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1948 Speedway National League Division Three

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1948 Speedway National League Division Three
LeagueNational League Division Three
Season1948
No. of competitors12
ChampionsExeter Falcons
National Trophy (Div 3 final)Southampton Saints
Highest averageAlf Bottoms
Division/s aboveDivision One
Division Two

The 1948 National League Division Three was the second season of British speedway's National League Division Three[1][2]

The league had expanded from 8 teams to 12. Reigning champions Eastbourne Eagles were forced to close due to a petrol ban at their stadium, so their team moved a few miles along the Sussex coast to Hastings. The new entrants Coventry Bees, Hull Angels, Poole Pirates and Yarmouth Bloaters all struggled to make an impact and finished in the bottom five positions.

The Hull Angels were a corporation backed team, managed by Fred Archer and the team wore the crest of the city's coat-of-arms (3 golden crowns on a blue shield and yellow background).[3]

Exeter Falcons won their first title[4] and Alf Bottoms of Southampton topped the averages.[5]

Eric Dunn of Hastings Saxons was a third speedway rider (with Reg Craven and Bill Wilson) to be killed during the season. 34-year-old Dunn was riding in a meeting (on 13 June) at the Arlington track when he fell and was hit by a rider behind. He died two days later in hospital (15 June).[6]

Final League table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Exeter Falcons 44 32 1 11 65
2 Cradley Heath Cubs 44 29 2 13 60
3 Southampton Saints 44 29 0 15 58
4 Tamworth Hounds 44 23 4 17 50
5 Hanley Potters 44 24 1 19 49
6 Hastings Saxons 44 22 0 22 44
7 Plymouth Devils 44 21 2 22 43
8 Coventry Bees 44 19 1 24 39
9 Hull Angels 44 19 0 25 38
10 Poole Pirates 44 17 0 27 34
11 Yarmouth Bloaters 44 13 1 30 27
12 Wombwell Colliers 44 10 1 33 21

Leading Averages

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Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Alf Bottoms Southampton 11.29
2 Wally Green Hastings 11.23
3 Cyril Roger Exeter 9.93
4 Jock Grierson Hastings 9.77
5 Bert Roger Exeter 9.72

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1948 Trophy was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup.[7] The Qualifying event for Division 3 teams saw Southampton Saints win the final and qualify for the Elimination event. The Elimination event for Division 2 teams saw Birmingham Brummies win the final and qualify for the Quarter Finals proper.

Qualifying Event First Round

Date Team One Score Team Two
08/04 Plymouth 56-50 Cradley Heath
17/04 Cradley Heath 66-42 Plymouth
13/04 Southampton 89-19 Wombwell
23/04 Wombwell 31-77 Southampton
07/04 Tamworth 82-26 Exeter
12/04 Exeter 81-27 Tamworth

Qualifying Second Round

Date Team One Score Team Two
29/04 Stoke Hanley 64-43 Coventry
01/05 Coventry 48-59 Stoke Hanley
04/05 Southampton 77-31 Tamworth
05/05 Tamworth 46-62 Southampton
26/04 Poole 74-32 Yarmouth
27/04 Yarmouth 47-67 Poole
01/05 Hull 42-66 Cradley Heath
07/05 Cradley Heath 78-29 Hull

Qualifying Third Round

Date Team One Score Team Two
10/05 Poole 49-57 Stoke Hanley
13/05 Stoke Hanley 64-44 Poole
11/05 Southampton 85-23 Cradley Heath
21/05 Cradley Heath 54-50 Southampton

Qualifying Final Round

[edit]

First leg

Southampton Saints
Alf Bottoms 18
Bob Oakley 15
Jimmy Squibb 10
Alf Kaines 9
Bert Croucher 8.5
George Bason 8
Tom Oakley 2
Cecil Bailey 2		74.5 – 33.5Hanley Potters
Gil Blake 11
Les Jenkins 6
Ray Harris 5
Dave Anderson 4
Vic Pitcher 3.5
Dick Howard 2
Ken Adams 2
Frank Evans 0
[8][9]

Second leg

Hanley Potters
Gil Blake 14
Ray Harris 9
Les Jenkins 6
Dick Howard 5
Dave Anderson 4
Vic Pitcher 3
Frank Evans 3
Ken Adams 1		43 – 64Southampton Saints
Alf Bottoms 17
Bob Oakley 14
Jimmy Squibb 9
Bert Croucher 8
Alf Kaines 7
Cecil Bailey 6
George Bason 3
Tom Oakley 0
[10][9]

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Coventry

  • Vic Emms 7.92
  • Lionel Levy 7.43
  • Bob Fletcher 7.28
  • Bert Lacey 6.19
  • Ed Pye 6.18
  • George Smith 6.13
  • Ralph Horne 5.65
  • Bernard Tennant 5.36
  • John Yates 4.65
  • Fred Yates 4.62
  • Derrick Tailby 2.71

Cradley Heath

  • Gil Craven 9.52
  • Les Beaumont 8.82
  • Eric Irons 8.81
  • Alan Hunt 8.16
  • Jimmy Wright 7.78
  • Bill Kemp 7.52
  • Ken Sharples 6.98
  • Bill Clifton 5.64
  • Phil Malpass 5.49
  • Ray Beaumont 4.41
  • Ray Moreton 4.32
  • Jimmy Coy 4.22

Exeter

Hanley

  • Gil Blake 8.92
  • Les Jenkins 8.32
  • Dave Anderson 7.95
  • Ray Harris 7.17
  • Ken Adams 7.05
  • Dick Howard 5.61
  • Stan Bradbury 5.71
  • Vic Pitcher 5.62
  • Lindsay Mitchell 5.52
  • Frank Evans 5.14
  • Jack Dawson 5.00
  • Jock Gordon 4.00

Hastings

  • Wally Green 11.23
  • Jock Grierson 9.75
  • Bill Osborne 8.97
  • Frank Bettis 6.51
  • Ken Middleditch 6.00
  • Ken Tidbury 5.12
  • Ron Clark 5.01
  • Dan English 4.52
  • John Hayles 4.29
  • Peter Mold 4.13
  • Ken Smith 4.05
  • Eric Dunn 4.00
  • Bill Weston 2.29

Hull

  • Mick Mitchell 8.94
  • Dick Shepherd 7.35
  • George Craig 7.19
  • Al Allison 6.67
  • Johnny White 6.34
  • Bob Baker 6.08
  • Derek Glover 5.33
  • Norman Johnson 4.89
  • Alf Webster 3.25
  • Brian Gorman 3.17

Plymouth

  • Pete Lansdale 9.06
  • Len Read 8.77
  • Peter Robinson 8.59
  • Alex Gray 6.86
  • Ted Gibson 5.78
  • Bonny Waddell 5.27
  • Charlie Challis 5.14
  • Ivan Kessell 5.10
  • Billy Newell 4.63
  • Vic Gent 4.38
  • Wally Matthews 4.37

Poole

  • Joe Bowkiss 8.53
  • Allan Chambers 7.66
  • Alf Elliott 7.31
  • Sid Clarke 6.78
  • Fred Pawson 6.13
  • Charlie Hayden 5.90
  • Ginger Nicholls 5.20
  • George Butler 4.69
  • Frank Holcombe 4.18
  • Sid Hazzard 3.76

Southampton

Tamworth

  • Arthur Payne 8.67
  • Cyril Page 8.45
  • Harry Saunders 8.44
  • Basil Harris 8.08
  • Bill Dalton 7.53
  • Bill Harris 7.05
  • Steve Langton 6.79
  • Jack Baxter 6.67
  • Peter Orpwood 6.07
  • Charlie Oates 5.57
  • Cecil Hookham 5.00
  • Lionel Watling 3.87
  • Howard Chipman 2.67

Wombwell

  • Stan Hodson 8.15
  • Harry Welch 7.38
  • Jack Baxter 6.98
  • Harry Saunders 6.76
  • Harwood Pike 6.60
  • Stan Beardsall 6.46
  • Son Mitchell 5.26
  • Len Tupling 4.80
  • Red Hamley 4.69
  • Charlie Oates 4.45
  • Ken Allick 4.38
  • Jeff Bishop 4.07
  • Ernest Palmer 3.09
  • Gerry Williams 2.46
  • Bert Thomas 2.08
  • Harry Modral 1.52

Yarmouth

  • Reg Morgan 7.40
  • Billy Bales 6.99
  • Sid Hipperson 6.93
  • Paddy Hammond 6.60
  • Fred Rogers 5.64
  • Bert Rawlinson 5.14
  • Arthur Bush 5.10
  • Roy Duke 5.05
  • Bill Carruthers 4.81
  • Ted Rawlinson 4.50
  • Phil Day 2.67
  • Bill Codling 2.55

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  2. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Eighteen applications". Weekly Dispatch (London). 18 January 1948. Retrieved 21 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  5. ^ "National League Division 3 1948" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Speedway News". Eastbourne Gazette. 16 June 1948. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1948 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  8. ^ "Speedway Defeat". Staffordshire Sentinel. 26 May 1948. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ a b "Southampton 1948 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Cup final defeat". Staffordshire Sentinel. 28 May 1948. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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