodgson England Middlesbrough Bears 9.84
3 Graham Warren Australia Birmingham Brummies 9.84
4 Wilf Plant England Middlesbrough Bears/Fleetwood Flyers 9.24
5 Jack Hunt New Zealand Newcastle Diamonds 9.22

National Trophy

The 1948 Trophy (sponsored by the Daily Mail) was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup.[5] The Qualifying event for Division 3 teams saw Southampton Saints win the final and qualify for the Elimination event. The Elimination event for Division 2 teams saw Birmingham Brummies win the final and qualify for the Quarter Finals proper.

Elimination Event First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
19/06Birmingham79-29Southampton
15/06Southampton41-66Birmingham
16/06Glasgow White City70-38Edinburgh
19/06Edinburgh62-46Glasgow White City

Elimination Second Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
17/06Sheffield55-53Norwich
19/06Norwich76-32Sheffield
03/07Birmingham80-28Glasgow White City
23/06Glasgow White City45.5-61.5Birmingham
18/06Bristol65-43Fleetwood
22/06Fleetwood69-39Bristol
14/06Newcastle41-65Middlesbrough
17/06Middlesbrough67-40Newcastle

Elimination Third Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
26/07Birmingham75-33Fleetwood
13/07Fleetwood49-59Birmingham
03/07Norwich66-41Middlesbrough
01/07Middlesbrough53-54Norwich

Elimination Final

First leg

Norwich Stars
Aussie Powell 15
Paddy Mills 12
Ted Bravery 9
Geoff Revett 9
Sid Littlewood 9
Phil Clarke 7
Jack Freeman 3
Reg Morgan 0		64 – 43Birmingham Brummies
Graham Warren 15
Charlie May 10
Doug McLachlan 6
Geoff Bennett 5
Buck Whitby 4
Arthur Payne 2
Stan Dell 1
Brian Wilson 0
[6][7]

Second leg

Birmingham Brummies
Graham Warren 15
Arthur Payne 14
Stan Dell 13
Doug McLachlan 9
Brian Wilson 9
Geoff Bennett 8
Charlie May 6
Buck Whitby 5		79 – 28Norwich Stars
Paddy Mills 10
Ossie Powell 5
Phil Clarke 5
Geoff Revett 3
Ted Bravery 2
Sid Littlewood 2
Jack Freeman 1
Reg Morgan 0
[8][7]

Riders & final averages

Birmingham

  • Australia Graham Warren 9.84
  • England Stan Dell 8.57
  • Australia Doug McLachlan 8.26
  • England Geoff Bennett 7.91
  • Australia Arthur Payne 7.53
  • England Brian Wilson 6.79
  • England Charlie May 6.55
  • Australia Buck Whitby 5.94
  • England Roy Dook 5.46
  • England Dick Tolley 5.39

Bristol

  • England Fred Tuck 10.20
  • England Billy Hole 8.95
  • England Nobby Stock 8.60
  • England Mike Beddoe 8.45
  • England Roger Wise 7.94
  • England Jack Mountford 7.83
  • England Eric Salmon 7.40
  • England Cyril Quick 5.38
  • England Johnny Hole 4.37
  • England Ginger Nicholls 3.25
  • England Graham Hole 1.67

Edinburgh

  • Australia Bill Maddern 7.15
  • New Zealand Dick Campbell 6.68
  • Australia Clem Mitchell 6.00
  • England Eddie Lack 6.00
  • England Danny Lee 5.50
  • England Dennis Parker 5.32
  • Australia Keith Cox 4.96
  • Scotland Bill Baird 4.74
  • Scotland Bert Shearer 3.75
  • England Nobby Downham 3.30
  • England Don Cuppleditch 2.55

Fleetwood

  • England Wilf Plant 9.47
  • England Dick Geary 9.03
  • England Norman Hargreaves 7.46
  • England Jack Gordon 6.06
  • England Cyril Cooper 5.68
  • England Reg Lambourne 5.18
  • England Ron Hart 4.70
  • England Ernie Appleby 4.54
  • England Percy Brine 4.14
  • Australia Dick Seers 2.40
  • England Jack Winstanley 1.60

Glasgow

  • England Joe Crowther 8.13
  • Australia Bat Byrnes 7.80
  • England Will Lowther 7.59
  • Australia Buck Ryan 7.20
  • England Harold Fairhurst 6.21
  • Australia Norman Lindsay 5.98
  • Australia Junior Bainbridge 5.57
  • Australia Gruff Garland 5.00
  • England Nobby Downham 4.87
  • Scotland Gordon McGregor 3.83
  • Scotland Angus McGuire 1.50

Middlesbrough

  • England Frank Hodgson 9.84
  • England Wilf Plant 8.88
  • England Jack Hodgson 8.77
  • England Geoff Godwin 7.77
  • England Benny King 6.91
  • England Billy Wilson 6.23
  • England Derick Close 6.22
  • England Tip Mills 5.94
  • England Herby King 5.45
  • England Frank Bettis 4.53
  • England Joe Arthur 4.00
  • England George Farmer 3.75
  • England Dick Tolley 3.56

Newcastle

Norwich

  • England Bert Spencer 8.61
  • England Paddy Mills (Horace Burke) 8.47
  • England Phil Clarke 8.10
  • England Ted Bravery 6.79
  • England Fred Rogers 6.63
  • England Sid Hipperson 6.50
  • England Ossie Powell 6.35
  • England Jack Freeman 6.04
  • Australia Syd Littlewood 5.49
  • England Geoff Revett 4.91
  • Northern Ireland Paddy Hammond 4.00

Sheffield

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  3. "Norwich the Firs Stadium". National Speedway Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  4. "Still unconscious". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 5 July 1948. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "1948 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. "Norwich feat". Weekly Dispatch (London). 1 August 1948. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Norwich 1948 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  8. "Speedway win for Blues". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 3 August 1948. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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