1937 Provincial Speedway League

The 1937 Provincial Speedway League was the second season of the Provincial League. Seven speedway teams started the season. From the previous season's finishers, Plymouth Panthers had dropped out but Leicester, Birmingham (Hall Green) and Norwich Stars joined up. Leicester withdrew mid-season and their record was expunged. Liverpool Merseysiders also withdrew mid-season but their entry was taken over by Belle Vue. Bristol Bulldogs were the champions and moved up to the National League for the following season.[1][2][3]

1937 Provincial Speedway League
LeagueProvincial League
ChampionsBristol Bulldogs
No. of competitors6
Provincial TrophyNottingham
National Trophy
(provincial final)		Southampton Saints
Coronation CupNottingham
Highest averageFrank Goulden
Division/s above1937 National League

Due to the brevity of the season, teams also competed for the Provincial Trophy in a league format. Leicester had already folded before the competition started and as with the league, Belle Vue replaced Liverpool Merseysiders. Nottingham won the Provincial Trophy and completed a double by winning the Provincial League Coronation Cup.[4]

James Stanley Hart (Stan Hart) was killed during a match at Hall Green Stadium between Birmingham and Belle Vue on 25 August. He fell during a heat and was hit by a rider behind.[5][6]

Final table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Bristol Bulldogs 20 15 0 5 30
2 Southampton Saints 20 13 0 7 26
3 Nottingham 20 11 0 9 22
4 Liverpool Merseysiders+
Belle Vue Merseysiders+		 20 8 0 12 16*
5 Norwich Stars 20 8 0 12 16
6 Birmingham Bulldogs 20 5 0 15 10

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

+ Liverpool scored 10 points from 11 matches, Belle Vue scored 6 from 9

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Leicester Hounds

Leading averages (league only)
Rider Team Average
Frank GouldenSouthampton10.46
George GreenwoodNottingham9.55
Bert JonesSouthampton9.21
Bill RogersBristol9.15
Billy DallisonSouthampton9.15

Provincial Trophy final table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Nottingham 10 7 0 3 14
2 Bristol Bulldogs 10 6 1 3 13
3 Southampton Saints 10 6 0 4 12
4 Liverpool Merseysiders+
Belle Vue Merseysiders+		 10 4 0 6 8
5 Birmingham (Hall Green) 10 3 1 6 7
6 Norwich Stars 10 3 0 7 6

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

+ Liverpool scored 2 points from 6 matches, Belle Vue scored 6 from 4

National Trophy

The 1937 National Trophy was the seventh edition of the Knockout Cup.[7] Southampton Saints won the Provincial Final round and therefore qualified for the quarter finals proper (the round when the tier one sides entered the competition).

Provincial League first qualifying round
Date Team one Score Team two
03/05Liverpool57-26Norwich
01/05Norwich30-51Liverpool

Provincial League second qualifying round
Date Team one Score Team two
23/04Bristol48-36Nottingham
20/04NottinghamrainBristol
04/05Nottingham46-37Bristol
31/05Liverpool39-45Southampton
25/05Southampton55-28Liverpool

Final

First leg

Bristol Bulldogs
Roy Dook 7
Fred Leavis 7
Bill Rogers 6
Harry Shepherd 5
George Saunders 5
Rol Stobart 4
Bill Maddern 4
Jack Dalton 3		41 – 42Southampton Saints
Billy Dallison 9
Bert Jones 9
Syd Griffiths 8
Frank Goulden 7
Ivor Creek 3
Jack Riddle 3
Cyril Anderson 3
Vic Collins 0
[8]

Second leg

Southampton Saints
Billy Dallison 12
Syd Griffiths 12
Bert Jones 9
Ivor Creek 7
Frank Goulden 4
Vic Collins 3
Cyril Anderson 2
Jack Riddle 2		51 – 32Bristol Bulldogs
Roy Dook 7
Harry Shepherd 6
Rol Stobart 5
Bill Rogers 5
Fred Leavis 4
George Saunders 4
Bill Maddern 1
Jack Dalton 0
[8]

Southampton were the National Trophy Provincial Final winners, winning on aggregate 93-73.

Coronation Cup

The 1937 Coronation Cup was a one-off competition to mark the Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth. Nottingham won the Cup.[9]

First round
Team one Team two scores
BristolNorwich53–29, 47–35 (100–64 agg)
SouthamptonLiverpool41–42, 48–35 (89–77 agg)

Semifinals
Team one Team two scores
NottinghamBristol55–29, 37–47 (92–76 agg)
SouthamptonBirmingham80–28, 40–41 (120–69 agg)

Final
Team one Team two scores
NottinghamSouthampton61–23, 37–46 (98–69 agg)

Riders & final averages

Birmingham

  • England Malcom Craven 8.00
  • England Les Bowden 7.88
  • England Tiger Hart 7.41
  • Australia Steve Langton 7.42
  • England Danny Lee 7.38
  • England Bob Lovell 6.17
  • England Jack Tidbury 5.33
  • England Les Gregory 5.00
  • England Bill Stanley 4.77
  • South Africa Keith Harvey 4.15
  • Australia Jack Hyland 3.00
  • England Charlie Challis 2.20

Bristol

  • Australia Bill Rogers 9.15
  • England Roy Dook 9.01
  • England Harry Shepherd 9.00
  • England Rol Stobbart 8.73
  • England Reg Vigor 8.67
  • England Fred Leavis 7.25
  • Australia Bill Maddern 6.75
  • England Reg Lambourne 5.92
  • England Jack Dalton 6.40
  • England Reg Gore 5.50
  • England George Saunders 5.42

Liverpool/Belle Vue

  • England Jack Hargreaves 8.88/8.88
  • England Thomas Arthur Price 7.73/7.63
  • England Stan Hart 7.00/7.61
  • England Eric Blain 6.97/6.57
  • England Oliver Hart 6.86/6.92
  • England Ernie Price 6.00/6.89
  • England Charlie Oates 6.00/4.57
  • England Alan Butler 4.43/5.31
  • England Jack Gordon x/3.73
  • England Len Eyre 5.00/4.14
  • England Eric Butler 4.27/3.65

Norwich

  • England Wal Morton 8.87
  • England Bert Spencer 8.64
  • Australia Dick Wise 7.79
  • England Wilf Jay 6.65
  • England Alex Peel 5.69
  • England Paul Goodchild 5.39
  • England Chun Moore 5.14
  • Scotland Jock Sweet 4.87
  • England Charlie Dugard 4.62
  • England Jim Millward 4.34
  • England Bill Birtwell 4.00
  • England Alan Smith 3.89
  • England Charlie Lish 3.73

Nottingham

Southampton

  • England Frank Goulden 10.46
  • Australia Bert Jones 9.21
  • England Billy Dallison 9.15
  • Wales Syd Griffths 9.01
  • England Jack Riddle 8.38
  • New Zealand Jack Hobson 6.14
  • England Ivor Creek 4.85
  • England Cyril Anderson 4.94
  • England Jim Boyd 3.50
  • England Vic Collins 3.29

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. "Birmingham (Hall Green Stadium) 1937". Speedway Museum. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. "Stan Hart". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. "1937 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  8. "1937 National Trophy Provincial Final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  9. "Coronation Cup 1937". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
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