The 1955 Speedway National League was the 21st season and tenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
Summary The league consisted of seven teams after the Harringay Racers ceased competitive speedway racing at the end of 1954. Match line-ups were reduced from eight riders to seven riders. Wimbledon won their second successive National League Championship. West Ham closed at the end of the season, blaming poor attendances.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 24 16 2 6 342 Belle Vue Aces 24 15 0 9 303 Wembley Lions 24 11 1 12 234 Bradford Tudors 24 11 0 13 225 Birmingham Brummies 24 9 2 13 206 Norwich Stars 24 9 1 14 197 West Ham Hammers 24 8 2 14 18
Fixtures & results A fixtures
B fixtures
Wembley Lions were forced to hold one set of their home fixtures at the away team's venue due to the ongoing installation of floodlights at Wembley Stadium from May.
Top Ten Riders (League only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Jack Young West Ham 10.79 2 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 10.77 3 Ove Fundin Norwich 10.00 4 Barry Briggs Wimbledon 9.79 5 Brian Crutcher Wembley 9.34 6 Arthur Wright Bradford 9.14 7 Peter Craven Belle Vue 8.96 8 Arthur Forrest Bradford 8.91 9 Ron Johnston Belle Vue 8.61 10 Ken Sharples Belle Vue 8.43
National Trophy Stage Two The 1955 National Trophy was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of two stages; stage one was for the second-tier clubs, stage two was for the top-tier clubs. Norwich won the second and final stage and were therefore declared the 1955 National Trophy champions.
For Stage One - see Stage One
First round Date Team one Score Team two04/08 Poole 56-52 Birmingham16/07 Birmingham 56-52 Poole16/07 Belle Vue 61-47 Wembley16/07 Bradford Odsal 52-56 Wimbledon16/07 Norwich69-39 West Ham14/07 Wembley 67-41 Belle Vue12/07 West Ham 49-58 Norwich11/07 Wimbledon 76-31 Bradford Odsal18/08replay Poole 69-39 Birmingham17/08replay Birmingham 67-41 Poole Semifinals Date Team one Score Team two29/08 Poole 58-50 Norwich27/08 Norwich 82-26 Poole15/08 Wimbledon 61-47 Wembley04/08 Wembley 63-45 Wimbledon
Final
First leg
Second leg
Norwich were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 109–106.
Midland Cup Birmingham won the Midland Cup for a third consecutive year. It consisted of four teams, there was one team from division 1 and three teams from division 2.
First round Team one Team two ScoreOxfordLeicester 49–53, 29–73
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreLeicesterCoventry66–36, 51–51
Final
First leg
Second leg
Birmingham won on aggregate 108–96
Riders & final averages Belle Vue
8.96 8.61 8.43 6.69 5.05 4.93 4.76 4.70 4.47 4.45 1.60
Birmingham
7.94 7.87 Doug Davies 7.08 5.31 5.21 5.11 4.35 2.77
Bradford
9.14 8.91 7.85 6.18 6.04 5.04 4.28 3.57 3.27 2.24
Norwich
10.00 8.33 7.38 7.32 6.51 4.80 4.58 2.49 1.52
Wembley
9.34 7.31 6.95 6.91 6.13 5.88 4.35 4.00
West Ham
10.79 7.46 6.87 5.79 5.51 5.44 4.93 2.15 1.73 0.73
Wimbledon
10.77 9.79 7.76 7.63 5.54 5.33 5.16 4.98 1.14
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References