1947 Speedway National League Division Two
British motorcycle speedway season
- ← 1946
- 1948 →
The 1947 National League Division Two was the second post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. In the previous season, the league was known as the Northern League but the addition of Bristol Bulldogs and a third tier saw the name revert to the one used 8 years previously.[1]
As well as Bristol Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors were new entrants bringing the total teams to 8. Middlesbrough Bears won the title. In fact the entire top five were unchanged from the previous season.[2][3][4]
Norwich Stars 38-year-old rider Cyril Anderson died instantly on 16 August, during a best pairs event at Norwich. Anderson was leading when he skidded and was hit by a rider from behind [5] Remarkably another rider died the same day, 27-year-old Wembley rider Nelson 'Bronco' Wilson received fatal injuries in a National Trophy match.[6]
Final Table Division Two
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Middlesbrough Bears | 28 | 20 | 0 | 8 | 40 |
| 2 | Sheffield Tigers | 28 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 36 |
| 3 | Norwich Stars | 28 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 32 |
| 4 | Birmingham Brummies | 28 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| 5 | Newcastle Diamonds | 28 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 26 |
| 6 | Bristol Bulldogs | 28 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 22 |
| 7 | Wigan Warriors | 28 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 20 |
| 8 | Glasgow Tigers | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 20 |
The British Speedway Cup for Division Two was run in a league format. Sheffield Tigers came out on top.
British Speedway Cup (Div 2) Final table
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Sheffield Tigers | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| 2 | Middlesbrough Bears | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 |
| 3 | Norwich Stars | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | Wigan Warriors | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 | Newcastle Diamonds | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| 6 | Bristol Bulldogs | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| 7 | Glasgow Tigers | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| 8 | Birmingham Brummies | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
Top Five Riders (League only)
| Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
| 1 | Jeff Lloyd |  | Newcastle | 10.67 |
| 2= | Stan Williams | | Sheffield | 10.40 |
| 2= | Bert Spencer |  | Norwich | 10.40 |
| 4 | Frank Hodgson | | Middlesbrough | 10.14 |
| 5 | Fred Curtis | | Middlesbrough | 9.86 |
National Trophy
The 1947 Division 2 National Trophy (sponsored by the Daily Mail) was the Knockout Cup for Division 2 teams. Middlesbrough and Norwich qualified for the quarter finals of the main National Trophy by virtue of finishing 1st & 2nd.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/06 | Bristol | 62–45 | Wigan |
| 07/06 | Wigan | 73–34 | Bristol |
| 04/06 | Glasgow White City | 60–46 | Newcastle |
| 02/06 | Newcastle | 63–45 | Glasgow White City |
| 12/06 | Middlesbrough | 81–27 | Birmingham |
| 07/06 | Birmingham | 50–57 | Middlesbrough |
| 12/06 | Sheffield | 57–51 | Norwich |
| 07/06 | Norwich | 60–47 | Sheffield |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/07 | Middlesbrough | 73–34 | Wigan |
| 28/06 | Wigan | 45–63 | Middlesbrough |
| 30/06 | Newcastle | 56–52 | Norwich |
| 28/06/ | Norwich | 63–44 | Newcastle |
Final
First leg
| Middlesbrough Bears Frank Hodgson 16 Wilf Plant 14 Fred Curtis 13 Jack Hodgson 9 Ed Pye 7 Geoff Godwin 7 Bill Wilson 2 Herby King 0 | 69 – 38 | Norwich Stars Phil Clarke 15 Geoff Revett 7 Jack Freeman 5 Ted Bravery 4 Paddy Mills 3 Cyril Anderson 2 Paddy Hammond 1 Len Read 1 |
|---|---|---|
| [7][8] |
Second leg
| Norwich Stars Paddy Mills 15 Jack Freeman 12 Paddy Hammond 8 Ted Bravery 6 Cyril Anderson 4 Phil Clarke 4 Len Read 0 Geoff Revett 0 | 50 – 58 | Middlesbrough Bears Frank Hodgson 13 Fred Curtis 13 Wilf Plant 12 Herby King 6 Jack Hodgson 5 Geoff Godwin 5 Ed Pye 2 Bill Wilson 2 |
|---|---|---|
| [9][8] |
Attendance: 18,000
Middlesbrough were National Trophy Division 2 Champions, winning on aggregate 127–88.
Riders & final averages
Birmingham
-
Stan Dell 8.65 - Tiger Hart 7.93
- Roy Dook 7.54
- Bob Lovell 6.91
-
Les Beaumont 6.46 - Geoff Bennett 6.00
- Brian Wilson 5.83
- Dick Tolley 5.54
- Ernie Appleby 5.24
- Doug Wells 5.14
-
Laurie Packer 4.81 - Mick Mitchell 3.80
- Les Beaumont 2.77
- George Gower 1.00
Bristol
- Fred Tuck 9.50
- Mike Beddoe 8.06
- Jack Mountford 7.27
- Billy Hole 6.86
- Roger Wise 6.25
- Eric Salmon 5.89
- Jack Cooley 5.67
- Cyril Quick 5.25
- Frank Evans 4.28
- George Craig 3.76
Glasgow
- Will Lowther 9.28
- Joe Crowther 7.76
- Bat Byrnes 6.62
-
Billy Bates 6.29 - Gruff Garland 5.91
- Junior Bainbridge 5.49
- Norman Lindsay 5.41
- Bert Shearer 5.27
- Buck Ryan 4.74
- Harold Fairhurst 4.55
- Bill Baird 3.92
- Harold Sharpe 3.43
- Gordon McGregor 2.88
Middlesbrough
- Frank Hodgson 10.14
- Kid Curtis 9.86
- Wilf Plant 9.54
- Jack Hodgson 7.49
- Herby King 6.67
- Geoff Godwin 6.57
- Billy Wilson 5.67
- Ed Pye 5.04
- Tip Mills 4.34
Newcastle
- Jeff Lloyd 10.67
- Wilf Jay 8.99
- Norman Evans 8.75
- Doug McLachlan 8.54
- Alec Grant 6.59
- Ken Le Breton 4.78
-
Jack Hunt 4.00 - Peter Lloyd 2.83
- Danny Calder 2.00
- Pat Smith 1.63
- Harry Modral 1.14
- Stan Pennell 0.71
Norwich
- Bert Spencer 10.40
- Paddy Mills (Horace Burke) 8.43
- Phil Clarke 7.38
-
Paddy Hammond 6.98 - Jack Freeman 6.86
- Ted Bravery 6.36
- Ossie Powell 6.27
- Cyril Anderson 6.15
- Sid Hipperson 5.73
- Geoff Revett 5.19
- Syd Littlewood 4.41
- Roy Duke 4.27
Sheffield
- Stan Williams 10.40
- Tommy Bateman 9.11
- Jack Bibby 8.83
- Tommy Allott 8.63
- Len Williams 7.42
- Danny Lee 6.40
- Bruce Semmens 6.24
- John Duncan White 6.00
- Alf Elliott 5.27
- Dennis Parker 4.50
- Dick Campbell 4.41
Wigan
- Dick Geary 9.38
- Jack Gordon 7.69
- Norman Hargreaves 6.81
- Reg Lambourne 5.79
- Percy Brine 5.72
- Don Houghton 5.43
- Cyril Cooper 4.97
- Ron Hart 3.80
- Harry Welch 3.66
- Jack Winstanley 2.84
See also
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "Year by Year" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ "Another Speedway rider killed". Weekly Dispatch (London). 17 August 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Cricket for a Kiddies' Fund". Nottingham Evening Post. 16 August 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Middlesbrough Speedway win". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 18 July 1947. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Norwich 1947 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ "New Cross Speed Triumph". Weekly Dispatch (London). 20 July 1947. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- v
- t
- e
