The 1931 Southern League was the third season of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams, and its final season before amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Leagues. The Northern teams also had their third season known as the 1931 Speedway Northern League.

Summary Both Birmingham teams based at Perry Barr and Hall Green had left the league but the latter did ride in the National Trophy.

Coventry returned mid-season to replace Leicester Stadium who were liquidated in late May.

Harringay Canaries resigned in June to be replaced by a Belle Vue team, who then rode both in the Northern and Southern Leagues, the latter as Manchester. Nottingham closed in July but they were not replaced and their results stood. The league season was the longest in the short history of the competition as teams met each other four times instead of twice.

The Wembley Lions won their second consecutive titleSpeedway Researcher finishing three points clear of 1929 champions Stamford Bridge. The league suffered a fatality during the match between Belle Vue and Wembley at Hyde Road. James Allen (known as Indian Allen) was thrown from his bike and hit his head on a fence, trying to avoid a rider who had fallen in front of him. He died three days later in hospital on 12 September 1931. Another rider Noel Johnson of Plymouth had been killed in a challenge match against Coventry reserves on 25 August.

Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Wembley Lions 37 28 1 8 572 Stamford Bridge Pensioners 38 27 0 11 543 West Ham Hammers 38 23 0 15 464 Crystal Palace Glaziers 38 22 0 16 445 Wimbledon Dons 38 19 1 18 396 High Beech 38 19 1 18 397 Southampton Saints 38 18 0 20 368 Harringay Canaries + Manchester (Belle Vue) 38 14 0 24 28*9 Lea Bridge 38 11 0 27 2210 Leicester Stadium + Coventry 37 8 1 28 17**11 Nottingham 20 8 0 12 16

* Harringay scored 12 points from 14 matches, Belle Vue scored 16 from 24 ** Leicester scored 1 point from 8 matches, Coventry scored 16 from 30

Fixtures & results A fixtures

+ Awarded to Coventry B fixtures

Top Five Riders Team C.M.A. 1 Tommy Croombs West Ham 10.41 2 Dicky Case Wimbledon 10.14 3 Jack Parker Southampton 10.02 4 Frank Arthur Stamford Bridge 9.97 5 Vic Huxley Harringay/Wimbledon 9.87

National Trophy The 1931 National Trophy was the first edition of the Knockout Cup. It was contested between teams from the Southern and Northern Leagues.

First round Date Team one Score Team two11/05 Wimbledon 67-26 Birmingham Hall Green12/05 West Ham 51-45 Southampton13/05 Lea Bridge 59-33 Nottingham14/05 Exeter 34-59 High Beech14/05 Leicester Stadium 39.5-54.5 Stamford Bridge15/05 Hall Green 42.5-49.5 Wimbledon16/05 High Beech 61-33 Exeter16/05 Southampton 42-49 West Ham16/05 Stamford Bridge 59-35 Leicester Stadium21/05 Nottingham 46-47 Lea Bridge

Second round Date Team one Score Team two25/05 Belle Vue 73-22 Wombwell25/05 York 42-53 Leicester Super26/05 Glasgow White City 43-52 Preston28/05 Sheffield 54-40 Leeds30/05 Leeds 39-52 Sheffield30/05 Leicester Super 69-26 York30/05 Wombwell 27-64 Belle Vue04/06 Preston 70-26 Glasgow White City08/06 Wimbledon 60-36 Crystal Palace09/06 Harringay ?Stamford Bridge09/06 West Ham 44-52 Wembley10/06 Lea Bridge 52-38 High Beech11/06 Wembley 56-37 West Ham13/06 Crystal Palace 48-48 Wimbledon13/06 High Beech 55-39 Lea Bridge

Quarterfinals Date Team one Score Team two02/07 Preston 65-31 High Beech11/07 Belle Vue 50-46 Wimbledon11/07 Sheffield 41-55 Wembley16/07 Leicester Super 44-50 Stamford Bridge18/07 High Beech 48-42 Preston23/07 Wembley 70-25 Sheffield27/07 Wimbledon 55-41 Belle Vue19/08 Stamford Bridge 61-31 Leicester Super

Semifinals Date Team one Score Team two10/09 Preston 43-51 Stamford Bridge17/09 Wembley 48-47 Wimbledon21/09 Wimbledon 46-49 Wembley26/09 Stamford Bridge 66-30 Preston

Final

First leg

Second leg

Wembley were declared National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 120-69.

London Cup First round Team one Score Team twoWimbledon 46–50, 45–49 WembleyWest Ham 41.5–53.5, 36–58 Stamford BridgeLea Bridge 60–35, 48–46 High BeechCrystal Palace bye Semi final round Team one Score Team twoLea Bridge 41–55, 27–69 Crystal PalaceStamford Bridge 50–46, 41.5–35.5 Wembley

Final

First leg

Second leg

Crystal Palace won on aggregate 114–76

Riders & final averages Crystal Palace

8.32 7.75 7.51 6.79 6.61 6.55 6.30 4.20 2.67

Harringay (withdrew)

10.56 6.95 5.94 5.65 5.41 5.33 5.33

High Beech

7.26 6.76 6.69 6.43 6.37 6.09 5.56 4.80 4.79 4.57 4.23 4.00 3.83

Lea Bridge

10.22 7.91 6.97 6.95 6.80 6.39 6.00 4.79 4.44 4.32 3.71

Leicester/Coventry

6.86/9.22 8.20/x 6.27/7.10 x/6.50 5.36/6.67 2.40/5.16 5.00/4.27 x/4.98 x/4.89 4.55/x x/4.55 x/4.31 x/4.00 3.14/3.47

Manchester (Belle Vue)

8.14 6.39 6.20 6.06 6.00 5.33 5.33 3.64 3.56 3.28 3.20 3.20 2.57

Nottingham

8.93 8.26 7.58 7.29 5.07 5.03 4.57 4.00 4.00 3.72

Southampton

9.87 7.42 6.98 6.44 5.83 5.35 4.88 4.67 4.00 3.14

Stamford Bridge

10.09 10.06 8.65 8.31 6.85 6.40 5.60 (John Glass) 5.33 5.20 4.32 4.43 Keith Harvey 4.29 4.25 3.60

Wembley

9.56 9.09 8.75 7.96 7.50 7.33 7.09 6.59 5.30 4.76 4.00 2.09

West Ham

10.55 9.32 9.00 8.79 6.90 4.13 4.10 4.36 3.79 3.25 3.09 1.71

Wimbledon

10.19 9.43 8.48 6.90 6.17 6.06 5.91 5.72 5.41 5.19 3.24

See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)

References