# 1929 Speedway English Dirt Track League

The 1929 English Dirt Track League was the inaugural season of speedway in the United Kingdom, featuring from Northern England. In the same year, the 1929 Speedway Southern League also commenced, catering to teams from Southern England The sport had been introduced to England in 1928 at High Beech Speedway.

## Summary

The season was marked by mid-season withdrawals, but Leeds were ultimately crowned champions. In 1930, the league was renamed the Northern League, thus existing for only one year. White City Speedway (Manchester) withdrew from the league following a dispute and would have been crowned champions if they had not withdrawn. At the time of their departure, they were leading the table by four points, having won 18 of their 20 matches.
The introduction of speedway in Middlesbrough at the Cleveland Park Stadium was a success with the team holding their first home fixture was on 16 May 1929 against Salford. However, on 12 July 1929, Dennis Atkinson suffered critical injuries following an accident at Cleveland Park, riding in a Golden Helmet meeting. He died the following day.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Leeds | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 33 |
| 2 | Preston | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 28 |
| 3 | Halifax | 19 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 25 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| 5 | Salford | 20 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| 6 | Rochdale | 20 | 9 | 1 | 19 | 19 |
| 7 | Leicester Stadium | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 18 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| 9 | Sheffield | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 13 |
| 10 | Middlesbrough | 19 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 12 |
| 11 | Barnsley Lundwood | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 12 |
Withdrawals (Records expunged) :
* Belle Vue Aces
* Bolton
* Burnley
* Hanley
* White City Speedway (Manchester)
* Warrington

## Fixtures & results

| Home \ Away | BAR | HAL | LEE | LEI | LIV | MAN | MID | NEW | PRE | ROC | SAL | SHE | WAR |
| Barnsley Lundwood | | 23–40 | 26–36 | 36–27 | 30–27 | 30–32 | 40–22 | 32–22 | 32–31 | 26–36 | 24–31 | 37–24 | 38–24 |
| Halifax | 35–27 | | 31–31 | n/a | n/a | 30–33 | 46–17 | 43–20 | 39–22 | 29–34 | 41–21 | 39–24 | 49–14 |
| Leeds | 38–24 | 42–21 | | 50–13 | 36–27 | 29–33 | 41–21 | 41–22 | 42–21 | 43–20 | 46–16 | 47–16 | 46–16 |
| Leicester | 43–20 | 28–34 | 45–17 | | 44–19 | 34–29 | 38–25 | 25–35 | 34–29 | 37–26 | 33–29 | 41–21 | 31–31 |
| Liverpool | 39–23 | 44–18 | 29–33 | 32–30 | | 31–32 | 43–18 | 33–27 | 15–48 | 50–12 | 42–21 | 50–11 | 35–26 |
| Manchester White City | 48–15 | 40–22 | 44–19 | 50–10 | n/a | | 47–16 | 47–16 | 48–14 | 45–18 | 42–20 | 51–12 | 50–12 |
| Middlesbrough | 48–15 | 28–35 | 30–33 | 37–24 | n/a | n/a | | 20–42 | 37–25 | 33–29 | 44–18 | 43–18 | 38–25 |
| Newcastle | 36–26 | 37–23 | 23–37 | 44–18 | 41–19 | n/a | 39–24 | | 26–36 | 40–22 | 41–20 | 44–19 | n/a |
| Preston | 45–18 | 35–28 | 35–27 | 39–24 | 52–11 | 26–37 | 46–15 | 51–11 | | 36–27 | 38–24 | 46–16 | 47–14 |
| Rochdale | 48–15 | 33–28 | 31–32 | 39–24 | 43–20 | 36–27 | 39–24 | 40–22 | 33–29 | | 37–26 | 31–31 | 35–28 |
| Salford | 46–17 | 38–25 | 41–22 | 43–18 | 41–21 | n/a | 36–27 | 33–28 | 31–32 | 39–24 | | 41–22 | 27–36 |
| Sheffield | 34–26 | 24–39 | 28–35 | 23–40 | 42–21 | n/a | 46–17 | 36–27 | 30–33 | 43–19 | 46–16 | | 52–11 |
| Warrington | n/a | 28–35 | n/a | 32–31 | n/a | 19–44 | 40–22 | n/a | 25–38 | 35–28 | 39–24 | 30–33 | |

## Top Five Riders

| | | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Syd Jackson | Leicester | 10.71 |
| 2 | Joe Abbott | Burnley/Preston | 10.50 |
| 3 | Ham Burrill | Preston | 9.44 |
| 4 | Charlie Hornby | Warrington | 8.88 |
| 5 | Walter Creasor | Newcastle/Halifax | 8.50 |

## English Dirt Track Knockout Cup

First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 03/08 | Barnsley Lundwood | 32–30 | Sheffield |
| 10/08 | Rochdale | 39–23 | Salford |
| 10/08 | Sheffield | 33–30 | Barnsley Lundwood |
| 13/08 | Middlesbrough | 25–38 | Newcastle |
| 16/08 | Manchester White City | 50–13 | Warrington |
| 21/08 | Liverpool | 16–47 | Preston |
| 22/08 | Halifax | 49–13 | Leeds |
| 22/08 | Leicester Stadium | 34–27 | Leicester Super |
| 22/08 | Preston | 44–19 | Liverpool |
| 23/08 | Newcastle | 38–24 | Middlesbrough |
| 23/08 | Warrington | 33–29 | Manchester White City |
| 24/08 | Leeds | 32–31 | Halifax |
| 24/08 | Leicester Super | 30–32 | Leicester Stadium |
| 24/08 | Nottingham | 35–23 | Wombwell |
| 26/08 | Salford | 37–26 | Rochdale |
| 29/08 | Wombwell | 38–24 | Nottingham |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 12/09 | Halifax | 35–25 | Wombwell |
| 14/09 | Rochdale | 30–33 | Leicester Stadium |
| 16/09 | Wombwell | 31–31 | Halifax |
| 18/09 | Sheffield | 35–28 | Preston |
| 19/09 | Leicester Stadium | 35–27 | Rochdale |
| 19/09 | Preston | 55–11 | Sheffield |
| | Manchester White City | w/o | Newcastle |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 19/09 | Halifax | 44–19 | Newcastle |
| 20/09 | Newcastle | 37–25 | Halifax |
| 21/09 | Preston | 48–14 | Leicester Stadium |
| 03/10 | Leicester Stadium | 39–24 | Preston |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Preston were Knockout Cup winners, winning on aggregate 87–39.

## Riders

Barnsley
* Bob Allen
* Tommy Allott
* Albert Brown
* Bert Round
* Fred Ledger
* Reg Marshall
* Joe Mitchell
* Arthur Moore
* Tommy Thompson
* Charlie Ward
Halifax
* Arthur Atkinson
* Cyril "Squib" Burton
* Bert Clayton
* George Corney
* Walter Creasor
* Jack Duddings
* Dusty Haigh
* Geoff Kilburn
* George Reynard
* Frank Smith
* Geoff Taylor
* Alec Tidswell
* Geoff Wilson
Leeds
* Arthur Atkinson
* Dennis Atkinson
* Roy Barrowclough
* Tommy Bullus
* Billy Burrows
* Tommy Gamble
* George Greenwood
* Alec Hill
* Eric Langton
* Oliver Langton
* Arnold Moore
* John Scratcherd
Leicester
* Stan Baines
* Alec Bowerman
* Len Brown
* Squib Burton
* Billy Ellmore
* Jimmy Gent
* Dilly Gittins
* Hal Herbert
* Syd Jackson
* Nobby Kendrick
* Slider Shuttleworth
* Henry Taft
Liverpool
* Eric Blain
* Larry Boulton
* Crasher Coxhead
* Chris Hughes
* Eddie Myerscough
* Syd Plevin
* Thomas Arthur Price
* Les Wotton
Manchester White City (withdrew)
* Cyril "Squib" Burton
* Larry Boulton
* Billy Dallison
* Harry Gresty
* Walter Hull
* Syd Jackson
* Arthur Jervis
* Hugh Jervis
* Rex Kirby
* Jack Owen
* Skid Skinner
* Bunny Wilcox
* Tommy Withington
* Les Wotton
Middlesbrough
* James Allen
* Dick Bailey
* Charlie Barratt
* Billy Brown
* Dan Buck
* Ron Carling
* Edde Crenston
* Broncho Dixon
* Norman Evans
* Frank Harrison
Newcastle
* Phil Blake
* Gordon Byers
* Arnie Cattell
* Fred Creasor
* Walter Creasor
* Percy Dunn
* Charles Sanderson
* Roy Sanderson
* Ernie Smith
* Tommy Storey
* Bud Thompson
Preston
* Joe Abbott
* Bill Anderton
* Ham Burrill
* Frank Charles
* Jack Chiswell
* Frank Chiswell
* Doug Hutchings
* Jack Lund
* Len Mysercough
* Thomas Arthur Price
* Claude Rye
Rochdale
* Jack Atkinson
* Buster Breaks
* Cyril "Squib" Burton
* Ben Higginbottom
* Wally Hicklin
* Scott Michie
* Skid Nock
* Bud Proctor
* Fred Proctor
* Ron Thompson
Salford
* Hen Helsby
* Billy Howard
* Tommy Mason
* Ken Miller
* Sid Newiss
* Tommy Simpson
* A.J. Ward
* Cliff Watson
* Arthur Wilcock
* Cyril Wilcock
* Fred Williams
Sheffield
* Jack Barber
* Clem Beckett
* Frank Bianchi
* Johnny Broughton
* George Crawshaw
* Scotty Cummings
* Eric Hall
* Dusty Jenkins
* Arthur Longley
* Gus Platts
* W.S. Shuker
* Spencer Stratton
* Arthur Westwood
Warrington (withdrew)
* Cyril Crowther
* Norman Dawson
* Ezra Deakin
* Harold Formby
* Tommy Hach
* Charlie Horby
* Phil Hughes
* Alec McLachlan
* Tom Middlehurst
* George Milton
* Harry Solomon
* Jack Wood