1956 Southern Area League
LeagueSouthern Area League
No. of competitors4
ChampionsRye House Roosters
Riders' ChampionLeo McAuliffe
Division/s aboveNational League Div 1
National League Div 2

The 1956 Southern Area League was the third season of the regional third tier/division of speedway racing in the United Kingdom British teams. Brafield Flying Foxes were no longer competitors with Southern Rovers taking their place. Southern Rovers had no track and raced all their 'home' fixtures on away tracks.[1]

Summary

Rye House Roosters were the champions for the second consecutive season.[2][3]

Although the Southern Area League continued, it became the second tier division instead of the third tier division. There was not another third division of British speedway until 1996 when the Conference was inaugurated.

Final table

pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Rye House Roosters 12 8 1 3 17
2 Eastbourne Eagles 12 6 1 5 13
3 Southern Rovers 12 4 2 6 10
4 California Poppies 12 4 0 8 8

Riders' Championship

Leo McAuliffe won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 30 September, after initially being postponed on the 9 September because of rain.[4][5]

Pos. Rider Club Pts
1 Leo McAuliffe Eastbourne 14
2 Jim Heard Eastbourne 12+3
3 Dave Slater Rye House 12+2
4 Pete Mould California 12+1
5 Gerry King Rye House 8
6 Brian Brett Rye House 8
7 Jimmy Gleed California 7
8 Vic Ridgeon Rye House 7
9 Ron Webb California 5
10 Eric Eadon Southern Rovers 5
11 Tom Reader Eastbourne 5
12 Neil Roberts (res) Southern Rovers 5
13 Bobby Croombs Rye House 4
14 Ross Gilbertson California 4
15 Dave Collett Eastbourne 3
16 Jim Chalkley Rye House 2
17 Ron Walton California 2
18 Colin Gooddy (res) Southern Rovers 1

Southern Area League Cup

The 1956 Southern Area League Cup was won by Rye House Roosters.[2]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Southern Rovers Rye House 50–58
Eastbourne California 46–61

Final

First leg

California
Peter Mould 13
Ross Gilbertson 9
Jim Gleed 9
Ron Sharp 8
Ron Webb 7
Phil Shepherd 6.5
Roy Gutteridge 3
Ron Walton 2		60.5 – 46.5Rye House
Vic Ridgeon 15
Bobby Croombs 13
Les Searle 10
Dave Slater 6
Jim Chalkley 4
Porky Veal 3
Gerry King 2
Brian Brett 1.5
California Country Park

Second leg

Rye House
Vic Ridgeon 18
Bobby Croombs 11
Dave Slater 10
Gerald King 9
Jim Chalkley 7
Brian Brett 5
Porky Veal 5
Ernie Baker 5		70 – 38California
Pete Mould 13
Gil Goldfinch 12
Ron Webb 3
Jimmy Gleed 3
Phil Shepherd 3
Roy Gutteridge 2
Ron Walton 1
John Day 1
Rye House Stadium

Riders & final averages

California

Eastbourne

Rye House

Southern Rovers

See also

References

  1. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ a b "1956 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Southern Area League 1956 averages" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Surprises at the last speedway meeting". Eastbourne Gazette. 10 October 1956. Retrieved 10 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Southern Area League Riders Championship". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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