1949 Speedway National League Division Three

The 1949 National League Division Three was the third season of British speedway's National League Division Three.[1] [2][3]

1949 Speedway National League Division Three
LeagueNational League Division Three
Season1949
No. of competitors13
ChampionsHanley Potters
National Trophy
(Div 3 final)
Hanley Potters
Highest averageBilly Bales
Division/s aboveDivision One
Division Two

The league expanded to 13 teams from 12. Cradley Heath, Southampton and Coventry had all moved up to Division Two whilst Wombwell dropped out. The five new sides were Halifax Dukes, Liverpool Chads, Leicester Hunters, Rayleigh Rockets and Oxford Cheetahs.[4]

Swindon Robins joined the league late in the season, when Reg Witcomb applied to the Speedway Control Board to take over the remaining fixtures of Hull Angels, who had withdrawn from the league.[5]

Hanley Potters won the title on race points difference from Yarmouth Bloaters.[6]

Billy Bales of Yarmouth topped the averages.[7]

Final table

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Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Hanley Potters 48 35 1 12 71
2 Yarmouth Bloaters 48 35 1 12 71
3 Tamworth Hounds 48 33 0 15 66
4 Halifax Dukes 48 28 2 18 58
5 Plymouth Devils 48 28 2 18 58
6 Poole Pirates 48 27 0 21 54
7 Exeter Falcons 48 24 0 24 48
8 Hastings Saxons 48 21 1 36 43
9 Liverpool Chads 48 19 0 29 38
10 Leicester Hunters 48 17 1 30 35
11 Swindon Robins+ 48 15 1 32 31
12 Rayleigh Rockets 48 14 0 34 28
13 Oxford Cheetahs 48 11 1 36 23

+Hull Angels withdrew and were replaced by Swindon.

Leading Averages

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Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Billy Bales Yarmouth 10.44
2 Vic Emms Halifax 10.33
3 Pete Lansdale Plymouth 10.29
4 Norman Clay Exeter 9.90
5 Harry Saunders Tamworth 9.70

National Trophy Stage One

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The 1949 Trophy was the 12th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Hanley Potters won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.[8]

Third Division Qualifying First round

Date Team one Score Team two
07/04 Plymouth 54-54 Exeter
04/04 Exeter 62-45 Plymouth
15/04 Leicester 49-58 Hull
09/04 Hull 77-31 Leicester
14/04 Stoke Hanley 67-41 Liverpool
11/04 Liverpool 42-66 Stoke Hanley
19/04 Yarmouth 70-37 Rayleigh
16/04 Rayleigh 55-51 Yarmouth

Third Division Qualifying Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
07/05 Stoke Hanley 75-33 Exeter
25/04 Exeter 57-51 Stoke Hanley
03/05 Yarmouth 75-33 Hastings
27/04 Hastings 52-55 Yarmouth
20/04 Halifax 48-59 Poole
11/04 Poole 70-38 Halifax
27/04 Tamworth 70-38 Hull
30/04 Hull 61-47 Tamworth

Third Division Qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
25/05 Tamworth 56-51 Stoke Hanley
14/05 Stoke Hanley 59-48 Tamworth
23/05 Poole 59-49 Yarmouth
17/05 Yarmouth 60-46 Poole

Qualifying final

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First leg

Hanley Potters
Gil Blake 15
Ken Adams 14
Ray Harris 10
Frank Evans 9
Lindsay Mitchell 7
Les Jenkins 6
Stan Bradbury 6
Dave Anderson 0
67 – 40Yarmouth Bloaters
Billy Bales 10
Sid Hipperson 10
Bill Carruthers 5
Reg Morgan 4
Cliff Ladbrooke 4
Johnny White 4
Tip Mills 2
Stan Page 1
[9][10]
Attendance: 12,900

Second leg

Yarmouth Bloaters
Billy Bales 15
Reg Morgan 11
Tip Mills 11
Johnny White 10
Bill Carruthers 5
Cliff Ladbrooke 4
Stan Page 3
Sid Hipperson 2
61 – 46Hanley Potters
Les Jenkins 12
Ken Adams 11
Gil Blake 10
Ray Harris 6
Stan Bradbury 3
Frank Evans 2
Lindsay Mitchell 2
Dave Anderson 0
[11][10]


Riders & final averages

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Exeter

  • Norman Clay 9.77
  • Don Hardy 8.70
  • Arthur Pilgrim 7.32
  • Hugh Geddes 7.16
  • Stan Hodson 6.63
  • Vic Gent 6.51
  • Stan Lanfear 5.98
  • Johnny Myson 5.45
  • Bronco Slade 4.80
  • John Hancox 4.36
  • Goog Hoskin 2.59

Halifax

Hanley

  • Vic Pitcher 9.78
  • Les Jenkins 9.38
  • Ken Adams 9.24
  • Gil Blake 9.19
  • Lindsay Mitchell 8.54
  • Ray Harris 8.26
  • Bill Harris 8.09
  • Frank Evans 5.82
  • Stan Bradbury 5.59
  • Brian Pritchett 5.04
  • Johnny Fitzpatrick 4.87
  • Dave Anderson 3.36

Hastings

  • Jock Grierson 9.06
  • Ken Middleditch 8.99
  • Buddy Fuller 7.69
  • Ron Clark 6.54
  • Norman Street 5.59
  • Harold McNaughton 5.53
  • Ken Smith 5.41
  • Dan English 5.33
  • Harold Tapscott 4.74
  • Ken Tidbury 4.94
  • George Butler 4.75

Hull/Swindon

  • Bob Baker 8.73/x
  • Mick Mitchell 8.43/7.13
  • Alf Webster 7.24/5.67
  • Derek Glover 6.67/4.83
  • Bob Jones x/6.08
  • George Craig 5.66/6.69
  • Bill Downton x/5.23
  • Johnny Green 4.51/x
  • Jack Watts 4.49/x
  • Norman Johnson 4.29/x
  • Reg Lambourne x/4.24
  • Harry Hughes x/2.53
  • Tom Wilson x/2.20
  • Ken Allick 2.14/x

Leicester

  • Vic Pitcher 8.07
  • Cyril Page 7.35
  • Ron Wilson 6.23
  • Jack Baxter 6.17
  • Harwood Pike 6.13
  • Sid Hipperson 6.13
  • Johnny Carpenter 6.07
  • Jack Winstanley 5.90
  • Roy Duke 5.60
  • Ted Rawlinson 5.40
  • George Gower 5.38
  • Ernest Palmer 4.87
  • Ted Moore 3.56
  • Syd van der Vyver 3.45

Liverpool

  • Alex Gray 8.55
  • Harry Welch 7.91
  • Doug Serrurier 6.44
  • Fred Wills 5.99
  • Charlie Oates 5.64
  • George Bason 5.12
  • Stan Bedford 4.98
  • Reg Duval 4.95
  • Angus McGuire 4.94
  • Ron Burnett 4.35
  • Ernie Steers 4.00
  • Percy Brine 4.00
  • Tom Turnham 3.00

Oxford

  • Dennis Gray 8.20
  • Bob McFarlane 7.94
  • Bert Croucher 7.02
  • Alf Viccary 5.60
  • Frank Boyle 5.34
  • Bil Kemp 5.10
  • Jimmy Wright 4.20
  • Alf Elliott 4.02
  • Ernie Rawlins 3.96
  • Jimmy Coy 3.91
  • Bill Reynolds 3.58

Plymouth

Poole

  • Cyril Quick 8.47
  • Allan Chambers 8.38
  • Fred Pawson 8.29
  • Dick Howard 6.94
  • Ticker James 5.49
  • Charlie Hayden 5.43
  • Ken James 4.55
  • Terry Small 4.17
  • Frank Holcombe 4.13
  • Ray Bartlett 2.80
  • Frank Wheeler 2.09

Rayleigh

Tamworth

  • Harry Saunders 9.73
  • Bill Dalton 8.40
  • Peter Orpwood 8.28
  • Basil Harris 7.94
  • Steve Langton 7.05
  • Cecil Hookham 6.54
  • Lionel Watling 6.56
  • Ray Beaumont 5.70

Yarmouth

  • Billy Bales 10.60
  • Tip Mills 8.61
  • Bill Carruthers 8.13
  • Reg Morgan 7.94
  • Bert Rawlinson 7.21
  • Cliff Ladbrooke 7.14
  • Fred Brand 7.03
  • John White 6.72
  • Sid Hipperson 6.65
  • Stan Page 5.62
  • Joe Rodwell 4.29

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ "League speedway reaches Central Essex". Essex Newsman. 18 March 1949. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Hull Speedway". Hull Daily Mail. 3 September 1949. Retrieved 27 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  7. ^ "National League Division 3 1949" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  8. ^ "1949 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  9. ^ "National trophy Final". Staffordshire Sentinel. 6 June 1949. Retrieved 4 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ a b "Yarmouth 1949 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Stoke win Trophy Final". Staffordshire Sentinel. 8 June 1949. Retrieved 4 November 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.