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1981 National League season

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

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

Summary

[edit]

The league started with 20 teams with Nottingham Outlaws dropping out after the BSPA refused an application by promoter Maurice Jones to run during 1981.[2] However, Wolverhampton Wolves joined having moved down from the British League. Wolves promoter Mike Parker was replaced by Dan McCormick for the 1981 season.[3]

Berwick Bandits were forced to quit after 26 league meetings, their record being expunged. Middlesbrough Tigers comfortably won their first ever title.[4][5]

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.[6] A memorial trophy was held in subsequent years in his memory.[7]

Final table

[edit]

[8]

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.[9]

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

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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
[10]
Shielfield Park

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
[10]
Powderhall Stadium

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.[11]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1 Zimbabwe Mike Ferreira 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 England Simon Wigg 1 3 3 3 3 13
3 New Zealand Bruce Cribb 3 3 2 0 3 11
4 England Dave Perks 3 1 2 2 2 10
5 England Neil Collins 2 3 2 2 1 10
6 England Steve Wilcock 2 2 1 2 2 9
7 England Steve Lawson 2 0 3 3 8
8 England Barry Thomas 2 0 3 2 1 8
9 England Kelvin Mullarkey 0 2 1 3 2 8
10 England Steve Finch 0 2 2 1 6
11 New Zealand Wayne Brown 3 2 5
12 England Ian Gledhill 0 2 1 1 4
13 England Rob Maxfield 1 1 1 1 0 4
14 England David Gagen 2 0 1 0 3
15 New Zealand David Bargh 1 1 1 0 3
16 Australia Bob Humphreys 1 0 0 1
17 England John Barclay 1 1
18 England Neville Moore 0 0

Pairs

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The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 18 July and was won by Canterbury Crusaders.[12]

Semi finals

Final

Fours

[edit]

Edinburgh Monarchs won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 26 July.[13][14]

Semi finals

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 Zimbabwe Canterbury Crusaders 10.87
2 Steve Lawson England Glasgow Tigers 10.55
3 Mark Courtney England Middlesbrough Tigers 10.44
4 Les Rumsey England Weymouth 10.19
5 Dave Perks England Oxford Cheetahs 10.13

Riders & final averages

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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

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

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Hopes of racing at Long Eaton dim to flicker". Long Eaton Advertiser. 19 February 1981. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Parker is back - now he needs a team". Birmingham Mail. 10 December 1981. Retrieved 8 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  5. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  6. ^ "Tony Sanford". Motorsport memorial. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ^ "PLYMOUTH: TONY SANFORD MEMORIAL TROPHY - PREVIEW". Speedway GB. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ "About - Exeter Speedway 1981". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  9. ^ "1981 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  10. ^ a b "1981 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Tigers crash out". Cambridge Daily News. 28 September 1981. Retrieved 20 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "1981 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Tigers miss the boat in four teams final". Cambridge Daily News. 27 July 1981. Retrieved 23 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "1981 full season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 23 May 2023.