Wikipedia

1952 Speedway National League Division Two

The 1952 National League Division Two was the seventh post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1]

1952 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
No. of competitors12
ChampionsPoole Pirates
National Trophy
(Div 2 final)		Poole Pirates
Midland CupCoventry Bees
Highest averageTommy Miller
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowSouthern League

Summary

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The post-war boom was now fading and the League was shortened to 12 teams with Division Three now defunct and continued only on a regional basis. Previous champions Norwich Stars had been promoted to Division One. Newcastle, Walthamstow and Halifax had closed whilst Fleetwood Flyers changed to Fleetwood Knights and ran only open meetings. Poole Pirates were the only new entrant, promoted from the former lower tier.[2]

Poole Pirates won the title, having won Division Three in the previous season.

Final table

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Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Poole Pirates 44 31 1 12 63
2 Coventry Bees 44 25 5 14 55
3 Leicester Hunters 44 25 2 17 52
4 Cradley Heath Heathens 44 24 0 20 48
5 Glasgow White City Tigers 44 23 1 20 47
6 Edinburgh Monarchs 44 21 4 19 46
7 Ashfield Giants 44 19 3 22 41
8 Motherwell Eagles 44 19 2 23 40
9 Yarmouth Bloaters 44 20 0 24 40
10 Stoke Potters 44 18 1 25 37
11 Liverpool Chads 44 16 3 25 35
12 Oxford Cheetahs 44 11 2 31 24

Top Five Riders (League only)

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Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Tommy Miller   Glasgow 10.91
2 Derick Close   Motherwell 10.57
3 Fred Brand   Yarmouth 9.82
4 Brian Crutcher   Poole 9.66
5 Ken Middleditch   Poole 9.63

National Trophy Stage Two

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The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third tier clubs, stage two was for the second tier clubs and stage three was for the top tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Poole won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.[3]

Second Division qualifying first round

Date Team one Score Team two
05/06 Plymouth 57-51 Poole
02/06 Poole 67-41 Plymouth
24/05 Coventry 71-36 Motherwell
24/05 Stoke 71-37 Cradley Heath
23/05 Cradley Heath 67-41 Stoke
23/05 Motherwell 61-47 Coventry
19/05 Liverpool 71-37 Edinburgh
17/05 Edinburgh 67-41 Liverpool
13/05 Yarmouth 61-47 Leicester
09/05 Leicester 71-37 Yarmouth

Second Division Qualifying Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
19/06 Oxford 53-55 Poole
09/06 Poole 78-30 Oxford
07/06 Coventry 52-55 Leicester
07/06 Stoke 55-52 Liverpool
06/06 Leicester 55-53 Coventry
02/06 Liverpool 75.5-32.5 Stoke
24/05 Glasgow Ashfield 52-56 Glasgow White City
21/05 Glasgow White City 65-43 Glasgow Ashfield

Second Division Qualifying semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
20/06 Leicester 46-62 Glasgow White City
18/06 Glasgow White City 53-55 Leicester
25/06 Poole 85-23 Liverpool

Second Division Qualifying final

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First leg

Poole Pirates
Ken Middleditch 13
Brian Crutcher 12
Tony Lewis 11
Jimmy Squibb 11
Alan Kidd 8
Bill Holden 4
Terry Small 2
Roy Craighead 0		61 – 47Glasgow White City Tigers
Junior Bainbridge 14
Tommy Miller 13
Don Wilkinson 8
Ken McKinlay 8
Len Nicholson 4
Alf McIntosh 1
Peter Dykes 1
Stuart Irvine 0
[4][5]

Second leg

Glasgow White City Tigers
Ken McKinlay 16
Tommy Miller 15
Junior Bainbridge 12
Alf McIntosh 6
Len Nicholson 4
Don Wilkinson 3
Peter Dykes 3
Stuart Irvine 0		58 – 50Poole Pirates
Brian Crutcher 13
Jimmy Squibb 13
Ken Middleditch 12
Bill Holden 4
Terry Small 4
Alan Kidd 2
Tony Lewis 1
Roy Craighead 1
[5]

Midland Cup

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Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of eight teams. There was one team from division 1, five teams from division 2 and two teams from division 3.

First round

Team one Team two Score
Wolverhampton Long Eaton 69–26, 59–37

Second round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Stoke 54–42, 42–53
Oxford Wolverhampton 62–34, 45–51
Cradley Coventry 50–46, 34–62

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Oxford Coventry 25–71, 26–70
Birmingham Leicester 70–26, 63–33

Final

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First leg

Birmingham
Dan Forsberg 14
Arthur Payne 13
Ron Mountford 8
Lionel Watling 6
Eric Boothroyd 5
Cyril Page 4
Ivor Davies 2
Ron Mason 1		53–43Coventry
Johnnie Reason 13
Vic Emms 7
Peter Brough 5
Stan Williams 5
Les Hewitt 5
Derrick Tailby 5
Charlie New 2
Jack Wright 1
Attendance: 20,000

Second leg

Coventry
Peter Brough 14
Vic Emms 12
Johnnie Reason 11
Les Hewitt 9
Derrick Tailby 7
John Yates 6
Cyril Cooper 5
Stan Williams 3		67–29Birmingham
Alan Hunt 7
Ron Mountford 6
Ron Mason 4
Ivor Davies 4
Cyril Page 4
Bill Jemison 3
Lionel Watling 1
Eric Boothroyd 0
[6]
Attendance: 17,000

Coventry won on aggregate 110–82

Riders & final averages

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Ashfield

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Leicester

Liverpool

Motherwell

Oxford

  •   Jim Gregory 7.42
  •   Jim Boyd 6.79
  •   Harry Saunders 6.39
  •   Bill Osborne 6.17
  •   Frank Boyle 5.03
  •   Bill Kemp 5.62
  •   Herby King 4.92
  •   Ron Wilson 4.50
  •   Len Glover 3.83
  •   Ernie Lessiter 1.00

Poole

Stoke

  •   Ken Adams 8.50
  •   Ron Peace 7.50
  •   Reg Fearman 7.44
  •   Les Jenkins 6.73
  •   Ray Harris 5.64
  •   Johnny Fitzparick 5.40
  •   Fred Siggins 5.29
  •   Peter Orpwood 5.25
  •   Gil Blake 5.16
  •   Derek Braithwaite 4.98

Yarmouth

  •   Fred Brand 9.82
  •   Bob Baker 9.62
  •   Reg Reeves 6.77
  •   Terry Courtnell 6.73
  •   Johnny Chamberlain 5.53
  •   Reg Morgan 5.38
  •   Gundy Harris 4.76
  •   Tip Mills 4.75
  •   Vic Ridgeon 3.13
  •   Roy Bowers 4.73
  •   Stan Page 4.63

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. ^ "1952 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  4. ^ "Birmingham's speedway bid for lead". Daily Herald. 1 July 1952. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ a b "Glasgow 1952 results" (PDF). Speedway researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Bees great win in Speedway Cup final". Coventry Evening Telegraph -. 27 October 1952. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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