Wikipedia

1939 Speedway National League Division Two

The 1939 National League Division Two was the second season of British speedway's National League Division Two. The season was never completed, due to the outbreak of World War II.[1]

1939 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
Championsn/a
No. of competitors6
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Sheffield Tigers
Highest averageFrank Hodgson
Division/s above1939 National League
(Division One)

Summary

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As with the previous season, there were several team changes. Southampton Saints had moved up to the National League and Bristol Bulldogs had moved down to take their place. Other new entrants were Crystal Palace Glaziers, Stoke and Middlesbrough. Absentees from the end of the previous season were Lea Bridge, West Ham Hawks (West Ham's reserve team), Birmingham (Hall Green) and Leeds Lions.

Newcastle were leading the league at the point of abandonment. Crystal Palace Glaziers resigned after 10 matches and Stoke after 14 matches. Belle Vue Aces provided a team to complete Stoke's fixtures.[2]

Middlesbrough withdrew after 8 matches despite the club's general manager Vic Wieland signing star rider George Greenwood.[3][4]

Uncompleted table Division Two

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The season was incomplete due to the outbreak of World War II. Uncompleted table on September 1.

Team PL W D L Pts
Newcastle Diamonds 15 10 0 5 20
Hackney Wick Wolves 13 7 0 6 14
Sheffield 8 6 0 2 12
Norwich Stars 12 6 0 6 12
Bristol Bulldogs 14 5 0 9 10
Stoke Potters+
Belle Vue Reserves+ 		14 4 0 10 8

+ Belle Vue Reserves replaced Stoke Potters mid-season. Stoke scored 4 points from 8 matches, Belle Vue reserves scored 4 points from 6 matches.

Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace Glaziers withdrew mid-season and their records were expunged.

Leading averages (league only)

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Rider Team Average
Frank Hodgson Hackney 11.29
Ernie Evans Sheffield 11.25
George Pepper Newcastle 11.13
Broncho Dixon Sheffield 10.25
Bert Spencer Norwich 9.67

National Trophy

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The 1939 National Trophy was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup. Wembley and Belle Vue were declared joint winners following the abandonment of the final fixture due to the outbreak of the war.[5][6] Sheffield Tigers won the Division 2 Final round and therefore qualified for the quarter finals proper (the round when the tier one sides entered the competition).

Qualifying quarterfinals

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Date Team one Score Team two
01/06 Sheffield 69-38 Norwich
27/05 Norwich 60-46 Sheffield
16/05 Bristol 83-22 Crystal Palace
27/05 Crystal Palace 35-65 Bristol
13/05 Hackney Wick 80-28 Stoke
25/05 Stoke 68-39 Hackney
15/05 Newcastle 60-48 Middlesbrough
26/05 Middlesbrough 61-46 Newcastle

Qualifying semifinals

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Date Team one Score Team two
30/06 Bristol 46-59 Sheffield
29/06 Sheffield 75-32 Bristol
w/o Hackney Wick w/o Middlesbrough

Final

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First leg

Hackney Wick Wolves
Frank Hodgson 15
Tiger Hart 13
Jim Baylais 11
George Saunders 9
Stan Dell 7
Nobby Stock 6
Arch Windmill 5
Doug Wells 1		67 – 39Sheffield Tigers
Jack Dixon 12
Stan Williams 9
Ernie Evans 8
Ossie Powell 4
Harry Whitfield 4
Paddy Mills 2
Doug McLachlan 0
Geoff Godwin 0
[7]

Second leg

Sheffield Tigers
Ernie Evans 18
Stan Williams 15
Jack Dixon 11
Ossie Powell 10
Paddy Mills 8
Doug McLachlan 6
Harry Whitfield 5
Geoff Godwin 2		75 – 33Hackney Wick Wolves
Frank Hodgson 7
Jim Baylais 7
Tiger Hart 6
George Saunders 5
Stan Dell 3
Arch Windmill 3
Nobby Stock 2
[7]

Sheffield were declared National League (Div 2) Champions, winning on aggregate 114–100.

Riders & final averages

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Bristol

Crystal Palace (withdrew)

  •   Vic Weir 6.86
  •   Bob Lovell 6.14
  •   Mick Mitchell 6.06
  •   Ron Clarke 6.00
  •   Keith Harvey 5.79
  •   Les Trim 5.57
  •   Ernie Pawson 5.00
  •   George Gower 5.00
  •   Charlie Appleby 4.67
  •   Charlie Challis 4.13
  •   Charlie Page 3.43
  •   George Liddle 3.20
  •   Alf Markham 2.40
  •   George Dykes 1.50

Hackney

Middlesbrough (withdrew)

Newcastle

Norwich

Sheffield

Stoke/Belle Vue

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Year by Year" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Middlesbro' Speedway Hopes". Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough. 3 March 1939. Retrieved 4 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Speedway loss". Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 11 June 1939. Retrieved 4 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "1939 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ "1939 Cup". Speedway GB.
  7. ^ a b "1939 National Trophy Provincial Final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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