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1931 Speedway Southern League

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1931 Speedway Southern League
LeagueSouthern League
No. of competitors11
ChampionsWembley Lions
National TrophyWembley Lions
London CupCrystal Palace Glaziers
Highest averageTommy Croombs
Division/s other1931 Northern League

The 1931 Southern League was the third season of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams, and its final season before amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Leagues.[1] The Northern teams also had their third season known as the 1931 Speedway Northern League.[2][3][4]

Summary

[edit]

Both Birmingham teams based at Perry Barr and Hall Green had left the league but the latter did ride in the National Trophy.

Coventry returned mid-season to replace Leicester Stadium who were liquidated in late May.[5][6]

Harringay Canaries resigned in June to be replaced by a Belle Vue team, who then rode both in the Northern and Southern Leagues, the latter as Manchester. Nottingham closed in July but they were not replaced and their results stood. The league season was the longest in the short history of the competition as teams met each other four times instead of twice.[7]

The Wembley Lions won their second consecutive title[8] finishing three points clear of 1929 champions Stamford Bridge. The league suffered a fatality during the match between Belle Vue and Wembley at Hyde Road. James Allen (known as Indian Allen) was thrown from his bike and hit his head on a fence, trying to avoid a rider who had fallen in front of him. He died three days later in hospital on 12 September 1931.[9] Another rider Noel Johnson of Plymouth had been killed in a challenge match against Coventry reserves on 25 August. [10]

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wembley Lions 37 28 1 8 57
2 Stamford Bridge Pensioners 38 27 0 11 54
3 West Ham Hammers 38 23 0 15 46
4 Crystal Palace Glaziers 38 22 0 16 44
5 Wimbledon Dons 38 19 1 18 39
6 High Beech 38 19 1 18 39
7 Southampton Saints 38 18 0 20 36
8 Harringay Canaries + Manchester (Belle Vue) 38 14 0 24 28*
9 Lea Bridge 38 11 0 27 22
10 Leicester Stadium + Coventry 37 8 1 28 17**
11 Nottingham 20 8 0 12 16 
* Harringay scored 12 points from 14 matches, Belle Vue scored 16 from 24
** Leicester scored 1 point from 8 matches, Coventry scored 16 from 30

Top Five Riders

[edit]
Team C.M.A.
1 Tommy Croombs West Ham 10.41
2 Dicky Case Wimbledon 10.14
3 Jack Parker Southampton 10.02
4 Frank Arthur Stamford Bridge 9.97
5 Vic Huxley Harringay/Wimbledon 9.87

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1931 National Trophy was the first edition of the Knockout Cup. It was contested between teams from the Southern and Northern Leagues.[11]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
11/05 Wimbledon 67-26 Birmingham Hall Green
12/05 West Ham 51-45 Southampton
13/05 Lea Bridge 59-33 Nottingham
14/05 Exeter 34-59 High Beech
14/05 Leicester Stadium 39.5-54.5 Stamford Bridge
15/05 Hall Green 42.5-49.5 Wimbledon
16/05 High Beech 61-33 Exeter
16/05 Southampton 42-49 West Ham
16/05 Stamford Bridge 59-35 Leicester Stadium
21/05 Nottingham 46-47 Lea Bridge

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
25/05 Belle Vue 73-22 Wombwell
25/05 York 42-53 Leicester Super
26/05 Glasgow White City 43-52 Preston
28/05 Sheffield 54-40 Leeds
30/05 Leeds 39-52 Sheffield
30/05 Leicester Super 69-26 York
30/05 Wombwell 27-64 Belle Vue
04/06 Preston 70-26 Glasgow White City
08/06 Wimbledon 60-36 Crystal Palace
09/06 Harringay ? Stamford Bridge
09/06 West Ham 44-52 Wembley
10/06 Lea Bridge 52-38 High Beech
11/06 Wembley 56-37 West Ham
13/06 Crystal Palace 48-48 Wimbledon
13/06 High Beech 55-39 Lea Bridge

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
02/07 Preston 65-31 High Beech
11/07 Belle Vue 50-46 Wimbledon
11/07 Sheffield 41-55 Wembley
16/07 Leicester Super 44-50 Stamford Bridge
18/07 High Beech 48-42 Preston
23/07 Wembley 70-25 Sheffield
27/07 Wimbledon 55-41 Belle Vue
19/08 Stamford Bridge 61-31 Leicester Super

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/09 Preston 43-51 Stamford Bridge
17/09 Wembley 48-47 Wimbledon
21/09 Wimbledon 46-49 Wembley
26/09 Stamford Bridge 66-30 Preston

Final

[edit]

First leg

Wembley
Lionel Van Praag 12
George Greenwood 11
Colin Watson 9
Wally Kilmister 9
Harry Whitfield 9
Jack Ormston 8
Norman Evans 7
Jack Jackson 6		71 – 24Stamford Bridge
Frank Arthur 10
Dick Smythe 5
Percy Dunn 3
Mick Murphy 3
Bill Stanley 2
Cliff Watson 1
Dick Wise 0
Frank Duckett 0
Hal Herbert 0
[12]

Second leg

Stamford Bridge
Frank Arthur 12
Arthur Warwick 11
Bill Stanley 8
Cliff Watson 3
Dick Smythe 2
Percy Dunn 2
Hal Herbert 2
Gus Kuhn 1
Mick Murphy 1		45 – 49Wembley
Wally Kilmister 9
Lionel Van Praag 8
Colin Watson 8
Jack Ormston 6
George Greenwood 5
Harry Whitfield 5
Norman Evans 4
Charlie Shelton 3
Jack Jackson 1
Col Stewart 0
[12]

Wembley were declared National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 120-69.

London Cup

[edit]

First round

Team one Score Team two
Wimbledon 46–50, 45–49 Wembley
West Ham 41.5–53.5, 36–58 Stamford Bridge
Lea Bridge 60–35, 48–46 High Beech
Crystal Palace bye

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
Lea Bridge 41–55, 27–69 Crystal Palace
Stamford Bridge 50–46, 41.5–35.5 Wembley

Final

[edit]

First leg

Crystal Palace
Ron Johnson 12
Tom Farndon 9
Joe Francis 9
Nobby Key 7
Roger Frogley 6
Triss Sharp 6
Harry Shepherd 5
Alf Sawford 5		59–36Wembley
Colin Watson 7
Jack Ormston 7
Norman Evans 7
Lionel Van Praag 5
Wally Kilmister 4
Jack Jackson 3
Charlie Shelton 2
Col Stewart 1
Cliff Parkinson 0

Second leg

Wembley
Norman Evans 8
Colin Watson 7
Jack Ormston 6
Jack Jackson 5
George Greenwood 5
Wally Kilmister 3
Lionel Van Praag 2
Buster Frogley 2
Charlie Shelton 2		40–55Crystal Palace
Tom Farndon 12
Ron Johnson 12
Joe Francis 11
Nobby Key 9
Roger Frogley 6
Triss Sharp 3
Alf Sawford 2
Harry Shepherd 0

Crystal Palace won on aggregate 114–76

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Crystal Palace

Harringay (withdrew)

  • Australia Vic Huxley 10.56
  • England Don Durant 6.95
  • England Alf Sawford 5.94
  • England Bill Clibbett 5.65
  • England Clem Cort 5.41
  • England Eric Spencer 5.33
  • Wales Ivor Hill 5.33

High Beech

Lea Bridge

Leicester/Coventry

Manchester (Belle Vue)

Nottingham

  • England George Wigfield 8.93
  • England Fred Strecker 8.26
  • England Billy Ellmore 7.58
  • England Nobby Key 7.29
  • England Buster Brown 5.07
  • England George Dykes 5.03
  • England Nobby Kendrick 4.57
  • England Bert Fairweather 4.00
  • England Wally Humphry 4.00
  • England Joe Gooding 3.72

Southampton

Stamford Bridge

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  2. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Speedway Teams UK 1929-1934". Cyber Motorcycle. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Coventry Take Over League Fixtures". Leicester Evening Mail. 26 May 1931. Retrieved 25 July 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Stadium team withdraws". Leicester Evening Mail. 25 May 1931. Retrieved 5 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  8. ^ Speedway Researcher
  9. ^ "Indian Allen". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Speedway rider killed". Belfast Telegraph. 26 August 1931. Retrieved 1 March 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "1931 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  12. ^ a b "1931 National Trophy" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
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