League | National League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 11 |
Champions | Swindon Robins |
Highest average | Peter Craven |
Division/s below | 1957 Southern Area League |
The 1957 National League was the 23rd season and the twelfth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]
Summary
[edit]The closure of Wembley Lions, Bradford Tudors and Poole Pirates left the league with only four teams, so the seven sides in Division Two merged to make an eleven-team first tier and so Division Two became defunct.[2][3]
Bradford Tudors returned to replace Birmingham Brummies mid-season (in early August)[4][5] and Swindon Robins followed up their Division Two title in 1956 with the Division One title in 1957.[6]
Final table
[edit]Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Swindon Robins | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 31 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 20 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 30 |
3 | Wimbledon Dons | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 24 |
4 | Norwich Stars | 20 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 22 |
5 | Leicester Hunters | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 21 |
6 | Southampton Saints | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 18 |
7 | Bradford Tudors* | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 18 |
8 | Coventry Bees | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 18 |
9 | Oxford Cheetahs | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 15 |
10 | Ipswich Witches | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 12 |
11 | Rayleigh Rockets | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 11 |
- Bradford Tudors replaced Birmingham Brummies mid-season.
Top Ten Riders (League only)
[edit]Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Peter Craven | ![]() |
Belle Vue | 11.18 |
2 | Ove Fundin | ![]() |
Norwich | 10.38 |
3 | Bob Roger | ![]() |
Swindon | 10.27 |
4 | Ron Johnston | ![]() |
Belle Vue | 10.27 |
5 | Barry Briggs | ![]() |
Wimbledon | 10.00 |
6 | Ken McKinlay | ![]() |
Leicester | 9.77 |
7 | Brian Crutcher | ![]() |
Southampton | 9.76 |
8 | Aub Lawson | ![]() |
Norwich | 9.73 |
9 | Peter Moore | ![]() |
Ipswich | 9.64 |
10 | Dick Bradley | ![]() |
Southampton | 9.48 |
National Trophy
[edit]The National Trophy was not held during 1957.
Riders & final averages
[edit]Belle Vue
-
Peter Craven 11.18
-
Ron Johnston 10.27
-
Bob Duckworth 6.92
-
Eddie Rigg 6.78
-
Dick Fisher 6.00
-
Tink Maynard 5.60
-
Peter Williams 4.71
-
Slant Payling 3.73
-
Brian Craven 3.24
-
Lew Grepp 0.73
Bradford/Birmingham
-
Dan Forsberg 9.42
-
Nigel Boocock 7.92
-
Ron Clarke 7.84
-
Eric Boothroyd 7.37/6.78
-
Ron Mountford 7.23
-
Arthur Forrest 7.15
-
Al Allison 5.21
-
Guy Allott 5.19/4.93
-
Jim Tolley 5.05
-
Trevor Redmond 4.76
-
Harry Bastable 4.00
-
Derrick Tailby 3.20
Coventry
-
Per Olof Söderman 8.43
-
Ron Mountford 8.07
-
Jim Lightfoot 6.53
-
Charlie New 6.34
-
Reg Duval 6.04
-
Les Owen 4.00
-
Nick Nicholls 3.35
-
Jim Tolley 3.31
-
Eric Hockaday 3.07
-
Arthur Wright 2.81
-
Bob Mark 2.30
Ipswich
-
Peter Moore 9.64
-
Cyril Roger 9.13
-
Aage Hansen 8.17
-
Bob Sharp 6.04
-
Bert Edwards 5.36
-
Junior Bainbridge 4.67
-
Jimmy Gooch 4.09
-
Wal Morton 3.79
-
Danny Dunton 3.84
-
Johnny Fitzpatrick 3.03
-
Len Silver 2.82
-
Ken Last 1.00
Leicester
-
Ken McKinlay 9.77
-
Rune Sörmander 8.40
-
Jack Geran 8.04
-
Alf Hagon 6.71
-
Harry Bastable 6.47
-
Al Allison 4.67
-
Charlie Barsby 3.88
-
Bryan Elliott 3.31
-
Reg Fearman 3.25
-
Vic Hall 1.54
-
Des Haswell 0.62
Norwich
-
Ove Fundin 10.38
-
Aub Lawson 9.73
-
Phil Clarke 9.41
-
Billy Bales 7.60
-
Harry Edwards 5.87
-
Geoff Pymar 3.91
-
Derek Strutt 3.68
-
Dave Hankins 2.75
-
Reg Trott 2.58
-
Barry East 2.33
-
Wal Morton 2.05
Oxford
-
Jack Biggs 8.38
-
Gordon McGregor 6.92
-
Ronnie Genz 7.81
-
Dennis Newton 6.29
-
Roy Bowers 5.51
-
Howdy Byford 5.10
-
Ray Cresp 5.00
-
Maury McDermott 4.00
-
Frank Johnson 3.64
Rayleigh
-
Les McGillivray 8.00
-
Jack Unstead 6.93
-
Birger Forsberg 6.38
-
Ken Adams 5.98
-
Eric French 5.97
-
Peter Clark 5.91
-
Pete Lansdale 5.40
-
Maury McDermott 3.72
Southampton
-
Brian Crutcher 9.76
-
Dick Bradley 9.48
-
Brian Hanham 7.17
-
Alby Golden 6.00
-
Maury Mattingley 5.68
-
Bill Holden 5.54
-
Jimmy Squibb 5.03
-
Johnny Hole 5.06
Swindon
-
Bob Roger 10.27
-
George White 8.61
-
Ian Williams 8.17
-
Ken Middleditch 7.54
-
Neil Street 6.70
-
Ernie Lessiter 6.44
-
Al Sparrey 6.40
-
Mike Broadbank 5.21
Wimbledon
-
Barry Briggs 10.00
-
Ron How 8.31
-
Ronnie Moore 8.00
-
Gerald Jackson 7.29
-
Cyril Maidment 6.52
-
Cyril Brine 6.04
-
Split Waterman 5.86
-
Gerry King 4.00
-
Ivan Mauger 4.00
-
Bob Andrews 3.76
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "This was Birmingham Speedway". Sports Argus. 3 August 1957. Retrieved 5 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Norwich depleted". Leicester Evening Mail. 1 August 1957. Retrieved 5 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.