1954 Southern Area League

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LeagueSouthern Area League
No. of competitors5
ChampionsCalifornia Poppies
Riders' ChampionshipAlby Golden
1954 Southern Area League
LeagueSouthern Area League
No. of competitors5
ChampionsCalifornia Poppies
Riders' ChampionshipAlby Golden
Highest averageErnie Lessiter
Division/s aboveNational League Div 1
National League Div 2

The 1954 Southern Area League was the first season of the newly named regional third tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. It replaced the defunct Southern League. With most of the Southern League teams moving up to Speedway National League Division Two, six new teams started the season—many of them making their debut in league speedway.[1]

Three teams finished equal on points at the top but California Poppies from California, Berkshire were champions by the slenderest possible margin of a single race point with all their rivals having an fixture in hand that was never ridden.

Aldershot Shots withdrew mid-season.[2] Ernie Lessiter of Ringwood topped the averages.[3]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 California Poppies 16 9 0 7 18
2 Ringwood Turfs 15 9 0 6 18
3 Rye House Roosters 15 9 0 6 18
4 Brafield Flying Foxes 15 8 0 7 16
5 Eastbourne Eagles 15 3 0 12 6

Withdrawal (Record expunged) : Aldershot Shots

Fixtures & results

A fixtures

Home \ Away ALD BFF CAL EAS RIN RYE
Aldershot 41–42 54–30 55–29 53–30 48–33
Brafield 55–29 48–36 50–33 48–36 46–37
California 53–31 47–36 57–27 38–45 38–46
Eastbourne 39–45 27.5–54.5 38–46 25–59 34–49
Ringwood 50–33 35–48 46–38 51–33 50–33
Rye House 44–39 49–34 47–37 60–22 51–33
Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away BFF CAL EAS RIN RYE
Brafield 42–40 n/a n/a 46–37
California 52–29 60–24 45–39 55–28
Eastbourne 47–31 34–49 41–37 38–43
Ringwood 53–26 47–37 50–29 50–34
Rye House 53–31 41–43 54–30 50–34
Source: [5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Leading Averages

Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Ernie Lessiter Ringwood 10.86
2 Gil Goldfinch California 10.48
3 Jimmy Gleed California 10.21
4 Peter Mould California 9.83
5 Vic Hall Brafield 9.46

Riders' Championship

Alby Golden won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Rye House Stadium on 3 October.[6][7]

Pos.RiderClubPts
1Alby GoldenRingwood14+3
2Ernie LessiterRingwood14+2
3Vic RidgeonRye House12
4Dave SlaterRye House10
5Fran GreasleyBrafield10
6Vic HallBrafield8
7Jimmy GleedCalifornia7
8Jack TaylorEastbourne7
9Pete MouldCalifornia6
10Geoff WoodgerRye House6
11Gil GoldfinchCalifornia6
12Bob BunneyAldershot/Eastbourne5
13Bill Simpson (res)Rye House5
14Ron BurnettAldershot4
15Syd GeorgeBrafield2
16Eric HockadayCalifornia2
17Harry WilsonEastbourne2
18Gordon Richards (res)Eastbourne/Ringwood0


Riders & final averages

See also

References

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