# 1947 Speedway National League

The 1947 National League Division One was the 13th season of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

## Summary

Harringay Racers rejoined the league. Wembley Lions retained the title. Belle Vue retained the National Trophy.

## Final Table Division One

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wembley Lions | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 38 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Aces | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 31 |
| 3 | Wimbledon Dons | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 27 |
| 4 | Odsal Boomerangs | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 21 |
| 5 | New Cross Rangers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 20 |
| 6 | West Ham Hammers | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 16 |
| 7 | Harringay Racers | 24 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 15 |

## Fixtures & results
### A fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BRA | HAR | NC | WEM | WH | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 45–39 | 54–30 | 47–37 | 35–49 | 57–27 | 38–46 |
| Bradford | 42–42 | | 41–43 | 46–38 | 50–33 | 52–32 | 40–44 |
| Harringay | 47–33 | 38–45 | | 44–40 | 34–46 | 42–41 | 42–42 |
| New Cross | 36–46 | 38–45 | 42–41 | | 33–51 | 59–25 | 47–37 |
| Wembley | 54–30 | 52–31 | 52–32 | 50–34 | | 60–24 | 41–42 |
| West Ham | 41–43 | 38–45 | 44–40 | 47–37 | 42–41 | | 39–45 |
| Wimbledon | 51–33 | 50–33 | 40–44 | 50–33 | 43–39 | 54–30 | |

### B fixtures

| Home \ Away | BV | BRA | HAR | NC | WEM | WH | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 51–33 | 46–38 | 50–34 | 49–35 | 52–29 | 41–40 |
| Bradford | 37–47 | | 53–30 | 44–37 | 38–46 | 51–33 | 50–34 |
| Harringay | 38–46 | 55–28 | | 39–44 | 38–46 | 50–34 | 34–49 |
| New Cross | 49–35 | 58–26 | 52–31 | | 39–45 | 59–25 | 50–34 |
| Wembley | 49–35 | 60–24 | 57–26 | 57–27 | | 55–27 | 47–35 |
| West Ham | 48–36 | 52–32 | 43–40 | 45–39 | 40–42 | | 44–40 |
| Wimbledon | 36–47 | 42–41 | 50–34 | 39–45 | 38–46 | 43–39 | |

## British Speedway Cup

On account of the small number of teams in the league the British Speedway Cup was run in a league format. Wembley Lions won all their matches, home and away, to complete a double.
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wembley Lions | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 2 | New Cross Rangers | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 3 | Wimbledon Dons | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| 4 | Belle Vue Aces | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 5 | Harringay Racers | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | West Ham Hammers | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | Odsal Boomerangs | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 |

## Top Ten Riders (League only)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Vic Duggan | Harringay | 11.54 |
| 2 | Bill Kitchen | Wembley | 10.74 |
| 3 | Norman Parker | Wimbledon | 10.35 |
| 4 | Alec Statham | Odsal | 10.25 |
| 5 | Tommy Price | Wembley | 10.00 |
| 6= | Eric Chitty | West Ham | 9.54 |
| 6= | Malcolm Craven | New Cross | 9.54 |
| 8 | George Wilks | Wembley | 9.46 |
| 9 | Eric Langton | Belle Vue | 9.44 |
| 10 | Jack Parker | Belle Vue | 9.32 |

## National Trophy

The 1947 National Trophy was the tenth edition of the Knockout Cup.
During the National Trophy quarter final match between Wembley and Harringay (on 15 August) the 27-year-old Wembley rider Nelson 'Bronco' Wilson received fatal injuries in the fourth heat. He died in the Prince of Wales Hospital, Tottenham, the following day from a fractured skull. Remarkably another rider Cyril Anderson of the Norwich Stars was killed instantly on the same evening, during the Division Two Best Pairs.
Qualifying Middlesbrough and Norwich qualified for the quarter finals by virtue of finishing 1st & 2nd in the Second Division Cup.
Quarterfinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 07/08 | Wembley | 61–45 | Harringay |
| 07/08 | Middlesbrough | 40–68 | Wimbledon |
| 09/08 | Belle Vue | 67–41 | New Cross |
| 11/08 | Wimbledon | 77–31 | Middlesbrough |
| 12/08 | West Ham | 54–54 | Bradford Odsal |
| 13/08 | New Cross | 61–46 | Belle Vue |
| 15/08 | Harringay | 47–58 | Wembley |
| 16/08 | Bradford Odsal | 53–55 | West Ham |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 25/08 | Wimbledon | 59–49 | Belle Vue |
| 02/09 | West Ham | 55–51 | Wembley |
| 04/09 | Wembley | 68–40 | West Ham |
| 06/09 | Belle Vue | 82–25 | Wimbledon |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Belle Vue were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 116–100.

## Riders' Championship

Jack Parker won the British Riders' Championship final held at Empire Stadium on 11 September. Parker won the title after a run off and also broke the halfway (2 laps) track record (37.6 secs) in heat 2. There were three qualifying rounds, with 28 riders progressing to the Championship round, held over seven meetings.
| Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
| 1 | Jack Parker | 3 3 3 2 3 | 14+3 |
| 2 | Bill Kitchen | 3 3 2 3 3 | 14+2 |
| 3 | Bill Longley | 2 1 2 3 3 | 11 |
| 4 | Eric Chitty | 1 2 3 2 2 | 10 |
| 5 | George Wilks | 2 2 2 1 2 | 9 |
| 6 | Vic Duggan | 3 2 3 F - | 8 |
| 7 | Eric Langton | 0 1 3 2 2 | 8 |
| 8 | Frank Hodgson | 1 3 2 1 1 | 8 |
| 9 | Ernie Price | 2 2 2 1 1 | 8 |
| 10 | Norman Parker | 3 1 1 0 3 | 8 |
| 11 | Ron Johnson | 2 F 1 3 F | 6 |
| 12 | Lionel Van Praag | 1 3 0 2 0 | 6 |
| 13 | Tommy Price | 0 3 1 1 1 | 6 |
| 14 | Les Wotton | 1 0 1 0 2 | 4 |
| 15 | Geoff Pymar | 0 F F 3 1 | 4 |
| 16 | Bill Pitcher | 1 0 0 1 F | 2 |
| 16 | Aub Lawson (res) | 0 0 - - - | 0 |
| 17 | Dent Oliver (res) | 0 0 - - - | 0 |
| 18 | Frank Dolan | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
* f=fell

## London Cup

First round
| Team one | Score | Team two |
| New Cross | 64–44, 55–52 | Wimbledon |
Semi final round
| Team one | Score | Team two |
| Wembley | 69–38, 51–57 | West Ham |
| New Cross | 74–34, 72–36 | Harringay |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
New Cross won on aggregate 110–105

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Eric Langton 9.44
* Jack Parker 9.32
* Dent Oliver 8.50
* Wally Lloyd 7.87
* Bill Pitcher 7.29
* Jim Boyd 6.68
* Louis Lawson 5.39
* Ron Mason 4.47
* Dick Campbell 4.44
* Wally Hull 3.80
* Brian Wilson 3.36
Harringay
* Vic Duggan 11.54
* Frank Dolan 8.00
* Ray Duggan 7.32
* Joe Abbott 6.53
* Wal Morton 4.78
* Buck Whitby 4.16
* Jack Arnfield 3.49
* Nobby Stock 4.20
* Norman Lindsay 3.18
* Jack Biggs 3.00
* Danny Lee 2.11
* Joe Bowkis 1.48
New Cross
* Ron Johnson 8.88
* Jeff Lloyd 7.43
* Bill Longley 7.83
* Geoff Pymar 7.71
* Lionel Van Praag 7.68
* Ray Moore 5.04
* Eric French 5.96
* Frank Lawrence 3.86
* Keith Harvey 3.20
* Mick Mitchell 4.20
Odsal
* Alec Statham 10.25
* Ernie Price 8.64
* Ron Clarke 8.51
* Max Grosskreutz 7.07
* Oliver Hart 6.90
* Ron Mason 6.29
* Fred Tuck 4.90
* Eddie Rigg 4.00
* Bill Osborne 3.48
* Bill Baird 3.24
* Fred Rogers 3.00
* Jack White 2.40
* Stan Beardsall 2.29
* George Mudgway 1.18
* Al Allison 1.00
Wembley
* Bill Kitchen 10.74
* Tommy Price 10.00
* George Wilks 9.46
* Split Waterman 7.75
* Bronco Wilson 6.21
* Bill Gilbert 5.47
* Bob Wells 4.88
* Roy Craighead 6.10
* Charlie May 3.33
West Ham
* Eric Chitty 9.54
* Malcolm Craven 9.54
* Tommy Croombs 6.09
* Bob Harrison 5.78
* Howdy Byford 5.67
* Cliff Parkinson 5.60
* Aub Lawson 5.06
* Cliff Watson 4.46
* Benny King 3.83
* Buck Whitby 3.35
* Phil Bishop 2.58
* Bill Matthews 2.55
* Jack Cooley 0.92
Wimbledon
* Norman Parker 10.35
* Les Wotton 8.50
* Lloyd Goffe 7.70
* Cyril Brine 6.00
* Mike Erskine 5.98
* Arch Windmill 5.36
* George Saunders 4.51
* Dick Harris 5.61
* Ron Howes 1.33