The 1950 National League Division Three was the fourth season of British speedway's National League Division Three
The league was reduced from 13 teams to 10. Halifax Dukes, Plymouth, Yarmouth and Hanley had all moved up to Division Two whilst Hastings Saxons dropped out. The two new sides were Aldershot Shots and St Austell Gulls whilst Tamworth changed their nickname from 'Hounds' to 'Tammies'.
Oxford Cheetahs, who had finished bottom of the table during their inaugural league season in 1949, rose spectacularly up the league to win the title. The Oxford team was made up from an entirely new set of riders including Harry Saunders, signed as captain from Tamworth for £750, Pat Clark from Rayleigh for £250, Bill Osborne from Walthamstow, Raymond Buster Brown from Wembley and Eric Irons from Cradley.
Ken Middleditch of Poole topped the averages.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Oxford Cheetahs 36 26 2 8 542 Poole Pirates 36 23 3 10 493 Leicester Hunters 36 21 0 15 424 Swindon Robins 36 19 1 16 395 Aldershot Shots 36 18 1 17 376 Tamworth Tammies 36 17 0 19 347 Exeter Falcons 36 16 1 19 338 Liverpool Chads 36 14 1 21 299 Rayleigh Rockets 36 12 0 24 2410 St Austell Gulls 36 9 1 26 19
Fixtures & results A fixtures
B fixtures
Leading Averages Rider Team C.M.A. 1 Ken Middleditch Poole 10.53 2 Basil Harris Aldershot 9.90 3 Pat Clark Oxford 9.78 4 Trevor Redmond Aldershot 9.64 5 Don Hardy Exeter 9.57
National Trophy Stage Three For Stage Two - see Stage Two For Stage Three - see Stage Three
The 1950 National Trophy was the 13th edition of the Knockout Cup. The Trophy consisted of three stages; stage one was for the third division clubs, stage two was for the second division clubs and stage three was for the top-tier clubs. The winner of stage one would qualify for stage two and the winner of stage two would qualify for the third and final stage. Oxford won stage one and therefore qualified for stage two.
Third Division Qualifying First round Date Team one Score Team two10/04 Liverpool 50-57 Oxford06/04 Oxford 76-32 Liverpool
Third Division Qualifying Second round Date Team one Score Team two22/04 Swindon 60-47 Oxford20/04 Oxford 62-46 Swindon10/04 Exeter 65-41 Leicester07/04 Leicester 66-42 Exeter19/04 Tamworth 71-37 St Austell18/04 St Austell 48-58 Tamworth20/04 Poole 51-57 Aldershot19/04 Aldershot 61-45 Poole21/04 replay Leicester 53-55 Exeter17/04 replay Exeter 62-45 Leicester
Third Division Qualifying semifinals Date Team one Score Team two05/05 Exeter 54-53 Oxford27/04 Oxford 83-24 Exeter03/05 Tamworth 67-41 Aldershot01/05 Aldershot 63-44 Tamworth
Qualifying final First leg
Second leg
Riders' Championship Pat Clark won the National League Division Three Rider's Championship, in front of 28,000 spectators. The final was held at Walthamstow Stadium on 23 October.
Pos. Rider Pts1 Pat Clark 152 Trevor Redmond 133 Ken Middleditch 114 Gerry Jackson 95 Norman Street 9? Harwood Pike 6? Alex Gray 6? Hugh Geddes 3? Jack Unstead ?? Basil Harris ?? Reg Duval ?? Cyril Quick ?? Harold Jackson ?
Riders & final averages
Aldershot
Basil Harris 9.77 Trevor Redmond 9.72 Doug Ible 7.27 Ivor Powell 6.69 Bob Harrison 5.75 Joe Rodwell 5.65 Doug Papworth 5.17 Pat Flanagan 4.14 Bob Bunney 4.00 Ron Burnett 3.52 Ken Smith 3.36 Bill Grimes 3.09
Exeter
Don Hardy 9.69 Hugh Geddes 8.20 Arthur Pilgrim 7.56 Ken Walsh 6.87 Ted Moore 6.20 Vic Gent 6.56 Jack Bedkober 5.93 Johnny Sargeant 5.19 Johnny Myson 3.57 Goog Hoskin 5.67
Leicester
Lionel Benson 8.77 Jock Grierson 8.39 Harwood Pike 8.32 Cyril Page 7.52 Les Beaumont 7.45 Johnny Carpenter 7.09 Joe Bowkiss 6.86 Vic Pitcher 6.78 Ron Wilson 6.63 Sid Hipperson 6.21 Ernest Palmer 5.33 Jack Watts 3.47
Liverpool
Bill Griffiths 7.27 Harry Welch 7.00 Reg Duval 6.92 Doug Serrurier 6.73 Angus McGuire 6.13 Arthur Bush 6.03 Percy Brine 5.94 Derek Glover 5.90 Alf Webster 5.67 Stan Bedford 3.64 Buddy Fuller 3.62 Brian Craven 1.54
Oxford
Pat Clark 9.99 Frank Boyle 9.12 Bob McFarlane 8.35 Bil Kemp 7.32 Eric Irons 7.22 Bill Osborne 7.20 Jimmy Wright 7.16 Harry Saunders 7.10 Buster Brown 6.40 Ernie Rawlins 6.07 Brian Wilson 5.10
Poole
Ken Middleditch 10.53 Cyril Quick 9.44 Ticker James 7.42 Tony Lewis 7.30 Dick Howard 6.46 Terry Small 6.28 Charlie Hayden 6.09 Frank Wheeler 5.00 Alan Kidd 4.75 Allan Wall 4.00
Rayleigh
Les McGillivray 7.06 Gerry Jackson 7.03 Jack Unstead 7.01 Ron Howes 6.87 Vic Gooden 5.29 Frank Bettis 5.19 Charlie Mugford 4.15 Tom O'Connor 4.06 James Osborne 3.96 Mike Wood 2.88
St Austell
Harold Bull 7.68 Ray Ellis 7.48 Norman Street 7.30 Ken James 5.89 Maury McDermott 5.62 John Yates 5.53 Bill Sobey 5.33 Rusty Wainwright 4.74 Larry Young 4.50 Ed Williams 4.00 George Gower 2.91
Swindon
Mick Mitchell 8.21 Hugh Geddes 8.44 Alex Gray 8.18 Bill Downton 6.88 Bob Jones 6.74 Frank Evans 6.34 Ron Clark 6.28 George Craig 6.26 Reg Lambourne 6.09 Danny Malone 5.98 Tom Wilson 2.20
Tamworth
Brian Wilson 8.78 Lionel Watling 8.14 Eric Boothroyd 8.00 Dick Tolley 7.43 Ivor Davies 7.21 Brian Shepherd 5.84 Harry Bastable 5.39 Cecil Hookham 5.21 Laurie Schofield 4.40 Ray Beaumont 3.21 James Hitchings 2.95 Geoff Newman 0.24
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References