The 1954 Southern Area League was the first season of the newly named regional third tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. It replaced the defunct Southern League. With most of the Southern League teams moving up to Speedway National League Division Two, six new teams started the season—many of them making their debut in league speedway.
Summary Three teams finished equal on points at the top but California Poppies from California, Berkshire were champions by the slenderest possible margin of a single race point with all their rivals having an fixture in hand that was never ridden.
Aldershot Shots withdrew mid-season.http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/1954/leaguetables.pdf Ernie Lessiter of Ringwood topped the averages.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 California Poppies 16 9 0 7 182 Ringwood Turfs 15 9 0 6 183 Rye House Roosters 15 9 0 6 184 Brafield Flying Foxes 15 8 0 7 165 Eastbourne Eagles 15 3 0 12 6
Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Aldershot Shots
Fixtures & results A fixtures
B fixtures
Leading Averages Rider Team C.M.A. 1 Ernie Lessiter Ringwood 10.86 2 Gil Goldfinch California 10.48 3 Jimmy Gleed California 10.21 4 Peter Mould California 9.83 5 Vic Hall Brafield 9.46
Riders' Championship Alby Golden won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 3 October.
Pos. Rider Club Pts1 Alby Golden Ringwood 14+32 Ernie Lessiter Ringwood 14+23 Vic Ridgeon Rye House 124 Dave Slater Rye House 105 Fran Greasley Brafield 106 Vic Hall Brafield 87 Jimmy Gleed California 78 Jack Taylor Eastbourne 79 Pete Mould California 610 Geoff Woodger Rye House 611 Gil Goldfinch California 612 Bob Bunney Aldershot/Eastbourne 5 13 Bill Simpson (res)Rye House 514 Ron Burnett Aldershot 415 Syd George Brafield 216 Eric Hockaday California 217 Harry Wilson Eastbourne 218 Gordon Richards (res)Eastbourne/Ringwood 0
Riders & final averages
Aldershot (withdrew)
Jack Taylor 9.06 Ron Burnett 9.00 Eric Hockaday 8.33 Bob Bunney 7.33 Tommy Sweetman 7.08 Frank Turner 6.24 Peter Mason 5.58 Jim Smith 4.50
Brafield
Vic Hall 9.65 Syd George 8.19 Doug Jackson 8.00 Frank Greasley 7.91 Johnny Jones 7.17 Brian Meredith 6.13 John Cherry 4.84 Tony Wintour 4.70 Neil Roberts 4.50 Nick Nicholls 3.76 Dave Hankins 4.00 Eric Eadon 3.33 John Benson 0.80
California
Gil Goldfinch 10.54 Jimmy Gleed 10.29 Pete Mold 9.83 Bob Andrews 8.89 Tommy Sweetman 6.62 Eric Hockaday 6.40 Ron Sharp 5.82 George Bason 4.63 Jim Webb 3.62 Ted Pankhurst 3.53 Ross Gilbertson 2.91 Tom Albury 2.11 Bob Mitchell 1.33
Eastbourne
Harry Wilson 6.91 Steve Bole 6.21 Jim Preddy 5.67 Dan English 5.57 Johnny Fry 5.42 Wally Wilson 5.26 Bob Bunney 4.80 Bob Gladwin 4.67 Johnny Gronow 4.16 Gordon Richards 2.40
Ringwood
Ernie Lessiter 10.86 Alby Golden 9.12 Merv Hannam 8.63 Gordon Richards 7.33 Harold Carder 6.60 Tom Worrall 5.73 Tom Reader 5.69 Tony Lockyer 6.56 Gil Graham 5.00 Ted Lewis 5.00 Gerry Bridson 4.50 Tony Golding 4.35
Rye House
Vic Ridgeon 9.07 Al Sparrey 8.00 Jimmy Heard 7.65 Bill Simpson 7.64 Dave Clark 7.44 Stan Bedford 6.97 Dave Slater 6.95 Geoff Woodger 6.19 Vernon Brown 6.11 Dave Still 6.07
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References