The 1952 National League Division Two was the seventh post-war season of the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
Summary The post-war boom was now fading and the League was shortened to 12 teams with Division Three now defunct and continued only on a regional basis. Previous champions Norwich Stars had been promoted to Division One. Newcastle, Walthamstow and Halifax had closed whilst Fleetwood Flyers changed to Fleetwood Knights and ran only open meetings. Poole Pirates were the only new entrant, promoted from the former lower tier.
Poole Pirates won the title, having won Division Three in the previous season.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Poole Pirates 44 31 1 12 632 Coventry Bees 44 25 5 14 553 Leicester Hunters 44 25 2 17 524 Cradley Heath Heathens 44 24 0 20 485 Glasgow White City Tigers 44 23 1 20 476 Edinburgh Monarchs 44 21 4 19 467 Ashfield Giants 44 19 3 22 418 Motherwell Eagles 44 19 2 23 409 Yarmouth Bloaters 44 20 0 24 4010 Stoke Potters 44 18 1 25 3711 Liverpool Chads 44 16 3 25 3512 Oxford Cheetahs 44 11 2 31 24
Fixtures & results A fixtures
B fixtures
Top Five Riders (League only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Tommy Miller Glasgow 10.91 2 Derick Close Motherwell 10.57 3 Fred Brand Yarmouth 9.82 4 Brian Crutcher Poole 9.66 5 Ken Middleditch Poole 9.63
National Trophy Stage Two For Stage One - see Stage One For Stage Three - see Stage Three
The 1952 National Trophy was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third-tier clubs, stage two was for the second-tier clubs and stage three was for the top-tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Poole won stage two and therefore qualified for stage three.
Second Division qualifying first round Date Team one Score Team two05/06 Plymouth 57-51 Poole02/06 Poole 67-41 Plymouth24/05 Coventry 71-36 Motherwell24/05 Stoke 71-37 Cradley Heath23/05 Cradley Heath 67-41 Stoke23/05 Motherwell 61-47 Coventry19/05 Liverpool 71-37 Edinburgh17/05 Edinburgh 67-41 Liverpool13/05 Yarmouth 61-47 Leicester09/05 Leicester 71-37 Yarmouth
Second Division Qualifying Second round Date Team one Score Team two19/06 Oxford 53-55 Poole09/06 Poole 78-30 Oxford07/06 Coventry 52-55 Leicester07/06 Stoke 55-52 Liverpool06/06 Leicester 55-53 Coventry02/06 Liverpool 75.5-32.5 Stoke24/05 Glasgow Ashfield 52-56 Glasgow White City21/05 Glasgow White City 65-43 Glasgow Ashfield
Second Division Qualifying semifinals Date Team one Score Team two20/06 Leicester 46-62 Glasgow White City18/06 Glasgow White City 53-55 Leicester25/06 Poole 85-23 Liverpool
Second Division Qualifying final First leg
Second leg
Midland Cup Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of eight teams. There was one team from division 1, five teams from division 2 and two teams from division 3.
First round Team one Team two ScoreWolverhamptonLong Eaton 69–26, 59–37
Second round Team one Team two ScoreLeicesterStoke 54–42, 42–53Oxford Wolverhampton 62–34, 45–51CradleyCoventry50–46, 34–62
Semi final round Team one Team two ScoreOxford Coventry25–71, 26–70Birmingham Leicester70–26, 63–33
Final
First leg
Second leg
Coventry won on aggregate 110–82
Riders & final averages
Ashfield
8.29 6.76 6.64 6.62 6.16 6.07 5.35 4.19 4.18 3.30 1.76
Coventry
9.48 9.05 7.83 6.93 6.72 6.21 5.64 4.42 4.34 4.00
Cradley Heath
8.70 8.24 7.41 7.02 6.62 5.63 5.24 5.16 5.08 4.43 2.00
Edinburgh
9.54 9.14 9.09 8.07 6.45 5.68 4.78 4.66 3.12 2.13
Glasgow
10.91 8.15 8.14 5.88 5.50 5.17 4.92 4.65 4.27 3.95 1.07
Leicester
9.14 8.48 7.88 6.29 6.26 6.10 5.61 4.81 4.15
Liverpool
9.13 7.37 7.37 7.36 6.77 6.09 5.79 4.77 4.52 3.68 3.36
Motherwell
10.57 8.18 7.51 7.23 5.53 5.47 5.21 4.80 4.17 3.29 3.00
Oxford
7.42 6.79 6.39 6.17 5.03 5.62 4.92 4.50 3.83 1.00
Poole
9.66 9.63 8.75 7.93 7.90 7.64 6.93 6.63 6.40
Stoke
8.50 7.50 7.44 6.73 5.64 5.40 5.29 5.25 5.16 4.98
Yarmouth
9.82 9.62 6.77 6.73 5.53 5.38 4.76 4.75 3.13 4.73 4.63
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References