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1947 Speedway National League

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British speedway season

1947 Speedway National League
League	National League Division One
No. of competitors	7
Champions	Wembley Lions
National Trophy	Belle Vue Aces
British Speedway Cup	Wembley Lions
Riders' champion	Jack Parker
London Cup	New Cross Rangers
Highest average	Vic Duggan
Division/s below	National League (Div 2) National League (Div 3)
←1946 1948 →

The1947National League Division One was the 13th season ofspeedway in theUnited Kingdom and the second post-war season of the highest tier ofmotorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

[edit]

Harringay Racers rejoined the league.^[2]Wembley Lions retained the title. Belle Vue retained theNational Trophy.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Final Table Division One

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wembley Lions	24	19	0	5	38
2	Belle Vue Aces	24	15	1	8	31
3	Wimbledon Dons	24	13	1	10	27
4	Odsal Boomerangs	24	10	1	13	21
5	New Cross Rangers	24	10	0	14	20
6	West Ham Hammers	24	8	0	16	16
7	Harringay Racers	24	7	1	16	15

Fixtures & results

[edit]

A fixtures

[edit]

Home \ Away	BV	BRA	HAR	NC	WEM	WH	WIM
Belle Vue		45–39	54–30	47–37	35–49	57–27	38–46
Bradford	42–42		41–43	46–38	50–33	52–32	40–44
Harringay	47–33	38–45		44–40	34–46	42–41	42–42
New Cross	36–46	38–45	42–41		33–51	59–25	47–37
Wembley	54–30	52–31	52–32	50–34		60–24	41–42
West Ham	41–43	38–45	44–40	47–37	42–41		39–45
Wimbledon	51–33	50–33	40–44	50–33	43–39	54–30

Source:^[6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

[edit]

Home \ Away	BV	BRA	HAR	NC	WEM	WH	WIM
Belle Vue		51–33	46–38	50–34	49–35	52–29	41–40
Bradford	37–47		53–30	44–37	38–46	51–33	50–34
Harringay	38–46	55–28		39–44	38–46	50–34	34–49
New Cross	49–35	58–26	52–31		39–45	59–25	50–34
Wembley	49–35	60–24	57–26	57–27		55–27	47–35
West Ham	48–36	52–32	43–40	45–39	40–42		44–40
Wimbledon	36–47	42–41	50–34	39–45	38–46	43–39

Source:^[7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

British Speedway Cup

[edit]

On account of the small number of teams in the league the British Speedway Cup was run in a league format.Wembley Lions won all their matches, home and away, to complete a double.

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wembley Lions	12	12	0	0	24
2	New Cross Rangers	12	8	0	4	16
3	Wimbledon Dons	12	5	1	6	11
4	Belle Vue Aces	12	5	0	7	10
5	Harringay Racers	12	5	0	7	10
6	West Ham Hammers	12	4	0	8	8
7	Odsal Boomerangs	12	2	1	9	5

Home \ Away	BV	BRA	HAR	NC	WEM	WH	WIM
Belle Vue		61–35	45–50	56–40	47–49	49–46	60–36
Bradford	48–47		63–33	34–62	44–52	46–50	48–48
Harringay	36–60	61–35		43–53	32–64	55–41	53–42
New Cross	57.5–37.5	64–31	63–33		45–47	66–29	49–46
Wembley	62–31	53–43	65–31	60–36		76–20	54–41
West Ham	53.5–42.5	50–44	47–48	33–60	40–52		50–46
Wimbledon	54–42	53–43	54–42	52–43	42–54	57–39

Source:^[8]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top ten riders (league only)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Vic Duggan	Harringay	11.54
2	Bill Kitchen	Wembley	10.74
3	Norman Parker	Wimbledon	10.35
4	Alec Statham	Odsal	10.25
5	Tommy Price	Wembley	10.00
6=	Eric Chitty	West Ham	9.54
6=	Malcolm Craven	New Cross	9.54
8	George Wilks	Wembley	9.46
9	Eric Langton	Belle Vue	9.44
10	Jack Parker	Belle Vue	9.32

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1947 National Trophy was the tenth edition of theKnockout Cup.^[9]

During the National Trophy quarter final match between Wembley and Harringay (on 15 August) the 27-year-old Wembley rider Nelson 'Bronco' Wilson received fatal injuries in the fourth heat. He died in the Prince of Wales Hospital, Tottenham, the following day from a fractured skull.^[10] Remarkably another rider Cyril Anderson of the Norwich Stars was killed instantly on the same evening, during theDivision Two Best Pairs.^[11]

QualifyingMiddlesbrough and Norwich qualified for the quarter finals by virtue of finishing 1st & 2nd in theSecond Division Cup.

Quarterfinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
07/08	Wembley	61–45	Harringay
07/08	Middlesbrough	40–68	Wimbledon
09/08	Belle Vue	67–41	New Cross
11/08	Wimbledon	77–31	Middlesbrough
12/08	West Ham	54–54	Bradford Odsal
13/08	New Cross	61–46	Belle Vue
15/08	Harringay	47–58	Wembley
16/08	Bradford Odsal	53–55	West Ham

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/08	Wimbledon	59–49	Belle Vue
02/09	West Ham	55–51	Wembley
04/09	Wembley	68–40	West Ham
06/09	Belle Vue	82–25	Wimbledon

Final

[edit]

First leg

9 October 1947

Wembley Lions Tommy Price 14 Bill Kitchen 13 George Wilks 10 Split Waterman 6 Bill Gilbert 6 Bob Wells 5 Charlie May 1 Roy Craighead 0	55 – 53	Belle Vue Aces Eric Langton 13 Jack Parker 13 Louis Lawson 8 Jim Boyd 7 Wally Lloyd 6 Wally Hull 3 Dent Oliver 2 Bill Pitcher 1
	^[12]

Wembley Stadium

Second leg

11 October 1947

Belle Vue Aces Jack Parker 16 Louis Lawson 12 Eric Langton 11 Wally Lloyd 6 Dent Oliver 7 Jim Boyd 6 Wally Hull 4 Bill Pitcher 1	63 – 45	Wembley Lions Bill Kitchen 14 Tommy Price 13 Split Waterman 9 George Wilks 4 Roy Craighead 3 Bob Wells 2 Charlie May 0 Bill Gilbert 0
	^[12]

Hyde Road Stadium

Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate116–100.

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Jack Parker won theBritish Riders' Championship final held atEmpire Stadium on 11 September. Parker won the title after a run off and also broke the halfway (2 laps) track record (37.6 secs) in heat 2.^[13]^[14] There were three qualifying rounds, with 28 riders progressing to the Championship round, held over seven meetings.^[13]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Jack Parker	33323	14+3
2	Bill Kitchen	33233	14+2
3	Bill Longley	21233	11
4	Eric Chitty	12322	10
5	George Wilks	22212	9
6	Vic Duggan	323F-	8
7	Eric Langton	01322	8
8	Frank Hodgson	13211	8
9	Ernie Price	22211	8
10	Norman Parker	31103	8
11	Ron Johnson	2F13F	6
12	Lionel Van Praag	13020	6
13	Tommy Price	03111	6
14	Les Wotton	10102	4
15	Geoff Pymar	0FF31	4
16	Bill Pitcher	1001F	2
16	Aub Lawson (res)	00---	0
17	Dent Oliver (res)	00---	0
18	Frank Dolan	00000	0

f=fell

London Cup

[edit]

First round

Team one	Score	Team two
New Cross	64–44, 55–52	Wimbledon

Semi final round

Team one	Score	Team two
Wembley	69–38, 51–57	West Ham
New Cross	74–34, 72–36	Harringay

Final

[edit]

First leg

17 September 1947

New Cross Ron Johnson 11 Bill Longley 10 Lionel Van Praag 7 Jeff Lloyd 8 Ray Moore 7 Frank Lawrence 2 Eric French 2 Geoff Pymar 2	49–58	Wembley Bill Kitchen 17 George Wilks 12 Split Waterman 11 Tommy Price 7 Bob Wells 5 Roy Craighead 3 Bill Gilbert 3 Charlie May 0

New Cross Stadium

Second leg

18 September 1947

Wembley Tommy Price 14 Bill Kitchen 12 Bill Gilbert 6 George Wilks 4 Bob Wells 4 Charlie May 3 Split Waterman 3 Roy Craighead 1	47–61	New Cross Ron Johnson 15 Jeff Lloyd 13 Bill Longley 10 Geoff Pymar 8 Eric French 6 Ray Moore 5 Lionel Van Praag 4 Frank Lawrence 0
	^[15]

Wembley Stadium

New Cross won on aggregate110–105

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Eric Langton 9.44
Jack Parker 9.32
Dent Oliver 8.50
Wally Lloyd 7.87
Bill Pitcher 7.29
Jim Boyd 6.68
Louis Lawson 5.39
Ron Mason 4.47
Dick Campbell 4.44
Wally Hull 3.80
Brian Wilson 3.36

Harringay

Vic Duggan 11.54
Frank Dolan 8.00
Ray Duggan 7.32
Joe Abbott 6.53
Wal Morton 4.78
Buck Whitby 4.16
Jack Arnfield 3.49
Nobby Stock 4.20
Norman Lindsay 3.18
Jack Biggs 3.00
Danny Lee 2.11
Joe Bowkis 1.48

New Cross

Ron Johnson 8.88
Jeff Lloyd 7.43
Bill Longley 7.83
Geoff Pymar 7.71
Lionel Van Praag 7.68
Ray Moore 5.04
Eric French 5.96
Frank Lawrence 3.86
Keith Harvey 3.20
Mick Mitchell 4.20

Odsal

Alec Statham 10.25
Ernie Price 8.64
Ron Clarke 8.51
Max Grosskreutz 7.07
Oliver Hart 6.90
Ron Mason 6.29
Fred Tuck 4.90
Eddie Rigg 4.00
Bill Osborne 3.48
Bill Baird 3.24
Fred Rogers 3.00
Jack White 2.40
Stan Beardsall 2.29
George Mudgway 1.18
Al Allison 1.00

Wembley

Bill Kitchen 10.74
Tommy Price 10.00
George Wilks 9.46
Split Waterman 7.75
Bronco Wilson 6.21
Bill Gilbert 5.47
Bob Wells 4.88
Roy Craighead 6.10
Charlie May 3.33

West Ham

Eric Chitty 9.54
Malcolm Craven 9.54
Tommy Croombs 6.09
Bob Harrison 5.78
Howdy Byford 5.67
Cliff Parkinson 5.60
Aub Lawson 5.06
Cliff Watson 4.46
Benny King 3.83
Buck Whitby 3.35
Phil Bishop 2.58
Bill Matthews 2.55
Jack Cooley 0.92

Wimbledon

Norman Parker 10.35
Les Wotton 8.50
Lloyd Goffe 7.70
Cyril Brine 6.00
Mike Erskine 5.98
Arch Windmill 5.36
George Saunders 4.51
Dick Harris 5.61
Ron Howes 1.33

References

[edit]

^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^"New speed tracks to open".Daily Express. 1 January 1947. Retrieved24 November 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Year by Year".Speedway Researcher. Retrieved11 August 2021.
^Rogers, Martin (1978).The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129.ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^"BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)".Official British Speedway website. Retrieved11 August 2021.
^"1947 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved4 December 2024.
^"1947 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved4 December 2024.
^"1947 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved9 June 2025.
^"Belle Vue Win".Daily Mirror. 13 October 1947. Retrieved11 August 2021 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Cricket for a Kiddies' Fund".Nottingham Evening Post. 16 August 1947. Retrieved11 August 2021 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Another Speedway rider killed".Weekly Dispatch (London). 17 August 1947. Retrieved11 August 2021 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^^a ^b"1947 National Trophy".Speedway Archive. Retrieved11 August 2021.
^^a ^b"1947 fixtures"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved3 June 2023.
^"Speedway title for Jack Parker".Bradford Observer. 12 September 1947. Retrieved3 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"New Cross make a comeback".Norwood News. 26 September 1947. Retrieved24 September 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.

v t e National League seasons 1932–1964
1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964

v t e Speedway in the United Kingdom
Current leagues	SGB Premiership SGB Championship National Development League List of champions
Former leagues	Elite League Premier League National League (1932–1964) Provincial League (1960–1964) British League British League Division Two/National League Conference League National League Division Two National League Division Three English Dirt Track League/Northern League Southern League (1929–1931) Southern League (1952–1953) Provincial League (1936–1937) Southern Area League
Current team competitions	Knockout Cup League Pairs champions League Fours champions
Former team competitions	London Cup Midland Cup Craven and Young Shields Premiership Shield
Current individual competitions	British Speedway Championship League Riders' champions British U-21 British U-19 Scottish Open
Former individual competitions	London Riders' Midland Riders' Northern Riders' Southern Riders' Olympique Internationale
See also	Speedway British Speedway Promoters' Association Speedway Control Bureau

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners