1934 Speedway National League

The 1934 National League Division One was the sixth season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. It was also the first time that a second division/tier of racing was introduced following the creation of a reserves league.[1][2][3][4]

1934 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League Division One
ChampionsBelle Vue Aces
No. of competitors9
National TrophyBelle Vue Aces
A.C.U CupBelle Vue Aces
London CupNew Cross Lambs
Highest averageEric Langton

Summary

Birmingham Bulldogs (formerly Hall Green) and Lea Bridge rejoined the league. Sheffield dropped out and most of their team relocated to Lea Bridge. Clapton Saints, who rode at Lea Bridge's stadium in the previous season relocated and raced as Harringay Tigers for the first time. Crystal Palace relocated to New Cross. Coventry and Nottingham also dropped out.

Lea Bridge closed down in late July and were replaced by a new side at Walthamstow who took on their last 10 fixtures.

Belle Vue Aces won their second consecutive double of national title and Knockout Cup. They also completed the treble by winning the A.C.U Cup. Eric Langton of Belle Vue Aces finished with the highest average.

National League Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Belle Vue Aces 32 27 0 5 54
2 Wembley Lions 32 26 0 6 52
3 New Cross Lambs 32 21 0 11 42
4 West Ham Hammers 32 16 1 15 33
5 Wimbledon Dons 32 16 0 16 32
6 Harringay Tigers 32 14 1 17 29
7 Birmingham Bulldogs 32 9 0 23 18
8 Plymouth Tigers 32 8 2 22 18
9 Lea Bridge + Walthamstow Wolves 32 5 0 27 10*
  • Lea Bridge scored 8 points from 22 matches, Walthamstow scored 2 from 10

Top Ten Riders
Rider Nat Team Points C.M.A.
1 Eric Langton England Belle Vue Aces 186.5 10.32
2 Vic Huxley Australia Wimbledon Dons 132 10.31
3 Jack Parker England Harringay Tigers 230 10.07
4 Tom Farndon England New Cross Lambs 240.5 10.06
5 Ginger Lees England Wembley Lions 230 9.96
6 Dicky Case Australia Lea Bridge/Walthamstow Wolves 208 9.48
7 Bluey Wilkinson Australia West Ham Hammers 210 9.08
8 Joe Abbott England Belle Vue Aces 168 9.05
9 Bill Kitchen England Belle Vue Aces 182 8.97
10 Tiger Stevenson England West Ham Hammers 179 8.92

In the 1934 season, a league for reserves and junior riders was introduced. This wasn't continued in 1935. West Ham Reserves won the reserve league dropping just one point in 12 matches.

Reserve League Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 West Ham Reserves 12 11 1 0 23
2 Wembley Reserves 12 7 2 3 16
3 Harringay Reserves 12 6 1 5 13
4 Wimbledon Reserves 12 6 1 5 13
5 Birmingham Reserves 12 4 0 8 8
6 Belle Vue Reserves 12 3 0 9 6
7 New Cross Reserves 12 2 1 9 5

National Trophy

The 1934 National Trophy was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup.[5]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/05Plymouth49-57Lea Bridge

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
26/06Birmingham36-69Belle Vue
23/06Belle Vue81-27Birmingham
25/06Wimbledon67-38Lea Bridge
29/06Lea Bridge60-47Wimbledon
28/06Wembley59-49Harringay
30/06Harringay33-74Wembley
26/06West Ham48.5-59.5New Cross
27/06New Cross69-36West Ham

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
28/07Belle Vue48-30Wimbledon
30/07Wimbledon32-75Belle Vue
25/07New Cross42-62Wembley
26/07Wembley67.5-40.5New Cross

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Max Grosskreutz 16
Eric Langton 15
Joe Abbott 12
Bill Kitchen 12
Frank Charles 11
Frank Varey 5		71 – 36Wembley Lions
Ginger Lees 10
Wally Kilmister 9
Gordon Byers 8
Lionel Van Praag 6
Colin Watson 2
George Greenwood 1
[6]

Second leg

Wembley Lions
Wally Kilmister 11
Ginger Lees 8
Gordon Byers 7
Lionel Van Praag 5
Harry Whitfield 2
Colin Watson 1		34 – 74Belle Vue Aces
Eric Langton 18
Max Grosskreutz 18
Joe Abbott 16
Frank Charles 9
Bill Kitchen 7
Frank Varey 6
[6]

Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 164-87.

A.C.U Cup

The 1934 Auto-Cycle Union Cup was the first edition of the Cup.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
14/08Birmingham49-59Wembley

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
11/09Plymouth44–62Harringay
12/09New Cross62–44Wimbledon
15/09Belle Vue79–29Wembley
18/09West Ham66–37Walthamstow

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
29/09Harringay45–62Belle Vue
09/10West Ham58-49New Cross

Final
Date Team one Score Team two
15/10Belle Vue56–51West Ham

London Cup

First round

Team one Score Team two
Wembley60–47, 57–48Wimbledon
Harringay44–63, 41–66New Cross

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
Wembley57–51, 46–62West Ham
New Cross69–38, 65–41Walthamstow

Final

First leg

New Cross
Ron Johnson 16
Tom Farndon 15
Nobby Key 13
Stan Greatrex 9
George Newton 5
Joe Francis 4
Roy Dook 0
Harry Shepherd 0		62–44West Ham
Bluey Wilkinson 13
Stan Dell 10
Arthur Atkinson 9
Tommy Croombs 7
Broncho Dixon 4
Rol Stobart 1
Arthur Warwick 0
Wal Morton 0

Second leg

West Ham
Bluey Wilkinson 17
Tommy Croombs 14
Arthur Atkinson 9
Broncho Dixon 6
Arthur Warwick 5
Stan Dell 2
Rol Stobart 0		53–52New Cross
Nobby Key 13
Ron Johnson 11
Joe Francis 10
Tom Farndon 8
Stan Greatrex 6
Harry Shepherd 2
George Newton 1
Roy Dook 1
[8]

New Cross won on aggregate 114–97

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Harringay

Lea Bridge/Walthamstow

  • Australia Dicky Case 9.78/9.48
  • England Dusty Haigh 7.94/6.87
  • England Squib Burton 5.88/5.77
  • England Wally Hull 4.44/4.43
  • England Eric Blain 3.31/3.66
  • England Chun Moore 3.00/3.18
  • Australia Clem Thomas 2.96/3.10
  • England Jack Bibby 2.86/3.02
  • Australia Steve Langton 1.10

New Cross

Plymouth

  • Australia Jack Sharp 7.89
  • England Bill Clibbett 5.71
  • England Bert Spencer 5.18
  • England Frank Pearce 4.79
  • Austria Leopold Killmeyer 4.75
  • England Ted Bravery 4.71
  • England Tiger Hart 4.67
  • Australia Mick Murphy (John Glass) 4.59
  • England Bill Stanley 4.16

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. "1934 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  6. "1934 National Trophy" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. "1934 ACU Cup" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  8. "New Cross win London Cup". Daily Herald. 26 September 1934. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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