1950 Speedway National League Division Two

1950 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors15
ChampionsNorwich Stars
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Halifax Dukes
Highest averageJack Young
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowNational League (Div 3)

The 1950 National League Division Two was the fifth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

The League was extended again to 15 teams with the promotion from Division Three of Halifax Dukes, Plymouth, Yarmouth and Hanley. Bristol Bulldogs, champions for the previous two seasons, moved up to Division One.[2]

Norwich Stars claimed the title by a single point.

On 1 July 1950, two riders were killed on the same night. Jock Shead riding for Halifax Dukes was killed at The Firs Stadium, (the third rider in four years to be killed at the track) during the semi-final of the National Trophy. Shead's bike collided with another bike and he somersaulted before landing, he was take to hospital but died shortly afterwards. A second rider was killed on the same night in a division 1 fixture.[3]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Norwich Stars 28 18 1 9 37
2 Glasgow Tigers 28 18 0 10 36
3 Cradley Heath Heathens 28 18 0 10 36
4 Coventry Bees 28 16 0 12 32
5 Walthamstow Wolves 28 16 0 12 32
6 Halifax Dukes 28 16 0 12 32
7 Southampton Saints 28 14 1 13 29
8 Edinburgh Monarchs 28 14 1 13 29
9 Plymouth Devils 28 13 0 15 26
10 Sheffield Tars 28 13 0 15 26
11 Ashfield Giants 28 12 0 16 24
12 Yarmouth Bloaters 28 12 0 16 24
13 Newcastle Diamonds 28 10 0 18 20
14 Hanley Potters 28 9 2 17 20
15 Fleetwood Flyers 28 8 1 19 17

Top Five Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Jack Young Australia Edinburgh 11.24
2 Arthur Forrest England Halifax 11.00
3 Alan Hunt England Cradley Heath 10.44
4 Bob Oakley England Southampton 10.43
5 Phil Clarke England Norwich 9.91

National Trophy Stage Two

The 1950 National Trophy was the 13th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division clubs and stage three was for the top-tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Halifax won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.[4]

Second Division Qualifying First round

Date Team one Score Team two
26/05 Halifax 71-37 Oxford
25/05 Oxford 68-40 Halifax
27/05 Coventry 64-44 Newcastle
29/05 Newcastle 62-45 Coventry
27/05 Norwich 63-44 Fleetwood
31/05 Fleetwood 48-59 Norwich
31/05 Glasgow White City 70-38 Stoke Hanley
27/05 Stoke Hanley 65-43 Glasgow White City
30/05 Ashfield Giants 61-47 Cradley Heath
29/05 Cradley Heath 60-47 Ashfield Giants
26/05 Sheffield 77-31 Plymouth
25/05 Plymouth 56-51 Sheffield
30/05 Yarmouth 57-50 Walthamstow
29/05 Walthamstow 66-42 Yarmouth
30/05 Southampton 62-46 Edinburgh
27/05 Edinburgh 48-60 Southampton

Second Division Qualifying Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
10/06 Coventry 53-53 Halifax
09/06 Halifax 68-40 Coventry
10/06 Norwich 78-30 Glasgow White City
07/06 Glasgow White City 70-38 Norwich
20/06 Ashfield Giants 63-44 Sheffield
09/06 Sheffield 57-51 Ashfield Giants
20/06 Southampton 59-49 Walthamstow
19/06 Walthamstow 67-41 Southampton

Second Division Qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/07 Norwich 58-50 Halifax
30/06 Halifax 69-39 Norwich
04/07 Ashfield Giants 67-41 Walthamstow
26/06 Walthamstow 66-41 Ashfield Giants

Second Division Qualifying final

Date Team one Score Team two
11/07 Ashfield Giants 58-50 Halifax
14/07 Halifax 64-43 Ashfield Giants

First leg

Ashfield Giants
Ken Le Breton 16
Merv Harding 12
Bruce Semmens 9
Willie Wilson 7
Keith Gurtner 7
Ron Hart 4
Bill Baird 3
Bob Lovell 0		58 – 50Halifax Dukes
Arthur Forrest 12
Vic Emms 12
Al Allison 8
Dyson Harper 8
Jack Hughes 6
Ray Johnson 3
Jack Dawson 1
Bill Crosland 0
[5]

Second leg

Halifax Dukes
Arthur Forrest 15
Vic Emms 11
Al Allison 11
Jack Hughes 9
Dyson Harper 7
Bill Crosland 6
Jack Dawson 4
Ray Johnson 1		64 – 43Ashfield Giants
Ken Le Breton 17
Merv Harding 9
Bruce Semmens 7
Keith Gurtner 5
Willie Wilson 3
Ron Hart 2
Bill Baird 0
Bob Lovell 0
[6]

Ashfield

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Fleetwood

  • England Don Potter 7.60
  • England Norman Hargreaves 7.05
  • England Wilf Plant 6.45
  • England Alf Parker 6.00
  • Australia Graham Williams 5.87
  • Australia Bill Reynolds 5.69
  • England Dick Geary 4.27
  • Scotland Angus McGuire 3.20
  • Australia Frank Malouf 2.80
  • England Geoff Culshaw 2.92

Glasgow

Halifax

  • England Arthur Forrest 11.00
  • England Vic Emms 9.61
  • England Jock Shead 8.40
  • England Jack Hughes 7.04
  • England Al Allison 6.76
  • England Bill Crosland 6.58
  • Wales Jack Dawson 5.03
  • England Dyson Harper 4.20
  • England Bunny Burrows 3.79
  • England Ray Johnson 3.57
  • England George Stringer 0.47

Hanley

  • Australia Lindsay Mitchell 7.11
  • England Brian Pritchett 7.01
  • England Ken Adams 6.44
  • Guernsey Johnny Fitzparick 6.34
  • England Gil Blake 6.22
  • Australia Bill Harris 5.41
  • England Les Jenkins 5.04
  • England Ray Harris 4.86
  • England Stan Bradbury 4.00

Newcastle

Norwich

Plymouth

Sheffield

Southampton

Walthamstow

Yarmouth

  • England Reg Morgan 7.11
  • England Fred Brand 7.00
  • England Tip Mills 6.75
  • England Bill Carruthers 6.41
  • Australia Bill Maddern 5.90
  • England Johnny White 5.66
  • Australia Wally Higgs 5.28
  • England Stan Page 4.74
  • England Bert Rawlinson 4.73
  • England George Flower 2.09

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Speedway Researcher". Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Two Riders Killed". Weekly Dispatch (London). 2 July 1950. Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "1950 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ "Thrills, spills and a record as Giants beat Dukes". Daily Record. 12 July 1950. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Halifax Win". Daily Record. 15 July 1950. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.