The 1938 National League Division Two was the inaugural season of British speedway's National League Division Two albeit a continuation of the Provincial League from the previous season in all but name.
The list of teams had several changes. Bristol Bulldogs had moved up to the National League and Hackney Wick Wolves had moved down to take their place. They also swapped licences and riders as well as divisions. Other new entrants were Newcastle, Sheffield and West Ham Hawks (West Ham's reserve team) and Lea Bridge Cubs (made up largely of Harringay reserve riders).
Belle Vue Merseysiders who had replaced Liverpool in the previous season were also absent.
Nottingham withdrew just after the start of the league fixtures and were replaced by Leeds Lions. They did complete most of their early season cup fixtures.Bamford, Robert & Jarvis, John (2001) Homes of British Speedway, Tempus, , p. 193-4
Hackney Wick Wolves won the title.
Final Table Division Two Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Hackney Wick Wolves 16 12 0 4 242 Norwich Stars 16 12 0 4 243 Southampton Saints 16 9 0 7 184 West Ham Hawks 16 8 2 6 185 Lea Bridge Cubs 16 8 0 8 166 Newcastle Diamonds 16 7 1 8 157 Sheffield 16 6 1 9 138 Birmingham Bulldogs 16 6 0 10 129 Leeds Lions 16 2 0 14 4
Fixtures & results
Leading averages (league only) Rider Team Average Max GrosskreutzNorwich10.89 George GreenwoodLeeds10.77 Frank GouldenSouthampton10.19 Charlie SpinksWest Ham10.11 Frank Hodgson Hackney10.06
Provincial Trophy The 1938 Provincial Trophy was the third edition of the Trophy, which was won by Norwich Stars.
First round Team one Team two scoresNorwich Hackney 75–33, 44–62 (119–95 agg)Birmingham Leeds 61–46, 58–48 (119–94 agg)Sheffield Newcastle 68–38, 47–60 (115–98 agg)Southampton West Ham Hawks 82–26, 43–63 (125–89 agg)
Semifinals Team one Team two scoresNorwich Birmingham 72–34, 59–47 (131–81 agg)Sheffield Southampton 58–49, 53–53 (111–102 agg)
Final Team one Team two scoresNorwich Sheffield 74–32, 53–54 (127–86 agg)
English Speedway Trophy The early season competition was the called the English Speedway Trophy, which involved teams from division2 and the reserve teams of some of the division 1 clubs. The reserve teams were required to ride away fixtures only against the division 2 teams.
Group 1
Group 2
Final Team one Team two scoresBelle Vue Reserves Southampton 47–36, 38–46 (85–82 agg)
National Trophy The 1938 National Trophy was the eighth edition of the Knockout Cup. Norwich Stars won the Division 2 Final round and therefore qualified for the quarter finals proper (the round when the tier one sides entered the competition).
First qualifying round Date Team one Score Team two17/05 Nottingham+ 60-48 Hackney Wick+21/05 Hackney Wick+ 59-49 Nottingham+18/05 Birmingham 77-26 Sheffield19/05 Sheffield 51-56 Birmingham23/05 Newcastle 53-55 Norwich28/05 Norwich 75-33 Newcastle04/06 Hackney Wick 72-36 Leeds06/06 Leeds 36-72 Hackney Wick + Nottingham withdrew from league replaced by Leeds resulting in Hackney's result becoming void.
Second qualifying round Date Team one Score Team two15/06 Birmingham 57.5-49.5 Hackney Wick18/06 Hackney Wick 66-42 Birmingham15/06 Southampton 76-30 Norwich18/06 Norwich 77-31 Southampton
Final
First leg
Second leg
Norwich were the National Trophy Div 2 winners, winning on aggregate 121-94.
Riders & final averages Birmingham
8.82 8.22 6.28 6.19 5.51 5.39 5.22 5.17 Keith Harvey 4.52 3.30 3.20
Hackney
10.06 9.78 7.74 6.91 6.71 6.48 6.29 6.29 6.27 Charlie Appleby 5.00
Lea Bridge
9.80 8.67 7.20 6.76 6.58 6.48 6.29 5.69
Leeds
10.77 6.00 5.68 5.60 4.76 4.55 4.48 3.33 2.91 2.67
Newcastle
George Pepper 7.94 6.81 Bruce Venier 6.62 Bob Sparks 6.50 6.41 6.35 6.31 Elwood Stillwell 5.07 5.02
Norwich
10.89 8.41 9.42 7.09 6.95 6.29 6.20 5.87 5.25 4.39 3.24
Sheffield
8.88 8.33 8.00 7.46 7.00 6.07 (Horace Burke) 4.27 3.76 3.73 3.05 3.30 2.67 2.55
Southampton
10.19 9.67 8.27 8.17 8.06 6.33 5.33 5.11 4.53 3.30 2.00
West Ham
10.11 9.36 8.98 8.17 6.13 5.38 5.00 3.65 3.47 3.17 3.09
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References