1977 National League season

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1977 National League season
LeagueNational League
ChampionsEastbourne Eagles
No. of competitors19
Knockout CupEastbourne Eagles
IndividualColin Richardson
PairsBoston Barracudas
FoursPeterborough Panthers
Highest averageTom Owen
Division/s above1977 British League

The 1977 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1][2]

Summary[]

Newport had moved down from the British League. Their riders were transferred to Bristol Bulldogs but they acquired new riders and were renamed Newport Dragons. Paisley Lions dropped out so the league had 19 teams, the same as the previous season. Part way through the season, Coatbridge Tigers relocated and changed name to Glasgow Tigers.

Eastbourne Eagles won the National League title, completing a league and cup double.[3][4] Eastbournes's star rider was Colin Richardson, who won the Riders' Championship and averaged 10.70 for the season. He was backed up by Mike Sampson, who also surpassed a 10 average and Dave Kennett (8.37 average) and a member of Eastbourne's 1971 winning team.[5]

Joe Owen, the leading rider of 1976 had moved from champions Newcastle Diamonds to join British League side Hull Vikings. Newcastle were unable to compensate for the loss and finished in 6th place, despite Joe's brother Tom Owen finishing top of the averages.[5]

Final table[]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Eastbourne Eagles 36 29 0 7 58
2 Rye House Rockets 36 24 3 9 51
3 Ellesmere Port Gunners 36 22 2 12 46
4 Canterbury Crusaders 36 23 0 13 46
5 Peterborough Panthers 36 22 0 14 44
6 Newcastle Diamonds 36 21 1 14 43
7 Boston Barracudas 36 20 0 16 40
8 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 36 16 4 16 36
9 Teesside Tigers 36 17 1 18 35
10 Crayford Kestrels 36 17 0 19 34
11 Glasgow Tigers 36 16 0 20 32
12 Newport Dragons 36 16 0 20 32
13 Oxford Cheetahs 36 15 1 20 31
14 Scunthorpe Saints 36 15 1 20 31
15 Edinburgh Monarchs 36 15 0 21 30
16 Workington Comets 36 14 1 21 29
17 Weymouth Wizards 36 11 3 22 25
18 Berwick Bandits 36 11 1 24 23
19 Stoke Potters 36 9 0 27 18

Top Five Riders[]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Tom Owen England Newcastle Diamonds 11.01
2 Colin Richardson England Eastbourne Eagles 10.70
3 Martin Yeates England Oxford Cheetahs 10.59
4 John Jackson England Ellesmere Port Gunners 10.22
5 Mike Sampson England Eastbourne Eagles 10.18

National League Knockout Cup[]

The 1977 National League Knockout Cup was the tenth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.[6]

First Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
03/04 Eastbourne 55-23 Canterbury
23/04 Canterbury 26-52 Eastbourne
14/04 Oxford 44-34 Rye House
17/04 Rye House 44-34 Oxford
22/04 Edinburgh 48-30 Scunthorpe
25/04 Scunthorpe 43-34 Edinburgh
02/06
replay		 Oxford 45-32 Rye House
29/05
replay		 Rye House 42-36 Oxford

Second Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
15/05 Eastbourne 54-23 Crayford
03/05 Crayford 35-43 Eastbourne
22/05 Newcastle 49-29 Glasgow
29/04 Glasgow 47-30 Newcastle
17/05 Ellesmere Port 46-32 Workington
03/06 Workington 42-36 Ellesmere Port
12/06 Oxford 50-28 Newport
23/06 Newport 41-37 Oxford
28/05 Berwick 46-32 Teesside
02/06 Teesside 44-34 Berwick
27/05 Edinburgh 44-34 Stoke
21/05 Stoke 40-38 Edinburgh
22/05 Boston 43-34 Weymouth
24/05 Weymouth 35-43 Boston
20/05 Peterborough 44-34 Mildenhall
22/05 Mildenhall 38-40 Peterborough

Quarter Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
10/07 Eastbourne 54-24 Newcastle
08/08 Newcastle 34-43 Eastbourne
26/07 Ellesmere Port 46½-31½ Oxford
14/07 Oxford 37-41 Ellesmere Port
25/06 Berwick 46-32 Edinburgh
15/07 Edinburgh 41-37 Berwick
17/07 Boston 45-33 Peterborough
01/07 Peterborough 40-38 Boston

Semi Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
25/09 Eastbourne 57-21 Ellesmere Port
02/09 Ellesmere Port 50-28 Eastbourne
27/08 Berwick 45-33 Boston
19/08 Boston 38-40 Berwick

Final[]

First leg

Berwick Bandits
Willie Templeton 9
Graham Jones 9
Dave Gifford 7
Mike Hiftle 6
Wayne Brown 5
Robin Adlington 4
Colin Caffrey 1		41 – 37Eastbourne Eagles
Colin Richardson 13
Mike Sampson 11
Steve Naylor 7
Eric Dugard 5
Paul Woods 1
Roger Abel 0
Dave Kennett 0
[7]

Second leg

Eastbourne Eagles
Colin Richardson 12
Mike Sampson 11
Steve Naylor 9
Eric Dugard 9
Dave Kennett 7
Roger Abel 7
Paul Woods 6		61 – 16Berwick Bandits
Brendan Shileto (guest) 6
Graham Jones 5
Willie Templeton 2
Mike Hiftle 2
Ian Darling 1
Dave Gifford 0
Colin Caffrey 0
[7]

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–57.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  3. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  4. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. ^ a b "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. ^ "1977 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ^ a b "1977 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
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