1983 National League season explained

Competition:National League
Competitors:18
Domesticcup1:Champions
Domesticcup1 Winners:Newcastle Diamonds
Domesticcup2:Knockout Cup
Domesticcup2 Winners:Exeter Falcons
Domesticcup3:Individual
Domesticcup3 Winners:Steve McDermott
Domesticcup4:Pairs
Domesticcup4 Winners:Weymouth Wildcats
Domesticcup5:Fours
Domesticcup5 Winners:Newcastle Diamonds
Highest Average:Joe Owen
League Above:1983 British League
Prevseason:1982
Nextseason:1984

The 1983 National League was the second tier of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom.[1]

Summary

The winning team was Newcastle Diamonds.[2] [3] [4]

After the tragedy of losing a rider the previous season Milton Keynes endured a second loss when their rider Craig Featherby was killed in a crash at Peterborough in a National League match on 16 September. Featherby hit a lamp standard after being thrown from the bike.[5]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Newcastle Diamonds34251851
2Mildenhall Fen Tigers34232948
3Crayford Kestrels342301146
4Weymouth Wildcats341921340
5Scunthorpe Stags341921340
6Milton Keynes Knights341911439
7Middlesbrough Tigers341831339
8Berwick Bandits341701734
9Edinburgh Monarchs341611733
10Exeter Falcons341601832
11Rye House Rockets341511831
12Peterborough Panthers341421830
13Glasgow Tigers341411929
14Oxford Cheetahs341411929
15Canterbury Crusaders341222026
16Boston Barracudas341212125
17Stoke Potters341012321
18Long Eaton Invaders34912419

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Joe OwenNewcastle11.18
2Martin YeatesWeymouth10.41
3Rod HunterNewcastle10.39
4Bobby BeatonNewcastle10.12
5Jim McMillanGlasgow10.03

National League Knockout Cup

The 1983 National League Knockout Cup was the 16th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners of the competition.[6] [7]

First round

width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
19/04Crayford45-50Mildenhall
17/04Mildenhall55-41 Crayford
01/04Oxford 51-45 Milton Keynes
29/03Milton Keynes47-49 Oxford
Second round
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
22/06Long Eaton58-38Berwick
09/06Oxford45-51 Rye House
05/06Berwick61-35 Long Eaton
27/05Peterborough57-39 Mildenhall
25/05Mildenhall58-38Peterborough
23/05Newcastle61-35 Scunthorpe
22/05Rye House51-45 Oxford
22/05Scunthorpe43-53 Newcastle
20/05Edinburgh50-46 Middlesbrough
30/04Canterbury45-51 Exeter
24/04Boston 45-51Weymouth
22/04Glasgow62-34 Stoke
19/04Weymouth58-38 Boston
16/04Stoke55-41 Glasgow
14/04Middlesbrough55-41 Edinburgh
11/04Exeter 70-26 Canterbury
Quarter-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
15/08Exeter64-32Rye House
14/08Rye House55-41Exeter
23/07Berwick45-50 Newcastle
19/07Weymouth65-31 Glasgow
03/07Mildenhall67-25 Middlesbrough
27/06Newcastle53-42 Berwick
11/06Glasgow 41-54 Weymouth
09/06Middlesbrough47-49 Mildenhall
Semi-finals
width=80Datewidth=250Team onewidth=80Scorewidth=250Team two
02/10Mildenhall66-30 Exeter
12/09Exeter74-21 Mildenhall
12/09Newcastle54-42 Weymouth
02/08Weymouth55-41 Newcastle

Final

First legSecond leg

Exeter were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 96–95.

Riders' Championship

Steve McDermott won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by the FSO Cars and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 24 September 1983.[8]

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

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 4 June and was won by Weymouth Wildcats for the second consecutive season.[9]

Group A
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Newcastle 15Owen J 8
Hunter 7
2Stoke 8Jackson 5
Owen T 3
3Berwick7McDermott 6
Cribb 1
4Scunthorpe6Crabtree 6
Hollingworth 0
Group B
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Glasgow 14McMillan 9
Lawson 5
2Peterborough10Allen 6
Pullen 4
3Middlesbrough9Wilcock 5
Spink 4
4Canterbury3Mullarkey 3
Kennett 0
Group C
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Weymouth 14Yeates 7
Cross 7
2Crayford9Bosley 5
Thomas 4
3Rye House6Cox 4
Garrad 2
4Edinburgh5Fiora 5
Hunter 0
Group D
width=20Poswidth=80Teamwidth=20Ptswidth=100Riders
1Mildenhall11Harrison 6
Knight 5
2Boston9Lomas 6
Gagen 3
3Milton K9McKinna 9
White 0
4Long Eaton6Stead 6
Molyneux 0

Semi finals

Final

Fours

Newcastle Diamonds won the fours championship final for the second successive year, held at the East of England Arena on 24 July.[10]

Semi finals

Final

width=25pxPos width=150pxTeamwidth=50pxPts width=400pxRiders
1 Newcastle Diamonds21 Emerson 6, Hunter 5, Owen 5, Scarisbrick 3, Beaton 2
2 17 Knight 5, Harrison 5, Baldwin 4, Henry 3
3 6Pendlebury 2, White 1, Clarke 1, McKinna 1, Mallett 1
4 4 Perks 2, Molyneux 1, Stead 1, Frankland 0, Evitts 0

Final leading averages

width=200Riderwidth=200Teamwidth=40Average
Joe OwenNewcastle11.10
Rod HunterNewcastle10.51
Martin YeatesWeymouth10.39
Bobby BeatonNewcastle10.20
Steve LawsonGlasgow10.00
Jim McMillanGlasgow9.85
Marvyn CoxRye House9.83
Barry ThomasCrayford9.69
Steve WilcockMiddlesbrough9.48
Steve McDermottBerwick9.43
Bob GarradRye House9.28

Riders & final averages

Berwick

Boston

Canterbury

Crayford

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Long Eaton

Middlesbrough

Mildenhall

Milton Keynes

Newcastle

Oxford

Peterborough

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Stoke

Weymouth

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1983 full season results . Speedway Researcher . 11 May 2023.
  2. Web site: Historic league tables. Speedway Archive.
  3. Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac.
  4. Web site: BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990). Official British Speedway website. 11 September 2021.
  5. Web site: Craig Featherby. Cradley Speedway. 30 July 2021.
  6. Web site: 1983 National League Knockout Cup. Speedway archive.
  7. News: Speedway . Daily Mirror . 11 October 1983 . 9 May 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  8. News: Bandit Steals Title . Sunday Sun (Newcastle) . 25 September 1983 . 21 June 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  9. Web site: 1983 season results . Speedway Researcher . 23 May 2023.
  10. News: Tigers miss out again in dramatic finish . Cambridge Daily News . 25 July 1983 . 10 May 2023 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1983 National League season".

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