The 1949 National League Division Three was the third season of British speedway's National League Division Three.
The league expanded to 13 teams from 12. Cradley Heath, Southampton and Coventry had all moved up to Division Two whilst Wombwell dropped out. The five new sides were Liverpool Chads, Leicester Hunters, Rayleigh Rockets, Oxford Cheetahs and Halifax Dukes. The latter racing on a new speedway track at The Shay.
Swindon Robins joined the league late in the season, when Reg Witcomb applied to the Speedway Control Board to take over the remaining fixtures of Hull Angels, who had withdrawn from the league.
Hanley Potters won the title on race points difference from Yarmouth Bloaters and Billy Bales of Yarmouth topped the averages.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Hanley Potters 48 35 1 12 712 Yarmouth Bloaters 48 35 1 12 713 Tamworth Hounds 48 33 0 15 664 Halifax Dukes 48 28 2 18 585 Plymouth Devils 48 28 2 18 586 Poole Pirates 48 27 0 21 547 Exeter Falcons 48 24 0 24 488 Hastings Saxons 48 21 1 36 439 Liverpool Chads 48 19 0 29 3810 Leicester Hunters 48 17 1 30 3511 Swindon Robins+ 48 15 1 32 3112 Rayleigh Rockets 48 14 0 34 2813 Oxford Cheetahs 48 11 1 36 23 +Hull Angels withdrew and were replaced by Swindon.
Fixtures & results A fixtures
B fixtures
Leading Averages Rider Team C.M.A. 1 Billy Bales Yarmouth 10.44 2 Vic Emms Halifax 10.33 3 Pete Lansdale Plymouth 10.29 4 Norman Clay Exeter 9.90 5 Harry Saunders Tamworth 9.70
National Trophy Stage One For Stage Two - see Stage Two For Stage Three - see Stage Three
The 1949 Trophy was the 12th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division 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. Hanley Potters won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.
Third Division Qualifying First round Date Team one Score Team two07/04 Plymouth 54-54 Exeter04/04 Exeter 62-45 Plymouth15/04 Leicester 49-58 Hull09/04 Hull 77-31 Leicester14/04 Stoke Hanley 67-41 Liverpool11/04 Liverpool 42-66 Stoke Hanley19/04 Yarmouth 70-37 Rayleigh16/04 Rayleigh 55-51 Yarmouth
Third Division Qualifying Second round Date Team one Score Team two07/05 Stoke Hanley 75-33 Exeter25/04 Exeter 57-51 Stoke Hanley03/05 Yarmouth 75-33 Hastings27/04 Hastings 52-55 Yarmouth20/04 Halifax 48-59 Poole11/04 Poole 70-38 Halifax27/04 Tamworth 70-38 Hull30/04 Hull 61-47 Tamworth
Third Division Qualifying semifinals Date Team one Score Team two25/05 Tamworth 56-51 Stoke Hanley14/05 Stoke Hanley 59-48 Tamworth23/05 Poole 59-49 Yarmouth17/05 Yarmouth 60-46 Poole
Qualifying final First leg
Second leg
Riders & final averages
Exeter
Norman Clay 9.77 Don Hardy 8.70 Arthur Pilgrim 7.32 Hugh Geddes 7.16 Stan Hodson 6.63 Vic Gent 6.51 Stan Lanfear 5.98 Johnny Myson 5.45 Bronco Slade 4.80 John Hancox 4.36 Goog Hoskin 2.59
Halifax
Vic Emms 10.33 Arthur Forrest 9.06 Dick Seers 8.76 Bill Crosland 6.85 Jock Shead 6.38 Al Allison 6.24 Jack Hughes 6.10 Jack Dawson 5.92 Ray Johnson 5.78 Ken Brown 4.31 Eric Smith 3.22 Eric Mason 2.92
Hanley
Vic Pitcher 9.78 Les Jenkins 9.38 Ken Adams 9.24 Gil Blake 9.19 Lindsay Mitchell 8.54 Ray Harris 8.26 Bill Harris 8.09 Frank Evans 5.82 Stan Bradbury 5.59 Brian Pritchett 5.04 Johnny Fitzpatrick 4.87 Dave Anderson 3.36
Hastings
Jock Grierson 9.06 Ken Middleditch 8.99 Buddy Fuller 7.69 Ron Clark 6.54 Norman Street 5.59 Harold McNaughton 5.53 Ken Smith 5.41 Dan English 5.33 Harold Tapscott 4.74 Ken Tidbury 4.94 George Butler 4.75
Hull/Swindon
Bob Baker 8.73/x Mick Mitchell 8.43/7.13 Alf Webster 7.24/5.67 Derek Glover 6.67/4.83 Bob Jones x/6.08 George Craig 5.66/6.69 Bill Downton x/5.23 Johnny Green 4.51/x Jack Watts 4.49/x Norman Johnson 4.29/x Reg Lambourne x/4.24 Harry Hughes x/2.53 Tom Wilson x/2.20 Ken Allick 2.14/x
Leicester
Vic Pitcher 8.07 Cyril Page 7.35 Ron Wilson 6.23 Jack Baxter 6.17 Harwood Pike 6.13 Sid Hipperson 6.13 Johnny Carpenter 6.07 Jack Winstanley 5.90 Roy Duke 5.60 Ted Rawlinson 5.40 George Gower 5.38 Ernest Palmer 4.87 Ted Moore 3.56 Syd van der Vyver 3.45
Liverpool
Alex Gray 8.55 Harry Welch 7.91 Doug Serrurier 6.44 Fred Wills 5.99 Charlie Oates 5.64 George Bason 5.12 Stan Bedford 4.98 Reg Duval 4.95 Angus McGuire 4.94 Ron Burnett 4.35 Ernie Steers 4.00 Percy Brine 4.00 Tom Turnham 3.00
Oxford
Dennis Gray 8.20 Bob McFarlane 7.94 Bert Croucher 7.02 Alf Viccary 5.60 Frank Boyle 5.34 Bil Kemp 5.10 Jimmy Wright 4.20 Alf Elliott 4.02 Ernie Rawlins 3.96 Jimmy Coy 3.91 Bill Reynolds 3.58
Plymouth
Pete Lansdale 10.29 Len Read 9.22 Peter Robinson 8.52 George Wall 6.14 Ivan Kessell 5.39 Johnny Bradford 4.57 Alan Smith 5.14 Bob Wigg 4.32 Bonny Waddell 4.00 Wally Matthews 3.13 Toby Boschoff 1.83
Poole
Cyril Quick 8.47 Allan Chambers 8.38 Fred Pawson 8.29 Dick Howard 6.94 Ticker James 5.49 Charlie Hayden 5.43 Ken James 4.55 Terry Small 4.17 Frank Holcombe 4.13 Ray Bartlett 2.80 Frank Wheeler 2.09
Rayleigh
Les McGillivray 7.33 Pat Clark 6.55 Jim Gregory 6.45 Jack Unstead 6.16 Percy Brine 5.95 Ron Howes 5.55 Vic Gooden 5.04 Roy Uden 4.74 Wally Mawdsley 4.58 Doug Ible 3.43 Charlie Mugford 3.27
Tamworth
Harry Saunders 9.73 Bill Dalton 8.40 Peter Orpwood 8.28 Basil Harris 7.94 Steve Langton 7.05 Cecil Hookham 6.54 Lionel Watling 6.56 Ray Beaumont 5.70
Yarmouth
Billy Bales 10.60 Tip Mills 8.61 Bill Carruthers 8.13 Reg Morgan 7.94 Bert Rawlinson 7.21 Cliff Ladbrooke 7.14 Fred Brand 7.03 John White 6.72 Sid Hipperson 6.65 Stan Page 5.62 Joe Rodwell 4.29
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References