1962 Speedway National League

1962 Speedway National League
League	National League
No. of competitors	7
Champions	Southampton Saints
National Trophy	Wimbledon Dons
Highest average	Ronnie Moore
Division/s below	1962 Provincial League
	← 1961; 1963 →;

The 1962 National League was the 28th season and the seventeenth post-war season of the highest tier of motorcycle speedway in Great Britain.^[1]

Summary

With the withdrawal of New Cross Rangers and with Leicester Hunters moving down to the Provincial League, the entry list was 8 teams and so home and away fixtures were raced twice. Southampton Saints broke the domination of Wimbledon Dons by winning their first National League title.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Ipswich Witches' season was a complete disaster. Their new signing Olle Nygren did not even start the season due to ill-health and then Jack Unstead was killed in the first recorded fatal crash at Foxhall Stadium, on 13 April 1962.^[5] The club later withdrew from the league due to financial issues and their results were expunged.^[6]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Southampton Saints	24	18	0	6	36
2	Wimbledon Dons	24	14	1	9	29
3	Coventry Bees	24	13	0	11	26
4	Belle Vue Aces	24	12	0	12	24
5	Norwich Stars	24	12	0	12	24
6	Swindon Robins	24	9	2	13	20
7	Oxford Cheetahs	24	4	0	20	8

Ipswich Witches resigned in mid-season.

Top Ten Riders (League only)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.14
2	Björn Knutson		Southampton	9.89
3	Olle Nygren		Swindon/Norwich	9.86
4	Peter Craven		Belle Vue	9.75
5	Barry Briggs		Southampton	9.64
6	Ove Fundin		Norwich	9.30
7	Ron How		Wimbledon	9.30
8	Peter Moore		Ipswich/Swindon	9.02
9	Bob Andrews		Wimbledon	8.82
10	Ron Mountford		Coventry	8.74

National Trophy

The 1962 National Trophy was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup. Wimbledon were the winners.^[7]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
25/06	Wimbledon	49-35	Belle Vue
23/06	Belle Vue	46-38	Wimbledon
23/06	Swindon	51-33	Ipswich
22/06	Ipswich	42-40	Swindon
19/06	Southampton	56-28	Coventry
16/06	Norwich	33-51	Oxford
14/06	Oxford	47-37	Norwich
16/06	Coventry	41-43	Southampton