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1954 Southern Area League

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1954 Southern Area League
LeagueSouthern Area League
No. of competitors5
ChampionsCalifornia Poppies
Riders' ChampionshipAlby Golden
Highest averageErnie Lessiter
Division/s aboveNational League Div 1
National League Div 2

The 1954 Southern Area League was the first season of the newly named regional third tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. It replaced the defunct Southern League. With most of the Southern League teams moving up to Speedway National League Division Two, six new teams started the season—many of them making their debut in league speedway.[1]

Summary

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Three teams finished equal on points at the top but California Poppies from California, Berkshire were champions by the slenderest possible margin of a single race point with all their rivals having an fixture in hand that was never ridden.

Aldershot Shots withdrew mid-season.[2] Ernie Lessiter of Ringwood topped the averages.[3]

Final table

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Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 California Poppies 16 9 0 7 18
2 Ringwood Turfs 15 9 0 6 18
3 Rye House Roosters 15 9 0 6 18
4 Brafield Flying Foxes 15 8 0 7 16
5 Eastbourne Eagles 15 3 0 12 6

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Aldershot Shots

Leading Averages

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Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Ernie Lessiter Ringwood 10.86
2 Gil Goldfinch California 10.48
3 Jimmy Gleed California 10.21
4 Peter Mould California 9.83
5 Vic Hall Brafield 9.46

Riders' Championship

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Alby Golden won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 3 October.[4][5]

Pos. Rider Club Pts
1 Alby Golden Ringwood 14+3
2 Ernie Lessiter Ringwood 14+2
3 Vic Ridgeon Rye House 12
4 Dave Slater Rye House 10
5 Fran Greasley Brafield 10
6 Vic Hall Brafield 8
7 Jimmy Gleed California 7
8 Jack Taylor Eastbourne 7
9 Pete Mould California 6
10 Geoff Woodger Rye House 6
11 Gil Goldfinch California 6
12 Bob Bunney Aldershot/Eastbourne 5
13 Bill Simpson (res) Rye House 5
14 Ron Burnett Aldershot 4
15 Syd George Brafield 2
16 Eric Hockaday California 2
17 Harry Wilson Eastbourne 2
18 Gordon Richards (res) Eastbourne/Ringwood 0


Riders & final averages

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Aldershot (withdrew)

  • Jack Taylor 9.06
  • Ron Burnett 9.00
  • Eric Hockaday 8.33
  • Bob Bunney 7.33
  • Tommy Sweetman 7.08
  • Frank Turner 6.24
  • Peter Mason 5.58
  • Jim Smith 4.50

Brafield

  • Vic Hall 9.65
  • Syd George 8.19
  • Doug Jackson 8.00
  • Frank Greasley 7.91
  • Johnny Jones 7.17
  • Brian Meredith 6.13
  • John Cherry 4.84
  • Tony Wintour 4.70
  • Neil Roberts 4.50
  • Nick Nicholls 3.76
  • Dave Hankins 4.00
  • Eric Eadon 3.33
  • John Benson 0.80

California

  • Gil Goldfinch 10.54
  • Jimmy Gleed 10.29
  • Pete Mold 9.83
  • Bob Andrews 8.89
  • Tommy Sweetman 6.62
  • Eric Hockaday 6.40
  • Ron Sharp 5.82
  • George Bason 4.63
  • Jim Webb 3.62
  • Ted Pankhurst 3.53
  • Ross Gilbertson 2.91
  • Tom Albury 2.11
  • Bob Mitchell 1.33

Eastbourne

  • Harry Wilson 6.91
  • Steve Bole 6.21
  • Jim Preddy 5.67
  • Dan English 5.57
  • Johnny Fry 5.42
  • Wally Wilson 5.26
  • Bob Bunney 4.80
  • Bob Gladwin 4.67
  • Johnny Gronow 4.16
  • Gordon Richards 2.40

Ringwood

  • Ernie Lessiter 10.86
  • Alby Golden 9.12
  • Merv Hannam 8.63
  • Gordon Richards 7.33
  • Harold Carder 6.60
  • Tom Worrall 5.73
  • Tom Reader 5.69
  • Tony Lockyer 6.56
  • Gil Graham 5.00
  • Ted Lewis 5.00
  • Gerry Bridson 4.50
  • Tony Golding 4.35

Rye House

  • Vic Ridgeon 9.07
  • Al Sparrey 8.00
  • Jimmy Heard 7.65
  • Bill Simpson 7.64
  • Dave Clark 7.44
  • Stan Bedford 6.97
  • Dave Slater 6.95
  • Geoff Woodger 6.19
  • Vernon Brown 6.11
  • Dave Still 6.07

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/1954/leaguetables.pdf[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Southern Area League 1954" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Motor Cycling". Daily Herald. 4 October 1954. Retrieved 10 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Southern Area League Riders Championship". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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