The 1954 National League Division One was the 20th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the ninth post-war season of the highest tier of speedway.
Summary Bristol dropped out of the league and joined the National League Division Two. Wimbledon won their first National League Championship, beginning a run of 7 titles in 8 years, ending a similar run by Wembley Lions.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 28 21 2 5 442 Wembley Lions 28 20 0 8 403 Bradford Tudors 28 15 0 13 304 Norwich Stars 27 14 0 13 285 West Ham Hammers 28 11 1 16 236 Harringay Racers 28 10 1 17 217 Belle Vue Aces 27 9 0 18 188 Birmingham Brummies 28 9 0 19 18
Fixtures & results A fixtures
B fixtures
Top ten riders (league only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 10.59 2 Jack Young West Ham 10.55 3 Geoff Mardon Wimbledon 10.43 4 Eddie Rigg Bradford 10.11 5 Arthur Forrest Bradford 10.00 6 Brian Crutcher Wembley 9.98 7 Eric Williams Wembley 9.79 8 Barry Briggs Wimbledon 9.39 9 Freddie Williams Wembley 9.18 10 Split Waterman Harringay 9.07
R.A.C. Cup Wembley played all of their fixtures away.
Group A Team PL W D L PtsWest Ham 6 5 1 0 11 Birmingham 6 2 1 3 5 Wembley 6 2 0 4 4 Norwich 12 6 0 6 12
Group B Team PL W D L PtsWimbledon 6 4 0 2 8 Belle Vue 6 3 0 3 6 Bradford/Odsal 6 3 0 3 6 Harringay 6 2 0 4 4
Group A
Group B
Final Team one Team two ScoresWest Ham Wimbledon41–43, 26–58
National Trophy The 1954 National Trophy was the 17th edition of the Knockout Cup.
Qualifying first round Date Team one Score Team two01/05 Edinburgh 60-48 Leicester01/05 Rayleigh 65-43 Motherwell30/04 Bristol 59-49 Oxford30/04 Leicester 59-48 Edinburgh30/04 Motherwell 64-44 Rayleigh29/04 Ipswich 71-35 Southampton29/04 Oxford 40-68 Bristol29/04 Plymouth 45-63 Poole27/04 Southampton 72-36 Ipswich26/04 Exeter 59-49 Swindon26/04 Poole 69-38 Plymouth24/04 Swindon 65-43 Exeter11/05replay Southampton 62-46 Ipswich06/05replay Ipswich 56-52 Southampton
Qualifying second round Date Team one Score Team two25/05 Southampton 61-47 Coventry22/05 Coventry 64-44 Southampton22/05 Edinburgh 65-43 Rayleigh22/05Swindon 69-39 Wolverhampton21/05 Bristol 61-47 Poole21/05 Rayleigh 55-52 Edinburgh21/05 Swindon w/oWolverhampton17/05 Poole 63-45 Bristol
Qualifying Final Round Date Team one Score Team two14/06 Poole 67-41 Swindon12/06 Edinburgh 50-57 Coventry12/06 Swindon 53-55 Poole05/06 Coventry 56-52 Edinburgh
First round Date Team one Score Team two05/07 Coventry 41-66 Bradford Odsal03/07 Belle Vue 71-37 Poole03/07 Bradford Odsal 84-24 Coventry28/06 Poole 46-62 Belle Vue Quarterfinals Date Team one Score Team two24/07 Belle Vue 61-47 Wimbledon22/07 Wembley 70-37 West Ham21/07 Harringay 54-54 Bradford Odsal20/07 West Ham 50-58 Wembley19/07 Wimbledon 76-32 Belle Vue17/07 Bradford Odsal 78-30 Harringay10/07 Birmingham 62-46 Norwich08/07 Norwich 74-34 Birmingham Semifinals Date Team one Score Team two28/08 Bradford Odsal 63-45 Wembley28/08 Norwich 64-44 Wimbledon23/08 Wimbledon 51-57 Norwich05/08 Wembley 63-44 Bradford Odsal Final
First leg
Second leg
Wembley were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–92.
London Cup First round Team one Score Team twoWimbledon 61–46, 56–52 Wembley
Semi final round Team one Score Team twoHarringay 44–63, 48–60 Wembley Wimbledon 69–38, 53–55 West Ham
Final
First leg
Second leg
Wembley won on aggregate 130–85
Midland Cup Birmingham won the Midland Cup, which consisted of four teams. There was one team from division 1 and three teams from division 2.
First round Team one Team two ScoreOxfordLeicester 56–28, 47–49
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreOxford Coventry 61–35, 34–62
Final first leg
Final second leg
Birmingham won on aggregate 96–95
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
8.47 8.41 7.60 7.27 5.66 5.20 4.58 4.25 3.93 3.28 2.86 1.71
Birmingham
8.68 7.39 6.54 5.60 5.14 3.72 3.69 Doug Davies 3.68 3.33 3.04 1.84 1.43
Bradford
10.11 10.00 8.83 5.76 5.70 5.43 5.08 3.71 3.11 2.00
Harringay
9.07 7.42 7.20 5.43 5.17 4.98 4.82 4.79 4.73
Norwich
6.90 8.87 7.58 7.81 6.52 6.51 6.46 6.48 5.20 3.43 2.55
Wembley
9.98 9.79 9.18 7.93 7.02 6.29 6.26 Fred Lang 3.66 2.67
West Ham
10.55 8.16 7.35 5.64 5.32 5.03 4.70 4.77 4.26 3.17
Wimbledon
10.59 10.43 9.39 9.00 7.08 6.64 6.47 6.09 5.87 4.68
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References