1957 Southern Area League

The 1957 Southern Area League was the fourth season of the Southern Area League but the first as the regional second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams.[1]

1957 Southern Area League
LeagueSouthern Area League
ChampionsRayleigh II/Southern Rovers
No. of competitors4
Riders' ChampionshipLeo McAuliffe
Highest averageGerry King
Division/s aboveNational League

Summary

California Poppies were no longer competitors with the promotion and nickname moving to Aldershot. The Southern Rovers team who had been without a track in the previous season had found a new home at Rayleigh and were also referred to as Rayleigh II.

Southern Rovers were the champions. [2]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Rayleigh II/Southern Rovers 12 8 0 4 16
2 Eastbourne Eagles 12 6 0 6 12
3 Rye House Roosters 12 5 0 7 10
4 Aldershot Poppies 12 5 0 7 10

Leading Averages

[3]

Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Gerry King Rye House 10.30
2 Jim Heard Eastbourne 10.27
3 Frank Bettis Eastbourne 9.50
4 Colin Gooddy Rayleigh/Southern Rovers 9.33
5 Ross Gilbertson Aldershot 9.30

Riders' Championship

Leo McAuliffe won the Riders' Championship for the second successive season. The final was held at Arlington Stadium on 29 September. Remarkably McAuliffe and Maury Conway dead heated in the run off to decide the champion after both riders finished on 13 points. A second run off was required in which McAuliffe won by a wheel. The winning trophy was presented by Barry Briggs.[4][5]

Pos.RiderClubPts
1Leo McAuliffeRayleigh/Southern Rovers13+3
2Maury ConwayEastbourne13+2
3Jim HeardEastbourne12
4Ross GilbertsonAldershot11
5Noel ConwayEastbourne10
6Pat FlanaganAldershot9
7Ron WaltonAldershot8
8Tommy SweetmanRayleigh/Southern Rovers8
9Bobby CroombsRye House8
10Bryan MeredithRayleigh/Southern Rovers6
11Alan BrettRye House5
12Ronnie RolfeRye House5
13Alan LunnRye House4
14Dave StillRye House4
15Pete MouldAldershot3
16Les Searle (res)Eastbourne1
17Dave Slater (res)Rye House1

Riders & final averages

Aldershot

  • Ross Gilbertson 8.57
  • Ron Walton 8.30
  • Pete Mold 8.00
  • Jimmy Gleed 7.00
  • Pat Flanagan 6.86
  • Ron Webb 5.91
  • Phil Sheppard 5.50
  • John Day 5.45
  • Ted Spittles 3.20

Eastbourne

  • Frank Bettis 10.67
  • Jimmy Heard 7.00
  • Leo McAuliffe 6.00
  • Reg Davies 5.71
  • Dave Collett 5.60
  • John Dugard 4.00
  • Jim Preddy 1.67
  • Les Searle 1.33
  • Bob Warner 1.00

Rye House

  • Gerry King 10.75
  • Bobby Croombs 10.00
  • Dave Still 8.33
  • Jim Chalkley 7.20
  • Dave Slater 4.60
  • Alan Lunn 4.33
  • Ronnie Rolfe 3.64
  • Brian Brett 3.29
  • Ernie Baker 3.20
  • Ivan Mauger 2.22
  • Colin Pratt 1.33

Rayleigh II/Southern Rovers

  • Colin Gooddy 9.00
  • Leo McAuliffe 9.00
  • Stan Clark 8.46
  • Vic Hall 8.40
  • Brian Meredith 7.50
  • Tommy Sweetman 7.17
  • Eric Ebbs 7.45
  • Eric Eadon 5.00
  • Alan Pearce 5.00
  • Mike Lawrence 5.00
  • Pat McKenzie 4.80
  • Neil Roberts 4.00
  • Tony Eadon 1.60

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Southern Area League 1957 averages" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  4. "Double run off sensation at Arlington". Eastbourne Gazette. 2 October 1957. Retrieved 10 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Southern Area League Riders Championship". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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