1948 Speedway National League Division Three

1948 Speedway National League Division Three
League	National League Division Three
Season	1948
No. of competitors	12
Champions	Exeter Falcons
National Trophy (Div 3 final)	Southampton Saints
Highest average	Alf Bottoms
Division/s above	Division One; Division Two
	← 1947; 1949 →;

The 1948 National League Division Three was the second season of British speedway's National League Division Three^[1]^[2]

The league had expanded from 8 teams to 12. Reigning champions Eastbourne Eagles were forced to close due to a petrol ban at their stadium, so their team moved a few miles along the Sussex coast to Hastings. The new entrants Coventry Bees, Hull Angels, Poole Pirates and Yarmouth Bloaters all struggled to make an impact and finished in the bottom five positions.

The Hull Angels were a corporation backed team, managed by Fred Archer and the team wore the crest of the city's coat-of-arms (3 golden crowns on a blue shield and yellow background).^[3]

Exeter Falcons won their first title^[4] and Alf Bottoms of Southampton topped the averages.^[5]

Eric Dunn of Hastings Saxons was a third speedway rider (with Reg Craven and Bill Wilson) to be killed during the season. 34-year-old Dunn was riding in a meeting (on 13 June) at the Arlington track when he fell and was hit by a rider behind. He died two days later in hospital (15 June).^[6]

Final League table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Exeter Falcons	44	32	1	11	65
2	Cradley Heath Cubs	44	29	2	13	60
3	Southampton Saints	44	29	0	15	58
4	Tamworth Hounds	44	23	4	17	50
5	Hanley Potters	44	24	1	19	49
6	Hastings Saxons	44	22	0	22	44
7	Plymouth Devils	44	21	2	22	43
8	Coventry Bees	44	19	1	24	39
9	Hull Angels	44	19	0	25	38
10	Poole Pirates	44	17	0	27	34
11	Yarmouth Bloaters	44	13	1	30	27
12	Wombwell Colliers	44	10	1	33	21

Leading Averages

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Alf Bottoms	Southampton	11.29
2	Wally Green	Hastings	11.23
3	Cyril Roger	Exeter	9.93
4	Jock Grierson	Hastings	9.77
5	Bert Roger	Exeter	9.72

National Trophy

The 1948 Trophy was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup.^[7] The Qualifying event for Division 3 teams saw Southampton Saints win the final and qualify for the Elimination event. The Elimination event for Division 2 teams saw Birmingham Brummies win the final and qualify for the Quarter Finals proper.

Qualifying Event First Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
08/04	Plymouth	56-50	Cradley Heath
17/04	Cradley Heath	66-42	Plymouth
13/04	Southampton	89-19	Wombwell
23/04	Wombwell	31-77	Southampton
07/04	Tamworth	82-26	Exeter
12/04	Exeter	81-27	Tamworth

Qualifying Second Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
29/04	Stoke Hanley	64-43	Coventry
01/05	Coventry	48-59	Stoke Hanley
04/05	Southampton	77-31	Tamworth
05/05	Tamworth	46-62	Southampton
26/04	Poole	74-32	Yarmouth
27/04	Yarmouth	47-67	Poole
01/05	Hull	42-66	Cradley Heath
07/05	Cradley Heath	78-29	Hull

Qualifying Third Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
10/05	Poole	49-57	Stoke Hanley
13/05	Stoke Hanley	64-44	Poole
11/05	Southampton	85-23	Cradley Heath
21/05	Cradley Heath	54-50	Southampton

Qualifying Final Round

First leg

25 May 1948

Southampton Saints Alf Bottoms 18 Bob Oakley 15 Jimmy Squibb 10 Alf Kaines 9 Bert Croucher 8.5 George Bason 8 Tom Oakley 2 Cecil Bailey 2	74.5 – 33.5	Hanley Potters Gil Blake 11 Les Jenkins 6 Ray Harris 5 Dave Anderson 4 Vic Pitcher 3.5 Dick Howard 2 Ken Adams 2 Frank Evans 0
	^[8]^[9]

Banister Court Stadium

Second leg

27 May 1948

Hanley Potters Gil Blake 14 Ray Harris 9 Les Jenkins 6 Dick Howard 5 Dave Anderson 4 Vic Pitcher 3 Frank Evans 3 Ken Adams 1	43 – 64	Southampton Saints Alf Bottoms 17 Bob Oakley 14 Jimmy Squibb 9 Bert Croucher 8 Alf Kaines 7 Cecil Bailey 6 George Bason 3 Tom Oakley 0
	^[10]^[9]

Sun Street Stadium

Riders & final averages

Coventry

Vic Emms 7.92
Lionel Levy 7.43
Bob Fletcher 7.28
Bert Lacey 6.19
Ed Pye 6.18
George Smith 6.13
Ralph Horne 5.65
Bernard Tennant 5.36
John Yates 4.65
Fred Yates 4.62
Derrick Tailby 2.71

Cradley Heath

Gil Craven 9.52
Les Beaumont 8.82
Eric Irons 8.81
Alan Hunt 8.16
Jimmy Wright 7.78
Bill Kemp 7.52
Ken Sharples 6.98
Bill Clifton 5.64
Phil Malpass 5.49
Ray Beaumont 4.41
Ray Moreton 4.32
Jimmy Coy 4.22

Exeter

Cyril Roger 10.00
Bert Roger 9.98
Norman Clay 8.73
Arthur Pilgrim 8.26
Don Hardy 8.19
Stan Hodson 7.35
Bronco Slade 7.19
Hugh Geddes 6.49
Johnny Myson 5.24
Stan Lanfear 3.89

Hanley

Gil Blake 8.92
Les Jenkins 8.32
Dave Anderson 7.95
Ray Harris 7.17
Ken Adams 7.05
Dick Howard 5.61
Stan Bradbury 5.71
Vic Pitcher 5.62
Lindsay Mitchell 5.52
Frank Evans 5.14
Jack Dawson 5.00
Jock Gordon 4.00

Hastings

Wally Green 11.23
Jock Grierson 9.75
Bill Osborne 8.97
Frank Bettis 6.51
Ken Middleditch 6.00
Ken Tidbury 5.12
Ron Clark 5.01
Dan English 4.52
John Hayles 4.29
Peter Mold 4.13
Ken Smith 4.05
Eric Dunn 4.00
Bill Weston 2.29

Hull

Mick Mitchell 8.94
Dick Shepherd 7.35
George Craig 7.19
Al Allison 6.67
Johnny White 6.34
Bob Baker 6.08
Derek Glover 5.33
Norman Johnson 4.89
Alf Webster 3.25
Brian Gorman 3.17

Plymouth

Pete Lansdale 9.06
Len Read 8.77
Peter Robinson 8.59
Alex Gray 6.86
Ted Gibson 5.78
Bonny Waddell 5.27
Charlie Challis 5.14
Ivan Kessell 5.10
Billy Newell 4.63
Vic Gent 4.38
Wally Matthews 4.37

Poole

Joe Bowkiss 8.53
Allan Chambers 7.66
Alf Elliott 7.31
Sid Clarke 6.78
Fred Pawson 6.13
Charlie Hayden 5.90
Ginger Nicholls 5.20
George Butler 4.69
Frank Holcombe 4.18
Sid Hazzard 3.76

Southampton

Alf Bottoms 11.25
Jimmy Squibb 9.52
Cecil Bailey 8.58
Bob Oakley 8.05
Bert Croucher 7.01
Tom Oakley 6.41
Alf Kaines 5.87
George Bason 4.56
Bill Griffiths 4.00

Tamworth

Arthur Payne 8.67
Cyril Page 8.45
Harry Saunders 8.44
Basil Harris 8.08
Bill Dalton 7.53
Bill Harris 7.05
Steve Langton 6.79
Jack Baxter 6.67
Peter Orpwood 6.07
Charlie Oates 5.57
Cecil Hookham 5.00
Lionel Watling 3.87
Howard Chipman 2.67

Wombwell

Stan Hodson 8.15
Harry Welch 7.38
Jack Baxter 6.98
Harry Saunders 6.76
Harwood Pike 6.60
Stan Beardsall 6.46
Son Mitchell 5.26
Len Tupling 4.80
Red Hamley 4.69
Charlie Oates 4.45
Ken Allick 4.38
Jeff Bishop 4.07
Ernest Palmer 3.09
Gerry Williams 2.46
Bert Thomas 2.08
Harry Modral 1.52

Yarmouth

Reg Morgan 7.40
Billy Bales 6.99
Sid Hipperson 6.93
Paddy Hammond 6.60
Fred Rogers 5.64
Bert Rawlinson 5.14
Arthur Bush 5.10
Roy Duke 5.05
Bill Carruthers 4.81
Ted Rawlinson 4.50
Phil Day 2.67
Bill Codling 2.55

References

^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
^ "Eighteen applications". Weekly Dispatch (London). 18 January 1948. Retrieved 21 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
^ "National League Division 3 1948" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^ "Speedway News". Eastbourne Gazette. 16 June 1948. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "1948 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
^ "Speedway Defeat". Staffordshire Sentinel. 26 May 1948. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ ^a ^b "Southampton 1948 results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
^ "Cup final defeat". Staffordshire Sentinel. 28 May 1948. Retrieved 30 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.