1955 Speedway National League Division Two

The 1955 National League Division Two was the tenth post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

1955 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
ChampionsPoole Pirates
No. of competitors9
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Poole Pirates
Highest averageKen McKinlay
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowSouthern League

Summary

The only change in the list of teams that finished the previous season was the replacement of Motherwell Eagles with Weymouth Scorchers. Poole Pirates won the title.[1]

Weymouth Scorchers withdrew after 7 league fixtures, Bristol Bulldogs withdrew after 14.[2]

Final table
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 32 23 0 9 46
2 Coventry Bees 32 19 0 3 38
3 Rayleigh Rockets 32 15 2 15 32
4 Oxford Cheetahs 32 15 1 16 31
5 Southampton Saints 32 15 0 17 30
6 Ipswich Witches 32 13 3 16 29
7 Leicester Hunters 32 14 0 18 28
8 Swindon Robins 32 14 0 18 28
9 Exeter Falcons 32 13 0 29 26

Top Five Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ken McKinlay Scotland Leicester Hunters 10.48
2 Jack Geran Australia Exeter Falcons 10.38
3 Dick Bradley England Bristol Bulldogs/Southampton Saints 10.25
4 Ken Middleditch England Poole Pirates 9.96
5 Neil Street Australia Exeter Falcons 9.49

National Trophy Stage One

The 1955 National Trophy was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of two stages; stage one was for the second tier clubs, stage two was for the top tier clubs. Poole won stage one and qualified for second and final stage.[3]

Division Two First round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/04Rayleigh48-60Poole
22/04Bristol62-46Ipswich
22/04Weymouth49-59Southampton
21/04Ipswich81-27Bristol
19/04Southampton70-38Weymouth
18/04Poole69-39Rayleigh

Division Two Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
23/05Exeter55-53Swindon
14/05Coventry75-33Oxford
14/05Swindon66-42Exeter
13/05Leicester49-59Southampton
12/05Ipswich66-41Poole
12/05Oxford66-42Coventry
10/05Southampton59-49Leicester
09/05Poole70-37Ipswich

Division Two semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
13/06Poole68-40Swindon
04/06Coventry54-54Southampton
04/06Swindon62-46Poole
31/05Southampton56-52Coventry

Division Two final

First leg

Southampton Saints
Ernie Rawlins 14
Dick Bradley 12
Brian Hanham 3
Bluey Scott 7
Alby Golden 4
Charlie May 3
Cyril Roger (guest) 2
Johnny Fitzpatrick 1		46 – 62Poole Pirates
Ken Middleditch 16
Jim Squibb 14
Norman Strachan 7
Bill Holden 7
Terry Small 7
Ernie Brecknell 6
Alan Kidd 5
Tony Lewis 0
[4]

Second leg

Poole Pirates
Terry Small 16
Bill Holden 14
Alan Kidd 11
Jim Squibb 11
Ken Middleditch 7
Norman Strachan 7
Tony Lewis 6
Fred Parkins 1		73 – 35Southampton Saints
Dick Bradley 13
Ernie Rawlins 5
Bluey Scott 5
Frank Johnson (guest) 4
Charlie May 4
Johnny Fitzpatrick 3
Alby Golden 1
Brian Hanham 0
[4]

Midland Cup

For the Midland Cup see the 1955 Speedway National League.

Riders & final averages

Bristol (withdrew)

Coventry

Exeter

  • Australia Jack Geran 10.38
  • Australia Neil Street 9.49
  • England Goog Hoskin 6.93
  • England Johnny Sargeant 6.40
  • England Billy Hole 5.62
  • England Alf Webster 4.82
  • England John Hart 4.63
  • England Ron Barrett 4.32
  • England Don Hardy 3.18
  • England Francis Cann 2.63

Ipswich

  • England Bert Edwards 9.45
  • Australia Junior Bainbridge 8.28
  • England Reg Reeves 8.08
  • England Tich Read (George Snailum) 5.91
  • Australia Bob Sharp 5.64
  • England Danny Dunton 4.98
  • Scotland Larry Lazarus 4.45
  • Australia Bluey Scott 3.84
  • England Len Silver 3.53
  • England Cyril Cooper 3.14
  • England Dennis Day 2.44
  • England Ken Last 2.10

Leicester

Oxford

  • England Ronnie Genz 8.15
  • England Bob Baker 7.47
  • England Peter Robinson 7.39
  • England Reg Trott 6.40
  • New Zealand Bill Thatcher 5.86
  • England Dennis Newton 5.44
  • England Bob Wells 4.42
  • England Kid Curtis 3.33
  • England Maury Courtnell 1.82

Poole

  • England Ken Middleditch 9.96
  • England Bill Holden 8.54
  • England Allan Kidd 7.22
  • England Terry Small 7.14
  • England Johnny Thomson 6.67
  • England Jimmy Squibb 6.57
  • England Tony Lewis 6.50
  • England Norman Strachan 5.89
  • Australia Ernie Brecknell (Ernest Blight) 3.73

Rayleigh

  • England Jack Unstead 9.32
  • New Zealand Peter Clark 8.99
  • England Les McGillivray 7.69
  • England Gerry Jackson 6.88
  • England Pete Lansdale 6.57
  • England Maury McDermott 5.26
  • England Dennis Gray 4.55
  • Australia Bill Longley 3.50
  • England Frank Bettis 3.16
  • England Eric Ebbs 2.86

Southampton

  • England Dick Bradley 9.84
  • England Ernie Rawlins 7.48
  • England Brian Hanham 7.39
  • England Charlie May 5.71
  • Australia Bluey Scott 5.35
  • England Maury Mattingley 5.30
  • Guernsey Johnny Fitzpatrick 5.27
  • England Alby Golden 5.17
  • Australia Allan Quinn 4.74

Swindon

Weymouth (withdrew)

  • England Ron Barrett 7.50
  • Australia Ernie Brecknell (Ernest Blight) 6.86
  • England Ken Adams 5.83
  • England Danny Dunton 5.53
  • England Frank Johnson 4.88
  • England Ernie Lessiter 3.29
  • England Gerald Pugh 2.15
  • England Roy Bowers 1.82

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  3. "1955 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  4. "1955 results" (PDF). Speedway researcher. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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