The 1939 National League Division One was an unfinished season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

Summary

Southampton Saints had moved up from Division Two and Bristol Bulldogs moved back down after just one season.

Belle Vue Aces were leading the championship ahead of Wimbledon Dons when the league was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II .

Table at the outbreak of war

Team PL W D L Pts
Belle Vue Aces 16 12 1 3 25
Wimbledon Dons 18 12 0 6 24
Wembley Lions 19 11 1 8 23
West Ham Hammers 19 9 0 10 18
Harringay Tigers 16 7 1 8 15
Southampton Saints 17 5 0 12 10
New Cross Rangers 19 4 1 14 9

Top Ten Riders at the outbreak of war

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Cordy Milne United States Southampton Saints 11.29
2 Wilbur Lamoreaux United States Wimbledon Dons 11.06
3 Bill Kitchen England Belle Vue Aces 10.88
4 Vic Duggan Australia Wimbledon Dons 10.67
5 Arthur Atkinson England West Ham Hammers 10.62
6 Lionel van Praag Australia Wembley Lions 10.62
7 Jack Milne United States New Cross Rangers 10.00
8 Jack Parker England Harringay Tigers 9.6
9 Eric Langton England Belle Vue Aces 9.5
10 Jimmy Gibb Canada West Ham Hammers 8.58

National Trophy

The 1939 National Trophy was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup. Wembley and Belle Vue were declared joint winners following the abandonment of the final fixture due to the outbreak of the war.[2][3]

Qualifying Quarter Finals

Date Team One Score Team Two
01/06 Sheffield 69-38 Norwich
27/05 Norwich 60-46 Sheffield
16/05 Bristol 83-22 Crystal Palace
27/05 Crystal Palace 35-65 Bristol
13/05 Hackney Wick 80-28 Stoke
25/05 Stoke 68-39 Hackney
15/05 Newcastle 60-48 Middlesbrough
26/05 Middlesbrough 61-46 Newcastle

Qualifying Semi Finals

Date Team One Score Team Two
30/06 Bristol 46-59 Sheffield
29/06 Sheffield 75-32 Bristol
w/o Hackney Wick w/o Middlesbrough

Qualifying Final

Date Team One Score Team Two
27/07 Sheffield 61.5-32.5 Hackney Wick
29/07 Hackney Wick 41-54 Sheffield

Quarter Finals

Date Team One Score Team Two
22/07 Belle Vue 67-40 Wimbledon
17/07 Wimbledon 51-56 Belle Vue
26/07 New Cross 57-51 Harringay
22/07 Harringay 52-54 New Cross
13/07 Wembley 64-45 West Ham
11/07 West Ham 62-46 Wembley
? Southampton 68-36 Sheffield
? Sheffield 61-46 Southampton

Semi Finals

Date Team One Score Team Two
26/08 Belle Vue 80-28 New Cross
16/08 New Cross 44-64 Belle Vue
31/08 Wembley 74-33 Southampton
30/08 Southampton 62-46 Wembley

Final

Date Team One Score Team Two
16/09 Wembley not held Belle Vue
21/09 Belle Vue not held Wembley

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "1939 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  3. ^ "1939 Cup". Speedway GB.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939_Speedway_National_League