1953 Speedway National League

The 1953 National League Division One was the 19th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

1953 Speedway National League

League	National League
Season	1953
No. of competitors	9
Champions	Wembley Lions
National Trophy	Wimbledon Dons
Coronation Cup	Harringay Racers
London Cup	Harringay Racers
Midland Cup	Birmingham Brummies
Highest average	Ronnie Moore
Division/s below	National League (Div 2) 1953 Southern League
← 1952 1954 →

Summary

New Cross Rangers folded in June. Wembley Lions won their fifth consecutive title and their eighth overall.^[2][3][4]

Wimbledon Dons won the National Trophy for the fourth time and Harringay Racers completed a cup double winning the Coronation Cup and London Cup.

Novice rider Harry Eyre died in Poplar Hospital on 7 July 1953. He suffered fatal injuries earlier that evening at West Ham Stadium, in a second half novices match against Bradford.^[5][6]

National League Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wembley Lions	16	11	1	4	23
2	Harringay Racers	16	11	0	5	22
3	Birmingham Brummies	16	9	1	6	19
4	Bradford Tudors	16	8	1	7	17
5	Wimbledon Dons	16	8	0	8	16
6	West Ham Hammers	16	7	0	9	14
7	Norwich Stars	16	6	0	10	12
8	Belle Vue Aces	16	5	1	10	11
9	Bristol Bulldogs	16	5	0	11	10

New Cross Rangers withdrew mid-season - record expunged.

Coronation Cup final table

The Coronation Cup was run in a league format. Harringay Racers came out on top.

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Harringay Racers	16	12	0	4	24
2	Wembley Lions	16	9	0	7	18
3	Bradford Tudors	16	8	1	7	17
4	Belle Vue Aces	16	8	0	8	16
5	Norwich Stars	16	7	1	8	15
6	Wimbledon Dons	16	7	0	9	14
7	West Ham Hammers	16	7	0	9	14
8	Bristol Bulldogs	16	7	0	9	14
9	Birmingham Brummies	16	6	0	10	12

New Cross Rangers withdrew mid-season - record expunged.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.63
2	Jack Young		West Ham	10.61
3	Alan Hunt		Birmingham	10.47
4	Olle Nygren		Bristol	10.25
5	Freddie Williams		Wembley	10.13
6	Arthur Forrest		Bradford	9.94
7	Split Waterman		Harringay	9.84
8	Eric Williams		Wembley	9.66
9	Aub Lawson		Norwich	9.19
10	Tommy Price		Wembley	9.13

National Trophy

The 1953 National Trophy was the 16th edition of the Knockout Cup.^[7]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/04	Ipswich	57-51	Southampton
25/04	Swindon	68-40	Exeter
24/04	Plymouth	54-54	Oxford
23/04	Cardiff	80-28	St Austell
23/04	Oxford	66-42	Plymouth
21/04	Southampton	74-33	Ipswich
21/04	St Austell	55-53	Cardiff
20/04	Exeter	60-48	Swindon

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
19/05	Cardiff	42.5-65.5	Leicester
15/05	Leicester	70-38	Cardiff
15/05	Motherwell	78-30	Swindon
15/05	Wolverhampton	71-37	Southampton
14/05	Oxford	51-57	Rayleigh
12/05	Southampton	49-59	Wolverhampton
11/05	Liverpool	40-68	Coventry
09/05	Coventry	76-32	Liverpool
09/05	Edinburgh	47-61	Glasgow White City
09/05	Rayleigh	67-41	Oxford
09/05	Stoke	69-39	Yarmouth
09/05	Swindon	62-46	Motherwell
06/05	Glasgow White City	75-33	Edinburgh
05/05	Yarmouth	52-55	Stoke

Third round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
24/06	Glasgow White City	76-32	Wolverhampton
29/05	Leicester	68-40	Rayleigh
29/05	Motherwell	73-35	Poole
29/05	Wolverhampton	49-59	Glasgow White City
25/05	Poole	62-46	Motherwell
23/05	Coventry	69-39	Stoke
23/05	Rayleigh	72-36	Leicester
21/05	Stoke	71-37	Coventry

Fourth round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
11/07	Bradford Odsal	63-45	Bristol
04/07	Belle Vue	50-58	Wimbledon
04/07	Harringay	85-23	Motherwell
04/07	Norwich	71-37	West Ham
04/07	Rayleigh	64-44	Glasgow White City
03/07	Bristol	65-42	Bradford Odsal
03/07	Motherwell	63-45	Harringay
01/07	Glasgow White City	69-39	Rayleigh
30/06	West Ham	59-49	Norwich
29/06	Wimbledon	77-31	Belle Vue

Quarterfinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/08	Stoke	38-70	Wimbledon
25/07	Norwich	58-49	Bristol
24/07	Bristol	64-44	Norwich
20/07	Wimbledon	89-19	Stoke
18/07	Harringay	40-68	Wembley
16/07	Wembley	60-48	Harringay
15/07	Glasgow White City	56-52	Birmingham
11/07	Birmingham	70-38	Glasgow White City

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
10/08	Wimbledon	59-49	Bristol
08/08	Birmingham	62.5-45.5	Wembley
07/08	Bristol	46-62	Wimbledon
06/08	Wembley	78-29	Birmingham

Final

First leg

Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 17 Cyril Brine 14 Norman Parker 11 Geoff Mardon 10 Peter Moore 9 Barry Briggs 3 Don Perry 1 Reg Trott 0	68 – 40	Wembley Lions Eric Williams 11 Tommy Price 9 Bill Kitchen 5 Eric French 4 Trevor Redmond 4 Jimmy Gooch 3 Brian Crutcher 2 Freddie Williams 2
	[8]

7 September 1953

Wimbledon Stadium

Second leg

Wembley Lions Freddie Williams 17 Tommy Price 15 Eric Williams 8 Brian Crutcher 7 Trevor Redmond 7 Bill Kitchen 5 Eric French 4 Jimmy Gooch 3	66 – 42	Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 11 Norman Parker 8 Peter Moore 7 Barry Briggs 6 Geoff Mardon 5 Don Perry 3 Cyril Brine 1 Reg Trott 1
	[8]

10 September 1953

Wembley Stadium

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 110–106.

London Cup

First round

Team one	Score	Team two
Wimbledon	61–46, 56–52	Wembley

Semi final round

Team one	Score	Team two
Wimbledon	46–58, 38–69	West Ham
Harringay	64–44, w/o	New Cross

Final

First leg

Harringay Jack Biggs 1 Maury Dunn 12 Jeff Lloyd 12 Split Waterman 10 Ron How 8 Frank Lawrence 5 Ken Walsh 1 Allan Quinn 0	60–48	West Ham Jack Young 18, Bert Roger 10 Malcolm Craven 6 Wally Green 4 Howdy Byford 4 Keith Gurtner 4 Kid Curtis 2 Pat Clarke 0

1 August 1953

Wembley Stadium

Second leg

West Ham Jack Young 17 Bert Roger 11 Keith Gurtner 8 Malcolm Craven 7 Basse Hveem 6 Howdy Byford 4 Pat Clarke 4 Wally Green 4	58–50	Harringay Maury Dunn 11 Jack Biggs 12 Jeff Lloyd 9 Ron How 8 Split Waterman 7 Frank Lawrence 2 Arthur Atkinson 0 Alan Quinn 0
	[9]

4 August 1953

Plough Lane

Harringay won on aggregate 110–106

Midland Cup

Birmingham won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams. There were two teams from division 1 and four teams from division 2.

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Stoke	65–31, 46–50

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Coventry	50–46, 43–53
Birmingham	Bradford	73–25, 59–37

Final

First leg

Birmingham Alan Hunt 15 Graham Warren 9 Harry Bastable 9 Arthur Payne 7 Ron Mountford 6 Ron Barrett 6 Eric Boothroyd 5 Bob Roger 4	61–35	Coventry Charlie New 13 Johnnie Reason 9 Derrick Tailby 5 Vic Emms 3 Reg Duval 2 Les Hewitt 1 Jack Wright 1 Stan Williams 1
	[10]

26 September 1953

Perry Barr Stadium

Second leg

Coventry Charlie New 14 Derrick Tailby 7 Stan Williams 4 Vic Emms 4 Reg Duval 4 Johnnie Reason 3 Les Hewitt 2 Jack Wright 0	38–58	Birmingham Alan Hunt 14 Ron Mountford 12 Graham Warren 9 Harry Bastable 7 Eric Boothroyd 7 Arthur Payne 6 Ron Barrett 3 Bob Roger 0
	[11]

3 October 1953

Brandon Stadium

Birmingham won on aggregate 119–73

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Ron Johnston 7.88
• Peter Craven 7.74
• Ken Sharples 8.27
• Jack Parker 7.00
• Louis Lawson 6.69
• Dick Fisher 4.62
• Harry Edwards 4.22
• Jock Grierson 3.87
• Willie Wilson 3.86
• Bob Fletcher 3.74
• Olle Segerström 2.00
• Val Morton 2.00

Birmingham

• Alan Hunt 10.47
• Graham Warren 7.67
• Dan Forsberg 7.64
• Eric Boothroyd 7.19
• Arthur Payne 7.19
• Harry Bastable 6.36
• Ron Mountford 5.97
• Phil Malpass 4.57
• Bob Roger 4.48
• Ron Barrett 4.21
• Ron Mason 3.00
• Bill Jemison 1.25
• Lionel Watling (James Goldingay) 1.18

Bradford

• Arthur Forrest 9.94
• Eddie Rigg 8.00
• Arthur Wright 7.14
• Dick Seers 6.26
• Ron Clarke 6.20
• Keith Milner 5.50
• Dent Oliver 5.69
• Arthur Atkinson 5.04
• Arthur Bush 5.00
• Bill Longley 3.69
• Wal Morton 4.27

Bristol

• Olle Nygren 10.25
• Dick Bradley 8.13
• Eric Salmon 7.88
• Billy Hole 7.55
• Jack Unstead 6.67
• Johnny Hole 6.10
• Chris Boss 5.80
• Chum Taylor 4.37
• Geoff Pymar 4.24

Harringay

• Split Waterman 9.84
• Jack Biggs 9.00
• Jeff Lloyd 8.14
• Maurice Dunn 7.73
• Ron How 7.60
• Frank Lawrence 5.87
• Stan Clark 5.33
• Ken Walsh 5.00
• Arthur Atkinson 4.68
• Allan Quinn 4.00

New Cross (withdrew)

• Jock Grierson
• Cyril Roger
• Olle Nygren
• Bert Roger
• Merv Harding
• Bill Longley
• Bob Roger
• Eric French
• Frank Lawrence

Norwich

• Aub Lawson 9.19
• Cyril Roger 7.48
• Fred Rogers 6.76
• Billy Bales 6.40
• Merv Neil 5.60
• Phil Clarke 5.49
• Fred Pawson 5.12
• Roy Craighead 3.40
• Alec Hunter 2.29
• Jack Freeman 2.00

Wembley

• Freddie Williams 10.13
• Eric Williams 9.66
• Tommy Price 9.13
• Brian Crutcher 7.87
• Bill Kitchen 6.26
• Jimmy Gooch 4.78
• Eric French 6.23
• Trevor Redmond 6.05
• George Wilks 4.57

West Ham

• Jack Young 10.61
• Basse Hveem 8.00
• Wally Green 7.43
• Pat Clark 7.72
• Howdy Byford 4.68
• Bert Roger 4.49
• Malcolm Craven 5.50
• Keith Gurtner 3.92
• Kid Curtis 2.86
• Cliff Watson 2.29

Wimbledon

• Ronnie Moore 10.63
• Geoff Mardon 8.66
• Sune Karlsson 8.00
• Peter Moore 6.97
• Barry Briggs 6.31
• Norman Parker 7.50
• Dom Perry 5.57
• Bill Longley 5.05
• Reg Trott 4.49
• Cyril Brine 4.42
• Cyril Maidment 2.72
• Dennis Gray 1.60

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
3. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
5. "Cycle Speedway Teams Down the Ages". Cycle Speedway History. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
6. "Speed-rider killed". Daily Herald. 8 July 1953. Retrieved 13 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "1953 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
8. "1953 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
9. "Harringay beaten, but they win cup". Daily Herald. 5 August 1953. Retrieved 26 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Bees well beaten at Birmingham". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 28 September 1953. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Birmingham's easy win in Midland Trophy". Birmingham Weekly Mercury. 4 October 1953. Retrieved 18 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.