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1981 National League season

Summary

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

1981 National League season
LeagueNational League
No. of competitors19
ChampionsMiddlesbrough Tigers
Knockout CupEdinburgh Monarchs
IndividualMike Ferreira
PairsCanterbury Crusaders
FoursEdinburgh Monarchs
Highest averageMike Ferreira
Division/s above1981 British League

Summary edit

The league started with 20 teams with Nottingham Outlaws dropping out and Wolverhampton Wolves joining up, having moved down from the British League.

Berwick Bandits were forced to quit after 26 league meetings, their record being expunged. Middlesbrough Tigers comfortably won their first ever title.[2][3]

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.[4] A memorial trophy was held in subsequent years in his memory.[5]

Final table edit

[6]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Middlesbrough Tigers 36 30 1 5 61
2 Weymouth Wildcats 36 26 1 9 53
3 Newcastle Diamonds 36 25 1 10 51
4 Edinburgh Monarchs 36 25 0 11 50
5 Glasgow Tigers 36 24 0 12 48
6 Boston Barracudas 36 22 0 14 44
7 Exeter Falcons 36 22 0 14 44
8 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 36 20 0 16 40
9 Peterborough Panthers 36 19 1 16 39
10 Crayford Kestrels 36 19 0 17 38
11 Ellesmere Port Gunners 36 18 1 17 37
12 Oxford Cheetahs 36 18 1 17 37
13 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 14 1 21 29
14 Canterbury Crusaders 36 14 1 21 29
15 Stoke Potters 36 14 0 22 28
16 Rye House Rockets 36 11 0 25 22
17 Scunthorpe Stags 36 6 1 29 13
18 Workington Comets 36 6 1 29 13
19 Milton Keynes Knights 36 4 0 32 8

National League Knockout Cup edit

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.[7]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/03 Mildenhall 58-38 Canterbury
04/04 Canterbury 52-44 Mildenhall
17/04 Ellesmere Port 47-49 Wolverhampton
19/04 Wolverhampton 43-53 Ellesmere Port
23/04 Middlesbrough 69-27 Glasgow
29/05 Glasgow 55-40 Middlesbrough
11/04 Stoke 51-45 Milton Keynes
07/04 Milton Keynes 38-58 Stoke

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/05 Edinburgh 65-31 Exeter
01/06 Exeter 56-40 Edinburgh
04/06 Oxford 59-34 Scunthorpe
01/06 Scunthorpe 46-49 Oxford
07/06 Mildenhall 76-20 Ellesmere Port
29/05 Ellesmere Port 30-64 Mildenhall
29/05 Peterborough 70-26 Rye House
07/06 Rye House 32-64 Peterborough
06/06 Berwick 53-42 Newcastle
08/06 Newcastle 52-44 Berwick
09/06 Weymouth 74-20 Workington
29/05 Workington 31-59 Weymouth
07/06 Boston 69-27 Crayford
02/06 Crayford 42-51 Boston
07/06 Middlesbrough 55-41 Stoke
06/06 Stoke 48-48 Middlesbrough

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
14/08 Edinburgh 65-31 Oxford
13/08 Oxford 41-54 Edinburgh
05/07 Mildenhall 61-35 Peterborough
26/06 Peterborough 49-47 Mildenhall
17/07 Berwick 51-45 Weymouth
14/07 Weymouth 48-48 Berwick
02/08 Boston 57-39 Middlesbrough
? Middlesbrough 45-51 Boston

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
27/09 Edinburgh 64-32 Mildenhall
11/09 Mildenhall 46-50 Edinburgh
14/10 Berwick 64-32 Boston
27/09 Boston 58½-37½ Berwick

Final edit

First leg

Berwick Bandits
Steve McDermott 13
Wayne Brown 11
Mike Caroline 9
Rob Grant 6
Brett Saunders 5
Brian Collins 3
Jim Beaton 2		49 – 46Edinburgh Monarchs
Dave Trownson 10
Neil Collins 9
Ivan Blacka 9
Chris Turner 8
George Hunter 7
Scott Robson 3
Ian Westwell 0
[8]

Second leg

Edinburgh Monarchs
George Hunter 13
Dave Trownson 11
Ivan Blacka 11
Neil Collins 7
Chris Turner 7
Roger Lambert 6
Ian Westwell 0		55 – 40Berwick Bandits
Charlie McKinna (guest) 14
Steve McDermott 9
Mike Caroline 7
Rob Grant 5
Brett Saunders 3
Brian Collins 2
Jim Beaton 0
[8]

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

Riders' Championship edit

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

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1   Mike Ferreira 3 3 3 3 3 15
2   Simon Wigg 1 3 3 3 3 13
3   Bruce Cribb 3 3 2 0 3 11
4   Dave Perks 3 1 2 2 2 10
5   Neil Collins 2 3 2 2 1 10
6   Steve Wilcock 2 2 1 2 2 9
7   Steve Lawson 2 0 3 3 8
8   Barry Thomas 2 0 3 2 1 8
9   Kelvin Mullarkey 0 2 1 3 2 8
10   Steve Finch 0 2 2 1 6
11   Wayne Brown 3 2 5
12   Ian Gledhill 0 2 1 1 4
13   Rob Maxfield 1 1 1 1 0 4
14   David Gagen 2 0 1 0 3
15   David Bargh 1 1 1 0 3
16   Bob Humphreys 1 0 0 1
17   John Barclay 1 1
18   Neville Moore 0 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Pairs edit

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

Semi finals

  • Canterbury bt Wolverhampton
  • Berwick bt Mildenhall

Final

  • Canterbury bt Berwick

Fours edit

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

Semi finals

  • SF1 = Wolverhampton 16, Edinburgh 16, Mildenhall 13, Crayford 3
  • SF2 = Middlesbrough 16, Newcastle 16, Peterborough 11, Weymouth 4

Final

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Edinburgh Monarchs 15 Turner 4, Collins 4, Trownson 4, Blacka 3
2 Newcastle Diamonds 13 Bargh 5, Emerson 3, Hunter 3, Blackadder 2
3 Middlesbrough Tigers 11 Courtney 5, Pusey 3, Wilcock 2, Havelock 1
4 Wolverhampton Wolves 9 Burton 5, Evitts 2, Stead 2, Cribb 0

Leading final averages edit

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Mike Ferreira   Canterbury Crusaders 10.87
2 Steve Lawson   Glasgow Tigers 10.55
3 Mark Courtney   Middlesbrough Tigers 10.44
4 Les Rumsey   Weymouth 10.19
5 Dave Perks   Oxford Cheetahs 10.13

Riders & final averages edit

Berwick (withdrew from league)

Boston

Canterbury

Crayford

  • Barry Thomas 9.02
  • Alan Sage 7.88
  • Laurie Etheridge 6.90
  • Mike Pither 5.72
  • Trevor Barnwell 5.70
  • Mike Spinks 4.83
  • Paul Hollingsbee 4.47
  • Keith Pritchard 4.15
  • Paul Bosley 2.24

Edinburgh

Ellesmere Port

Exeter

  • Rob Maxfield 9.07
  • Bob Coles 8.24
  • Martin Hewlett 8.10
  • John Barker 7.85
  • Les Sawyer 7.68
  • Andy Campbell 6.53
  • Keith Wright 6.00
  • John Williams 5.99
  • Keith Millard 4.30
  • Tony Sanford 3.20

Glasgow

Middlesbrough

Mildenhall

Milton Keynes

  • Bob Humphreys 9.14
  • Graham Plant 6.38
  • Andy Hibbs 6.00
  • Mick Blaynee 4.77
  • Barry Allaway 4.41
  • Mark Baldwin 4.36
  • Steve Payne 4.30
  • Nigel Davis 4.20
  • Brett Alderton 4.15

Newcastle

Oxford

Peterborough

  • Richard Greer 8.20
  • Andy Hines 8.04
  • Dave Allen 7.69
  • Mick Hines 7.58
  • Andy Fisher 6.08
  • Nigel Couzens 5.97
  • Andy Buck 5.32
  • Ian Barney 4.91

Rye House

Scunthorpe

  • Kevin Teager 7.56
  • Nicky Allott 7.51
  • Mark DeKok 5.71
  • Tony Featherstone 5.33
  • Rob Woffinden 5.19
  • Tony Childs 3.62
  • Graeme Beardsley 3.45
  • Julian Parr 2.99
  • Phil Kynman 2.73

Stoke

Weymouth

Wolverhampton

  • Bruce Cribb 9.99
  • Les Rumsey 8.77
  • Neil Evitts 7.80
  • Billy Burton 6.74
  • Tony Boyle 5.95
  • Paul Stead 5.51
  • Mike Wilding 4.11
  • Rob Carter 3.55
  • John Hough 3.49
  • Steve Crockett 1.41

Workington

  • Terry Kelly 6.97
  • Wayne Jackson 6.22
  • Mark Dickinson 5.67
  • Guy Wilson 4.47
  • Des Wilson 4.42
  • Kevin Clapham 3.67
  • David Blackburn 3.51
  • John Frankland 2.69
  • Michael Irving 0.89

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  3. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. ^ "Tony Sanford". Motorsport memorial. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. ^ "PLYMOUTH: TONY SANFORD MEMORIAL TROPHY - PREVIEW". Speedway GB. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  6. ^ "About - Exeter Speedway 1981". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  7. ^ "1981 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. ^ a b "1981 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Tigers crash out". Cambridge Daily News. 28 September 1981. Retrieved 20 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "1981 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Tigers miss the boat in four teams final". Cambridge Daily News. 27 July 1981. Retrieved 23 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "1981 full season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 23 May 2023.

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