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1937 Provincial Speedway League

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1937 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
No. of competitors6
ChampionsBristol Bulldogs
Provincial TrophyNottingham
National Trophy
(provincial final)		Southampton Saints
Coronation CupNottingham
Highest averageFrank Goulden
Division/s above1937 National League

The 1937 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League. Seven speedway teams started the season. From the previous season's finishers, Plymouth Panthers had dropped out but Leicester, Birmingham (Hall Green) and Norwich Stars joined up. Leicester withdrew mid-season and their record was expunged. Liverpool Merseysiders also withdrew mid-season but their entry was taken over by Belle Vue. Bristol Bulldogs were the champions and moved up to the National League for the following season.[1][2][3]

Due to the brevity of the season, teams also competed for the Provincial Trophy in a league format. Leicester had already folded before the competition started and as with the league, Belle Vue replaced Liverpool Merseysiders. Nottingham won the Provincial Trophy and completed a double by winning the Provincial League Coronation Cup.[4]

Stan Hart was killed during a match at Hall Green Stadium between Birmingham and Belle Vue on 25 August. He fell during a heat and was hit by a rider behind.[5][6]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Bristol Bulldogs 20 15 0 5 30
2 Southampton Saints 20 13 0 7 26
3 Nottingham 20 11 0 9 22
4 Liverpool Merseysiders+
Belle Vue Merseysiders+ 		20 8 0 12 16*
5 Norwich Stars 20 8 0 12 16
6 Birmingham Bulldogs 20 5 0 15 10

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

+ Liverpool scored 10 points from 11 matches, Belle Vue scored 6 from 9

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Leicester Hounds

Fixtures & results

[edit]

A fixtures

[edit]
Home \ Away BIR BRI LEI LBV NOR NOT SOU
Birmingham 39–44 39–45 41–40 39–44 26–57 30–53
Bristol 48–34 68–15 58–25 64–18 49–31 45–36
Leicester 47–33 23–57 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Liverpool/Belle Vue 58–26 29–55 44–35 30–54 42–30 37–46
Norwich 48–35 27–54 57–27 48–34 28–49 37–47
Nottingham 51–31 42–40 65–19 31–53 60–24 54–30
SOU 57–26 46–38 33–7 43–41 59–22 44–40
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

[edit]
Home \ Away BIR BRI LBV NOR NOT SOU
Birmingham 38–45 53–31 55–28 44–39 60–24
Bristol 50.5–33.5 59–24 60–23 48–35 55–28
Liverpool/Belle Vue 54–27 31–52 44–35 46–37 49–35
Norwich 50–34 44–39 48–34 46–37 46–37
Nottingham 50–33 45–35 58–26 53–31 45–38
SOU 59–25 52–31 53–30 61–22 44–38
Source: [8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Leading averages (league only)

[edit]
Rider Team Average
Frank Goulden Southampton 10.46
George Greenwood Nottingham 9.55
Bert Jones Southampton 9.21
Bill Rogers Bristol 9.15
Billy Dallison Southampton 9.15

Provincial Trophy final table

[edit]
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Nottingham 10 7 0 3 14
2 Bristol Bulldogs 10 6 1 3 13
3 Southampton Saints 10 6 0 4 12
4 Liverpool Merseysiders+
Belle Vue Merseysiders+ 		10 4 0 6 8
5 Birmingham (Hall Green) 10 3 1 6 7
6 Norwich Stars 10 3 0 7 6

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

+ Liverpool scored 2 points from 6 matches, Belle Vue scored 6 from 4

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1937 National Trophy was the seventh edition of the Knockout Cup.[9] Southampton Saints won the Provincial Final round and therefore qualified for the quarter finals proper (the round when the tier one sides entered the competition).

Provincial League first qualifying round

[edit]
Date Team one Score Team two
03/05 Liverpool 57-26 Norwich
01/05 Norwich 30-51 Liverpool

Provincial League second qualifying round

[edit]
Date Team one Score Team two
23/04 Bristol 48-36 Nottingham
20/04 Nottingham rain Bristol
04/05 Nottingham 46-37 Bristol
31/05 Liverpool 39-45 Southampton
25/05 Southampton 55-28 Liverpool

Final

[edit]

First leg

Bristol Bulldogs
Roy Dook 7
Fred Leavis 7
Bill Rogers 6
Harry Shepherd 5
George Saunders 5
Rol Stobart 4
Bill Maddern 4
Jack Dalton 3		41 – 42Southampton Saints
Billy Dallison 9
Bert Jones 9
Syd Griffiths 8
Frank Goulden 7
Ivor Creek 3
Jack Riddle 3
Cyril Anderson 3
Vic Collins 0
[10]

Second leg

Southampton Saints
Billy Dallison 12
Syd Griffiths 12
Bert Jones 9
Ivor Creek 7
Frank Goulden 4
Vic Collins 3
Cyril Anderson 2
Jack Riddle 2		51 – 32Bristol Bulldogs
Roy Dook 7
Harry Shepherd 6
Rol Stobart 5
Bill Rogers 5
Fred Leavis 4
George Saunders 4
Bill Maddern 1
Jack Dalton 0
[10]

Southampton were the National Trophy Provincial Final winners, winning on aggregate 93-73.

Coronation Cup

[edit]

The 1937 Coronation Cup was a one-off competition to mark the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. Nottingham won the Cup.[11]

First round

Team one Team two scores
Bristol Norwich 53–29, 47–35 (100–64 agg)
Southampton Liverpool 41–42, 48–35 (89–77 agg)

Semifinals

Team one Team two scores
Nottingham Bristol 55–29, 37–47 (92–76 agg)
Southampton Birmingham 80–28, 40–41 (120–69 agg)

Final

[edit]
Team one Team two scores
Nottingham Southampton 61–23, 37–46 (98–69 agg)

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Birmingham

  • England Malcolm Craven 8.00
  • England Les Bowden 7.88
  • England Tiger Hart 7.41
  • Australia Steve Langton 7.42
  • England Danny Lee 7.38
  • England Bob Lovell 6.17
  • England Jack Tidbury 5.33
  • England Les Gregory 5.00
  • England Bill Stanley 4.77
  • South Africa Keith Harvey 4.15
  • Australia Jack Hyland 3.00
  • England Charlie Challis 2.20

Bristol

Liverpool/Belle Vue

Norwich

  • England Wal Morton 8.87
  • Australia Bert Spencer 8.64
  • Australia Dick Wise 7.79
  • England Wilf Jay 6.65
  • England Alex Peel 5.69
  • England Paul Goodchild 5.39
  • England Chun Moore 5.14
  • Scotland Jock Sweet 4.87
  • England Charlie Dugard 4.62
  • England Jim Millward 4.34
  • England Bill Birtwell 4.00
  • England Alan Brooks Smith 3.89
  • England Charlie Lish 3.73

Nottingham

Southampton

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 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 - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Birmingham (Hall Green Stadium) 1937". Speedway Museum. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Stan Hart". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. ^ "1937 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  8. ^ "1937 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  9. ^ "1937 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ a b "1937 National Trophy Provincial Final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Coronation Cup 1937". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
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