# 1938 Speedway National League Division Two

The 1938 National League Division Two was the inaugural season of British speedway's National League Division Two albeit a continuation of the Provincial League from the previous season in all but name.
The list of teams had several changes. Bristol Bulldogs had moved up to the National League and Hackney Wick Wolves had moved down to take their place. They also swapped licences and riders as well as divisions. Other new entrants were Newcastle, Sheffield and West Ham Hawks (West Ham's reserve team) and Lea Bridge Cubs (made up largely of Harringay reserve riders).
Belle Vue Merseysiders who had replaced Liverpool in the previous season were also absent.
Nottingham withdrew just after the start of the league season and were replaced by Leeds Lions.
Hackney Wick Wolves won the title.

## Final Table Division Two

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Hackney Wick Wolves | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 24 |
| 2 | Norwich Stars | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 24 |
| 3 | Southampton Saints | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 18 |
| 4 | West Ham Hawks | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 18 |
| 5 | Lea Bridge Cubs | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 6 | Newcastle Diamonds | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
| 7 | Sheffield | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 13 |
| 8 | Birmingham Bulldogs | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| 9 | Leeds Lions | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 4 |

## Fixtures & results

| Home \ Away | BIR | HAC | LB | LEE | NEW | NOR | SHE | SOT | WH |
| Birmingham | | 37–46 | 32–52 | 49–33 | 60–24 | 34–47 | 54–30 | 50–34 | 52–30 |
| Hackney | 57–27 | | 51–33 | 59–24 | 58–26 | 48–35 | 59–25 | 47–37 | 54–29 |
| Lea Bridge | 59–24 | 37–46 | | 50–33 | 45–39 | 50–30 | 59–25 | 51–31 | 55–29 |
| Leeds | 0–70 | 27–54 | 46–36 | | 39–44 | 29–52 | 40–44 | 47–36 | 38–46 |
| Newcastle | 57–27 | 27–57 | 51–32 | 50–34 | | 41–43 | 52–29 | 45–39 | 42–40 |
| Norwich | 63–21 | 55–26 | 54–30 | 49–34 | 54–30 | | 63–21 | 56–26 | 41–36 |
| Sheffield | 47–35 | 44–40 | 49–34 | 48–35 | 52–31 | 32–50 | | 38–44 | 42–42 |
| Southampton | 52–29 | 58–26 | 51–33 | 54–29 | 63–21 | 58–24 | 58–26 | | 55–26 |
| West Ham | 48–32 | 53–31 | 55–29 | 60–23 | 41–41 | 44–33 | 70–0 | 42–40 | |

## Leading averages (league only)

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Max Grosskreutz | Norwich | 10.89 |
| George Greenwood | Leeds | 10.77 |
| Frank Goulden | Southampton | 10.19 |
| Charlie Spinks | West Ham | 10.11 |
| Frank Hodgson | Hackney | 10.06 |

## Provincial Trophy

The 1938 Provincial Trophy was the third edition of the Trophy, which was won by Norwich Stars.
First round
| Team one | Team two | scores |
| Norwich | Hackney | 75–33, 44–62 (119–95 agg) |
| Birmingham | Leeds | 61–46, 58–48 (119–94 agg) |
| Sheffield | Newcastle | 68–38, 47–60 (115–98 agg) |
| Southampton | West Ham Hawks | 82–26, 43–63 (125–89 agg) |
Semifinals
| Team one | Team two | scores |
| Norwich | Birmingham | 72–34, 59–47 (131–81 agg) |
| Sheffield | Southampton | 58–49, 53–53 (111–102 agg) |

### Final

| Team one | Team two | scores |
| Norwich | Sheffield | 74–32, 53–54 (127–86 agg) |

## National Trophy

The 1938 National Trophy was the eighth edition of the Knockout Cup. Norwich Stars won the Division 2 Final round and therefore qualified for the quarter finals proper (the round when the tier one sides entered the competition).

### First qualifying round

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 17/05 | Nottingham+ | 60-48 | Hackney Wick+ |
| 21/05 | Hackney Wick+ | 59-49 | Nottingham+ |
| 18/05 | Birmingham | 77-26 | Sheffield |
| 19/05 | Sheffield | 51-56 | Birmingham |
| 23/05 | Newcastle | 53-55 | Norwich |
| 28/05 | Norwich | 75-33 | Newcastle |
| 04/06 | Hackney Wick | 72-36 | Leeds |
| 06/06 | Leeds | 36-72 | Hackney Wick |
+ Nottingham withdrew from league replaced by Leeds resulting in Hackney's result becoming void.

### Second qualifying round

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/06 | Birmingham | 57.5-49.5 | Hackney Wick |
| 18/06 | Hackney Wick | 66-42 | Birmingham |
| 15/06 | Southampton | 76-30 | Norwich |
| 18/06 | Norwich | 77-31 | Southampton |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Norwich were the National Trophy Div 2 winners, winning on aggregate 121-94.

## Riders & final averages

Birmingham
* Tiger Hart 8.82
* Steve Langton 8.22
* Danny Lee 6.28
* Stan Lemon 6.19
* Jack Hyland 5.51
* Jeff Lloyd 5.39
* Bob Lovell 5.22
* Les Trim 5.17
* Keith Harvey 4.52
* Lionel Stanger 3.30
* Charlie Challis 3.20
Hackney
* Frank Hodgson 10.06
* Doug Wells 9.78
* Arch Windmill 7.74
* Nobby Stock 6.91
* George Saunders 6.71
* Tommy Bateman 6.48
* Jim Baylais 6.29
* Stan Dell 6.29
* Jack Tidbury 6.27
* Charlie Appleby 5.00
Lea Bridge
* Lloyd Goffe 9.80
* Dick Harris 8.67
* Gus Kuhn 7.20
* Will Lowther 6.76
* Frank Dolan 6.58
* Bob Wells 6.48
* Ed Pye 6.29
* Ron Clarke 5.69
Leeds
* George Greenwood 10.77
* Fred Strecker 6.00
* Alex Peel 5.68
* Fred Tuck 5.60
* Geoff Godwin 4.76
* Wilf Plant 4.55
* Les Bowden 4.48
* Don Hemingway 3.33
* Roy Barrowclough 2.91
* George Dykes 2.67
Newcastle
* George Pepper 7.94
* Rol Stobbart 6.81
* Bruce Venier 6.62
* Bob Sparks 6.50
* Kid Curtis 6.41
* Norman Hargreaves 6.35
* Reg Hay 6.31
* Elwood Stillwell 5.07
* Maurice Stobbart 5.02
Norwich
* Max Grosskreutz 10.89
* Wal Morton 8.41
* Bert Spencer 9.42
* Jock Sweet 7.09
* Dick Wise 6.95
* Bill Birtwell 6.29
* Wilf Jay 6.20
* Paul Goodchild 5.87
* Alan Brooks Smith 5.25
* Alex Peel 4.39
* Syd Littlewood 3.24
Sheffield
* Billy Lamont 8.88
* Ted Bravery 8.33
* Don Houghton 8.00
* Stan Williams 7.46
* Colin Watson 7.00
* Tommy Allott 6.07
* Paddy Mills (Horace Burke) 4.27
* Les Gregory 3.76
* Eric Blain 3.73
* Harold Brailsford 3.05
* Lionel Stanger 3.30
* Harry Watson 2.67
* Cliff Watson 2.55
Southampton
* Frank Goulden 10.19
* Billy Dallison 9.67
* Bert Jones 8.27
* Syd Griffiths 8.17
* Ernie Rickman 8.06
* Jim Boyd 6.33
* Mike Erskine 5.33
* Cyril Anderson 5.11
* Ron Howes 4.53
* Alf Kaines 3.30
* Jack Adams 2.00
West Ham
* Charlie Spinks 10.11
* Colin Watson 9.36
* Phil Bishop 8.98
* Broncho Dixon 8.17
* Ossie Powell 6.13
* Dick Geary 5.38
* Moff Jones 5.00
* Len Steward 3.65
* Cyril Browning 3.47
* Butch Williams 3.17
* Eddie Barker 3.09