The 1959 National League was the 25th season and the fourteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.
Summary With Ipswich Witches dropping down to the Southern Area League, only 9 teams competed with Wimbledon Dons continuing their domination of British speedway with their fifth title in six years.
League Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Wimbledon Dons 16 13 0 3 262 Leicester Hunters 16 8 1 7 173 Coventry Bees 16 8 1 7 174 Norwich Stars 16 8 0 8 165 Southampton Saints 16 8 0 8 166 Poole Pirates 16 8 0 8 167 Oxford Cheetahs 16 7 0 9 148 Swindon Robins 16 6 0 10 129 Belle Vue Aces 16 5 0 11 10
Fixtures and results
Top ten riders (league only) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Ove Fundin Norwich 11.00 2 Peter Craven Belle Vue 10.84 3 Ken McKinlay Leicester 10.75 4 Brian Crutcher Southampton 10.65 5 Ronnie Moore Wimbledon 10.52 6 Peter Moore Wimbledon 10.08 7 Ron How Wimbledon 9.92 8 Mike Broadbank Swindon 9.40 9 Ron Johnston Belle Vue 9.05 10 Arne Pander Oxford 8.90
National Trophy The 1959 National Trophy was the 21st edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two30/05 Swindon 55-52 Oxford28/05 Oxford 59-49 Swindon Second round Date Team one Score Team two16/07 Oxford 57-51 Southampton14/07 Southampton 61-47 Oxford27/06 Belle Vue 67-41 Leicester27/06 Coventry 69-39 Wimbledon26/06 Leicester 59-49 Belle Vue22/06 Wimbledon 71-37 Coventry20/06 Norwich 65-43 Poole19/06 Poole 46-62 Norwich Semifinals Date Team one Score Team two08/08 Norwich 53-55 Southampton04/08 Southampton 73-35 Norwich03/08 Wimbledon 75-33 Belle Vue01/08 Belle Vue 54-54 Wimbledon Final
First leg
Second leg
Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–93.
Britannia Shield
South Team PL W D L PtsWimbledon 8 6 0 2 12 Southampton 8 5 0 3 10 Norwich 8 4 1 3 9 Swindon 8 2 1 5 5 Poole 8 2 0 6 4
North Team PL W D L PtsBelle Vue 6 4 0 2 8 Coventry 6 4 0 2 8 Leicester 6 2 0 4 4 Oxford 6 2 0 4 4
Final Team one Team two ScoresWimbledon Belle Vue59–31, 56–34
Riders and final averages Belle Vue
10.84 9.05 7.24 6.57 5.54 5.33 4.21 3.64 3.00 2.73 2.50 1.20 0.29
Coventry
8.65 7.61 7.28 5.51 5.44 5.33 4.98 4.94 4.32 2.00
Leicester
10.75 8.50 7.80 5.95 4.10 4.00 3.80 3.70 2.67 2.10
Norwich
11.00 8.56 7.78 6.25 5.76 5.63 5.58 4.55 4.76 4.00
Oxford
8.90 8.32 7.07 7.00 5.96 5.70 5.37 5.02 3.52 0.00
Poole
7.37 7.14 7.08 6.85 6.34 5.70 Trevor Blokdyk 4.88 4.50 4.34 3.73
Southampton
10.65 8.73 8.40 6.67 6.22 6.22 5.33 4.86 5.70 4.09 4.85
Swindon
9.40 7.89 7.22 6.58 6.57 3.71 3.60 2.18 1.56 0.94 0.00
Wimbledon
10.52 10.40 9.92 8.80 7.14 6.55 6.49 6.35 5.00 4.07
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References