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1960 Speedway National League
League	National League
No. of competitors	10
Champions	Wimbledon Dons
National Trophy	Wimbledon Dons
Midland Cup	Coventry Bees
Highest average	Ove Fundin
Division/s below	1960 Provincial League
	← 1959; 1961 →;

The 1960 National League was the 26th season and the fifteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

The number of competitors increased from nine to ten with New Cross Rangers returning after a seven-year absence, and Ipswich Witches returning after one year away replacing Poole Pirates who moved down to the newly formed Provincial League.^[2]^[3]

Wimbledon Dons won their sixth title in just seven years.^[4]

Derek 'Tink' Maynard of the Belle Vue Aces was fatally injured in a crash at The Firs Stadium, on 23 July 1960. Maynard was competing in the second leg of the National Trophy against Norwich when Slant Payling lost control of his bike and it hit Maynard. Both riders were taken to Norwich Hospital but Maynard died the following morning.^[5]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	17	13	0	4	26
2	Belle Vue Aces	18	11	1	6	23
3	Oxford Cheetahs	18	11	0	7	22
4	Ipswich Witches	18	10	0	8	20
5	Norwich Stars	17	8	1	8	17
6	Leicester Hunters	18	7	2	9	16
7	Southampton Saints	18	7	1	10	15
8	New Cross Rangers	18	7	1	10	15
9	Coventry Bees	18	7	0	11	14
10	Swindon Robins	18	5	0	13	10

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ove Fundin	Norwich	11.41
2	Peter Craven	Belle Vue	10.75
3	Ronnie Moore	Wimbledon	10.72
4	Björn Knutson	Southampton	10.08
5	Arne Pander	Oxford	10.06
6	Ken McKinlay	Leicester	9.98
7	Barry Briggs	New Cross	9.93
8	Peter Moore	Ipswich	9.89
9	Ron Johnston	Belle Vue	9.88
10	Olle Nygren	Southampton	9.40

National Trophy

The 1960 National Trophy was the 22nd edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
17/05	Southampton	55-53	Oxford
12/05	Oxford	54-54	Southampton
06/05	Leicester	52-56	Ipswich
05/05	Ipswich	64-44	Leicester

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
29/06	New Cross	61-46	Norwich
27/06	Wimbledon	73-34	Coventry
25/06	Belle Vue	71-37	Ipswich
25/06	Coventry	54-54	Wimbledon
25/06	Norwich	67-41	New Cross
25/06	Swindon	66-42	Southampton
23/06	Ipswich	52-56	Belle Vue
21/06	Southampton	55-52	Swindon

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/07	Wimbledon	71-36	Swindon
23/07	Norwich	65-41	Belle Vue
16/07	Belle Vue	66-42	Norwich
16/07	Swindon	48-60	Wimbledon
17/08 replay	Norwich	61-47	Belle Vue
26/08 replay	Belle Vue	53-55	Norwich

Final

First leg

24 September 1960

Norwich Stars Ove Fundin 17 Aub Lawson 14 John Chamberlain 10 Dennis Newton 10 Reg Trott 5 Derek Strutt 3 Harry Edwards 3 Cyril Roger 0	62 – 46	Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 12 Bob Andrews 10 Cyril Maidment 9 Gerry Jackson 6 Cyril Brine 4 Gil Goldfinch 3 Jim Tebby 2 Ernie Baker 0
	^[7]

The Firs Stadium

Second leg

3 October 1960

Wimbledon Dons Cyril Maidment 15 Bob Andrews 13 Gil Goldfinch 12 Cyril Brine 11 Gerry Jackson 9 Jim Tebby 7 Ronnie Moore 2 Ernie Baker 0	69 – 39	Norwich Stars Ove Fundin 18 John Chamberlain 5 Reg Trott 5 Dennis Newton 4 Harry Edwards 4 Cyril Roger 2 Derek Strutt 1 Billy Bales 0
	^[7]

Wimbledon Stadium

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 115–101.

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of four teams.^[8]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Coventry	Swindon	58–31, 32–58
Oxford	Leicester	45–45, 36–54

Final

First leg

23 September 1960

Leicester Stefan Kwoczala 15 Ken McKinlay 14 Guy Allott 6 Charlie Barsby 4 Jack Geran 3 Bryan Elliott 2 Dave Hankins 2 Alf Hagon 2	48–41	Coventry Jack Young 10 Nigel Boocock 9 Henryk Zyto 9 Ron Mountford 5 Les Owen 4 Maury Mattingley 2 Jim Lightfoot 1 Nick Nicholls 1

Leicester Stadium

Second leg

24 September 1960

Coventry Henryk Zyto 9 Jack Young 9 Nigel Boocock 8 Jim Lightfoot 6 Maury Mattingley 6 Les Owen 6 Ron Mountford 4 Nick Nicholls 3	51–39	Leicester Stefan Kwoczala 15 Ken McKinlay 12 Guy Allott 8 Charlie Barsby 2 Dave Hankins 2 Alf Hagon 0 Jack Geran 0 Bryan Elliott 0

Brandon Stadium

Coventry won on aggregate 92–87

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Ipswich

Leicester

New Cross

Norwich

Oxford

Southampton

Björn Knutson 10.08
Olle Nygren 9.40
Brian Crutcher 8.71
Chum Taylor 8.00
Dick Bradley 6.61
Brian Hanham 6.00
Alby Golden 5.75
Ross Gilbertson 5.75
Peter Vandenberg 3.91
Jack Scott 3.53
Brian Brett 0.62
Alf Jonsson injured after 2 matches

Swindon

Wimbledon

References

^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^ "Speedway rider killed". Birmingham Daily Post. 25 July 1960. Retrieved 13 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "1960 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
^ ^a ^b "1960 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ "Bees' Sparkling Win in Midland Cup Final". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 26 September 1960. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.