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1953 Speedway National League

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British speedway season

1953 Speedway National League
League	National League
Season	1953
No. of competitors	9
Champions	Wembley Lions
National Trophy	Wimbledon Dons
Coronation Cup	Harringay Racers
London Cup	Harringay Racers
Midland Cup	Birmingham Brummies
Highest average	Ronnie Moore
Division/s below	National League (Div 2) 1953 Southern League
←1952 1954 →

The1953National League Division One was the 19th season ofspeedway in theUnited Kingdom and the eighth post-war season of the highest tier ofmotorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

[edit]

Wembley Lions won their fifth consecutive title and their eighth overall.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Wimbledon Dons won theNational Trophy for the fourth time andHarringay Racers completed a cup double winning the Coronation Cup and London Cup.

New Cross Rangers folded part way through the 1953 season because MD Fred Mockford stated attendances were down to 5,000 and racing was being staged at a loss.^[5]

Novice rider Harry Eyre died inPoplar Hospital on 7 July 1953. He suffered fatal injuries earlier that evening atWest Ham Stadium, in a second half novices match against Bradford.^[6]^[7]

National League final table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wembley Lions	16	11	1	4	23
2	Harringay Racers	16	11	0	5	22
3	Birmingham Brummies	16	9	1	6	19
4	Bradford Tudors	16	8	1	7	17
5	Wimbledon Dons	16	8	0	8	16
6	West Ham Hammers	16	7	0	9	14
7	Norwich Stars	16	6	0	10	12
8	Belle Vue Aces	16	5	1	10	11
9	Bristol Bulldogs	16	5	0	11	10

New Cross Rangers withdrew mid-season - record expunged.

Fixtures & results

[edit]

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	BRA	BRI	HAR	NOR	WEM	WH	WIM
Belle Vue		39–45	37–47	46–37	52–32	62–22	42–42	48–36	53–31
Birmingham	48–36		51–33	53–31	37–47	56–28	46–38	49–35	48–36
Bradford	56–28	42–42		55–29	37–47	51–33	40–43	58–26	43–41
Bristol	63–21	50–34	58–26		41–43	56–28	40–43	62–22	39–45
Harringay	47–37	53–30	51–32	51–33		56–27	33–51	60–24	49–35
Norwich	51–33	37–47	36–48	59–25	54–30		44–39	55–29	51–32
Wembley	51–33	57–27	59–25	51–33	50–34	59–25		39.5–44.5	58–26
West Ham	57–27	54–30	51–33	46–38	26–58	57–27	33–51		50–34
Wimbledon	56–28	46–36	39–45	52–32	59–25	59–25	42–41	50–34

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

Coronation Cup

[edit]

The Coronation Cup was run in a league format.Harringay Racers came out on top.

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Harringay Racers	16	12	0	4	24
2	Wembley Lions	16	9	0	7	18
3	Bradford Tudors	16	8	1	7	17
4	Belle Vue Aces	16	8	0	8	16
5	Norwich Stars	16	7	1	8	15
6	Wimbledon Dons	16	7	0	9	14
7	West Ham Hammers	16	7	0	9	14
8	Bristol Bulldogs	16	7	0	9	14
9	Birmingham Brummies	16	6	0	10	12

New Cross Rangers completed 14 of their 16 fixtures before withdrawing and their record was expunged.

Home \ Away	BV	BIR	BRA	BRI	HAR	NC	NOR	WEM	WH	WIM
Belle Vue		51–33	50–34	56–27	44–40	50–34	59–25	38–46	54–30	50–34
Birmingham	58–26		51–33	52–32	56–28	45–39	46–38	34–50	43–42	38–46
Bradford	47–36	43–41		55–27	46–38	41–43	42–42	55–29	44–40	49–35
Bristol	63–21	50–34	56–27		36–48	41.5–41.5	56–28	36–48	44–35	48–36
Harringay	51–33	67–17	48–36	54–30		n/a	58–26	52–32	58–26	45–39
New Cross	47–37	43–40	42–42	41–43	56–28		63–21	49–35	41–42	44–40
Norwich	57–27	48–36	46–38	38–46	36–48	37–47		47–37	50–34	56–28
Wembley	40–44	54–30	39–45	59–25	38–46	n/a	48–36		49–35	51–33
West Ham	55–29	44–40	45–39	58–26	52–32	40–44	51–33	40–44		32–52
Wimbledon	46–38	60–24	56–28	34–50	31–53	44–40	52–32	47–37	41–43

Source:^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top ten riders (league only)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ronnie Moore	Wimbledon	10.63
2	Jack Young	West Ham	10.61
3	Alan Hunt	Birmingham	10.47
4	Olle Nygren	Bristol	10.25
5	Freddie Williams	Wembley	10.13
6	Arthur Forrest	Bradford	9.94
7	Split Waterman	Harringay	9.84
8	Eric Williams	Wembley	9.66
9	Aub Lawson	Norwich	9.19
10	Tommy Price	Wembley	9.13

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1953 National Trophy was the 16th edition of theKnockout Cup.^[10]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/04	Ipswich	57-51	Southampton
25/04	Swindon	68-40	Exeter
24/04	Plymouth	54-54	Oxford
23/04	Cardiff	80-28	St Austell
23/04	Oxford	66-42	Plymouth
21/04	Southampton	74-33	Ipswich
21/04	St Austell	55-53	Cardiff
20/04	Exeter	60-48	Swindon

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
19/05	Cardiff	42.5-65.5	Leicester
15/05	Leicester	70-38	Cardiff
15/05	Motherwell	78-30	Swindon
15/05	Wolverhampton	71-37	Southampton
14/05	Oxford	51-57	Rayleigh
12/05	Southampton	49-59	Wolverhampton
11/05	Liverpool	40-68	Coventry
09/05	Coventry	76-32	Liverpool
09/05	Edinburgh	47-61	Glasgow White City
09/05	Rayleigh	67-41	Oxford
09/05	Stoke	69-39	Yarmouth
09/05	Swindon	62-46	Motherwell
06/05	Glasgow White City	75-33	Edinburgh
05/05	Yarmouth	52-55	Stoke

Third round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
24/06	Glasgow White City	76-32	Wolverhampton
29/05	Leicester	68-40	Rayleigh
29/05	Motherwell	73-35	Poole
29/05	Wolverhampton	49-59	Glasgow White City
25/05	Poole	62-46	Motherwell
23/05	Coventry	69-39	Stoke
23/05	Rayleigh	72-36	Leicester
21/05	Stoke	71-37	Coventry

Fourth round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
11/07	Bradford Odsal	63-45	Bristol
04/07	Belle Vue	50-58	Wimbledon
04/07	Harringay	85-23	Motherwell
04/07	Norwich	71-37	West Ham
04/07	Rayleigh	64-44	Glasgow White City
03/07	Bristol	65-42	Bradford Odsal
03/07	Motherwell	63-45	Harringay
01/07	Glasgow White City	69-39	Rayleigh
30/06	West Ham	59-49	Norwich
29/06	Wimbledon	77-31	Belle Vue

Quarterfinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/08	Stoke	38-70	Wimbledon
25/07	Norwich	58-49	Bristol
24/07	Bristol	64-44	Norwich
20/07	Wimbledon	89-19	Stoke
18/07	Harringay	40-68	Wembley
16/07	Wembley	60-48	Harringay
15/07	Glasgow White City	56-52	Birmingham
11/07	Birmingham	70-38	Glasgow White City

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
10/08	Wimbledon	59-49	Bristol
08/08	Birmingham	62.5-45.5	Wembley
07/08	Bristol	46-62	Wimbledon
06/08	Wembley	78-29	Birmingham

Final

[edit]

First leg

7 September 1953

Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 17 Cyril Brine 14 Norman Parker 11 Geoff Mardon 10 Peter Moore 9 Barry Briggs 3 Don Perry 1 Reg Trott 0	68 – 40	Wembley Lions Eric Williams 11 Tommy Price 9 Bill Kitchen 5 Eric French 4 Trevor Redmond 4 Jimmy Gooch 3 Brian Crutcher 2 Freddie Williams 2
	^[11]

Wimbledon Stadium

Second leg

10 September 1953

Wembley Lions Freddie Williams 17 Tommy Price 15 Eric Williams 8 Brian Crutcher 7 Trevor Redmond 7 Bill Kitchen 5 Eric French 4 Jimmy Gooch 3	66 – 42	Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 11 Norman Parker 8 Peter Moore 7 Barry Briggs 6 Geoff Mardon 5 Don Perry 3 Cyril Brine 1 Reg Trott 1
	^[11]

Wembley Stadium

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate110–106.

London Cup

[edit]

First round

Team one	Score	Team two
Wimbledon	61–46, 56–52	Wembley

Semi final round

Team one	Score	Team two
Wimbledon	46–58, 38–69	West Ham
Harringay	64–44, w/o	New Cross

Final

[edit]

First leg

1 August 1953

Harringay Jack Biggs 1 Maury Dunn 12 Jeff Lloyd 12 Split Waterman 10 Ron How 8 Frank Lawrence 5 Ken Walsh 1 Allan Quinn 0	60–48	West Ham Jack Young 18, Bert Roger 10 Malcolm Craven 6 Wally Green 4 Howdy Byford 4 Keith Gurtner 4 Kid Curtis 2 Pat Clarke 0

Wembley Stadium

Second leg

4 August 1953

West Ham Jack Young 17 Bert Roger 11 Keith Gurtner 8 Malcolm Craven 7 Basse Hveem 6 Howdy Byford 4 Pat Clarke 4 Wally Green 4	58–50	Harringay Maury Dunn 11 Jack Biggs 12 Jeff Lloyd 9 Ron How 8 Split Waterman 7 Frank Lawrence 2 Arthur Atkinson 0 Alan Quinn 0
	^[12]

Plough Lane

Harringay won on aggregate110–106

Midland Cup

[edit]

Birmingham won theMidland Cup, which consisted of six teams. There were two teams from division 1 and four teams from division 2.

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Stoke	65–31, 46–50

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Coventry	50–46, 43–53
Birmingham	Bradford	73–25, 59–37

Final

[edit]

First leg

26 September 1953

Birmingham Alan Hunt 15 Graham Warren 9 Harry Bastable 9 Arthur Payne 7 Ron Mountford 6 Ron Barrett 6 Eric Boothroyd 5 Bob Roger 4	61–35	Coventry Charlie New 13 Johnnie Reason 9 Derrick Tailby 5 Vic Emms 3 Reg Duval 2 Les Hewitt 1 Jack Wright 1 Stan Williams 1
	^[13]

Perry Barr Stadium

Second leg

3 October 1953

Coventry Charlie New 14 Derrick Tailby 7 Stan Williams 4 Vic Emms 4 Reg Duval 4 Johnnie Reason 3 Les Hewitt 2 Jack Wright 0	38–58	Birmingham Alan Hunt 14 Ron Mountford 12 Graham Warren 9 Harry Bastable 7 Eric Boothroyd 7 Arthur Payne 6 Ron Barrett 3 Bob Roger 0
	^[14]

Brandon Stadium

Birmingham won on aggregate119–73

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Ron Johnston 7.88
Peter Craven 7.74
Ken Sharples 8.27
Jack Parker 7.00
Louis Lawson 6.69
Dick Fisher 4.62
Harry Edwards 4.22
Jock Grierson 3.87
Willie Wilson 3.86
Bob Fletcher 3.74
Olle Segerström 2.00
Val Morton 2.00

Birmingham

Alan Hunt 10.47
Graham Warren 7.67
Dan Forsberg 7.64
Eric Boothroyd 7.19
Arthur Payne 7.19
Harry Bastable 6.36
Ron Mountford 5.97
Phil Malpass 4.57
Bob Roger 4.48
Ron Barrett 4.21
Ron Mason 3.00
Bill Jemison 1.25
Lionel Watling (James Goldingay) 1.18

Bradford

Bristol

Olle Nygren 10.25
Dick Bradley 8.13
Eric Salmon 7.88
Billy Hole 7.55
Jack Unstead 6.67
Johnny Hole 6.10
Chris Boss 5.80
Chum Taylor 4.37
Geoff Pymar 4.24

Harringay

Split Waterman 9.84
Jack Biggs 9.00
Jeff Lloyd 8.14
Maurice Dunn 7.73
Ron How 7.60
Frank Lawrence 5.87
Stan Clark 5.33
Ken Walsh 5.00
Arthur Atkinson 4.68
Allan Quinn 4.00

New Cross (withdrew)

Norwich

Aub Lawson 9.19
Cyril Roger 7.48
Fred Rogers 6.76
Billy Bales 6.40
Merv Neil 5.60
Phil Clarke 5.49
Fred Pawson 5.12
Roy Craighead 3.40
Alec Hunter 2.29
Jack Freeman 2.00

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

References

[edit]

^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^"Year by Year".Speedway Researcher. Retrieved12 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. Retrieved12 August 2021.
^"New Cross Speedway has closed".Evening Despatch. 15 June 1953. Retrieved18 February 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Cycle Speedway Teams Down the Ages".Cycle Speedway History. Retrieved13 August 2021.
^"Speed-rider killed".Daily Herald. 8 July 1953. Retrieved13 August 2021 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1953 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved20 January 2025.
^"1953 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved23 June 2025.
^"1953 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
^^a ^b"1953 National Trophy".Speedway Archive. Retrieved12 August 2021.
^"Harringay beaten, but they win cup".Daily Herald. 5 August 1953. Retrieved26 September 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Bees well beaten at Birmingham".Coventry Evening Telegraph. 28 September 1953. Retrieved18 October 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Birmingham's easy win in Midland Trophy".Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 4 October 1953. Retrieved18 October 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.

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