1978 National League season
League | National League |
---|---|
Champions | Canterbury Crusaders |
No. of competitors | 20 |
Knockout Cup | Eastbourne Eagles |
Individual | Steve Koppe |
Pairs | Ellesmere Port Gunners |
Fours | Peterborough Panthers |
Highest average | Tom Owen |
Division/s above | 1978 British League |
The 1978 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1]
Summary[]
Newport Dragons dropped out of the league after just one season of second tier racing, however two new entrants - Milton Keynes Knights and Barrow Furness Flyers - saw the league expanded to twenty teams. Weymouth changed their nickname from Wizards to Wildcats.
Canterbury Crusaders won the National League title.[2][3] Although equal on points with Newcastle Diamonds they won by virtue of the fact that their race points difference was greater than their rival.[4] It was Canterbury's second title win in eight years, previously winning in 1970. The Crusaders were led by heavy scoring from Les Rumsey and Riders' Champion Steve Koppe, while Newcastle's Tom Owen topped the averages for the second consecutive year.[5]
Earlier in the season 18 year-old junior rider Chris Prime was representing Newcastle when he was killed in the National League match against Mildenhall on 3 April.[6]
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Canterbury Crusaders | 38 | 30 | 0 | 8 | 60 |
2 | Newcastle Diamonds | 38 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 60 |
3 | Rye House Rockets | 38 | 27 | 0 | 11 | 54 |
4 | Eastbourne Eagles | 38 | 25 | 1 | 12 | 51 |
5 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 38 | 24 | 0 | 14 | 48 |
6 | Peterborough Panthers | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 45 |
7 | Oxford Cheetahs | 38 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 44 |
8 | Stoke Potters | 38 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 43 |
9 | Glasgow Tigers | 38 | 19 | 1 | 18 | 39 |
10 | Crayford Kestrels | 38 | 16 | 2 | 20 | 34 |
11 | Berwick Bandits | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 34 |
12 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 33 |
13 | Weymouth Wildcats | 38 | 16 | 0 | 22 | 32 |
14 | Workington Comets | 38 | 16 | 0 | 22 | 32 |
15 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 38 | 15 | 1 | 22 | 31 |
16 | Milton Keynes Knights | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 30 |
17 | Boston Barracudas | 38 | 13 | 2 | 23 | 28 |
18 | Teesside Tigers | 38 | 12 | 0 | 26 | 24 |
19 | Scunthorpe Saints | 38 | 9 | 2 | 27 | 20 |
20 | Barrow Furness Flyers | 38 | 8 | 2 | 28 | 18 |
Top Five Riders[]
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Tom Owen | Newcastle Diamonds | 10.86 | |
2 | Milton Keynes Knights | 10.59 | ||
3 | John Jackson | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 10.32 | |
4 | Les Rumsey | Canterbury Crusaders | 10.17 | |
5 | Steve Koppe | Canterbury Crusaders | 9.95 |
National League Knockout Cup[]
The 1978 National League Knockout Cup was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.[7]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
13/05 | Stoke | 51-27 | Workington |
12/05 | Workington | 40-38 | Stoke |
29/05 | Newcastle | 43-33 | Teesside |
01/06 | Teesside | 39-39 | Newcastle |
21/05 | Rye House | 58-20 | Milton Keynes |
23/05 | Milton Keynes | 26-52 | Rye House |
19/05 | Ellesmere Port | 47-31 | Berwick |
21/05 | Berwick | 35-42 | Ellesmere Port |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
11/06 | Eastbourne | 57-21 | Scunthorpe |
12/06 | Scunthorpe | 28-47 | Eastbourne |
23/06 | Peterborough | 43-35 | Barrow |
20/06 | Barrow | 33-45 | Peterborough |
08/06 | Oxford | 47-31 | Stoke |
10/06 | Stoke | 43-35 | Oxford |
25/06 | Mildenhall | 56-21 | Newcastle |
26/06 | Newcastle | 40-38 | Mildenhall |
11/06 | Rye House | 52-26 | Glasgow |
16/06 | Glasgow | 39-39 | Rye House |
04/07 | Crayford | 46-32 | Edinburgh |
30/06 | Edinburgh | 40-38 | Crayford |
17/06 | Canterbury | 48-27 | Weymouth |
20/06 | Weymouth | 37-41 | Canterbury |
07/07 | Ellesmere Port | 54-23 | Boston |
25/06 | Boston | 36-42 | Ellesmere Port |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
06/08 | Eastbourne | 45-30 | Peterborough |
11/08 | Peterborough | 39-38 | Eastbourne |
10/08 | Oxford | 43-34 | Mildenhall |
09/07 | Mildenhall | 40-38 | Oxford |
09/07 | Rye House | 44-34 | Crayford |
18/07 | Crayford | 39-39 | Rye House |
12/08 | Canterbury | 55-23 | Ellesmere |
28/07 | Ellesmere | 48-30 | Canterbury |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
27/08 | Eastbourne | 56-22 | Oxford |
07/09 | Oxford | 32-45 | Eastbourne |
24/09 | Rye House | 57-20 | Canterbury |
30/09 | Canterbury | 41-37 | Rye House |
Final[]
First leg
Eastbourne Eagles Dave Kennett 10 Mike Sampson 9 Steve Naylor 9 Eric Dugard 8 Roger Abel 6 Paul Woods 4 Ian Fletcher 0 | 46 – 32 | Rye House Rockets Bob Garrad 11 Ted Hubbard 7 Ashley Pullen 6 Kelvin Mullarkey 4 Kevin Smith 2 Karl Fiala 1 Hugh Saunders 1 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Second leg
Rye House Rockets Ted Hubbard 10 Kelvin Mullarkey 9 Bob Garrad 9 Hugh Saunders 5 Karl Fiala 4 Kevin Smith 4 Ashley Pullen 0 | 41 – 37 | Eastbourne Eagles Eric Dugard 11 Dave Kennett 7 Mike Sampson 6 Roger Abel 4 Paul Woods 4 Steve Naylor 3 Ian Fletcher 2 |
---|---|---|
[8] |
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–73.
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "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.
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "Chris Prime Newcastle History". Newcastle Speedway. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "1978 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "1978 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- Speedway British League Division Two / National League