1962 Speedway National League

1962 Speedway National League
League	National League
No. of competitors	7
Champions	Southampton Saints
National Trophy	Wimbledon Dons
Highest average	Ronnie Moore
Division/s below	1962 Provincial League
	← 1961; 1963 →;

The 1962 National League was the 28th season and the seventeenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

With the withdrawal of New Cross Rangers and with Leicester Hunters moving down to the Provincial League, the entry list was 8 teams and so home and away fixtures were raced twice. Southampton Saints broke the domination of Wimbledon Dons by winning their first National League title.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Ipswich Witches' season was a complete disaster. Their new signing Olle Nygren did not even start the season due to ill-health and then Jack Unstead was killed in the first recorded fatal crash at Foxhall Stadium, on 13 April 1962.^[5] The club later withdrew from the league due to financial issues and their results were expunged.^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Southampton Saints	24	18	0	6	36
2	Wimbledon Dons	24	14	1	9	29
3	Coventry Bees	24	13	0	11	26
4	Belle Vue Aces	24	12	0	12	24
5	Norwich Stars	24	12	0	12	24
6	Swindon Robins	24	9	2	13	20
7	Oxford Cheetahs	24	4	0	20	8

Ipswich Witches resigned in mid-season.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ronnie Moore	Wimbledon	10.14
2	Björn Knutson	Southampton	9.89
3	Olle Nygren	Swindon/Norwich	9.86
4	Peter Craven	Belle Vue	9.75
5	Barry Briggs	Southampton	9.64
6	Ove Fundin	Norwich	9.30
7	Ron How	Wimbledon	9.30
8	Peter Moore	Ipswich/Swindon	9.02
9	Bob Andrews	Wimbledon	8.82
10	Ron Mountford	Coventry	8.74

National Trophy

The 1962 National Trophy was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.^[7]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/06	Wimbledon	49-35	Belle Vue
23/06	Belle Vue	46-38	Wimbledon
23/06	Swindon	51-33	Ipswich
22/06	Ipswich	42-40	Swindon
19/06	Southampton	56-28	Coventry
16/06	Norwich	33-51	Oxford
14/06	Oxford	47-37	Norwich
16/06	Coventry	41-43	Southampton

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
23/08	Oxford	45-39	Swindon
18/08	Swindon	59-25	Oxford
14/08	Southampton	42-42	Wimbledon
13/08	Wimbledon	50-33	Southampton

Final

First leg

24 September 1962

Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 14 Ron How 14 Bob Andrews 11 Gerry Jackson 7 Cyril Brine 5 Leo McAuliffe 3 Jim Tebby 1	55 – 29	Swindon Robins Mike Broadbank 9 Arne Carlsson 7 Ian Williams 4 Martin Ashby 3 Peter Moore 3 Brian Brett 2 Neil Street 1
	^[8]

Wimbledon Stadium

Second leg

29 September 1962

Swindon Robins Martin Ashby 15 Mike Broadbank 7 Peter Moore 7 Arne Carlsson 6 Neil Street 5 Ian Williams 3 Brian Brett 2	45 – 39	Wimbledon Dons Ronnie Moore 13 Ron How 12 Bob Andrews 9 Cyril Brine 3 Gerry Jackson 2 Jim Tebby 0 Leo McAuliffe 0
	^[8]

Abbey Stadium

Wimbledon were National Trophy Champions, winning on aggregate 94–74.

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Ipswich (resigned mid season)

Norwich

Oxford

Southampton

Björn Knutson 9.89
Barry Briggs 9.64
Cyril Roger 7.49
Alby Golden 7.33
Peter Vandenberg 7.10
Reg Luckhurst 6.54
Dick Bradley 6.37

Swindon

Wimbledon

References

^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
^ "Rider killed in Speedway crash". Birmingham Daily Post. 14 April 1962. Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Close-Down at Ipswich". Daily Mirror. 27 July 1962. Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "1962 National Trophy". Speedway archive.
^ ^a ^b "1962 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

[1] "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.

[2] "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

[3] Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.

[4] "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - POST-WAR ERA (1946-1964)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

[5] "Rider killed in Speedway crash". Birmingham Daily Post. 14 April 1962. Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[6] "Close-Down at Ipswich". Daily Mirror. 27 July 1962. Retrieved 1 January 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

[7] "1962 National Trophy". Speedway archive.

[SR-8] "1962 National Trophy". Speedway Archive. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

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