- Summary
- Final table
- Top Five Riders
- National Trophy First Round Second Round Quarter Finals Semi Finals Final
- See also
- References
{{Infobox speedway league season
| competition = Southern League
| season = 1931
| competitors = 11
| champion = Wembley Lions
| league other = 1931 Northern League
| prevseason = 1930
| nextseason = 1932
}}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] SummaryBoth 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 TrophyThe 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 alsoList of United Kingdom Speedway League ChampionsReferences1. ^{{cite web|url=http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/p/compet.html|title=Historic league tables|publisher=Speedway Archive}}
2. ^
3. ^{{cite web|url=http://edinburghspeedway.blogspot.com/2013/05/national-trophy-1931.html|title=1931 National Trophy|publisher=Speedway archive}}
{{Speedway Southern League seasons}}{{Speedway in the United Kingdom}}{{United Kingdom Speedway Seasons}} 3 : Speedway Southern League|1931 in British motorsport|1931 in speedway |