1964 Speedway National League

The 1964 National League was the 30th season and the nineteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain, but the final season of the National League being the highest tier.[1]

1964 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League
ChampionsOxford Cheetahs
No. of competitors7
National TrophyOxford Cheetahs
Britannia ShieldOxford Cheetahs
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageOve Fundin
Division/s below1964 Provincial League

Summary

West Ham Hammers returned after a nine-year absence but the league stayed at seven competitors with the withdrawal of Southampton Saints. Oxford Cheetahs, who had finished bottom of the table in 1963, rose spectacularly up the league to win the title, a repeat of the feat they had accomplished at a lower level in 1950.[2][3][4][5]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Oxford Cheetahs 12 9 0 3 18
2 Coventry Bees 12 8 1 3 17
3 Norwich Stars 12 6 0 6 12
4 Belle Vue Aces 12 5 1 6 11
5 Swindon Robins 12 4 1 7 9
6 Wimbledon Dons 12 4 1 7 9
7 West Ham Hammers 12 4 0 8 8

On account of the small number of teams in the league meeting each other only once home and away, the Britannia Shield was run in a league format. Oxford Cheetahs came out on top.

Britannia Shield table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Oxford Cheetahs 12 8 1 3 17
2 Coventry Bees 12 8 0 4 16
3 Belle Vue Aces 12 6 0 6 12
4 Swindon Robins 12 6 0 6 12
5 Norwich Stars 12 5 0 7 10
6 Wimbledon Dons 12 5 0 7 10
7 West Ham Hammers 12 3 1 8 7

Top Ten Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ove Fundin Sweden Norwich Stars 10.71
2 Göte Nordin Sweden Wimbledon Dons 10.62
3 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon Robins 10.51
4 Nigel Boocock England Coventry Bees 10.44
5 Ken McKinlay Scotland Coventry Bees 9.92
6 Ron How England Oxford Cheetahs 9.84
7 Mike Broadbank England Swindon Robins 9.80
8 Sören Sjösten Sweden Belle Vue Aces 9.62
9 Björn Knutson Sweden West Ham Hammers 9.16
10 Dick Fisher England Belle Vue Aces 8.77

[6]

National Trophy

The 1964 National Trophy was the 26th edition of the Knockout Cup. Oxford were the winners.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
03/07Norwich47-36Oxford
25/06Oxford48-36Norwich
13/06Coventry43-41West Ham
09/06West Ham45-39Coventry
17/08Wimbledon46-38Swindon
08/08Swindon51-33Wimbledon

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
08/08Belle Vue32a-28aOxford
12/09Belle Vue46-38Oxford
06/08Oxford49-35Belle Vue
01/09West Ham51-33Swindon
05/09Swindon43-41West Ham

a=abandoned after 10 heats

Final

first leg

West Ham Hammers
Stan Stevens 11
Björn Knutson 9
Bengt Jansson 9
Reg Luckhurst 9
Ray Cresp 7
Malcolm Simmons 3
Norman Hunter 2
Alf Hagon 2		52–32Oxford Cheetahs
Ron How 8
Jimmy Gooch 7
Ronnie Genz 6
Arne Pander 4
Eddie Reeves 3
Colin Gooddy 2
John Bishop 2
Ted Ede 0
[8]

second leg

Oxford Cheetahs
Colin Gooddy 10
Ron How 9
Jack Geran 8
Ronnie Genz 8
Arne Pander 7
Jimmy Gooch 5
Eddie Reeves 4
John Bishop 2		53–31West Ham Hammers
Björn Knutson 10
Bengt Jansson 7
Stan Stevens 5
Bob Dugard 5
Ray Cresp 2
Reg Luckhurst 1
Norman Hunter 1
Alf Hagon 0
[8]

Oxford Cheetahs were declared National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 85-83.

London Cup

Just two team competed. Wimbledon won on aggregate 87–81[9]

Team 1 Team 2 Score Scorers Scorers
WimbledonWest Ham47–37Harrfeldt 10, Nordin 9, Jackson 9, Andrews 8, Tebby 5, McAuliffe 5, Whipp 1, Baker 0Jansson 10, Knutson 9, Luckhurst 4 Dugard 4, Ray Cresp 3, Stevens 3, Hagon 3, Hunter 1
West HamWimbledon44–40Knutson 12, Simmons 7, Luckhurst 7, Hunter 5, Hagon 3, Cresp 3, Jansson 3Andrews 11, Nordin 6, McAuliffe 6, Tebby 6, Jackson 5, Stan Stevens 4, Harrfeldt 3, Baker 2, Whipp 2

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Norwich

Oxford

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "League Tables".
  3. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  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 12 August 2021.
  6. "Rider Averages" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2017.
  7. "1964 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  8. "Oxford 1964" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  9. "Speedway". Daily Mirror. 30 September 1964. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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