1956 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
ChampionsSwindon Robins
No. of competitors7
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Southampton Saints
Highest averagePer Olof Söderman
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowSouthern League

1956 was the final season of the Speedway National League Division Two.[1]

Summary

With the number of sides competing at national level diminishing from 37 at the start of 1951 to just 14 in 1956, only a single national division would be in existence by 1957. Poole Pirates had been promoted to Division One and Exeter Falcons had closed leaving seven entrants.[2][3]

Swindon Robins captured the title by a single point.[4][5]

Southampton's 34-year-old captain Ernie Rawlins died in Southampton Hospital on 22 September 1956, following an accident in the match against Birmingham on 18 September.[6]

Final table

Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Swindon Robins 24 16 0 8 32
2 Southampton Saints 24 15 1 8 31
3 Rayleigh Rockets 24 14 1 9 29
4 Ipswich Witches 24 13 0 11 26
5 Coventry Bees 24 12 0 12 24
6 Leicester Hunters 24 6 1 17 13
7 Oxford Cheetahs 24 6 1 17 13

Top Five Riders (League only)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Per Olof Söderman Sweden Coventry Bees 11.74
2 Ken McKinlay Scotland Leicester Hunters 10.25
3 Dick Bradley England Southampton Saints 10.22
4 Bob Roger England Swindon Robins 9.53
5 Ian Williams Wales Swindon Robins 9.52

National Trophy Stage One

The 1956 National Trophy was the 19th 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. Southampton won stage one and qualified for second and final stage.[7]

Division Two First round

Date Team one Score Team two
21/04Coventry55-53Ipswich
21/04Rayleigh74-34Oxford
21/04Swindon65-43Leicester
20/04Leicester65-43Swindon
19/04Ipswich68-40Coventry
19/04Oxford40-68Rayleigh
05/05
replay		Swindon51-56Leicester
04/05
replay		Leicester76-32Swindon

Division Two semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
26/05Rayleigh68-39Southampton
25/05Leicester67-40Ipswich
22/05Southampton69-39Rayleigh
21/05Ipswich46-62Leicester

Division Two final

First leg

Southampton Saints
Dick Bradley 15
Brian Hanham 13
Ernie Rawlins 12
Johnny Hole 7
Frank Bettis 6
Alby Golden 5
Maurie Mattingley 4
Ron Sharp 2		64 – 43Leicester Lions
Ken McKinlay 14
Ron Phillips 11
Charlie Barsby 5
Len Williams 5
Bryan Elliott 3
Barrie East 3
Gordon McGregor 2
Ivor Brown 0
[8]

Second leg

Leicester Lions
Len Williams 12
Ken McKinlay 9
Ron Phillips 8
Gordon McGregor 7
Charlie Barsby 6
Barrie East 4
Ivor Brown 4
Dennis Parker 4		54 – 54Southampton Saints
Ernie Rawlins 14
Dick Bradley 13
Brian Hanham 9
Maurie Mattingley 7
Alby Golden 5
Johnny Hole 2
Frank Bettis 2
Ron Sharp 2
[8]

Riders & final averages

Coventry

Ipswich

  • England Bert Edwards 9.21
  • Australia Bob Sharp 8.93
  • Australia Junior Bainbridge 8.70
  • England Tich Read (George Snailum) 6.40
  • England Ken Adams 5.31
  • England Danny Dunton 4.56
  • Scotland Larry Lazarus 3.54
  • Australia Bill Bryden 3.05
  • England Ken Last 2.76
  • England Len Silver 2.33

Leicester

Oxford

Rayleigh

  • England Jack Unstead 9.50
  • England Gerry Jackson 8.25
  • England Les McGillivray 7.78
  • England Pete Lansdale 7.17
  • England Alan Smith 6.99
  • England Maury McDermott 6.40
  • Guernsey Johnny Fitzpatrick 5.38
  • England Eric Ebbs 5.33

Southampton

  • England Dick Bradley 10.22
  • England Bill Holden 8.48
  • England Ernie Rawlins 8.41
  • England Brian Hanham 8.36
  • England Ron Sharp 5.75
  • England Alby Golden 5.43
  • England Maury Mattingley 5.25
  • England Johnny Hole 5.17
  • England Charlie May 4.59
  • England Frank Bettis 3.20

Swindon

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  2. ↑ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. ↑ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  6. ↑ "Speedway Star Dies". Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 23 September 1956. Retrieved 13 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "1956 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  8. 1 2 "1956 Southampton results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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