1947 Speedway National League Division Two

The 1947 National League Division Two was the second post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain. In the previous season, the league was known as the Northern League but the addition of Bristol Bulldogs and a third tier saw the name revert to the one used 8 years previously.[1]

1947 Speedway National League Division Two
LeagueNational League Division Two
ChampionsMiddlesbrough Bears
No. of competitors8
National Trophy
(Div 2)		Middlesbrough Bears
British Cup Div 2Sheffield Tigers
Highest averageJeff Lloyd
Division/s aboveNational League (Div 1)
Division/s belowNational League (Div 3)

As well as Bristol Bulldogs, Wigan Warriors were new entrants bringing the total teams to 8. Middlesbrough Bears won the title. In fact the entire top five were unchanged from the previous season.[2][3][4]

Norwich Stars 38-year-old rider Cyril Anderson died instantly on 16 August, during a best pairs event at Norwich. Anderson was leading when he skidded and was hit by a rider from behind [5] Remarkably another rider died the same day, 27-year-old Wembley rider Nelson 'Bronco' Wilson received fatal injuries in a National Trophy match.[6]

Final Table Division Two
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Middlesbrough Bears 28 20 0 8 40
2 Sheffield Tigers 28 17 2 9 36
3 Norwich Stars 28 16 0 12 32
4 Birmingham Brummies 28 14 0 14 28
5 Newcastle Diamonds 28 12 2 14 26
6 Bristol Bulldogs 28 11 0 17 22
7 Wigan Warriors 28 9 2 17 20
8 Glasgow Tigers 28 10 0 18 20

The British Speedway Cup for Division Two was run in a league format. Sheffield Tigers came out on top.

British Speedway Cup (Div 2) Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Sheffield Tigers 14 11 0 3 22
2 Middlesbrough Bears 14 9 0 5 18
3 Norwich Stars 14 7 0 7 14
4 Wigan Warriors 14 7 0 7 14
5 Newcastle Diamonds 14 6 0 8 12
6 Bristol Bulldogs 14 6 0 8 12
7 Glasgow Tigers 14 5 0 9 10
8 Birmingham Brummies 14 5 0 9 10

Top Five Riders (League only)
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Jeff Lloyd England Newcastle Diamonds 10.67
2= Stan Williams England Sheffield Tigers 10.40
2= Bert Spencer Australia Norwich Stars 10.40
4 Frank Hodgson England Middlesbrough Bears 10.14
5 Fred Curtis England Middlesbrough Bears 9.86

National Trophy

The 1947 Division 2 National Trophy (sponsored by the Daily Mail) was the Knockout Cup for Division 2 teams. Middlesbrough and Norwich qualified for the quarter finals of the main National Trophy by virtue of finishing 1st & 2nd.

First round
Date Team one Score Team two
13/06Bristol62–45Wigan
07/06Wigan73–34Bristol
04/06Glasgow White City60–46Newcastle
02/06Newcastle63–45Glasgow White City
12/06Middlesbrough81–27Birmingham
07/06Birmingham50–57Middlesbrough
12/06Sheffield57–51Norwich
07/06Norwich60–47Sheffield

Semifinals
Date Team one Score Team two
03/07Middlesbrough73–34Wigan
28/06Wigan45–63Middlesbrough
30/06Newcastle56–52Norwich
28/06/Norwich63–44Newcastle

Final

First leg

Middlesbrough Bears
Frank Hodgson 16
Wilf Plant 14
Fred Curtis 13
Jack Hodgson 9
Ed Pye 7
Geoff Godwin 7
Bill Wilson 2
Herby King 0		69 – 38Norwich Stars
Phil Clarke 15
Geoff Revett 7
Jack Freeman 5
Ted Bravery 4
Paddy Mills 3
Cyril Anderson 2
Paddy Hammond 1
Len Read 1
[7][8]

Second leg

Norwich Stars
Paddy Mills 15
Jack Freeman 12
Paddy Hammond 8
Ted Bravery 6
Cyril Anderson 4
Phil Clarke 4
Len Read 0
Geoff Revett 0		50 – 58Middlesbrough Bears
Frank Hodgson 13
Fred Curtis 13
Wilf Plant 12
Herby King 6
Jack Hodgson 5
Geoff Godwin 5
Ed Pye 2
Bill Wilson 2
[9][8]
Attendance: 18,000

Middlesbrough were National Trophy Division 2 Champions, winning on aggregate 127–88.

See also

References
  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "Year by Year" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 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 11 August 2021.
  5. "Another Speedway rider killed". Weekly Dispatch (London). 17 August 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Cricket for a Kiddies' Fund". Nottingham Evening Post. 16 August 1947. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Middlesbrough Speedway win". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 18 July 1947. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Norwich 1947 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  9. "New Cross Speed Triumph". Weekly Dispatch (London). 20 July 1947. Retrieved 28 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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