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1946 Speedway Northern League

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1946 Speedway Northern League
LeagueNorthern League
No. of competitors6
ChampionsMiddlesbrough Bears
A.C.U CupNorwich Stars
Highest averageJeff Lloyd
Division/s above1946 Speedway National 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

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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

Fixtures & results

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A fixtures

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Home \ Away BIR GLA MID NEW NOR SHE
Birmingham 46–37 42–42 45–38 43–41 48–35
Glasgow 40–42 34–50 40–44 44–38 58–26
Middlesbrough 55–28 54–30 40–44 49–34 46–38
Newcastle 40–41 44–4 42–42 48–36 49–34
Norwich 58–26 41–43 50–32 51–33 42–40
Sheffield 39–44 45–39 43.5–39.5 50–34 45–39
Source: [6]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

[edit]
Home \ Away BIR GLA MID NEW NOR SHE
Birmingham 39–45 33–51 44–39 28–55 46–38
Glasgow 58–26 37–47 52–32 40–44 37–47
Middlesbrough 65–18 52–30 57–26 42–42 52–32
Newcastle 52–31 46–38 33–49 51–33 41–43
Norwich 52–32 51–32 44–40 51–32 40–44
Sheffield 45–39 48–36 42–42 49–35 45–38
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

A.C.U. Cup (Div 2)

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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.

Final table

[edit]
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)

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Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Jeff Lloyd England Newcastle 10.38
2 Frank Hodgson England Middlesbrough 10.38
3 Bert Spencer Australia Norwich 10.15
4 Tommy Allott England Sheffield 10.00
5 Stan Williams England Sheffield 9.75

Riders & final averages

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Birmingham

Glasgow

  • England Will Lowther 9.67
  • England Wal Morton 8.65
  • England Joe Crowther 7.90
  • Australia Gruff Garland 7.57
  • England Maurice Stobbart 6.30
  • England Eddie Lack 4.12
  • England Charlie Oates 4.00
  • Scotland Bill Baird 3.57
  • England Wally Thomson 2.91
  • England Jack Tidbury 2.67
  • Scotland Bert Shearer 0.89

Middlesbrough

Newcastle

Norwich

  • Australia Bert Spencer 10.15
  • England Wilf Jay 9.00
  • England Paddy Mills (Horace Burke) 8.20
  • England Ted Bravery 7.59
  • England Roy Duke 6.22
  • England Sid Hipperson 5.71
  • England Harwood Pike 4.52
  • England Len Read 4.00
  • England Don Houghton 3.94
  • Northern Ireland Paddy Hammond 1.60
  • Australia Bluey Thorpe 1.14
  • England Charlie Challis 1.00

Sheffield

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Speedway Researcher Speedway Researcher. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  2. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. 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. ^ "Northern League 1946" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Speedway crash". Lincolnshire Echo. 8 October 1946. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  7. ^ "1946 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
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