1959 Southern Area League

1959 Southern Area League
LeagueSouthern Area League
No. of competitors5
ChampionsEastbourne Eagles
Riders' ChampionshipDave Hankins
Highest averageColin Gooddy
Division/s above1959 National League

The 1959 Southern Area League was the final season of the Southern Area League as the regional second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom for Southern British teams. With no league in 1958, a set of 6 new teams competed in 1959.[1]

Summary

Eastbourne Eagles were the champions, Southern Rovers withdrew after just one league meeting and were replaced by Aldershot who inherited their result. [2]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Eastbourne Eagles 8 5 1 2 11
2 Yarmouth Bloaters 8 4 1 3 9
3 Aldershot Shots 8 4 0 4 8
4 Rye House 8 3 0 5 6
5 Ipswich Witches 8 3 0 5 6

Southern Rovers withdrew after one meeting - result incorporated with Aldershot.

Leading Averages

[3]

Rider Team C.M.A.
1 Colin Gooddy Eastbourne 10.76
2 Gil Goldfinch Eastbourne & Ipswich 9.46
3 Johnny Fitzpatrick Yarmouth 9.44
4 Derek Timms Aldershot 9.38
5 Ivor Brown Yarmouth 9.29

Riders' Championship

Dave Hankins won the Riders' Championship. The final was held at Foxhall Stadium on 26 September.[4] [5][6]

Pos. Rider Club Pts
1 Dave Hankins Ipswich & Yarmouth 15
2 Derek Timms Aldershot 13
3 Ivor Brown Yarmouth 12
4 Shorty Schirmer Ipswich 10
5 Colin Gooddy Eastbourne 10
6 John Fitzpatrick Yarmouth 9
7 Ronnie Rolfe Rye House 9
8 Ross Gilbertson Eastbourne 8
9 Eric Hockaday Aldershot 8
10 Gil Goldfinch Eastbourne & Ipswich 7
11 Ron Bagley (res) Ipswich 4
12 Clive Hitch Rye House 3
13 Ken Last Ipswich & Yarmouth 3
14 Stan Stevens (res) Rye House 3
15 Tommy Sweetman Rye House 2
16 Ernie Baker Rye House 2
17 Dave Still Eastbourne 1
18 Bobby Croombs Rye House 0
19 Ivor Toms (res) Unattached 0


Riders & final averages

Aldershot

  • Derek Timms 9.38
  • Peter Vandenberg 8.00
  • Eric Hockaday 8.00
  • Bob Thomas 7.00
  • John Edwards 5.00
  • Eric Eadon 4.20
  • George Major 4.00
  • Roy Pickering 4.00
  • Ken Vale 3.08
  • Arthur Ashby 1.33

Eastbourne

Ipswich

  • Gil Goldfinch 9.43
  • Jimmy Heard 7.71
  • Wal Morton 7.67
  • Shorty Schirmer 7.60
  • Ronnie Rolfe 7.08
  • Bob Thomas 6.40
  • Jimmy Gleed 4.76
  • Ron Bagley 4.50
  • Vic White 3.43
  • Pat Flanagan 2.81

Rye House

  • Tommy Sweetman 8.75
  • Ronnie Rolfe 7.57
  • Ernie Baker 6.77
  • Clive Hitch 6.62
  • Stan Stevens 6.36
  • Bobby Croombs 6.17
  • Pete Sampson 3.64

Yarmouth

  • Ken Adams 12.00 (4 matches only)
  • Ron Sharp 9.44
  • Ray Harris 9.42
  • Brian Craven 7.86
  • Bill Wainwright 7.70
  • Fred Collier 5.44
  • Ken Last 4.40
  • Tony Childs 3.00

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Southern Area League 1959 averages" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Rider Profile Dave Hankins". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Local riders win best pairs event". Eastbourne Gazette. 30 September 1959. Retrieved 10 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Southern Area League Riders Championship". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 10 June 2023.