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1934 Speedway National League

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1934 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League Division One
No. of competitors9
ChampionsBelle Vue Aces
National TrophyBelle Vue Aces
A.C.U CupBelle Vue Aces
London CupNew Cross Lambs
Highest averageEric Langton

The 1934 National League Division One was the sixth season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. It was also the first time that a second division/tier of racing was introduced following the creation of a reserves league.[1][2][3][4]

Summary

[edit]

Birmingham Bulldogs (formerly Hall Green) and Lea Bridge rejoined the league.

Sheffield dropped out and most of their team relocated to Lea Bridge. Clapton Saints, who rode at Lea Bridge's stadium in the previous season relocated and raced as Harringay Tigers for the first time. Crystal Palace relocated to New Cross under the promotion of Fred Mockford, with the reason being that Mockford believed attendances would be larger.[5]

Coventry and Nottingham also dropped out.

Lea Bridge had their licence revoked by the Speedway Control Board in late July and were relocated to Walthamstow Stadium, riding as the Walthamstow Wolves, who took on their last ten fixtures.[6]

Belle Vue Aces won their second consecutive double of national title and Knockout Cup. They also completed the treble by winning the A.C.U Cup. Eric Langton of Belle Vue Aces finished with the highest average.

National League Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Belle Vue Aces 32 27 0 5 54
2 Wembley Lions 32 26 0 6 52
3 New Cross Lambs 32 21 0 11 42
4 West Ham Hammers 32 16 1 15 33
5 Wimbledon Dons 32 16 0 16 32
6 Harringay Tigers 32 14 1 17 29
7 Birmingham Bulldogs 32 9 0 23 18
8 Plymouth Tigers 32 8 2 22 18
9 Lea Bridge + Walthamstow Wolves 32 5 0 27 10*
  • Lea Bridge scored 8 points from 22 matches, Walthamstow scored 2 from 10

Top Ten Riders

[edit]
Rider Nat Team Points C.M.A.
1 Eric Langton England Belle Vue 186.5 10.32
2 Vic Huxley Australia Wimbledon 132 10.31
3 Jack Parker England Harringay 230 10.07
4 Tom Farndon England New Cross 240.5 10.06
5 Ginger Lees England Wembley 230 9.96
6 Dicky Case Australia Lea Bridge/Walthamstow 208 9.48
7 Bluey Wilkinson Australia West Ham 210 9.08
8 Joe Abbott England Belle Vue 168 9.05
9 Bill Kitchen England Belle Vue 182 8.97
10 Tiger Stevenson England West Ham 179 8.92

In the 1934 season, a league for reserves and junior riders was introduced. This wasn't continued in 1935. West Ham Reserves won the reserve league dropping just one point in 12 matches.

Reserve League Final table

[edit]
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 West Ham Reserves 12 11 1 0 23
2 Wembley Reserves 12 7 2 3 16
3 Harringay Reserves 12 6 1 5 13
4 Wimbledon Reserves 12 6 1 5 13
5 Birmingham Reserves 12 4 0 8 8
6 Belle Vue Reserves 12 3 0 9 6
7 New Cross Reserves 12 2 1 9 5

National Trophy

[edit]

The 1934 National Trophy was the fourth edition of the Knockout Cup.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/05 Plymouth 49-57 Lea Bridge

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
26/06 Birmingham 36-69 Belle Vue
23/06 Belle Vue 81-27 Birmingham
25/06 Wimbledon 67-38 Lea Bridge
29/06 Lea Bridge 60-47 Wimbledon
28/06 Wembley 59-49 Harringay
30/06 Harringay 33-74 Wembley
26/06 West Ham 48.5-59.5 New Cross
27/06 New Cross 69-36 West Ham

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
28/07 Belle Vue 48-30 Wimbledon
30/07 Wimbledon 32-75 Belle Vue
25/07 New Cross 42-62 Wembley
26/07 Wembley 67.5-40.5 New Cross

Final

[edit]

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Max Grosskreutz 16
Eric Langton 15
Joe Abbott 12
Bill Kitchen 12
Frank Charles 11
Frank Varey 5		71 – 36Wembley Lions
Ginger Lees 10
Wally Kilmister 9
Gordon Byers 8
Lionel Van Praag 6
Colin Watson 2
George Greenwood 1
[8]

Second leg

Wembley Lions
Wally Kilmister 11
Ginger Lees 8
Gordon Byers 7
Lionel Van Praag 5
Harry Whitfield 2
Colin Watson 1		34 – 74Belle Vue Aces
Eric Langton 18
Max Grosskreutz 18
Joe Abbott 16
Frank Charles 9
Bill Kitchen 7
Frank Varey 6
[8]

Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 164-87.

A.C.U Cup

[edit]

The 1934 Auto-Cycle Union Cup was the first edition of the Cup.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
14/08 Birmingham 49-59 Wembley

Quarterfinals

Date Team one Score Team two
11/09 Plymouth 44–62 Harringay
12/09 New Cross 62–44 Wimbledon
15/09 Belle Vue 79–29 Wembley
18/09 West Ham 66–37 Walthamstow

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
29/09 Harringay 45–62 Belle Vue
09/10 West Ham 58-49 New Cross

Final

[edit]
Date Team one Score Team two
15/10 Belle Vue 56–51 West Ham

London Cup

[edit]

First round

Team one Score Team two
Wembley 60–47, 57–48 Wimbledon
Harringay 44–63, 41–66 New Cross

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
Wembley 57–51, 46–62 West Ham
New Cross 69–38, 65–41 Walthamstow

Final

[edit]

First leg

New Cross
Ron Johnson 16
Tom Farndon 15
Nobby Key 13
Stan Greatrex 9
George Newton 5
Joe Francis 4
Roy Dook 0
Harry Shepherd 0		62–44West Ham
Bluey Wilkinson 13
Stan Dell 10
Arthur Atkinson 9
Tommy Croombs 7
Broncho Dixon 4
Rol Stobart 1
Arthur Warwick 0
Wal Morton 0

Second leg

West Ham
Bluey Wilkinson 17
Tommy Croombs 14
Arthur Atkinson 9
Broncho Dixon 6
Arthur Warwick 5
Stan Dell 2
Rol Stobart 0		53–52New Cross
Nobby Key 13
Ron Johnson 11
Joe Francis 10
Tom Farndon 8
Stan Greatrex 6
Harry Shepherd 2
George Newton 1
Roy Dook 1
[10]

New Cross won on aggregate 114–97

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Harringay

Lea Bridge/Walthamstow

New Cross

Plymouth

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 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 - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. ^ "New Track for London". Reynolds's Newspaper. 15 October 1933. Retrieved 3 November 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Speedway Race Control". Daily News (London). 1 August 1934. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1934 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  8. ^ a b "1934 National Trophy" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  9. ^ "1934 ACU Cup" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  10. ^ "New Cross win London Cup". Daily Herald. 26 September 1934. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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