1952 Speedway Southern League
LeagueSouthern League
Season1952
No. of competitors10
ChampionsRayleigh Rockets
National Trophy
(Southern final)		Plymouth Devils
Highest averageGeorge Wall
Division/s aboveNational League Div 1
National League Div 2

The 1952 Southern League was the first season of the newly created regional third tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. From the defunct National League Division Three of the previous season, only Poole Pirates did not join the new league. Ipswich Witches and Southampton Saints were new entrants.[1]

Rayleigh Rockets were champions whilst Long Eaton Archers withdrew mid-season.[2] George Wall of Plymouth topped the averages.[3][4]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Rayleigh Rockets 36 28 0 8 56
2 Cardiff Dragons 36 23 0 13 46
3 Plymouth Devils 36 20 1 15 41
4 Wolverhampton Wasps 36 20 1 15 41
5 Exeter Falcons 36 20 1 15 41
6 Swindon Robins 36 18 0 18 36
7 Aldershot Shots 36 15 1 20 31
8 Ipswich Witches 36 12 0 24 24
9 Southampton Saints 36 11 0 25 22
10 St Austell Gulls 36 11 0 25 22

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Long Eaton Archers

Leading Averages

Rider Team C.M.A.
1 George Wall Plymouth 10.26
2 Alan Smith Plymouth 9.93
3 Pete Lansdale Plymouth 9.46
4 Goog Hoskin Exeter 9.45
5 Jack Unstead Rayleigh 9.33

National Trophy Stage Three

The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third tier clubs, stage two was for the second tier 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. Plymouth won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.[5]

Third Division qualifying first round

Date Team one Score Team two
22/04Southampton49-58Cardiff
18/04Wolverhampton74-33Long Eaton
17/04Cardiff75-33Southampton
17/04Long Eaton58-50Wolverhampton

Third Division qualifying second round

Date Team one Score Team two
26/04Swindon52-56Cardiff
25/04Wolverhampton49-59Exeter
24/04Cardiff74-32Swindon
24/04Ipswich50-57Rayleigh
21/04Exeter73-34Wolverhampton
19/04Rayleigh60-48Ipswich
19/04Aldershot48-60Plymouth
17/04Plymouth76-31Aldershot

Third Division qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
08/05Cardiff59-48Rayleigh
03/05Rayleigh70-38Cardiff
01/05Plymouth67-41Exeter
28/04Exeter57-51Plymouth

Qualifying final

First leg

Plymouth Devils
Pete Lansdale 17
George Wall 16
Bill Tatcher 14
Alan Smith 11
Brian Hitchcock 5
Denis Hayles 3
Doug Fursey 3
Frank Wheeler 0		69 – 38Rayleigh Rockets
Jack Unstead 10
Peter Clark 8
Julie Benson 6
Ron Howes 5
Tom O'Connor 3
Gerald Jackson 3
Les McGillivray 2
Maurice McDermott 1
[6]

Second leg

Rayleigh Rockets
Jack Unstead 16
Les McGillivray 13
Gerald Jackson 10
Julie Benson 10
Ron Howes 8
Tom O'Connor 5
Peter Clark 5
Maurice McDermott 0		67 – 41Plymouth Devils
George Wall 14
Alan Smith 10
Pete Lansdale 8
Bill Tatcher 4
Brian Hitchcock 3
Johnny Bradford 2
Denis Hayles 1
Frank Wheeler 0
[7][6]

Riders & final averages

Aldershot

  • Ivor Powell 7.90
  • Bert Edwards 7.83
  • Basil Harris 7.05
  • Doug Papworth 6.71
  • Vic Gooden 6.60
  • Arch Windmill 5.91
  • Ron Burnett 5.37
  • Bill Grimes 5.18
  • Charles Frenzel 4.75
  • Jack Taylor 2.24
  • John Dore 1.28

Cardiff

  • Gerald Pugh 8.55
  • Mick Holland 8.34
  • Hugh Geddes 8.27
  • Chum Taylor 8.15
  • Bert Edwards 7.85
  • Paul Best 7.00
  • Frank Johnson 6.56
  • Charlie May 6.43
  • Kevin Hayden 6.42
  • Jimmy Wright 6.21

Exeter

  • Goog Hoskin 9.20
  • Don Hardy 7.53
  • Vic Gent 7.66
  • Ron Barrett 7.38
  • Jack Geran 6.79
  • Johnny Sargeant 5.39
  • Colin Selley 4.67
  • Maurice Barnett 4.45
  • Neil Street 4.18
  • Ron Swaine 4.06
  • Eric Minall 3.83

Ipswich

  • Sid Clarke 9.08
  • Harold McNaughton 7.43
  • Dick Shepherd 7.04
  • Charlie Mugford 5.42
  • Tich Read 4.92
  • Geoff Woodger 4.44
  • Dennis Day 4.27
  • Rod Laudrum 4.27
  • Vic Sage 4.27
  • Alby Smith 4.17
  • Arthur Pigrim 3.86

Long Eaton (withdrew)

  • Lionel Watling 8.30
  • Peter Moore 7.01
  • Wilf Plant 6.83
  • Bill Harris 6.73
  • Cyril Page 6.08
  • Johnny Jones 5.81
  • Jack Winstanley 5.57
  • Roy Browning 4.83
  • Frank Malouf 4.65
  • Fred Siggins 3.29

Plymouth

  • George Wall 10.78
  • Alan Smith 10.14
  • Pete Lansdale 9.77
  • Bill Thatcher 8.09
  • Johnnie Bradford 5.43
  • Brian Hitchcock 4.90
  • Ray Moreton 4.63
  • Ted Stevens 4.49
  • Doug Fursey 4.41
  • Dennis Hoyle 3.43
  • Frank Wheeler 4.00
  • Bill Rundle 2.63

Rayleigh

St Austell

  • Norman Street 8.05
  • Allan Quinn 7.77
  • Ken Monk 6.13
  • Max Rech 6.06
  • Harold Bull 5.98
  • George Newton 5.86
  • Johnny Bradford 4.96
  • Dick Harris 4.67
  • Aston Quinn 4.62
  • Ken James 4.46
  • Charlie Hayden 4.33
  • Derek Timms 4.32
  • Don Prettijohn 3.65
  • Gordon Leigh 2.50

Southampton

  • Brian McKeown 8.10
  • Bert Croucher 7.50
  • Ernie Brecknell 6.73
  • Mike Tamms 6.34
  • Dudley Smith 5.90
  • Maury Mattingley 4.86
  • Jack Vallis 4.30
  • Ted Moore 4.27
  • Dennis Cross 4.16
  • Dennis Hayles 3.78

Swindon

  • Frank Evans 8.09
  • Danny Malone 7.37
  • Bob Jones 7.32
  • Bob Wells 7.04
  • Buster Brown 6.82
  • Reg Lambourne 6.36
  • Ian Williams 6.11
  • Ray Ellis 5.77
  • Ken Wiggins 4.21

Wolverhampton

  • Benny King 8.97
  • Cyril Quick 8.28
  • Jimmy Grant 7.75
  • Eric Irons 7.62
  • Jack Cunningham 6.24
  • Ken Brown 6.24
  • Bill Jemison 5.90
  • Dick Howard 5.89
  • Charlie Hayden 5.19
  • Roy Moreton 4.75
  • Stan Bradbury 4.44
  • Derek Timms 4.00

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  2. ↑ http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/1952/leaguetables.pdf%5B%5D
  3. ↑ "Southern League 1952" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "About - Exeter Speedway 1952". myweb.tiscali.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 February 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "1952 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. 1 2 "Rayleigh 1952 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Lightfoot the Phantom". Sunday Mirror. 18 May 1952. Retrieved 4 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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