# 1939 Speedway National League

The 1939 National League Division One was an eleventh and unfinished season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

## Summary

Southampton Saints had moved up from Division Two and Bristol Bulldogs moved back down after just one season.
Belle Vue Aces were leading the championship ahead of Wimbledon Dons when the league was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II .

## Table at the outbreak of war

| Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| Belle Vue Aces | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 25 |
| Wimbledon Dons | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
| Wembley Lions | 19 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 23 |
| West Ham Hammers | 19 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 18 |
| Harringay Tigers | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
| Southampton Saints | 17 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 10 |
| New Cross Rangers | 19 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 9 |

## Fixtures & results
### A fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | HAR | NC | SOT | WEM | WH | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 46–35 | 54–30 | 61–23 | 57–27 | 45–39 | 44–40 |
| Harringay | n/a | | 43–40 | 53–31 | 36–48 | 44–40 | 48–36 |
| New Cross | 42–42 | 34–50 | | 56–28 | 42–40 | 41–42 | 38–45 |
| Southampton | 38–45 | 39–45 | 48–35 | | 46–38 | 47–37 | n/a |
| Wembley | 50–34 | 42–42 | 52–31 | 57–27 | | 55–29 | 53–30 |
| West Ham | 40–42 | 44–39 | 50–33 | 54–30 | 36–48 | | 44–39 |
| Wimbledon | 50–34 | 46–37 | 52–32 | 53–31 | 51–33 | 48–36 | |

### B fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | HAR | NC | SOT | WEM | WH | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 54–30 | 56–27 | n/a | n/a | 63–21 | n/a |
| Harringay | n/a | | n/a | 55–29 | n/a | 37–46 | 39–44 |
| New Cross | n/a | n/a | | n/a | n/a | 43–40 | 35–49 |
| Southampton | 40–44 | 55–29 | 51.5–32.5 | | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Wembley | 43–41 | n/a | 59–24 | 61–22 | | 58–26 | 39–45 |
| West Ham | n/a | n/a | 45–38 | n/a | 53–31 | | 44–38 |
| Wimbledon | n/a | n/a | 41–42 | 56–26 | 44–40 | n/a | |

## Top Ten Riders at the outbreak of war

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Cordy Milne | Southampton | 11.29 |
| 2 | Wilbur Lamoreaux | Wimbledon | 11.06 |
| 3 | Bill Kitchen | Belle Vue | 10.88 |
| 4 | Vic Duggan | Wimbledon | 10.67 |
| 5 | Arthur Atkinson | West Ham | 10.62 |
| 6 | Lionel van Praag | Wembley | 10.62 |
| 7 | Jack Milne | New Cross | 10.00 |
| 8 | Jack Parker | Harringay | 9.6 |
| 9 | Eric Langton | Belle Vue | 9.5 |
| 10 | Jimmy Gibb | West Ham | 8.58 |

## National Trophy

The 1939 National Trophy was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup. Wembley and Belle Vue were declared joint winners following the abandonment of the final fixture due to the outbreak of the war.

### Qualifying rounds

Sheffield Tigers won the Division Two final and therefore secured a place in the quarter-finals.
Quarterfinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 22/07 | Belle Vue | 67-40 | Wimbledon |
| 17/07 | Wimbledon | 51-56 | Belle Vue |
| 26/07 | New Cross | 57-51 | Harringay |
| 22/07 | Harringay | 52-54 | New Cross |
| 13/07 | Wembley | 64-45 | West Ham |
| 11/07 | West Ham | 62-46 | Wembley |
| 20/07 | Sheffield | 61-46 | Southampton |
| 26/07 | Southampton | 68-36 | Sheffield |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 26/08 | Belle Vue | 80-28 | New Cross |
| 16/08 | New Cross | 44-64 | Belle Vue |
| 31/08 | Wembley | 74-33 | Southampton |
| 30/08 | Southampton | 62-46 | Wembley |

### Final

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 16/09 | Wembley | not held | Belle Vue |
| 21/09 | Belle Vue | not held | Wembley |

## London Cup

First round
| Team one | Score | Team two |
| Wimbledon | 71–37, 42–64 | Harringay |
Semi final round
| Team one | Score | Team two |
| West Ham | 56–50, 50–57 | New Cross |
| Wembley | 55–52, 49–59 | Wimbledon |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Wimbledon won on aggregate 134–82

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Bill Kitchen 10.88
* Eric Langton 9.50
* Frank Varey 7.50
* Ernie Price 7.08
* Bob Harrison 6.64
* Joe Abbott 6.62
* Jack Hargreaves 6.18
* Oliver Langton 5.25
* Wally Hull 2.00
Harringay
* Jack Parker 9.60
* Alec Statham 7.79
* Norman Parker 6.94
* Les Wotton 6.88
* Bill Pitcher 6.71
* Lloyd Goffe 6.18
* Frank Dolan 4.53
* Dick Harris 4.33
* Jack Chapman 2.00
* Ron Mason 1.68
New Cross
* Jack Milne 10.00
* Ron Johnson 7.97
* Stan Greatrex 6.26
* Ray Duggan 4.94
* Norman Evans 4.87
* Bill Longley 4.46
* Goldy Restall 3.78
* Joe Francis 3.52
* Emerson Rawding 1.78
Southampton
* Cordy Milne 11.29
* Frank Goulden 7.52
* Benny Kaufman 5.88
* Syd Griffiths 4.65
* Billy Dallison 4.44
* Alf Kaines 2.36
* Bert Jones 2.67
* Jim Boyd 2.42
* Ed Pye 1.43
Wembley
* Lionel Van Praag 10.61
* Malcolm Craven 8.32
* Morian Hansen 8.17
* Frank Charles 7.85
* Tommy Price 7.57
* George Wilks 6.74
* Aub Lawson 6.43
* Cliff Parkinson 5.07
* Andy Menzies 4.73
West Ham
* Arthur Atkinson 10.46
* Jimmie Gibb 8.58
* Eric Chitty 7.89
* Tommy Croombs 7.42
* Charlie Spinks 4.77
* Colin Watson 4.21
* Phil Bishop 3.80
* Tiger Stevenson 3.11
* Dick Geary 1.33
Wimbledon
* Wilbur Lamoreaux 11.06
* Vic Duggan 10.67
* Eric Collins 8.53
* Wally Lloyd 6.44
* Geoff Pymar 5.73
* Nobby Key 4.35
* Norman Evans 3.47
* Emerson Rawding 3.09
* Eric French 1.71
* Fred Leavis 1.71