1959 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League
No. of competitors9
ChampionsWimbledon Dons
National TrophyWimbledon Dons
Highest averageOve Fundin
Division/s below1959 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

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

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)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ove Fundin Sweden Norwich 11.00
2 Peter Craven England Belle Vue 10.84
3 Ken McKinlay Scotland Leicester 10.75
4 Brian Crutcher England Southampton 10.65
5 Ronnie Moore New Zealand Wimbledon 10.52
6 Peter Moore Australia Wimbledon 10.08
7 Ron How England Wimbledon 9.92
8 Mike Broadbank England Swindon 9.40
9 Ron Johnston New Zealand Belle Vue 9.05
10 Arne Pander Denmark Oxford 8.90

National Trophy

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

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 – 41Southampton 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]
Wimbledon Stadium

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 – 56Wimbledon 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]
Banister Court Stadium

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–93.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Leicester

Norwich

Oxford

Poole

Southampton

Swindon

Wimbledon

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  5. ^ "1959 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ a b "1959 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
Categories