1975 New National League season
League | National League |
---|---|
Champions | Birmingham Brummies |
No. of competitors | 20 |
Knockout Cup | Eastbourne Eagles |
Individual | Laurie Etheridge |
Pairs | Newcastle Diamonds |
Highest average | Joe Owen |
Division/s above | 1975 British League |
The 1975 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] The latter closed for good.[3] Four new teams entered; the Newcastle Diamonds and Crayford Kestrels both returned for their first seasons 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[4] and were promoted to the British League for 1976.[5][6] 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[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Birmingham Brummies | 38 | 29 | 1 | 8 | 59 |
2 | Newcastle Diamonds | 38 | 27 | 0 | 11 | 54 |
3 | Stoke Potters | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 52 |
4 | Eastbourne Eagles | 38 | 25 | 0 | 13 | 50 |
5 | Boston Barracudas | 38 | 24 | 2 | 12 | 50 |
6 | Workington Comets | 38 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 48 |
7 | Berwick Bandits | 38 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 45 |
8 | Crayford Kestrels | 38 | 20 | 2 | 16 | 42 |
9 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 38 | 19 | 1 | 18 | 39 |
10 | Canterbury Crusaders | 38 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 38 |
11 | Bradford Barons | 38 | 17 | 2 | 19 | 36 |
12 | Coatbridge Tigers | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 35 |
13 | Scunthorpe Saints | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 34 |
14 | Rye House Rockets | 38 | 13 | 2 | 23 | 28 |
15 | Paisley Lions | 38 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 28 |
16 | Crewe Kings | 37 | 13 | 1 | 23 | 27 |
17 | Teesside Tigers | 38 | 13 | 0 | 25 | 26 |
18 | Peterborough Panthers | 37 | 13 | 0 | 24 | 26 |
19 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 38 | 11 | 1 | 26 | 23 |
20 | Weymouth Wizards | 38 | 8 | 2 | 28 | 18 |
Top Five Riders[]
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Joe Owen | Newcastle Diamonds | 10.89 | |
2 | Tom Owen | Newcastle Diamonds | 10.78 | |
3 | Alan Molyneux | Stoke Potters | 10.10 | |
4 | Paul Gachet | Eastbourne Eagles | 10.08 | |
5 | Les Rumsey | Canterbury Crusaders | 10.01 |
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.[7]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
15/04 | Ellesmere Port | 43-35 | Coatbridge |
11/04 | Coatbridge | 50-28 | Ellesmere Port |
14/04 | Newcastle | 44-34 | Berwick |
05/04 | Berwick | 40-38 | Newcastle |
21/03 | Peterborough | 42-36 | Boston |
16/03 | Boston | 40-38 | Peterborough |
14/04 | Birmingham | 51-27 | Crayford |
15/04 | Crayford | 37-40 | Birmingham |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
05/05 | Scunthorpe | 38-40 | Teesside |
01/05 | Teesside | 45-32 | Scunthorpe |
30/05 | Coatbridge | 39-39 | Newcastle |
19/05 | Newcastle | 50-27 | Coatbridge |
10/05 | Paisley | 43-34 | Workington |
30/05 | Workington | 45-33 | Paisley |
05/05 | Crewe | 38-40 | Bradford |
14/05 | Bradford | 48-30 | Crewe |
09/05 | Peterborough | 49-29 | Weymouth |
29/04 | Weymouth | 50-28 | Peterborough |
11/05 | Rye House | 31-46 | Birmingham |
05/05 | Birmingham | 60-18 | Rye House |
10/05 | Canterbury | 40-37 | Eastbourne |
11/05 | Eastbourne | 49-29 | Canterbury |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
07/08 | Teesside | 32-46 | Newcastle |
28/07 | Newcastle | 54-24 | Teesside |
24/08 | Workington | 47-31 | Stoke |
21/08 | Stoke | 42-36 | Workington |
23/09 | Weymouth | 42-36 | Eastbourne |
09/07 | Bradford | 47-31 | Weymouth |
14/07 | Birmingham | 41-37 | Eastbourne |
06/07 | Eastbourne | 45-33 | Birmingham |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
19/09 | Workington | 48-30 | Newcastle |
15/09 | Newcastle | 48-30 | Workington |
23/09 | Weymouth | 42-36 | Eastbourne |
21/09 | Eastbourne | 60-18 | Weymouth |
29/09 replay |
Newcastle | 37-41 | Workington |
26/09 replay |
Workington | 51-27 | Newcastle |
Final[]
First leg
Workington Comets Mike Newton 11 Taffy Owen 11 Lou Sansom 10 Roger Wright 8 Robbie Gardner 5 Terry Kelly 1 Steve Lawson 1 | 47 – 31 | Eastbourne Eagles Neil Middleditch 12 Paul Gachet 7 Mike Sampson 5 Eric Dugard 3 Pete Jarman 2 Colin Richardson 2 Mike Pither 0 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Second leg
Eastbourne Eagles Neil Middleditch 10 Mike Sampson 10 Pete Jarman 10 Paul Gachet 8 Eric Dugard 7 Mike Pither 4 Colin Richardson 3 | 52 – 25 | Workington Comets Lou Sansom 13 Robbie Gardner 6 Taffy Owen 4 Terry Kelly 1 Steve Lawson 1 Mick Newton 0 Roger Wright 0 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–72.
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ a b c "teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Sunderland Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ "1975 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "1975 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- Speedway British League Division Two / National League