League | National League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 9 |
Champions | Wimbledon Dons |
National Trophy | Wimbledon Dons |
Highest average | Ove Fundin |
Division/s below | 1959 Southern Area League |
The 1959 National League was the 25th season and the fourteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]
Summary
[edit]With Ipswich Witches dropping down to the Southern Area League, only 9 teams competed with Wimbledon Dons continuing their domination of British speedway with their fifth title in six years.[2][3][4]
Final table
[edit]Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Wimbledon Dons | 16 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
2 | Leicester Hunters | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
3 | Coventry Bees | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
4 | Norwich Stars | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
5 | Southampton Saints | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
6 | Poole Pirates | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
7 | Oxford Cheetahs | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
8 | Swindon Robins | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
9 | Belle Vue Aces | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 10 |
Top Ten Riders (League only)
[edit]Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Ove Fundin | ![]() |
Norwich | 11.00 |
2 | Peter Craven | ![]() |
Belle Vue | 10.84 |
3 | Ken McKinlay | ![]() |
Leicester | 10.75 |
4 | Brian Crutcher | ![]() |
Southampton | 10.65 |
5 | Ronnie Moore | ![]() |
Wimbledon | 10.52 |
6 | Peter Moore | ![]() |
Wimbledon | 10.08 |
7 | Ron How | ![]() |
Wimbledon | 9.92 |
8 | Mike Broadbank | ![]() |
Swindon | 9.40 |
9 | Ron Johnston | ![]() |
Belle Vue | 9.05 |
10 | Arne Pander | ![]() |
Oxford | 8.90 |
National Trophy
[edit]The 1959 National Trophy was the 21st edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.[5]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
30/05 | Swindon | 55-52 | Oxford |
28/05 | Oxford | 59-49 | Swindon |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
16/07 | Oxford | 57-51 | Southampton |
14/07 | Southampton | 61-47 | Oxford |
27/06 | Belle Vue | 67-41 | Leicester |
27/06 | Coventry | 69-39 | Wimbledon |
26/06 | Leicester | 59-49 | Belle Vue |
22/06 | Wimbledon | 71-37 | Coventry |
20/06 | Norwich | 65-43 | Poole |
19/06 | Poole | 46-62 | Norwich |
Semifinals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
08/08 | Norwich | 53-55 | Southampton |
04/08 | Southampton | 73-35 | Norwich |
03/08 | Wimbledon | 75-33 | Belle Vue |
01/08 | Belle Vue | 54-54 | Wimbledon |
Final
[edit]First leg
Wimbledon Dons Barry Briggs 18 Ronnie Moore 13 Bob Andrews 12 Ron How 11 Jim Tebby 8 Cyril Maidment 4 Cyril Brine 2 Gil Goldfinch 0 | 67 – 41 | Southampton Saints Geoff Mardon 11 Brian Crutcher 9 Björn Knutson 7 Alby Golden 5 Chum Taylor 4 Jack Scott 2 Brian Hanham 1 Dick Bradley 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Second leg
Southampton Saints Geoff Mardon 11 Björn Knutson 9 Chum Taylor 8 Alby Golden 8 Brian Brett 8 Brian Crutcher 4 Dick Bradley 2 Brian Hanham 2 | 52 – 56 | Wimbledon Dons Barry Briggs 17 Ron How 16 Ronnie Moore 10 Bob Andrews 6 Gil Goldfinch 3 Jim Tebby 3 Cyril Brine 1 Cyril Maidment 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–93.
Riders & final averages
[edit]Belle Vue
-
Peter Craven 10.84
-
Ron Johnston 9.05
-
Bob Duckworth 7.24
-
Dick Fisher 6.57
-
Peter Williams 5.54
-
Arthur Wright 5.33
-
Slant Payling 4.21
-
Tink Maynard 3.64
-
Jack Kitchen 3.00
-
Danny Dunton 2.73
-
Graham Beattie 2.50
-
Tony Robinson 1.20
-
Graham Coombes 0.29
Coventry
-
Nigel Boocock 8.65
-
Ron Mountford 7.61
-
Arthur Forrest 7.28
-
Nick Nicholls 5.51
-
Maury Mattingley 5.44
-
Brian Meredith 5.33
-
Jim Lightfoot 4.98
-
Les Owen 4.94
-
Antti Pajari 4.32
-
Graham Warren 2.00
Leicester
-
Ken McKinlay 10.75
-
Jack Geran 8.50
-
Marian Kaiser 7.80
-
Eric Boothroyd 5.95
-
Charlie Barsby 4.10
-
Bryan Elliott 4.00
-
Guy Allott 3.80
-
Alf Hagon 3.70
-
Harry Bastable 2.67
-
Dave Hankins 2.10
Norwich
-
Ove Fundin 11.00
-
Aub Lawson 8.56
-
Billy Bales 7.78
-
Cyril Roger 6.25
-
Reg Trott 5.76
-
Phil Clarke 5.63
-
Johnny Chamberlain 5.58
-
[Derek Strutt 4.55
-
Harry Edwards 4.76
-
Clive Featherby 4.00
Oxford
-
Arne Pander 8.90
-
Gordon McGregor 8.32
-
Ronnie Genz 7.07
-
Nick Nicholls 7.00
-
Roy Bowers 5.96
-
Arthur Wright 5.70
-
Ken Adams 5.37
-
Colin Gooddy 5.02
-
Howdy Byford 3.52
-
Dave Still 0.00
Poole
-
Ray Cresp 7.37
-
Les McGillivray 7.14
-
Jack Unstead 7.08
-
Birger Forsberg 6.85
-
Jack Biggs 6.34
-
Jimmy Squibb 5.70
Trevor Blokdyk 4.88
-
Reg Duval 4.50
-
Terry Small 4.34
-
Norman Strachan 3.73
Southampton
-
Brian Crutcher 10.65
-
Geoff Mardon 8.73
-
Björn Knutson 8.40
-
Jimmy Squibb 6.67
-
Chum Taylor 6.22
-
Dick Bradley 6.22
-
Alby Golden 5.33
-
Jack Scott 4.86
-
Johnny Hole 5.70
-
Brian Hanham 4.09
-
Brian Brett 4.85
Swindon
-
Mike Broadbank 9.40
-
George White 7.89
-
Ian Williams 7.22
-
Tadeusz Teodorowicz 6.58
-
Neil Street 6.57
-
Trevor Redmond 3.71
-
John Board 3.60
-
Glyn Chandler 2.18
-
Ray Harris 1.56
-
Roy Moreton 0.94
-
Leo McAuliffe 0.00
Wimbledon
-
Ronnie Moore 10.52
-
Peter Moore 10.40
-
Ron How 9.92
-
Barry Briggs 8.80
-
Gerald Jackson 7.14
-
Jim Tebby 6.55
-
Bob Andrews 6.49
-
Cyril Maidment 6.35
-
Gerry King 5.00
-
Cyril Brine 4.07
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "1959 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "1959 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.