1935 Speedway National League

1935 Speedway National League
LeagueNational League Division One
No. of competitors7
ChampionsBelle Vue Aces
National TrophyBelle Vue Aces
A.C.U CupBelle Vue Aces
London CupHarringay Tigers
Highest averageBluey Wilkinson

The 1935 National League Division One was the seventh season of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.[1][2][3]

Summary

Walthamstow Wolves relocated to Hackney Wick Stadium at the end of the 1934 season and started 1935 as the Hackney Wick Wolves. Walthamstow had been subject to resident complaints.[4]

Plymouth Tigers and Birmingham dropped out so there were only 7 teams, 6 of which were located in London. Bluey Wilkinson of West Ham Hammers topped the rider averages.

The only non-London club, Belle Vue Aces, won their third consecutive national title and Knockout Cup and second treble after winning the A.C.U Cup.[5]

British champion Tom Farndon of the New Cross Lambs was fatally injured in a scratch race at New Cross Stadium, on 28 August. He was involved in a crash with Ron Johnson, who clipped the safety fence and fell causing Farndon to crash into Johnson's bike. Farndon suffered a fractured skull and spine injury and was unconscious when he was transferred to the Miller General Hospital in Greenwich. He died two days later on 30 August.[6][7][8]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Belle Vue Aces 24 17 2 5 36
2 Harringay Tigers 24 13 0 11 26
3 West Ham Hammers 24 12 1 11 25
4 Wembley Lions 24 11 0 13 22
5 Hackney Wick Wolves 24 10 1 13 21
6 New Cross Lambs 24 10 0 14 20
7 Wimbledon Dons 24 8 0 16 16

Top Ten Riders

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Bluey Wilkinson Australia West Ham 10.57
2 Dicky Case Australia Hackney 10.12
3 Tom Farndon England New Cross 9.74
4 Max Grosskreutz Australia Belle Vue 9.57
5 Bill Kitchen England Belle Vue 9.18
6 Jack Parker England Harringay 9.13
7 Eric Langton England Belle Vue 9.10
8 Ron Johnson Australia New Cross 8.78
9 Jack Ormston England Harringay 8.75
10 Tommy Croombs England West Ham 8.74

National Trophy

The 1935 National Trophy was the fifth edition of the Knockout Cup.[9]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
13/07 Belle Vue 55-52 New Cross
13/07 Harringay 70-35 Hackney Wick
11/07 Wembley 55-52 West Ham
10/07 New Cross 54-54 Belle Vue
09/07 West Ham 67-41 Wembley
08/07 Hackney Wick 47-61 Harringay
Wimbledon Bye

Semifinals

Date Team one Score Team two
10/08 Belle Vue 64-34 West Ham
06/08 West Ham 54-53 Belle Vue
05/08 Wimbledon 41-64 Harringay
03/08 Harringay 69-39 Wimbledon

Final

First leg

Harringay Tigers
Jack Ormston 11
Norman Parker 11
Jack Parker 9
Phil Bishop 5
Bill Pitcher 5
Les Wotton 4		45 – 63Belle Vue Aces
Eric Langton 17
Bill Kitchen 17
Max Grosskreutz 15
Joe Abbott 10
Frank Varey 3
Bob Harrison 1
Wally Hull 0
[10]

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces
Max Grosskreutz 18
Eric Langton 13
Bob Harrison 12
Joe Abbott 9
Bill Kitchen 6
Frank Varey 5		63 – 43Harringay Tigers
Norman Parker 12
Jack Parker 12
Bill Pitcher 5
Jack Ormston 4
Billy Dallison 3
Les Wotton 3
Phil Bishop 2
Fred Strecker 2
[10]

Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 126-88.

A.C.U Cup

The 1935 Auto-Cycle Union Cup was the second edition of the Cup and was won by Belle Vue for the second time.[11]

First round

Group 1

Team PL W D L Pts
Belle Vue Aces 4 3 0 1 6
Wembley Lions 4 2 0 2 4
Wimbledon Dons 4 1 0 3 2

Group 2

Team PL W D L Pts
Harringay Tigers 6 5 0 1 10
West Ham Hammers 6 3 0 3 6
New Cross Lambs 6 3 0 3 6
Hackney Wick Wolves 6 1 0 5 2

Final

Date Team one Team two Score
31/08 Belle Vue Harringay 73–34
31/08 Harringay Belle Vue 54-54

London Cup

First round

Team one Score Team two
Hackney Wick 48–57, 39–69 West Ham
Wimbledon 39–64, 32–75 Harringay

Semi final round

Team one Score Team two
Wembley 50–55, 41–66 Harringay
West Ham 63.5–41.5, 47–58 New Cross

Final

First leg

Harringay
Norman Parker 16
Jack Parker 16
Jack Ormston 16
Bill Pitcher 9
Phil Bishop 8
Les Wotton 3		68–37West Ham
Bluey Wilkinson 12
Arthur Atkinson 8
Tommy Croombs 6
Tiger Stevenson 4
Rol Stobart 4
Ken Brett 2
Stan Dell 1
George Saunders 0

Second leg

West Ham
Bluey Wilkinson 15
Tommy Croombs 15
Tiger Stevenson 8
Arthur Atkinson 8
Rol Stobart 3
Stan Dell 3
George Saunders 2
Ken Brett 1		55–52Harringay
Jack Ormston 15
Norman Parker 12
Jack Parker 9
Phil Bishop 8
Bill Pitcher 4
Billy Dallison 3
Fred Strecker 1
Les Wotton 0
[12]

Harringay won on aggregate 120–97

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Hackney

Harringay

New Cross

Wembley

West Ham

Wimbledon

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - PRE-WAR ERA (1929-1939)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Woman's Diary of Noises". Liverpool Evening Express. 7 December 1934. Retrieved 28 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Tom Farndon still unconscious in hospital". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. 29 August 1935. Retrieved 6 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Tom Farndon and Johnson injured". Daily Mirror. 29 August 1935. Retrieved 6 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Farndon dies form injuries". Daily Herald. 31 August 1935. Retrieved 6 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "1935 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ a b "1935 National Trophy" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  11. ^ "1935 ACU Cup" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Harringay take Speedway Cup". Daily Herald. 2 October 1935. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.