1950 Speedway National League Division Three

1950 Speedway National League Division Three
LeagueNational League Division Three
Season1950
No. of competitors10
ChampionsOxford Cheetahs
National Trophy
(Div 3 final)		Oxford Cheetahs
Riders' ChampionshipPat Clark
Highest averageKen Middleditch
Division/s aboveDivision One
Division Two

The 1950 National League Division Three was the fourth season of British speedway's National League Division Three[1]

The league was reduced from 13 teams to 10. Halifax Dukes, Plymouth, Yarmouth and Hanley had all moved up to Division Two whilst Hastings Saxons dropped out. The two new sides were Aldershot Shots[2] and St Austell Gulls whilst Tamworth changed their nickname from 'Hounds' to 'Tammies'.[3]

Oxford Cheetahs, who had finished bottom of the table during their inaugural league season in 1949, rose spectacularly up the league to win the title. The Oxford team was made up from an entirely new set of riders including Harry Saunders, signed as captain from Tamworth for £750, Pat Clark from Rayleigh for £250, Bill Osborne from Walthamstow, Raymond Buster Brown from Wembley and Eric Irons from Cradley.[4]

Ken Middleditch of Poole topped the averages.[5]

  1. ^ "Home". speedwayresearcher.org.uk.
  2. ^ "Speedway is in Third Division". Aldershot News. 17 March 1950. Retrieved 20 October 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
  4. ^ Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The History of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
  5. ^ "National League Division 3 1950" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 11 November 2021.