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1951 Speedway National League Division Three

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1951 Speedway National League Division Three
LeagueNational League Division Three
Season1951
No. of competitors10
ChampionsPoole Pirates
National Trophy
(Div 3 final)		Exeter Falcons
Riders' ChampionshipKen Middleditch
Highest averageAlan Smith
Division/s aboveDivision One
Division Two

The 1951 National League Division Three was the fifth and final season of British speedway's National League Division Three[1]

The league remained with 10 teams but there were changes. Oxford Cheetahs, Leicester Hunters and Liverpool Chads had all moved up to Division Two whilst Tamworth Tammies dropped out.

Plymouth Devils dropped down from Division Two. The three new sides were Cardiff Dragons, Long Eaton Archers and Wolverhampton Wasps.[2]

Poole Pirates won their first title. Alan Smith of Plymouth topped the averages.[3]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 36 30 0 6 60
2 Exeter Falcons 36 28 0 8 56
3 Aldershot Shots 36 21 1 14 43
4 Rayleigh Rockets 36 21 0 15 42
5 Swindon Robins 36 16 2 18 34
6 Plymouth Devils 36 16 1 19 33
7 Cardiff Dragons 36 13 3 20 29
8 St Austell Gulls 36 13 0 23 26
9 Long Eaton Archers 36 13 0 23 26
10 Wolverhampton Wasps 36 5 1 30 11

Leading Averages

[edit]
Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Alan Smith Plymouth 10.58
2 Ken Middleditch Poole 10.33
3 Trevor Redmond Aldershot 10.10
4 Geoff Mardon Aldershot 9.88
5 Brian Crutcher Poole 9.41

National Trophy Stage Three

[edit]

The 1951 National Trophy (sponsored by the Daily Mail) was the 14th 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. Exeter won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.[4]

Third Division Qualifying First round

Date Team one Score Team two
05/04 Cardiff 52-56 Rayleigh
05/04 Plymouth 54-54 Exeter
02/04 Poole 69-39 Aldershot
02/04 Exeter 77-30 Plymouth
31/03 Aldershot 66-40 Poole
31/03 Rayleigh 68-40 Cardiff
31/03 Swindon 71-37 Long Eaton
29/03 Long Eaton 49-58 Swindon

Third Division Qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
16/04 Exeter 73-35 Rayleigh
16/04 Poole 61-47 Swindon
07/04 Swindon 66-41 Poole
14/04 Rayleigh 56-52 Exeter

Qualifying final

[edit]

First leg

Swindon Robins
Hugh Geddes 15
Bob Jones 10
Danny Malone 9
Ken Wiggins 6
Buster Brown 4
Ray Ellis 2
Frank Evans 1
Dennis Newton 0		47 – 61Exeter Falcons
Bob Roger 13
Don Hardy 10
Goog Hoskin 9
Johnny Sargeant 8
Ted Moore 8
Vic Gent 6
Jack Bedkober 5
Paul Best 2
[5][6]

Second leg

Exeter Falcons
Vic Gent 16
Goog Hoskin 10
Johnny Sargeant 10
Bob Roger 93
Don Hardy 8
Ted Moore 8
Jack Bedkober 2
Bert Fryer 0		63 – 45Swindon Robins
Hugh Geddes 15
Frank Evans 7
George Craig 6
Danny Malone 5
Ray Ellis 4
Ken Wiggins 4
Bob Jones 3
Buster Brown 1
[6]

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Ken Middleditch won the National League Division Three Rider's Championship. The final was held at Penarth Road Stadium in Cardiff on 23 October.[7][8][9]

Pos. Rider Pts
1 England Ken Middleditch 14
2 England Alan Smith 11+4
3 England Jack Unstead 11+3
4 England George Wall 11+2
5 England Terry Small 11+1
6 New Zealand Trevor Redmond 11+0
7 England Bob Roger 9
8 England Tony Lewis 9
9 England Gerry Jackson 9
10 New Zealand Mick Holland 7
11 England Buster Brown 6
12 England Goog Hoskin 5
13 England Jack Winstanley 2
14 Australia Hugh Geddes (res) 1
15 England Danny Malone 1
16 England Norman Street 1
17 England Tom O'Connor 0
18 England Don Hardy 0

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Aldershot

  • Geoff Mardon 10.06
  • Trevor Redmond 10.00
  • Basil Harris 8.07
  • Bert Edwards 8.04
  • Pat Flanagan 6.59
  • Ivor Powell 6.11
  • Brian Wilson 5.61
  • Doug Papworth 4.79
  • Ron Burnett 4.67
  • Bob Harrison 4.28
  • John Dore 4.19
  • Bill Grimes 3.43
  • Craig Jones 3.49

Cardiff

  • Charlie May 8.88
  • Mick Holland 8.26
  • Gerald Pugh 7.44
  • Kevin Hayden 7.39
  • Chum Taylor 6.62
  • Arthur Pilgrim 6.47
  • Jimmy Wright 6.20
  • Frank Johnson 5.16
  • Bert Croucher 4.78
  • Les Moore 4.64
  • Ray Beaumont 4.44
  • Vic Butcher 4.00
  • Mick Callaghan 4.16
  • Vic Brinkworth 2.78
  • Jack Bibby 2.67
  • Ray Thackwell 2.29

Exeter

  • Bob Roger 8.91
  • Don Hardy 8.89
  • Goog Hoskin 8.79
  • Johnny Sargeant 8.43
  • Ken Walsh 8.30
  • Jack Bedkober 7.10
  • Vic Gent 6.77
  • Ted Moore 6.02
  • Paul Best 4.49

Long Eaton

  • Frank Malouf 6.82
  • Jack Winstanley 6.71
  • Peter Moore 5.71
  • Johnny Jones 5.50
  • Eric Minall 5.41
  • Eric Mason 5.37
  • Ernest Palmer 5.05
  • Bill Humphries 4.55
  • Percy Brine 4.44
  • Ray Binfield 3.53

Plymouth

  • Alan Smith 10.84
  • George Wall 9.13
  • Bill Thatcher 8.00
  • Brian Hitchcock 6.08
  • Ron Barrett 5.93
  • Johnnie Bradford 5.22
  • George Craig 4.63
  • Frank Wheeler 4.56
  • Rusty Wainwright 4.21
  • Tom Turnham 4.18
  • Dennis Hayles 4.00
  • Doug Fursey 3.33
  • Farnk Holcombe 3.29
  • George Watts 3.08

Poole

Rayleigh

St Austell

  • Harold Bull 7.16
  • Ticker James 7.37
  • Norman Street 7.29
  • Ken James 5.80
  • Maurice Hutchens 5.69
  • Mick Mitchell 5.49
  • Max Rech 5.48
  • Allan Quinn 5.54
  • Ken Monk 4.84
  • Stan Bedford 3.04

Swindon

  • Buster Brown 7.87
  • Alex Gray 7.69
  • Hugh Geddes 7.54
  • Danny Malone 7.35
  • Frank Evans 7.13
  • Ray Ellis 6.80
  • Bob Jones 6.90
  • Reg Lambourne 6.10
  • Miek Beddoe 5.33
  • Ken Wiggins 4.47
  • Dudley Smith 3.67

Wolverhampton

  • Roy Moreton 6.55
  • Jack Cunningham 5.96
  • Harry Wardropper 5.49
  • Ron Wilson 5.39
  • Ronnie Genz 5.06
  • Dick Harris 4.83
  • Gundy Harris 4.58
  • Alan Sutcliffe 4.57
  • John Hitchings 4.56
  • Cliff Biggs 4.43
  • Bob Wigg 4.40
  • Derek Timms 4.30
  • Cyril Maidment 3.50
  • Ted Stevens 2.29

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  2. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  3. ^ "National League Division 3 1951" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ^ "1951 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ "Two Riders Go To Hospital". Weekly Dispatch (London). 22 April 1951. Retrieved 4 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b "Swindon 1951 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Runner-Up in Speedway title event". Western Evening Herald. 24 October 1951. Retrieved 13 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1951 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  9. ^ "CLUB HISTORY: 1950S". Swindon Speedway. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
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