1956 was the final season of the Speedway National League Division Two.
Summary With the number of sides competing at national level diminishing from 37 at the start of 1951 to just 14 in 1956, only a single national division would be in existence by 1957. Poole Pirates had been promoted to Division One and Exeter Falcons had closed leaving seven entrants.
Swindon Robins captured the title by a single point.
Southampton's 34-year-old captain Ernie Rawlins died in Southampton Hospital on 22 September 1956, following an accident in the match against Birmingham on 18 September.
Final table Pos Team M W D L Pts1 Swindon Robins 24 16 0 8 322 Southampton Saints 24 15 1 8 313 Rayleigh Rockets 24 14 1 9 294 Ipswich Witches 24 13 0 11 265 Coventry Bees 24 12 0 12 246 Leicester Hunters 24 6 1 17 137 Oxford Cheetahs 24 6 1 17 13
Fixtures & results A Fixtures
B Fixtures
Top Five Riders (League only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Per Olof Söderman Coventry 11.74 2 Ken McKinlay Leicester 10.25 3 Dick Bradley Southampton 10.22 4 Bob Roger Swindon 9.53 5 Ian Williams Swindon 9.52
National Trophy Stage One For Stage Two - see Stage Two The 1956 National Trophy was the 19th 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. Southampton won stage one and qualified for second and final stage.
Division Two First round Date Team one Score Team two21/04 Coventry 55-53 Ipswich21/04 Rayleigh 74-34 Oxford21/04 Swindon 65-43 Leicester20/04 Leicester 65-43 Swindon19/04 Ipswich 68-40 Coventry19/04 Oxford 40-68 Rayleigh05/05replay Swindon 51-56 Leicester04/05replay Leicester 76-32 Swindon
Division Two semifinals Date Team one Score Team two26/05 Rayleigh 68-39 Southampton25/05 Leicester 67-40 Ipswich22/05 Southampton 69-39 Rayleigh21/05 Ipswich 46-62 Leicester
Division Two final First leg
Second leg
Riders & final averages
Coventry
11.74 7.50 8.04 6.53 6.40 5.98 5.05 4.41
Ipswich
9.21 8.93 8.70 (George Snailum) 6.40 5.31 4.56 3.54 3.05 2.76 2.33
Leicester
10.25 8.21 6. 5. 5.92 5.89 5.61 4.73 3.61 2.42 2.09 1.33 1.33
Oxford
8.53 6.20 5.90 5.60 5.55 5.07 4.70 4.29 4.00 4.00 3.69 2.46
Rayleigh
9.50 8.25 7.78 7.17 6.99 6.40 5.38 5.33
Southampton
10.22 8.48 8.41 8.36 5.75 5.43 5.25 5.17 4.59 3.20
Swindon
9.53 9.52 9.15 5.69 4.76 4.13 3.83 3.58 3.08
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References