1975 New National League season explained

Competition:New National League
Competitors:20
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Birmingham Brummies
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Eastbourne Eagles
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:Laurie Etheridge
Domesticcup4:Pairs
Domesticcup4 Winners:Newcastle Diamonds
Highest Average:Joe Owen
League Above:1975 British League
Prevseason:1974
Nextseason:1976

The 1975 New National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom when British League Division Two was renamed. It was subsequently named the National League.[1]

Summary

The league increased by one team for the fourth season in a row, despite the loss of three teams; the Barrow Bombers, Long Eaton Archers and Sunderland Gladiators.[2] Sunderland closed for good but in November 1974, Ian Thomas bought the defunct Sunderland licence and transferred it to re-form the Newcastle Diamonds.[3] [4] Three other new teams entered, in addition to the Newcastle Diamonds and they were Crayford Kestrels (returning for their first season since 1970), while Mildenhall Fen Tigers and Paisley Lions both competed in their inaugural seasons.[2]

Birmingham Brummies, winners of the last British League Division Two, retained their title[5] and were promoted to the British League for 1976.[6] [7] Birmingham won the league by 5 points despite losing their leading rider Phil Herne to Newport in division 1. Birmingham relied heavily on Arthur Browning, Alan Grahame and Keith White, improved performances by Ricky Day and Carl Askew and solid seasons once again from John Hart and George Major.[2]

Newcastle finished runner-up on their return to league action, with the Owen brothers Joe Owen and Tom Owen topping the league averages.

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Birmingham Brummies38291859
2Newcastle Diamonds382701154
3Stoke Potters382601252
4Eastbourne Eagles382501350
5Boston Barracudas382421250
6Workington Comets382321348
7Berwick Bandits382131445
8Crayford Kestrels382021642
9Ellesmere Port Gunners381911839
10Canterbury Crusaders381901938
11Bradford Barons381721936
12Coatbridge Tigers381712035
13Scunthorpe Saints381702134
14Rye House Rockets381322328
15Paisley Lions381402428
16Crewe Kings371312327
17Teesside Tigers381302526
18Peterborough Panthers371302426
19Mildenhall Fen Tigers381112623
20Weymouth Wizards38822818

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Joe OwenNewcastle10.89
2Tom OwenNewcastle10.78
3Alan MolyneuxStoke10.10
4Paul GachetEastbourne10.08
5Les RumseyCanterbury10.01

National League Knockout Cup

The 1975 National League Knockout Cup was the eighth edition (first under its new name) of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.[8]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
15/04Ellesmere Port43-35 Coatbridge
11/04Coatbridge 50-28 Ellesmere Port
14/04Newcastle 44-34 Berwick
05/04Berwick 40-38 Newcastle
21/03Peterborough42-36 Boston
16/03Boston40-38 Peterborough
14/04Birmingham51-27 Crayford
15/04Crayford37-40 Birmingham
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
05/05Scunthorpe 38-40 Teesside
01/05Teesside 45-32 Scunthorpe
30/05Coatbridge 39-39 Newcastle
19/05Newcastle 50-27 Coatbridge
10/05Paisley43-34 Workington
30/05Workington 45-33 Paisley
05/05Crewe38-40 Bradford
14/05Bradford48-30 Crewe
09/05Peterborough49-29 Weymouth
29/04Weymouth50-28 Peterborough
11/05Rye House31-46 Birmingham
05/05Birmingham60-18 Rye House
10/05Canterbury40-37 Eastbourne
11/05Eastbourne49-29 Canterbury
Quarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
07/08Teesside 32-46 Newcastle
28/07Newcastle 54-24 Teesside
24/08Workington 47-31 Stoke
21/08Stoke 42-36 Workington
23/09Weymouth 42-36 Eastbourne
09/07Bradford 47-31 Weymouth
14/07Birmingham 41-37 Eastbourne
06/07Eastbourne 45-33 Birmingham
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
19/09Workington 48-30 Newcastle
15/09Newcastle 48-30 Workington
23/09Weymouth 42-36 Eastbourne
21/09Eastbourne 60-18 Weymouth
29/09
replay		Newcastle 37-41 Workington
26/09
replay		Workington 51-27Newcastle

Final

First leg

Second leg

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–72.

Riders' Championship

Laurie Etheridge won the Riders' Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 27 September.[9]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal
1 3 2 2 3 3 13+3
2 3 3 3 3 1 13+2
3 2 2 3 1 2 10+3
4 2 3 0 2 3 10+2
5 1 1 3 2 3 10+1
6 3 1 3 1 1 9
7 0 2 2 1 3 8
8 2 0 1 3 2 8
93 3 fex 2 0 8
10 2 2 2 0 1 7
11 0 1 2 3 f 6
12 1 1 1 0 2 5
13 0 f 1 2 2 5
14 1 0 1 1 4
15 0 3 0 0 0 3
16 1 0 0 0 0

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 17 May and was won by Newcastle Diamonds.[10]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Eastbourne14Gachet 9
Middleditch 5
2Scunthorpe 10McKinlay 6
Childs 4
3Workington8Sansom 7
Gardner 1
4Paisley4Sheldrick 4
Roynon 0
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Crayford14Sage 8
Etheridge 6
2Birmingham10Hart 8
Browning 2
3Bradford9Featherstone 6
Baugh 3
4Rye House3Foote 3
Clarke 0
Group C
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Ellesmere P12Jackson 9
Goad 3
2Peterborough11Clark 6
Matthews 5
3Coatbridge7Collins 6
Gallacher 1
4Stoke6Molyneux 4
Millen 2
Group D
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Newcastle13Havelock 8
Owen T 5
2Crewe10Drury 8
Wasley 2
3Teesside9Reading 5
Durham 4
4Berwick4Gifford 4
Templeton W 0

Semi finals

Final

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Joe OwenNewcastle10.65
2Tom OwenNewcastle10.65
3Alan MolyneuxStoke10.14
4Les RumseyCanterbury9.90
5Paul GachetEastbourne9.87

Riders & final averages

Berwick

Birmingham

Boston

Bradford

Canterbury

Coatbridge

Crayford

Crewe

Eastbourne

Ellesmere Port

Mildenhall

Newcastle

Paisley

Peterborough

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Stoke

Teesside

Weymouth

Workington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. Web site: teams. wwosbackup. 21 September 2021.
  3. News: Ian Thomas buys out Sunderland . Hull Daily Mail . 28 November 1974. 4 May 2024. British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  4. Web site: Sunderland Speedway. Defunct Speedway. 21 September 2021.
  5. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
  6. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
  7. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 101. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
  8. Web site: 1975 National League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  9. News: Lee's title bid fails . Cambridge Daily News . 29 September 1975 . 17 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  10. Web site: 1975 season results . Speedway Researcher . 20 May 2023.

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