1981 National League season explained

Competition:National League
Competitors:19
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Middlesbrough Tigers
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Edinburgh Monarchs
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:Mike Ferreira
Domesticcup4:Pairs
Domesticcup4 Winners:Canterbury Crusaders
Domesticcup5:Fours
Domesticcup5 Winners:Edinburgh Monarchs
Highest Average:Mike Ferreira
League Above:1981 British League
Prevseason:1980
Nextseason:1982

The 1981 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1]

Summary

The league started with 20 teams with Nottingham Outlaws dropping out and Wolverhampton Wolves joining up, having moved down from the British League. Wolves promoter Mike Parker was replaced by Dan McCormick for the 1981 season.[2]

Berwick Bandits were forced to quit after 26 league meetings, their record being expunged. Middlesbrough Tigers comfortably won their first ever title.[3] [4]

Exeter Falcons rider Tony Sanford died following an accident at the County Ground Stadium on 7 September. He was racing in a match against Milton Keynes when he hit a barrier near the final bend.[5] A memorial trophy was held in subsequent years in his memory.[6]

Final table

[7]

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Middlesbrough Tigers36301561
2Weymouth Wildcats36261953
3Newcastle Diamonds362511051
4Edinburgh Monarchs362501150
5Glasgow Tigers362401248
6Boston Barracudas362201444
7Exeter Falcons362201444
8Mildenhall Fen Tigers362001640
9Peterborough Panthers361911639
10Crayford Kestrels361901738
11Ellesmere Port Gunners361811737
12Oxford Cheetahs361811737
13Wolverhampton Wolves361412129
14Canterbury Crusaders361412129
15Stoke Potters361402228
16Rye House Rockets361102522
17Scunthorpe Stags36612913
18Workington Comets36612913
19Milton Keynes Knights3640328

National League Knockout Cup

The 1981 National League Knockout Cup was the 14th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Edinburgh Monarchs were the winners of the competition.[8]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
29/03Mildenhall 58-38 Canterbury
04/04Canterbury 52-44 Mildenhall
17/04Ellesmere Port 47-49Wolverhampton
19/04Wolverhampton 43-53 Ellesmere Port
23/04Middlesbrough 69-27 Glasgow
29/05Glasgow 55-40Middlesbrough
11/04Stoke 51-45Milton Keynes
07/04Milton Keynes38-58 Stoke
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
29/05Edinburgh65-31Exeter
01/06Exeter 56-40 Edinburgh
04/06Oxford 59-34Scunthorpe
01/06Scunthorpe 46-49Oxford
07/06Mildenhall 76-20 Ellesmere Port
29/05Ellesmere Port 30-64 Mildenhall
29/05Peterborough70-26 Rye House
07/06Rye House32-64 Peterborough
06/06Berwick53-42 Newcastle
08/06Newcastle52-44 Berwick
09/06Weymouth74-20 Workington
29/05Workington31-59 Weymouth
07/06Boston69-27 Crayford
02/06Crayford42-51 Boston
07/06Middlesbrough55-41 Stoke
06/06Stoke48-48 Middlesbrough
Quarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
14/08Edinburgh65-31Oxford
13/08Oxford41-54 Edinburgh
05/07Mildenhall61-35 Peterborough
26/06Peterborough49-47 Mildenhall
17/07Berwick51-45 Weymouth
14/07Weymouth48-48 Berwick
02/08Boston57-39 Middlesbrough
?Middlesbrough45-51 Boston
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
27/09Edinburgh64-32 Mildenhall
11/09Mildenhall46-50 Edinburgh
14/10Berwick64-32Boston
27/09Boston58½-37½ Berwick

Final

First legSecond leg

Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101–89.

Riders' Championship

Mike Ferreira won the Riders' Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 26 September 1981.[9]

width=25pxPos. width=180pxRider width=100pxPts width=50pxTotal
1 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 1 3 3 3 3 13
3 3 3 2 0 3 11
4 3 1 2 2 2 10
5 2 3 2 2 1 10
6 2 2 1 2 2 9
7 2 0 3 3 8
8 2 0 3 2 1 8
90 2 1 3 2 8
10 0 2 2 1 6
11 3 2 5
12 0 2 1 1 4
13 1 1 1 1 0 4
14 2 0 1 0 3
15 1 1 1 0 3
16 1 0 0 1
17 1 1
18 0 0

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 18 July and was won by Canterbury Crusaders.[10]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Mildenhall 13Gledhill 9
Bales 4
2Middlesbrough 11Wilcock 8
Dixon 3
3Rye House6Mullarkey 6
Naylor 0
4Edinburgh5Turner 4
Collins N 1
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Wolverhampton13Cribb 8
Evitts 5
2Glasgow10Lawson 8
McKinna 2
3Oxford7Perks 5
Harrison 2
4Peterborough6Greer 6
Buck 0
Group C
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Berwick 11Brown 9
McDermott 2
2Newcastle11Hunter 7
Bargh 4
3Weymouth8Yeates 5
Wigg 3
4Exeter6Maxfield 6
Hewlett 0
Group D
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Canterbury12Ferreira 9
Kent 5
2Crayford12Thomas 7
Sage 5
3Boston7Gagen 4
Lomas 3
4Ellesmere P3Jackson 2
Finch 1

Semi finals

Final

Fours

Edinburgh Monarchs won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 26 July.[11] [12]

Semi finals

Final

width=25pxPos width=150pxTeamwidth=50pxPts width=400pxRiders
1 15 Turner 4, Collins 4, Trownson 4, Blacka 3
2 13Bargh 5, Emerson 3, Hunter 3, Blackadder 2
3 11 Courtney 5, Pusey 3, Wilcock 2, Havelock 1
4 9 Burton 5, Evitts 2, Stead 2, Cribb 0

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Mike FerreiraCanterbury Crusaders10.87
2Steve LawsonGlasgow Tigers10.55
3Mark CourtneyMiddlesbrough Tigers10.44
4Les RumseyWeymouth10.19
5Dave PerksOxford Cheetahs10.13

Riders & final averages

Berwick (withdrew from league)

Boston

Canterbury

Crayford

Edinburgh

Ellesmere Port

Exeter

Glasgow

Middlesbrough

Mildenhall

Milton Keynes

Newcastle

Oxford

Peterborough

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Stoke

Weymouth

Wolverhampton

Workington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  2. News: Parker is back - now he needs a team . Birmingham Mail . 10 December 1981 . 8 May 2024. British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  3. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
  4. Book: Oakes, Peter. 1981 Speedway Yearbook. 1981. 101. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. 0-86215-017-5.
  5. Web site: Tony Sanford. Motorsport memorial. 30 July 2021.
  6. Web site: PLYMOUTH: TONY SANFORD MEMORIAL TROPHY - PREVIEW. Speedway GB. 30 July 2021.
  7. Web site: About - Exeter Speedway 1981 . 2012-08-21 . 2012-10-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121023035032/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedwayyears/1981.html . dead .
  8. Web site: 1981 National League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  9. News: Tigers crash out . Cambridge Daily News . 28 September 1981 . 20 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  10. Web site: 1981 season results . Speedway Researcher . 22 May 2023.
  11. News: Tigers miss the boat in four teams final . Cambridge Daily News . 27 July 1981 . 23 May 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  12. Web site: 1981 full season results . Speedway Researcher . 23 May 2023.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1981 National League season".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.