The 1951 National League Division Three was the fifth and final season of British speedway's National League Division Three.

The league remained with 10 teams but there were changes. Oxford Cheetahs, Leicester Hunters and Liverpool Chads had all moved up to Division Two whilst Tamworth Tammies dropped out.

Plymouth Devils dropped down from Division Two. The three new sides were Cardiff Dragons, Long Eaton Archers and Wolverhampton Wasps.

Poole Pirates won their first title. Alan Smith of Plymouth topped the averages.

Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Poole Pirates 36 30 0 6 602 Exeter Falcons 36 28 0 8 563 Aldershot Shots 36 21 1 14 434 Rayleigh Rockets 36 21 0 15 425 Swindon Robins 36 16 2 18 346 Plymouth Devils 36 16 1 19 337 Cardiff Dragons 36 13 3 20 298 St Austell Gulls 36 13 0 23 269 Long Eaton Archers 36 13 0 23 2610 Wolverhampton Wasps 36 5 1 30 11

Fixtures & results A fixtures

B fixtures

Leading Averages Rider Team C.M.A. 1 Alan Smith Plymouth 10.58 2 Ken Middleditch Poole 10.33 3 Trevor Redmond Aldershot 10.10 4 Geoff Mardon Aldershot 9.88 5 Brian Crutcher Poole 9.41

National Trophy Stage Three For Stage Two - see Stage Two For Stage Three - see Stage Three

The 1951 National Trophy (sponsored by the Daily Mail) was the 14th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division clubs and stage three was for the top-tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Exeter won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.

Third Division Qualifying First round Date Team one Score Team two05/04 Cardiff 52-56 Rayleigh05/04 Plymouth 54-54 Exeter02/04 Poole 69-39 Aldershot02/04 Exeter 77-30 Plymouth31/03 Aldershot 66-40 Poole31/03 Rayleigh 68-40 Cardiff31/03 Swindon 71-37 Long Eaton29/03 Long Eaton 49-58 Swindon

Third Division Qualifying semifinals Date Team one Score Team two16/04 Exeter 73-35 Rayleigh16/04 Poole 61-47 Swindon07/04 Swindon 66-41 Poole14/04 Rayleigh 56-52 Exeter

Qualifying final First leg

Second leg

Festival of Britain Trophy

Group A Team PL W D L PtsPoole 6 5 0 1 10 Exeter 6 3 0 3 6 Aldershot 6 2 0 4 4 Plymouth 6 2 0 4 4

Group B Team PL W D L PtsRayleigh 6 5 0 1 10 Swindon 6 3 1 2 7 Cardiff 6 2 1 3 5 Long Eaton 6 1 0 5 2

Final Team one Team two ScorePooleRayleigh 70–50, 57–63

Riders' Championship Ken Middleditch won the National League Division Three Rider's Championship. The final was held at Penarth Road Stadium in Cardiff on 23 October.

Pos. Rider Pts 1 Ken Middleditch 142 Alan Smith 11+43 Jack Unstead 11+34 George Wall 11+25 Terry Small 11+16 Trevor Redmond 11+07 Bob Roger 98 Tony Lewis 99 Gerry Jackson 910 Mick Holland 711 Buster Brown 612 Goog Hoskin 513 Jack Winstanley 214 Hugh Geddes (res) 115 Danny Malone 116 Norman Street 117 Tom O'Connor 018 Don Hardy 0

Riders & final averages

Aldershot

Geoff Mardon 10.06 Trevor Redmond 10.00 Basil Harris 8.07 Bert Edwards 8.04 Pat Flanagan 6.59 Ivor Powell 6.11 Brian Wilson 5.61 Doug Papworth 4.79 Ron Burnett 4.67 Bob Harrison 4.28 John Dore 4.19 Bill Grimes 3.43 Craig Jones 3.49

Cardiff

Charlie May 8.88 Mick Holland 8.26 Gerald Pugh 7.44 Kevin Hayden 7.39 Chum Taylor 6.62 Arthur Pilgrim 6.47 Jimmy Wright 6.20 Frank Johnson 5.16 Bert Croucher 4.78 Les Moore 4.64 Ray Beaumont 4.44 Vic Butcher 4.00 Mick Callaghan 4.16 Vic Brinkworth 2.78 Jack Bibby 2.67 Ray Thackwell 2.29

Exeter

Bob Roger 8.91 Don Hardy 8.89 Goog Hoskin 8.79 Johnny Sargeant 8.43 Ken Walsh 8.30 Jack Bedkober 7.10 Vic Gent 6.77 Ted Moore 6.02 Paul Best 4.49

Long Eaton

Frank Malouf 6.82 Jack Winstanley 6.71 Peter Moore 5.71 Johnny Jones 5.50 Eric Minall 5.41 Eric Mason 5.37 Ernest Palmer 5.05 Bill Humphries 4.55 Percy Brine 4.44 Ray Binfield 3.53

Plymouth

Alan Smith 10.84 George Wall 9.13 Bill Thatcher 8.00 Brian Hitchcock 6.08 Ron Barrett 5.93 Johnnie Bradford 5.22 George Craig 4.63 Frank Wheeler 4.56 Rusty Wainwright 4.21 Tom Turnham 4.18 Dennis Hayles 4.00 Doug Fursey 3.33 Farnk Holcombe 3.29 George Watts 3.08

Poole

Ken Middleditch 10.47 Terry Small 9.60 Brian Crutcher 9.52 Bill Holden 8.08 Tony Lewis 8.08 Roy Craighead 8.00 Alan Kidd 7.51 Vic Thyer 6.60 Dick Howard 7.41 Johnny Thomson 6.67 Charlie Hayden 6.55 Frank Wheeler 4.83 Jack Cunningham 4.00

Rayleigh

Gerry Jackson 8.58 Jack Unstead 8.43 Maurice Dunn 8.30 Tom O'Connor 7.74 Les McGillivray 7.56 Ron Howes 7.23 Vic Gooden 6.83 Jules Benson 6.13 Frank Bettis 5.20 Mike Wood 4.00 James Osborne 3.29

St Austell

Harold Bull 7.16 Ticker James 7.37 Norman Street 7.29 Ken James 5.80 Maurice Hutchens 5.69 Mick Mitchell 5.49 Max Rech 5.48 Allan Quinn 5.54 Ken Monk 4.84 Stan Bedford 3.04

Swindon

Buster Brown 7.87 Alex Gray 7.69 Hugh Geddes 7.54 Danny Malone 7.35 Frank Evans 7.13 Ray Ellis 6.80 Bob Jones 6.90 Reg Lambourne 6.10 Miek Beddoe 5.33 Ken Wiggins 4.47 Dudley Smith 3.67

Wolverhampton

Roy Moreton 6.55 Jack Cunningham 5.96 Harry Wardropper 5.49 Ron Wilson 5.39 Ronnie Genz 5.06 Dick Harris 4.83 Gundy Harris 4.58 Alan Sutcliffe 4.57 John Hitchings 4.56 Cliff Biggs 4.43 Bob Wigg 4.40 Derek Timms 4.30 Cyril Maidment 3.50 Ted Stevens 2.29

See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)

References