1959 Speedway National League

The 1959 National League was the 25th season and the fourteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

1959 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League
ChampionsWimbledon Dons
No. of competitors9
National TrophyWimbledon Dons
Highest averageOve Fundin
Division/s below1959 Southern Area League

Summary

With Ipswich Witches dropping down to the Southern Area League, only 9 teams competed with Wimbledon Dons continuing their domination of British speedway with their fifth title in six years.[2][3][4]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 16 13 0 3 26
2 Leicester Hunters 16 8 1 7 17
3 Coventry Bees 16 8 1 7 17
4 Norwich Stars 16 8 0 8 16
5 Southampton Saints 16 8 0 8 16
6 Poole Pirates 16 8 0 8 16
7 Oxford Cheetahs 16 7 0 9 14
8 Swindon Robins 16 6 0 10 12
9 Belle Vue Aces 16 5 0 11 10

Top Ten Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ove Fundin Sweden Norwich Stars 11.00
2 Peter Craven England Belle Vue Aces 10.84
3 Ken McKinlay Scotland Leicester Hunters 10.75
4 Brian Crutcher England Southampton Saints 10.65
5 Ronnie Moore New Zealand Wimbledon Dons 10.52
6 Peter Moore Australia Wimbledon Dons 10.08
7 Ron How England Wimbledon Dons 9.92
8 Mike Broadbank England Swindon Robins 9.40
9 Ron Johnston New Zealand Belle Vue Aces 9.05
10 Arne Pander Denmark Oxford Cheetahs 8.90

National Trophy

The 1959 National Trophy was the 21st edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.[5]

First round
Date Team one Score Team two
30/05Swindon55-52Oxford
28/05Oxford59-49Swindon

Second round
Date Team one Score Team two
16/07Oxford57-51Southampton
14/07Southampton61-47Oxford
27/06Belle Vue67-41Leicester
27/06Coventry69-39Wimbledon
26/06Leicester59-49Belle Vue
22/06Wimbledon71-37Coventry
20/06Norwich65-43Poole
19/06Poole46-62Norwich

Semifinals
Date Team one Score Team two
08/08Norwich53-55Southampton
04/08Southampton73-35Norwich
03/08Wimbledon75-33Belle Vue
01/08Belle Vue54-54Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Wimbledon Dons
Barry Briggs 18
Ronnie Moore 13
Bob Andrews 12
Ron How 11
Jim Tebby 8
Cyril Maidment 4
Cyril Brine 2
Gil Goldfinch 0		67 – 41Southampton Saints
Geoff Mardon 11
Brian Crutcher 9
Björn Knutsson 7
Alby Golden 5
Chum Taylor 4
Jack Scott 2
Brian Hanham 1
Dick Bradley 0
[6]

Second leg

Southampton Saints
Geoff Mardon 11
Björn Knutsson 9
Chum Taylor 8
Alby Golden 8
Brian Brett 8
Brian Crutcher 4
Dick Bradley 2
Brian Hanham 2		52 – 56Wimbledon Dons
Barry Briggs 17
Ron How 16
Ronnie Moore 10
Bob Andrews 6
Gil Goldfinch 3
Jim Tebby 3
Cyril Brine 1
Cyril Maidment 0
[6]

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–93.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Leicester

Norwich

Oxford

Poole

  • Australia Ray Cresp 7.37
  • England Les McGillivray 7.14
  • England Jack Unstead 7.08
  • Sweden Birger Forsberg 6.85
  • Australia Jack Biggs 6.34
  • England Jimmy Squibb 5.70
  • South Africa Trevor Blokdyk 4.88
  • England Reg Duval 4.50
  • England Terry Small 4.34
  • England Norman Strachan 3.73

Southampton

Swindon

Wimbledon

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 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 - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. "1959 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. "1959 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
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