1946 Speedway Northern League
The 1946 Northern League was a season of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Northern British teams in 1946. With a National League in place and no Southern counterpart, it was effectively a second tier.[1]
Four of the six entrants were previously members of National League Division Two before war broke out. Glasgow and Birmingham were new entrants.[2]
Middlesbrough Bears won their first trophy.[3] The Bears only lost four league fixtures and had three riders in the leading averages; Frank Hodgson, Fred Curtis and Will Plant all contributed significantly during the season.[4]
During a fixture on 7 October at Brough Park the Birmingham Brummies Canadian rider Charlie Appleby crashed. A rider had fallen in front and in an effort to avoid the fallen rider, Appleby swerved and hit the machine instead. He was thrown into the air and suffered a fractured skull. He was taken to Newcastle Infirmary but died during the early hours of 8 October.[5]
Northern League Final table
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Middlesbrough Bears | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 28 |
2 | Sheffield Tigers | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 23 |
3 | Norwich Stars | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 21 |
4 | Birmingham Brummies | 20 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 19 |
5 | Newcastle Brough | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 17 |
6 | Glasgow Tigers | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 12 |
On account of the small number of teams in the league the ACU Cup was run in a league format. Norwich Stars came out on top on points difference.
A.C.U. Cup (Div 2) Final table
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Norwich Stars | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
2 | Middlesbrough Bears | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
3 | Sheffield Tigers | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
4 | Birmingham Brummies | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
5 | Glasgow Tigers | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
6 | Newcastle Brough | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
Top Five Riders (League only)
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Jeff Lloyd | ![]() | Newcastle | 10.38 |
2 | Frank Hodgson | ![]() | Middlesbrough | 10.38 |
3 | Bert Spencer | ![]() | Norwich | 10.15 |
4 | Tommy Allott | ![]() | Sheffield | 10.00 |
5 | Stan Williams | ![]() | Sheffield | 9.75 |
Riders & final averages
Birmingham
-
Tiger Hart 9.42
-
Doug Wells 9.04
-
Stan Dell 8.73
-
Roy Dook 8.00
-
Laurie Packer 6.40
-
Bob Lovell 5.46
-
Percy Brine 4.19
-
Ernie Appleby 3.67
-
Cyril Page 3.29
Charlie Appleby 3.12
-
Jimmy Wright 2.93
-
Dick Tolley 2.22
Glasgow
-
Will Lowther 9.67
-
Wal Morton 8.65
-
Joe Crowther 7.90
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Gruff Garland 7.57
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Maurice Stobbart 6.30
-
Eddie Lack 4.12
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Charlie Oates 4.00
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Bill Baird 3.57
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Wally Thomson 2.91
-
Jack Tidbury 2.67
-
Bert Shearer 0.89
Middlesbrough
-
Frank Hodgson 10.38
-
Kid Curtis 9.68
-
Wilf Plant 9.45
-
Tip Mills 7.27
-
Geoff Godwin 6.95
-
Jack Hodgson 6.51
-
Ed Pye 6.45
-
Jack Gordon 6.29
-
Doug McLachlan 5.50
-
Len Tupling 4.71
-
Alex Peel 2.33
Newcastle
-
Jeff Lloyd 10.38
-
Norman Evans 8.90
-
Charlie Spinks 7.77
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Doug McLachlan 6.86
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Syd Littlewood 6.79
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Alec Grant 4.51
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Leo Lungo 4.11
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Terry Tight 3.70
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Stan Pennell 2.00
-
Harry Modral 1.33
Norwich
-
Bert Spencer 10.15
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Wilf Jay 9.00
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Paddy Mills (Horace Burke) 8.20
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Ted Bravery 7.59
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Roy Duke 6.22
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Sid Hipperson 5.71
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Harwood Pike 4.52
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Len Read 4.00
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Don Houghton 3.94
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Paddy Hammond 1.60
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Bluey Thorpe 1.14
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Charlie Challis 1.00
Sheffield
-
Tommy Allott 10.00
-
Stan Williams 9.75
-
Tommy Bateman 8.00
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Jack Bibby 6.56
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Dick Geary 5.64
-
John Duncan White 4.84
-
Stan Hodson 3.79
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Reg Lambourne 3.75
-
Alf Elliott 3.49
-
Bruce Semmens 3.27
See also
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References
- ^ The Speedway Researcher Speedway Researcher. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "Northern League 1946" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ "Speedway crash". Lincolnshire Echo. 8 October 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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