1931 Speedway Southern League

The 1931 Southern League was the third season of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams, and its final season before amalgamation of the two regional leagues.[1]

1931 Speedway Southern League

League	Southern League
Season	1931
Champions	Wembley Lions
No. of competitors	11
Division/s other	1931 Northern League

Summary

Both Birmingham teams based at Perry Barr and Hall Green had left as had Coventry who returned mid-season to replace Leicester who were liquidated in April. Harringay Canaries resigned in June to be replaced by Belle Vue who then rode both in the Northern and Southern Leagues. Nottingham closed in July but they were not replaced and their results stood. The league season was the longest in the short history of the competition as teams met each other four times instead of twice.

The Wembley Lions won their second consecutive title.[2]

Final table

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Wembley Lions	37	28	1	8	57
Stamford Bridge Pensioners	38	27	0	11	54
West Ham Hammers	38	23	0	15	46
Crystal Palace Glaziers	38	22	0	16	44
Wimbledon Dons	38	19	1	18	39
High Beach	38	19	1	18	39
Southampton Saints	38	18	0	20	36
Harringay Canaries + Belle Vue	38	14	0	24	28*
Lea Bridge	38	11	0	27	22
Leicester Stadium + Coventry	37	8	1	28	17**
Nottingham	20	8	0	12	16

* Harringay scored 12 points from 14 matches, Belle Vue scored 16 from 24
** Leicester scored 1 point from 8 matches, Coventry scored 16 from 30

Top Five Riders

		Team	C.M.A.
1	Tommy Croombs	West Ham Hammers	10.41
2	Dicky Case	Wimbledon Dons	10.14
3	Jack Parker	Southampton Saints	10.02
4	Frank Arthur	Stamford Bridge Pensioners	9.97
5	Vic Huxley	Harringay Canaries/Wimbledon Dons	9.87

National Trophy

The 1931 National Trophy was the first edition of the Knockout Cup. It was contested between teams from the Southern and Northern Leagues.[3]

First Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
11/05	Wimbledon	67-26	Hall Green
12/05	West Ham	51-45	Southampton
13/05	Lea Bridge	59-33	Nottingham
14/05	Exeter	34-59	High Beech
14/05	Leicester Stadium	39.5-54.5	Stamford Bridge
15/05	Hall Green	42.5-49.5	Wimbledon
16/05	High Beech	61-33	Exeter
16/05	Southampton	42-49	West Ham
16/05	Stamford Bridge	59-35	Leicester Stadium
21/05	Nottingham	46-47	Lea Bridge

Second Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
25/05	Belle Vue	73-22	Wombwell
25/05	York	42-53	Leicester Super
26/05	Glasgow White City	43-52	Preston
28/05	Sheffield	54-40	Leeds
30/05	Leeds	39-52	Sheffield
30/05	Leicester Super	69-26	York
30/05	Wombwell	27-64	Belle Vue
04/06	Preston	70-26	Glasgow White City
08/06	Wimbledon	60-36	Crystal Palace
09/06	Harringay	?	Stamford Bridge
09/06	West Ham	44-52	Wembley
10/06	Lea Bridge	52-38	High Beech
11/06	Wembley	56-37	West Ham
13/06	Crystal Palace	48-48	Wimbledon
13/06	High Beech	55-39	Lea Bridge

Quarter Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
02/07	Preston	65-31	High Beech
11/07	Belle Vue	50-46	Wimbledon
11/07	Sheffield	41-55	Wembley
16/07	Leicester Super	44-50	Stamford Bridge
18/07	High Beech	48-42	Preston
23/07	Wembley	70-25	Sheffield
27/07	Wimbledon	55-41	Belle Vue
19/08	Stamford Bridge	61-31	Leicester Super

Semi Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
10/09	Preston	43-51	Stamford Bridge
17/09	Wembley	48-47	Wimbledon
21/09	Wimbledon	46-49	Wembley
26/09	Stamford Bridge	66-30	Preston

Final

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
08/10	Wembley	71-24	Stamford Bridge
10/10	Stamford Bridge	68-40	Wembley

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
3. "1931 National Trophy". Speedway archive.