# 1956 Southern Area League

The 1956 Southern Area League was the third season of the regional third tier/division of speedway racing in the United Kingdom British teams. Brafield Flying Foxes were no longer competitors with Southern Rovers taking their place. Southern Rovers had no track and raced all their 'home' fixtures on away tracks.

## Summary

Rye House Roosters were the champions for the second consecutive season.
Although the Southern Area League continued, it became the second tier division instead of the third tier division. There was not another third division of British speedway until 1996 when the Conference was inaugurated.

## Final table

| pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Rye House Roosters | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| 2 | Eastbourne Eagles | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Southern Rovers | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 4 | California Poppies | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |

## Fixtures & results
### A fixtures

| Home \ Away | CAL | EAS | RYE | SR |
| California | | 40–44 | 47–36 | 58–24 |
| Eastbourne | 55–28 | | 29–54 | 36–48 |
| Rye House | 52–32 | 54–30 | | 42–42 |
| Southern Rovers | 39–45 | 47–36 | 49–35 | |

### B fixtures

| Home \ Away | CAL | EAS | RYE | SR |
| California | | 40–43 | 43–39 | 41–42 |
| Eastbourne | 49–32 | | 40–37 | 41–41 |
| Rye House | 56–26 | 56–28 | | 52–32 |
| Southern Rovers | 42–41 | 41–43 | 32–52 | |

## Riders' Championship

Leo McAuliffe won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 30 September, after initially being postponed on the 9 September because of rain.
| Pos. | Rider | Club | Pts |
| 1 | Leo McAuliffe | Eastbourne | 14 |
| 2 | Jim Heard | Eastbourne | 12+3 |
| 3 | Dave Slater | Rye House | 12+2 |
| 4 | Pete Mould | California | 12+1 |
| 5 | Gerry King | Rye House | 8 |
| 6 | Brian Brett | Rye House | 8 |
| 7 | Jimmy Gleed | California | 7 |
| 8 | Vic Ridgeon | Rye House | 7 |
| 9 | Ron Webb | California | 5 |
| 10 | Eric Eadon | Southern Rovers | 5 |
| 11 | Tom Reader | Eastbourne | 5 |
| 12 | Neil Roberts (res) | Southern Rovers | 5 |
| 13 | Bobby Croombs | Rye House | 4 |
| 14 | Ross Gilbertson | California | 4 |
| 15 | Dave Collett | Eastbourne | 3 |
| 16 | Jim Chalkley | Rye House | 2 |
| 17 | Ron Walton | California | 2 |
| 18 | Colin Gooddy (res) | Southern Rovers | 1 |

## Southern Area League Cup

The 1956 Southern Area League Cup was won by Rye House Roosters.
First round
| Team one | Team two | Score |
| Southern Rovers | Rye House | 50–58 |
| Eastbourne | California | 46–61 |

### Final

First leg
Second leg

## Riders & final averages

California
* Pete Mold 9.67
* Gil Goldfinch 9.50
* Ross Gilbertson 8.86
* Ron Sharp 8.57
* Jimmy Gleed 6.93
* Ron Walton 4.91
* Phil Sheppard 4.47
* Roy Gutteridge 3.50
* John Day 3.33
* Ron Webb 2.88
Eastbourne
* Leo McAuliffe 8.57
* Jimmy Heard 7.14
* Tom Reader 7.00
* Gerry Bridson 5.87
* Dave Collett 5.33
* Bob Bunney 4.80
* Jim Preddy 2.00
Rye House
* Al Sparrey 9.67
* Vic Ridgeon 9.50
* Bobby Croombs 8.60
* Dave Slater 9.67
* Brian Brett 7.56
* Gerry King 7.20
* Jim Chalkley 5.80
* Les Searle 2.00
Southern Rovers
* Eric Hockaday 9.47
* Tommy Sweetman 9.09
* Colin Gooddy 8.52
* Brian Meredith 7.33
* Eric Eadon 7.11
* Brian Miller 5.33
* Tony Eadon 4.31
* Mike Lawrence 4.24
* Neil Roberts 4.00
* Hank Bird 3.08