League | National League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 10 |
Champions | Wimbledon Dons |
National Trophy | Southampton Saints |
Highest average | Ove Fundin |
Division/s below | 1961 Provincial League |
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
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] |
Second leg
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] |
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]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.
- ^ "1961 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "1961 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.