1948 Speedway National League

British speedway season

1948 Speedway National LeagueLeague| National League Division One

|

No. of competitors| 7
Champions| New Cross Rangers
National Trophy| Wembley Lions
Anniversary Cup| Harringay Racers
Riders' champion| Vic Duggan
London Cup| Wembley Lions
Highest average| Vic Duggan
Division/s below| National League (Div 2)
National League (Div 3)

* <- 1947
* 1949 ->

The 1948 National League Division One was the 14th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the third post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2]

## Summary

[edit]

The entrant list was the same as the previous season. New Cross Rangers won the National League for the second time.[3][4]

## Fatalities

[edit]

1948 proved to be the worst season so far in regard to fatalities. During the 1947 season two riders had died on the same day but 1948 saw three riders killed during the season. It started with 37-year-old Reg Craven, on his debut for Yarmouth Bloaters. Craven crashed with two Poole Pirates riders at Poole (on 26 April) during a National Trophy match and died eight days later (4 May) from a fractured skull in hospital.[5] Billy Wilson of Norwich Stars and Eric Dunn of Hastings Saxons from the lower divisions were also killed.

## Final League table

[edit]

Pos  | Team  | PL  | W  | D  | L  | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | New Cross Rangers | 24  | 17  | 0  | 7  | 34
2  | Harringay Racers | 24  | 16  | 0  | 8  | 32
3  | West Ham Hammers | 24  | 14  | 1  | 9  | 29
4  | Wembley Lions | 24  | 12  | 1  | 11  | 25
5  | Belle Vue Aces | 24  | 12  | 1  | 11  | 25
6  | Wimbledon Dons | 24  | 5  | 2  | 17  | 12
7  | Odsal Boomerangs | 24  | 5  | 1  | 18  | 11

## National League results

[edit]

Matches 1–12

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Home \ Away  | BEL | HAR | NEW | ODS | WEM | WES | WIM

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Belle Vue Aces | -- | 48–36  | 53–31  | 43–41  | 42–42  | 43–41  | 59–25
Harringay Racers | 47–37  | -- | 37–47  | 54–29  | 39–45  | 44–40  | 49–35
New Cross Rangers | 61–23  | 41–43  | -- | 55–28  | 56–27  | 58–26  | 49–35
Odsal Boomerangs | 46–35  | 41–43  | 40–42  | -- | 38–46  | 43–40  | 41–41
Wembley Lions | 52–31  | 31–50  | 40.5–43.5  | 51–33  | -- | 40–44  | 44–39
West Ham Hammers | 61–23  | 58–26  | 49–35  | 60–22  | 54–30  | -- | 47–37
Wimbledon Dons | 50–33  | 45–38  | 40–44  | 56–27  | 27–57  | 40–43  | --

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 13–24

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Home \ Away  | BEL | HAR | NEW | ODS | WEM | WES | WIM

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Belle Vue Aces | -- | 50–34  | 33–51  | 47–37  | 48–36  | 52–31  | 52–32
Harringay Racers | 45–37  | -- | 44–40  | 58–26  | 53–28  | 59–24  | 54–30
New Cross Rangers | 38–45  | 40–44  | -- | 53–29  | 37–47  | 51–32  | 54–30
Odsal Boomerangs | 38–45  | 40–44  | 53–29  | -- | 37–47  | 51–32  | 54–30
Wembley Lions | 59–25  | 35–49  | 41–43  | 57–27  | -- | 39–45  | 60–24
West Ham Hammers | 49–35  | 48–36  | 49–35  | 48–36  | 38–46  | -- | 64–20
Wimbledon Dons | 35–47  | 35–49  | 46–38  | 58–26  | 35–49  | 41–41  | --

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

## Anniversary Cup

[edit]

On account of the small number of teams in the league the Anniversary Cup was run in a league format. Harringay Racers finished on top.

Pos  | Team  | PL  | W  | D  | L  | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Harringay Racers | 12  | 9  | 0  | 3  | 18
2  | Belle Vue Aces | 12  | 7  | 0  | 5  | 14
3  | Odsal Boomerangs | 12  | 7  | 0  | 5  | 14
4  | New Cross Rangers | 12  | 6  | 0  | 6  | 12
5  | West Ham Hammers | 12  | 6  | 0  | 6  | 12
6  | Wembley Lions | 12  | 5  | 0  | 7  | 10
7  | Wimbledon Dons | 12  | 2  | 0  | 10  | 4

Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away.

Home \ Away  | BEL | HAR | NEW | ODS | WEM | WES | WIM

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Belle Vue Aces | -- | 46.5–49.5  | 50–42  | 65–29  | 53–43  | 54–42  | 65–30
Harringay Racers | 52–43  | -- | 49–47  | 59–37  | 59–36  | 59–37  | 59–37
New Cross Rangers | 57–39  | 49–47  | -- | 51–44  | 49–46  | 58–38  | 42–54
Odsal Boomerangs | 53–43  | 52–44  | 48–47  | -- | 66–30  | 51–45  | 61–35
Wembley Lions | 45–51  | 47–49  | 49–47  | 61–35  | -- | 60–36  | 60–35
West Ham Hammers | 58–38  | 50–45  | 62–34  | 48–47  | 49–47  | -- | 60–34
Wimbledon Dons | 47–48  | 46–50  | 42–53  | 46–49  | 40–56  | 53–42  | --

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [citation needed]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

## Top Ten Riders (League only)

[edit]

| Rider  | Nat  | Team  | C.M.A.

|
|
|
|

1  | Vic Duggan |  | Harringay Racers  | 11.42
2  | Ron Johnson |  | New Cross  | 10.33
3  | Wilbur Lamoreaux |  | Wembley Lions  | 9.71
4  | George Wilks |  | Wembley Lions  | 9.65
5  | Max Grosskreutz |  | Odsal  | 9.63
6  | Aub Lawson |  | West Ham  | 9.59
7  | Alec Statham |  | Wimbledon  | 9.48
8  | Jack Parker |  | Belle Vue  | 9.35
9  | Eric Chitty |  | West Ham  | 9.21
10  | Norman Parker |  | Wimbledon  | 9.09

## National Trophy

[edit]

The 1948 Trophy was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup.[6]

Qualifying Competition Round 1

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

23/04 | Wombwell | 31 77 | Southampton
17/04 | Cradley Heath | 66 42 | Plymouth
13/04 | Southampton | 89 19 | Wombwell
12/04 | Exeter | 81 27 | Tamworth
08/04 | Plymouth | 56 50 | Cradley Heath
07/04 | Tamworth | 82 26 | Exeter

Qualifying Competition Round 2

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

29/04 | Stoke Hanley | 64 43 | Coventry
27/04 | Yarmouth | 47 67 | Poole
26/04 | Poole | 74 32 | Yarmouth
07/05 | Cradley Heath | 78 29 | Hull
05/05 | Tamworth | 46 62 | Southampton
04/05 | Southampton | 77 31 | Tamworth
01/05 | Coventry | 48 59 | Stoke Hanley
01/05 | Hull | 42 66 | Cradley Heath

Qualifying Competition semifinal

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

21/05 | Cradley Heath | 54 50 | Southampton
13/05 | Stoke Hanley | 64 44 | Poole
11/05 | Southampton | 85 23 | Cradley Heath
10/05 | Poole | 49 57 | Stoke Hanley

Qualifying Competition final

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

27/05 | Stoke Hanley | 43 64 | Southampton
25/05 | Southampton | 74½ 33½ | Stoke Hanley

Eliminating Competition First round

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

19/06 | Birmingham | 79 29 | Southampton
19/06 | Edinburgh | 62 46 | Glasgow White City
16/06 | Glasgow White City | 70 38 | Edinburgh
15/06 | Southampton | 41 66 | Birmingham

Eliminating Competition Second round

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

23/06 | Glasgow White City | 45½ 61½ | Birmingham
22/06 | Fleetwood | 69 39 | Bristol
19/06 | Norwich | 76 32 | Sheffield
18/06 | Bristol | 65 43 | Fleetwood
17/06 | Middlesbrough | 67 40 | Newcastle
17/06 | Sheffield | 55 53 | Norwich
14/06 | Newcastle | 41 65 | Middlesbrough
03/07 | Birmingham | 80 28 | Glasgow White City

Eliminating Competition semifinal

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

26/07 | Birmingham | 75 33 | Fleetwood
13/07 | Fleetwood | 49 59 | Birmingham
03/07 | Norwich | 66 41 | Middlesbrough
01/07 | Middlesbrough | 53 54 | Norwich

Eliminating Competition final

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

02/08 | Birmingham | 79 28 | Norwich
31/07 | Norwich | 64 43 | Birmingham

First round

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

04/09 | Belle Vue | 64 44 | Wembley
27/08 | Harringay | 67 40 | Wimbledon
26/08 | Wembley | 64 42 | Belle Vue
21/08 | Birmingham | 85 23 | West Ham
21/08 | Bradford | 62 46 | New Cross
19/08 | New Cross | 77 30 | Bradford
17/08 | West Ham | 67 41 | Birmingham
16/08 | Wimbledon | 53 55 | Harringay
04/09 | Belle Vue | 64 44 | Wembley

Quarterfinals

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

27/08 | Harringay | 67-40 | Wimbledon
26/08 | Wembley | 64-42 | Belle Vue
21/08 | Birmingham | 85-23 | West Ham
21/08 | Bradford | 62-46 | New Cross
19/08 | New Cross | 77-30 | Bradford
17/08 | West Ham | 67-41 | Birmingham
16/08 | Wimbledon | 53-55 | Harringay
04/09 | Belle Vue | 64-44 | Wembley

Semifinals

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

18/09 | Birmingham | 69-39 | New Cross
10/09 | Harringay | 52-56 | Wembley
09/09 | Wembley | 73-35 | Harringay
09/09 | New Cross | 83-25 | Birmingham

### Final

[edit]

First leg

7 October 1948

Wembley Lions
Tommy Price 13
Bill Gilbert 13
Bill Kitchen 11
Wilbur Lamoreaux 7
Split Waterman 7
Bob Wells 6
Freddie Williams 5
Roy Craighead 2| 64 – 44| New Cross Rangers
Ron Johnson 12
Jeff Lloyd 11
Eric French 6
Geoff Pymar 5
Ray Moore 4
Bill Longley 3
Frank Lawrence 3
Lindsay Mitchell 0

|
|

| [7] |

Wembley Stadium

Second leg

8 October 1948

New Cross Rangers
Ron Johnson 18
Jeff Lloyd 10
Frank Lawrence 7
Eric French 5
Ray Moore 5
Geoff Pymar 4
Bill Longley 2
Lindsay Mitchell 1| 52 – 56| Wembley Lions
Bill Gilbert 15
Wilbur Lamoreaux 9
Bill Kitchen 7
Split Waterman 7
Bob Wells 6
Tommy Price 5
Freddie Williams 4
Roy Craighead 3

|
|

| [7] |

New Cross Stadium

Wembley were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 120–96.

## Riders' Championship

[edit]

Vic Duggan won the British Riders' Championship final held at Empire Stadium on 16 September, in front of nearly 90,000 spectators.[8][9]

Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total

|
|
|

1 |  Vic Duggan | 2 3 3 3 3 | 14
2 |  Ron Johnson | 3 2 3 2 3 | 13
3 |  Alec Statham | 3 3 3 3 1 | 13
4 |  Split Waterman | 3 2 2 1 2 | 10
5 |  Bill Gilbert | 2 1 3 3 1 | 10
6 |  Jack Parker | 2 E 3 1 3 | 9
7 |  Oliver Hart | 3 2 2 2 | 9
8 |  Bill Longley | 0 1 2 2 3 | 8
9 |  Wilbur Lamoreaux | 2 2 0 0 2 | 6
10 |  Malcolm Craven | f 3 2 1 0 | 6
11 |  Jeff Lloyd | 1 3 0 0 1 | 5
12 |  Eric Chitty | 1 0 1 2 1 | 5
13 |  Lloyd Goffe | 0 1 1 1 2 | 5
14 |  Tommy Price | 1 2 0 1 F | 4
15 |  Norman Parker | 0 1 0 1 0 | 2
16 |  Dent Oliver | 1 0 0 0 0 | 1
16 |  Jack Hodgson (res) | 0 - - - - | 0

* f=fell

## London Cup

[edit]

First round

Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|

New Cross | 65–43, 43–64 | Harringay

Semi final round

Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|

Wimbledon | 57–51, 27–80 | New Cross
West Ham | 61–46, 40–67 | Wembley

### Final

[edit]

First leg

23 September 1948

Wembley
Wilbur Lamoreaux 15
Bill Gilbert 14
Bill Kitchen 10
Tommy Price 10
Split Waterman 7
Freddie Williams 4
George Saunders 3
Bob Wells 2| 65–40| New Cross
Ron Johnson 16
Frank Lawrence 5
Ray Moore 4
Bill Longley 4
Cyril Roger 3
Eric French 3
Jeff Lloyd 3
Geoff Pymar 2

|
|

|  |

Wembley Stadium

Second leg

24 September 1948

New Cross
Cyril Roger 15
Ron Johnson 14, Geoff Pymar 10
Jeff Lloyd 5
Ray Moore 5
Eric French 4
Frank Lawrence 4
Bill Longley 1| 58–50| Wembley
Bill Gilbert 14
Bill Kitchen 13
Freddie Williams 8
Tommy Price 5
Split Waterman 5
Wilbur Lamoreaux 3
Bob Wells 1
George Saunders 1

|
|

| [10] |

New Cross Stadium

Wembley won on aggregate 115–98

## Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

*   * Jack Parker 9.35
*   * Louis Lawson 7.46
*   * Dent Oliver 6.92
*   * Wally Hull 6.00
*   * Bill Pitcher 5.76
*   * Wally Lloyd 5.60
*   * Jim Boyd 4.96
*   * Jack Chignell 4.27
*   * Bill Rogers 3.75
*   * Brian Wilson 2.00

Harringay

*   * Vic Duggan 11.42
*   * Frank Dolan 8.53
*   * Lloyd Goffe 7.23
*   * Ray Duggan 7.23
*   * Wal Morton 6.67
*   * Jack Biggs 6.56
*   * Steve Ison 5.37
*   * Jack Arnfield 4.96
*   * Jimmy Grant 4.68
*   * Nobby Stock 3.84

New Cross

*   * Ron Johnson 10.33
*   * Jeff Lloyd 8.17
*   * Bill Longley 7.96
*   * Geoff Pymar 7.39
*   * Cyril Roger 7.27
*   * Ray Moore 7.15
*   * Eric French 7.12
*   * George Newton 5.48
*   * Frank Lawrence 5.79
*   * Mick Mitchell 2.00
*   * Lindsay Mitchell 0.67

Odsal

*   * Max Grosskreutz 9.63
*   * Oliver Hart 8.57
*   * Ernie Price 7.72
*   * Ron Clarke 7.34
*   * Eddie Rigg 6.15
*   * Joe Abbott 5.60
*   * Eric Mason 4.00
*   * Bob Lovell 3.33
*   * Andy Menzies 3.71
*   * Bill Osborne 3.20
*   * Jock Shead 2.78
*   * Norman Price 2.40
*   * Vic Emms 1.50

Wembley

*   * Wilbur Lamoreaux 9.71
*   * George Wilks 9.65
*   * Tommy Price 8.81
*   * Split Waterman 8.27
*   * Bill Gilbert 7.63
*   * Bill Kitchen 7.17
*   * Freddie Williams 6.43
*   * Bob Wells 5.40
*   * George Saunders 4.26
*   * Roy Craighead 3.37
*   * Bill Kemp 2.50

West Ham

*   * Aub Lawson 9.59
* Eric Chitty 9.21
*   * Malcolm Craven 8.13
*   * Cliff Watson 7.01
*   * Kid Curtis 5.89
*   * Tommy Croombs 5.64
*   * Howdy Byford 5.30
*   * Bob Harrison 3.58
*   * Frank Bettis 0.67

Wimbledon

*   * Norman Parker 9.09
*   * Alec Statham 9.48
*   * Cyril Brine 7.19
*   * Les Wotton 5.37
*   * Mike Erskine 4.87
*   * Arch Windmill 3.80
*   * Ron Mason 3.59
*   * Dick Harris 3.43
*   * Jimmy Coy 2.35
*   * Lionel Levy 2.29

## See also

[edit]

* List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
* Knockout Cup (speedway)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
3. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
4. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129\. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
5. ^ "Died from crash on speedway". Gloucestershire Echo. 4 May 1948. Retrieved 11 August 2021 - via British Newspaper Archive.
6. ^ "1948 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
7. ^ a b "1947 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
8. ^ "1948 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
9. ^ "Speedway title for Jack Parker". Daily News (London). 17 September 1948. Retrieved 3 June 2023 - via British Newspaper Archive.
10. ^ "Wembley Capture London Cup". Daily News (London). 25 September 1948. Retrieved 16 September 2023 - via British Newspaper Archive.

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