1961 Speedway National League

British motorcycle speedway season

1961 Speedway National LeagueLeague| National League

|

No. of competitors| 10
Champions| Wimbledon Dons
National Trophy| Southampton Saints
Highest average| Ove Fundin
Division/s below| 1961 Provincial League

* <- 1960
* 1962 ->

The 1961 National League was the 27th season and the sixteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

## Summary[edit]

The entry list was identical to the previous year and although Wimbledon Dons won their seventh title in eight years, it would be their last.[2][3][4]

## Final table[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Wimbledon Dons | 18  | 15  | 0  | 3  | 30
2  | Southampton Saints | 18  | 13  | 2  | 3  | 28
3  | Coventry Bees | 18  | 10  | 1  | 7  | 21
4  | Belle Vue Aces | 18  | 10  | 0  | 8  | 20
5  | Swindon Robins | 18  | 8  | 0  | 10  | 16
6  | Ipswich Witches | 18  | 7  | 1  | 10  | 15
7  | Norwich Stars | 18  | 7  | 0  | 11  | 14
8  | New Cross Rangers | 18  | 7  | 0  | 11  | 14
9  | Oxford Cheetahs | 18  | 6  | 1  | 11  | 13
10  | Leicester Hunters | 18  | 4  | 1  | 13  | 9

## Top Ten Riders (League only)[edit]

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

|
|
|
|

1  | Ove Fundin |  | Norwich  | 11.51
2  | Ronnie Moore |  | Wimbledon  | 11.17
3  | Peter Craven |  | Belle Vue  | 10.95
4  | Björn Knutson |  | Southampton  | 10.79
5  | Arne Pander |  | Oxford  | 10.60
6  | Barry Briggs |  | Southampton  | 10.13
7  | Ron How |  | Wimbledon  | 10.05
8  | Ron Johnston |  | Belle Vue  | 10.00
9  | Ken McKinlay |  | Leicester  | 9.57
10  | Bob Duckworth |  | Belle Vue  | 9.48

## National Trophy[edit]

The 1961 National Trophy was the 23rd edition of the Knockout Cup. Southampton were the winners.[5]

First round

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

15/06 | Oxford | 43-40 | Southampton
13/06 | Southampton | 58-26 | Oxford
10/06 | Belle Vue | 55-28 | New Cross
07/06 | New Cross | 46-37 | Belle Vue

Second round

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

17/08 | Ipswich | 44-40 | Coventry
09/08 | Norwich | 43-40 | Swindon
08/08 | Southampton | 52-32 | Belle Vue
29/07 | Belle Vue | 47-37 | Southampton
24/07 | Wimbledon | 46-38 | Norwich
22/07 | Norwich | 52-32 | Wimbledon
22/07 | Swindon | 66-18 | Leicester
21/07 | Leicester | 38-45 | Swindon

Semifinals

Date  | Team one  | Score  | Team two

|
|
|

09/09 | Swindon | 56-28 | Norwich
29/08 | Southampton | 57-27 | Coventry
26/08 | Coventry | 49-35 | Southampton
09/08 | Norwich | 43-40 | Swindon

### Final[edit]

First leg

19 September 1961

Southampton Saints
Björn Knutson 15
Barry Briggs 14
Dick Bradley 9
Alby Golden 6
Peter Vandenberg 4
Cyril Roger 4
Chum Taylor 3| 55 – 29| Swindon Robins
Tadeusz Teodorowicz 7
Neil Street 6
Ian Williams 5
Brian Brett 4
George White 4
Mike Broadbank 2
Brian Meredith 1

|
|

| [6] |

Banister Court Stadium

Second leg

23 September 1961

Swindon Robins
Tadeusz Teodorowicz 9
Mike Broadbank 8
George White 8
Brian Meredith 5
Ian Williams 4
Brian Brett 4
Neil Street 3| 41 – 43| Southampton Saints
Björn Knutson 15
Barry Briggs 13
Chum Taylor 8
Peter Vandenberg 4
Dick Bradley 3
Cyril Roger 0
Alby Golden 0

|
|

| [6] |

Abbey Stadium

Southampton were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 98–70.

## Riders & final averages[edit]

Belle Vue

*   * Peter Craven 10.95
*   * Ron Johnston 10.00
*   * Bob Duckworth 9.48
*   * Dick Fisher 7.30
*   * Jack Kitchen 5.90
*   * Slant Payling 3.60
*   * Jim Yacoby 3.25
*   * Bryce Subritzky 3.21
*   * Bill Powell 2.67
*   * Peter Kelly 2.00

Coventry

*   * Nigel Boocock 7.84
*   * Jack Young 7.73
*   * Les Owen 7.44
*   * Nick Nicholls 6.00
*   * Ron Mountford 5.97
*   * Kazimierz Bentke 5.10
*   * Maury Mattingley 4.00
*   * Jim Lightfoot 4.15

Ipswich

*   * Peter Moore 8.90
*   * Ray Cresp 8.39
*   * Jimmy Squibb 6.36
*   * Les McGillivray 6.34
*   * Colin Gooddy 5.85
*   * Jack Unstead 5.07
* Trevor Blokdyk 4.12
*   * Len Silver 4.00
*   * Dennis Day 2.29

Leicester

*   * Ken McKinlay 9.57
*   * Paweł Waloszek 6.92
*   * Jack Geran 6.47
*   * Bryan Elliott 5.39
*   * Charlie Barsby 5.33
*   * Alf Hagon 4.12
*   * Guy Allott 3.24
*   * Dave Hankins 2.72
* Neil Mortimer 2.61

New Cross

*   * Split Waterman 8.06
*   * Tommy Sweetman 8.00
* Doug Davies 6.96
*   * Eric Williams 6.54
*   * Jimmy Gooch 6.44
*   * Leo McAuliffe 6.17
*   * Reg Luckhurst 4.96
*   * Bengt Brannefors 4.00
*   * Johnny Fitzpatrick 4.33
*   * Bobby Croombs 3.75

Norwich

*   * Ove Fundin 11.51
*   * Johnny Chamberlain 7.77
*   * Billy Bales 7.67
*   * Dennis Newton 5.48
*   * Derek Strutt 4.80
*   * Reg Trott 4.37
*   * John Debbage 3.90
*   * Kurt W. Petersen 3.45
*   * Terry Betts 2.50
*   * Harry Edwards 2.40
*   * Trevor Hedge 0.00

Oxford

*   * Arne Pander 10.60
*   * Jack Biggs 8.72
*   * Ronnie Genz 8.16
*   * Gordon McGregor 6.56
*   * Howdy Byford 5.33
*   * Danny Dunton 5.27
*   * Reg Duval 3.72
*   * Jim Tebby 3.48
*   * George Major 1.85
*   * Roy Bowers 1.68

Southampton

*   * Björn Knutson 10.79
*   * Barry Briggs 10.13
*   * Jack Scott 8.80
*   * Chum Taylor 7.83
*   * Cyril Roger 6.73
*   * Dick Bradley 5.59
*   * Ross Gilbertson 5.00
*   * Alby Golden 4.55
*   * Peter Vandenberg 4.29

Swindon

*   * Neil Street 7.83
*   * George White 7.82
*   * Tadeusz Teodorowicz 7.52
*   * Mike Broadbank 6.96
*   * Ian Williams 6.22
*   * Arne Carlsson 6.00
*   * Martin Ashby 6.00
*   * Brian Meredith 5.39
*   * Brian Brett 4.85
*   * Bob Roger 1.00

Wimbledon

*   * Ronnie Moore 11.17
*   * Ron How 10.05
*   * Bob Andrews 9.04
*   * Jim Tebby 7.33
*   * Cyril Maidment 7.17
*   * Cyril Brine 7.14
*   * Gerald Jackson 5.58
*   * Gil Goldfinch 5.10
*   * Roy Trigg 0.00

## See also[edit]

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

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
3. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129\. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
4. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
5. ^ "1961 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
6. ^ a b "1961 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

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Speedway in the United Kingdom

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National League seasons 1932–1964

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