1955 Southern Area League

1955 Southern Area League
LeagueSouthern Area League
No. of competitors4
ChampionsRye House Roosters
Riders' ChampionMike Broadbank
Highest averageVic Hall
Division/s aboveNational League Div 1
National League Div 2

The 1955 Southern Area League was the second season of the regional third tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. The season started with the same five teams that finished the previous season.[1]

Rye House Roosters were the champions. Vic Hall of Brafield topped the averages.[2]

Ringwood Turfs withdrew mid-season.[3]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Rye House Roosters 12 10 0 2 20
2 California Poppies 12 7 0 5 14
3 Brafield Flying Foxes 12 6 0 6 12
4 Eastbourne Eagles 12 1 0 11 2

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Ringwood Turfs

Leading Averages

Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Vic Hall Brafield 9.90
2 Mike Broadbank Rye House 9.67
3 Brian Meredith Brafield 9.36
4 Vic Ridgeon Rye House 9.17
5 Al Sparrey Rye House 8.95

Riders' Championship

Mike Broadbank won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 25 September.[4][5]

Pos. Rider Club Pts
1 Mike Broadbank Rye House 15
2 Vic Ridgeon Rye House 12
3 Ron Sharp California 11
4 Merv Hannam Eastbourne 10
5 Dave Slater Rye House 10
6 Gil Goldfinch California 9
7 Tom Reader Eastbourne 9
8 Eric Hockaday California 7
9 Bryan Meredith Brafield 6
10 Jimmy Heard Rye House 6
11 Tommy Sweetman California 5
12 Colin Gooddy Brafield 5
13 Pete Mould California 5
14 Stan Bedford Rye House 3
15 Ross Gilbertson California 2
16 Bob Anderson California 0

Riders & final averages

Brafield

  • Vic Hall 9.89
  • Brian Meredith 9.33
  • Frank Greasley 8.20
  • Alan Pearce 7.60
  • Dave Hankins 5.89
  • Colin Gooddy 5.87
  • Brian Miller 5.60
  • Hank Bird 5.60
  • Neil Roberts 5.18

California

  • Bob Andrews 7.76
  • Jimmy Gleed 7.73
  • Pete Mold 7.65
  • Gil Goldfinch 7.43
  • Tommy Sweetman 7.00
  • Eric Hockaday 6.97
  • Ross Gilbertson 6.75
  • Ron Sharp 6.19
  • Bob Anderson 2.00

Eastbourne

  • Merv Hannam 8.92
  • Wally Wilson 5.88
  • Jim Preddy 4.42
  • Bert Little 4.42
  • Gerry Bridson 4.00
  • Bob Bunney 3.66
  • George Smithson 3.56
  • Dave Collett 3.43
  • Dave Freeborn 2.00

Ringwood (withdrew)

  • Merv Hannam 7.20
  • Gerry Bridson 5.26
  • Tom Reader 5.17
  • Glyn Chandler 4.91
  • Gordon Richards 4.31
  • Mike Tamms 4.00
  • George Hutchinson 2.55

Rye House

  • Mike Broadbank 9.75
  • Vic Ridgeon 9.25
  • Al Sparrey 9.05
  • Jimmy Heard 8.25
  • Dave Slater 7.41
  • Stan Bedford 7.35
  • Geoff Woodger 6.89
  • Bill Simpson 6.55
  • Vernon Brown 4.24
  • Gerry King 2.93

See also

References

  1. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Southern Area League 1955" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Trophy ends the Speedway season". Eastbourne Gazette. 5 October 1955. Retrieved 10 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Southern Area League Riders Championship". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.