The 1959 Southern Area League was the final season of the Southern Area League as the regional second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. With no league in 1958, a set of 6 new teams competed in 1959.
Summary Eastbourne Eagles were the champions, Southern Rovers withdrew after just one league meeting and were replaced by Aldershot who inherited their result.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Eastbourne Eagles 8 5 1 2 112 Yarmouth Bloaters 8 4 1 3 93 Aldershot Shots 8 4 0 4 84 Rye House 8 3 0 5 65 Ipswich Witches 8 3 0 5 6
Southern Rovers withdrew after one meeting (at Eastbourne) - result incorporated with Aldershot.
Fixtures and results
Leading Averages
Rider Team C.M.A. 1 Colin Gooddy Eastbourne 10.76 2 Gil Goldfinch Eastbourne & Ipswich 9.46 3 Johnny Fitzpatrick Yarmouth 9.44 4Derek Timms Aldershot 9.38 5 Ivor Brown Yarmouth 9.29
Riders' Championship Dave Hankins won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Foxhall Stadium on 26 September.
Pos. Rider Club Pts1 Dave Hankins Ipswich & Yarmouth 152 Derek TimmsAldershot 133 Ivor Brown Yarmouth 124 Shorty Schirmer Ipswich 105 Colin Gooddy Eastbourne 10 6 John Fitzpatrick Yarmouth 97 Ronnie Rolfe Rye House 98 Ross Gilbertson Eastbourne 89 Eric HockadayAldershot 810 Gil Goldfinch Eastbourne & Ipswich 711 Ron Bagley (res)Ipswich 412 Clive Hitch Rye House 313 Ken Last Ipswich & Yarmouth 314 Stan Stevens (res)Rye House 3 15 Tommy Sweetman Rye House 216 Ernie BakerRye House 217 Dave Still Eastbourne 118 Bobby Croombs Rye House 019 Ivor Toms (res) Unattached0
Riders & final averages
Aldershot
Derek Timms 9.38 Peter Vandenberg 8.00 Eric Hockaday 8.00 Bob Thomas 7.00 John Edwards 5.00 Eric Eadon 4.20 George Major 4.00 Roy Pickering 4.00 Ken Vale 3.08 Arthur Ashby 1.33
Eastbourne
Colin Gooddy 10.76 Gil Goldfinch 9.50 Dave Still 8.38 Frank Bettis 6.13 Ross Gilbertson 6.25 John Dugard 4.40 Bob Warner 3.17 Peter Jarman 2.00 Bob Dugard 1.33
Ipswich
Gil Goldfinch 9.43 Jimmy Heard 7.71 Wal Morton 7.67 Shorty Schirmer 7.60 Ronnie Rolfe 7.08 Bob Thomas 6.40 Jimmy Gleed 4.76 Ron Bagley 4.50 Vic White 3.43 Pat Flanagan 2.81
Rye House
Tommy Sweetman 8.75 Ronnie Rolfe 7.57 Ernie Baker 6.77 Clive Hitch 6.62 Stan Stevens 6.36 Bobby Croombs 6.17 Pete Sampson 3.64
Yarmouth
Ken Adams 12.00 (4 matches only) Ron Sharp 9.44 Ray Harris 9.42 Brian Craven 7.86 Bill Wainwright 7.70 Fred Collier 5.44 Ken Last 4.40 Tony Childs 3.00
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References