1976 National League season explained

Competition:National League
Competitors:18
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Newcastle Diamonds
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Newcastle Diamonds
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:Joe Owen
Domesticcup4:Pairs
Domesticcup4 Winners:Ellesmere Port Gunners
Domesticcup5:Fours
Domesticcup5 Winners:Newcastle Diamonds
Highest Average:Joe Owen
League Above:1976 British League
Prevseason:1975
Nextseason:1977

The 1976 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom having been renamed from the previous season's moniker of New National League.[1] [2] [3]

Summary

The league was reduced from 20 teams down to 18, following the loss of three teams and gain of one. Birmingham Brummies moved up to the British League and Bradford Barons and Crewe Kings both closed down.[4] Sadly for Crewe the team would never return.[5] The additional team was the Oxford Cheetahs, who had returned to their traditional name following a three year period known as the Oxford Rebels. The Rebels team and promoters had moved to White City during the winter[6] but Oxford were saved by new promoters Harry Bastable and Tony Allsop after a committee of fans had created a "Save Our Stadium" campaign over the previous winter.[7] [8]

Newcastle Diamonds comfortably won their first National League title, completing a cup double, and dropping only seven points.[9] [10] The Owen brothers Joe Owen and Tom Owen topped the averages for the second consecutive year. Joe finished with an 11+ average and won the British League Division Two Riders Championship and Newcastle completed the league and cup double.

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Newcastle Diamonds34301361
2Ellesmere Port Gunners34241949
3Workington Comets342011341
4Canterbury Crusaders342001440
5Rye House Rockets341721536
6Crayford Kestrels341711635
7Coatbridge Tigers341711635
8Eastbourne Eagles341701734
9Peterborough Panthers341621634
10Berwick Bandits341701734
11Stoke Potters341511831
12Boston Barracudas341511831
13Mildenhall Fen Tigers341511831
14Oxford Cheetahs341411929
15Weymouth Wizards341122124
16Paisley Lions341202224
17Scunthorpe Saints341112223
18Teesside Tigers341002420

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Joe OwenNewcastle11.55
2Tom OwenNewcastle10.28
3Steve WeatherleyEastbourne10.27
4John JacksonEllesmere Port10.20
5Laurie EtheridgeCrayford9.96

National League Knockout Cup

The 1976 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Newcastle Diamonds were the winners of the competition.[11]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
22/04Oxford 48-30 Weymouth
20/04Weymouth 40-38 Oxford
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
01/06Ellesmere Port 46-32 Paisley
27/05Stoke 37-41 Newcastle
24/05Newcastle59-19 Stoke
23/05Mildenhall38-40 Peterborough
22/05Paisley36-42 Ellesmere Port
21/05Peterborough42-36 Mildenhall
17/05Scunthorpe43-35 Berwick
16/05Eastbourne41-37 Oxford
16/05Workington46-32 Coatbridge
14/05Coatbridge33-45 Workington
13/05Oxford 47-31 Eastbourne
11/05Crayford46-32 Boston
09/05Boston48-30 Crayford
02/05Rye House45-32 Canterbury
01/05Berwick45-32 Scunthorpe
01/05Canterbury44-34 Rye House
23/04Coatbridge52-25 Teesside
22/04Teesside 46-32 Coatbridge
Quarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
23/07Workington46-31 Boston
20/07Ellesmere Port50-28 Rye House
18/07Rye House38-39 Ellesmere Port
17/07Berwick 48-30 Oxford
11/07Boston48-29 Workington
08/07Oxford 40-38 Berwick
05/07Newcastle47-31 Peterborough
25/06Peterborough39-39 Newcastle
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
05/09Boston 42-35Berwick
28/08Berwick 49-29 Boston
17/08Ellesmere Port41-37 Newcastle
16/08Newcastle46-31 Ellesmere Port

Final

First leg

Second leg

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

Riders' Championship

Joe Owen won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by Gauloises and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 2 October.[12]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal
1 3 3 3 3 2 14
2 3 3 0 3 3 12+3
3 1 2 3 3 3 12+2
4 2 2 3 2 2 11
5 2 3 1 3 1 10
6 2 2 2 1 3 10
7 3 0 2 2 2 9
8 1 1 1 2 3 8
93 0 2 1 1 7
10 1 1 2 1 2 7
11 2 3 0 0 1 6
12 1 2 3 0 0 6
13 0 1 0 1 1 3
14 0 1 1 0 0 2
15 Carl Askew (res) 0 2 0 2
16 0 0 1 1
17 0 0
18 Ian Williams (res) 0 0 0 0

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 5 June and was won by Ellesmere Port Gunners.[13]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Ellesmere P11Jackson 7
Turner 4
2Eastbourne 10Weatherley 9
Jarman 1
3Peterborough10Clark 7
Featherstone 3
4Teesside5Emerson 5
Reading 0
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Newcastle 15Owen J 9
Owen T 6
2Boston9Burton 5
Hollingworth 4
3Scunthorpe8Featherstone 6
Baugh 3
4Coatbridge4Dawson 3
Collins 1
Group C
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Workington11Sansom 6
Goad 5
2Paisley9Farquharson 9
Sheldrick 0
3Berwick8Hiftle 5
Adlington 3
4Rye House8Hubbard 7
Foote 1
Group D
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Mildenhall12Coles 8
Jolly 4
2Stoke10Collins L 8
Millen 2
3Weymouth9Yeates 8
Harding 1
4Crayford5Etheridge 4
Johns 1

Semi finals

Final

Fours

Newcastle won the fours championship final, held at King's Lynn Stadium on 17 July.[14]

Semi finals

Final

width=25pxPos width=150pxTeamwidth=50pxPts width=400pxRiders
1 Newcastle 18Owen T 6, Owen J 6, Cusworth 3, Michelides 3
2 Eastbourne 13Weatherley 5, Sampson 4, Richardson 4, Dugard 0, Jarman 0
3 Ellesmere Port 12Jackson 6, Gardner 3, Turner 2, Finch 1
4 Workington 5Lawson 4, Goad 1, Havelock 0, Kelly 0

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Joe OwenNewcastle11.54
2Tom OwenNewcastle10.43
3Steve WeatherleyEastbourne10.35
4John JacksonEllesmere Port10.08
5Laurie EtheridgeCrayford9.87

Riders & final averages

Berwick

Boston

Canterbury

Coatbridge

Crayford

Eastbourne

Ellesmere Port

Mildenhall

Newcastle

Oxford

Paisley

Peterborough

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Stoke

Teesside

Weymouth

Workington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac.
  2. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  3. Book: Rogers, Martin. The Illustrated History of Speedway. 1978. 129. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-904584-45-3.
  4. Web site: Teams. wwosbackup. 26 September 2021.
  5. Web site: Crewe Speedway. Defunct Speedway. 26 September 2021.
  6. Lawson,K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”.
  7. Book: Oakes, P. Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd. 2006. 0-9552376-1-0.
  8. Lawson,K (2018) “The Cheetahs – The Resurrection”.
  9. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
  10. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 101. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
  11. Web site: 1976 National League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  12. News: Joe Owen gains speedway double . Lincolnshire Echo . 4 October 1976 . 17 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  13. Web site: 1976 season results . Speedway Researcher . 20 May 2023.
  14. News: Brothers clinch win for Diamonds . Lynn Advertiser . 20 July 1976 . 9 May 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .

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