# 1959 Speedway National League

The 1959 National League was the 25th season and the fourteenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.

## Summary

With Ipswich Witches dropping down to the Southern Area League, only 9 teams competed with Wimbledon Dons continuing their domination of British speedway with their fifth title in six years.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wimbledon Dons | 16 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
| 2 | Leicester Hunters | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
| 3 | Coventry Bees | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
| 4 | Norwich Stars | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 5 | Southampton Saints | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 6 | Poole Pirates | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 7 | Oxford Cheetahs | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 14 |
| 8 | Swindon Robins | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 12 |
| 9 | Belle Vue Aces | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 10 |

## Fixtures and results

| Home \ Away | BV | COV | LEI | NOR | OX | PP | SOT | SWI | WIM |
| Belle Vue | | 55–35 | 50–39 | 44–46 | 44–46 | 65–43 | 69–38 | 51–57 | 52–56 |
| Coventry | 51–39 | | 45–45 | 64–44 | 51–39 | 69–39 | 48–42 | 51–39 | 43–47 |
| Leicester | 50–40 | 57–33 | | 66–42 | 45–43 | 60–30 | 43–47 | 46–44 | 49–41 |
| Norwich | 47–43 | 60–30 | 62–46 | | 65–42 | 54–36 | 72–36 | 48–42 | 44–46 |
| Oxford | 62–28 | 61–29 | 49–41 | 58–49 | | 44–45 | 49–41 | 52–38 | 34–56 |
| Poole | 48–60 | 60–48 | 58–50 | 63–27 | 52–38 | | 53–37 | 46–44 | 47–43 |
| Southampton | 59–31 | 53–54 | 50–58 | 47–43 | 74–34 | 58–32 | | 54–36 | 41–49 |
| Swindon | 51–39 | 50–58 | 59–31 | 49–41 | 45–44 | 63–27 | 43–47 | | 39–68 |
| Wimbledon | 65–25 | 67–41 | 75–33 | 50–40 | 70–38 | 53–37 | 44–45 | 63–27 | |

## Top Ten Riders (League only)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Ove Fundin | Norwich | 11.00 |
| 2 | Peter Craven | Belle Vue | 10.84 |
| 3 | Ken McKinlay | Leicester | 10.75 |
| 4 | Brian Crutcher | Southampton | 10.65 |
| 5 | Ronnie Moore | Wimbledon | 10.52 |
| 6 | Peter Moore | Wimbledon | 10.08 |
| 7 | Ron How | Wimbledon | 9.92 |
| 8 | Mike Broadbank | Swindon | 9.40 |
| 9 | Ron Johnston | Belle Vue | 9.05 |
| 10 | Arne Pander | Oxford | 8.90 |

## National Trophy

The 1959 National Trophy was the 21st edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 30/05 | Swindon | 55-52 | Oxford |
| 28/05 | Oxford | 59-49 | Swindon |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 16/07 | Oxford | 57-51 | Southampton |
| 14/07 | Southampton | 61-47 | Oxford |
| 27/06 | Belle Vue | 67-41 | Leicester |
| 27/06 | Coventry | 69-39 | Wimbledon |
| 26/06 | Leicester | 59-49 | Belle Vue |
| 22/06 | Wimbledon | 71-37 | Coventry |
| 20/06 | Norwich | 65-43 | Poole |
| 19/06 | Poole | 46-62 | Norwich |
Semifinals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 08/08 | Norwich | 53-55 | Southampton |
| 04/08 | Southampton | 73-35 | Norwich |
| 03/08 | Wimbledon | 75-33 | Belle Vue |
| 01/08 | Belle Vue | 54-54 | Wimbledon |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 123–93.

## Riders & final averages

Belle Vue
* Peter Craven 10.84
* Ron Johnston 9.05
* Bob Duckworth 7.24
* Dick Fisher 6.57
* Peter Williams 5.54
* Arthur Wright 5.33
* Slant Payling 4.21
* Tink Maynard 3.64
* Jack Kitchen 3.00
* Danny Dunton 2.73
* Graham Beattie 2.50
* Tony Robinson 1.20
* Graham Coombes 0.29
Coventry
* Nigel Boocock 8.65
* Ron Mountford 7.61
* Arthur Forrest 7.28
* Nick Nicholls 5.51
* Maury Mattingley 5.44
* Brian Meredith 5.33
* Jim Lightfoot 4.98
* Les Owen 4.94
* Antti Pajari 4.32
* Graham Warren 2.00
Leicester
* Ken McKinlay 10.75
* Jack Geran 8.50
* Marian Kaiser 7.80
* Eric Boothroyd 5.95
* Charlie Barsby 4.10
* Bryan Elliott 4.00
* Guy Allott 3.80
* Alf Hagon 3.70
* Harry Bastable 2.67
* Dave Hankins 2.10
Norwich
* Ove Fundin 11.00
* Aub Lawson 8.56
* Billy Bales 7.78
* Cyril Roger 6.25
* Reg Trott 5.76
* Phil Clarke 5.63
* Johnny Chamberlain 5.58
* Derek Strutt 4.55
* Harry Edwards 4.76
* Clive Featherby 4.00
Oxford
* Arne Pander 8.90
* Gordon McGregor 8.32
* Ronnie Genz 7.07
* Nick Nicholls 7.00
* Roy Bowers 5.96
* Arthur Wright 5.70
* Ken Adams 5.37
* Colin Gooddy 5.02
* Howdy Byford 3.52
* Dave Still 0.00
Poole
* Ray Cresp 7.37
* Les McGillivray 7.14
* Jack Unstead 7.08
* Birger Forsberg 6.85
* Jack Biggs 6.34
* Jimmy Squibb 5.70
* Trevor Blokdyk 4.88
* Reg Duval 4.50
* Terry Small 4.34
* Norman Strachan 3.73
Southampton
* Brian Crutcher 10.65
* Geoff Mardon 8.73
* Björn Knutson 8.40
* Jimmy Squibb 6.67
* Chum Taylor 6.22
* Dick Bradley 6.22
* Alby Golden 5.33
* Jack Scott 4.86
* Johnny Hole 5.70
* Brian Hanham 4.09
* Brian Brett 4.85
Swindon
* Mike Broadbank 9.40
* George White 7.89
* Ian Williams 7.22
* Tadeusz Teodorowicz 6.58
* Neil Street 6.57
* Trevor Redmond 3.71
* John Board 3.60
* Glyn Chandler 2.18
* Ray Harris 1.56
* Roy Moreton 0.94
* Leo McAuliffe 0.00
Wimbledon
* Ronnie Moore 10.52
* Peter Moore 10.40
* Ron How 9.92
* Barry Briggs 8.80
* Gerald Jackson 7.14
* Jim Tebby 6.55
* Bob Andrews 6.49
* Cyril Maidment 6.35
* Gerry King 5.00
* Cyril Brine 4.07