A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
League | National League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 20 |
Champions | Rye House Rockets |
Knockout Cup | Berwick Bandits |
Individual | Wayne Brown |
Pairs | Middlesbrough Tigers |
Fours | Crayford Kestrels |
Highest average | Dave Perks |
Division/s above | 1980 British League |
The 1980 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1]
Summary
The league was increased from 19 teams to 20 from the previous season. Exeter Falcons dropped down from the British League to join the 19 incumbent sides.[2]
Rye House Rockets who had been pipped to the title in the previous season in the last meeting, won the title by just one point from Newcastle Diamonds to win their first National League title.[3][4] Rye House had managed to retain all of their top riders from the previous season and the solid performances of Bob Garrad, Karl Fiala, Kelvin Mullarkey and Kevin Smith for the second year running made up for the disappointment of 1979. Newcastle's second-place finish was remarkable bearing in mind that they had lost the league's leading rider Tom Owen to Hull Vikings in the highest division.[5] Despite signing 1979 Riders' champion Ian Gledhill, the defending champions Mildenhall suffered after losing Melvyn Taylor and Mick Hines to other teams.[5]
Final table
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Rye House Rockets | 38 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 62 |
2 | Newcastle Diamonds | 38 | 30 | 1 | 7 | 61 |
3 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 38 | 27 | 2 | 9 | 56 |
4 | Berwick Bandits | 38 | 24 | 1 | 13 | 49 |
5 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 38 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 48 |
6 | Boston Barracudas | 38 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 48 |
7 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 38 | 21 | 2 | 15 | 44 |
8 | Peterborough Panthers | 38 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 42 |
9 | Crayford Kestrels | 37 | 20 | 1 | 16 | 41 |
10 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 38 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 41 |
11 | Glasgow Tigers | 38 | 19 | 2 | 17 | 40 |
12 | Exeter Falcons | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 35 |
13 | Scunthorpe Stags | 38 | 15 | 1 | 22 | 31 |
14 | Nottingham Outlaws | 38 | 14 | 2 | 22 | 30 |
15 | Oxford Cheetahs | 38 | 14 | 1 | 23 | 29 |
16 | Stoke Potters | 38 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 28 |
17 | Weymouth Wildcats | 37 | 13 | 1 | 23 | 27 |
18 | Canterbury Crusaders | 38 | 10 | 4 | 24 | 24 |
19 | Milton Keynes Knights | 38 | 8 | 2 | 28 | 18 |
20 | Workington Comets | 38 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 4 |
- Crayford v Weymouth fixture was never ridden.
National League Knockout Cup
The 1980 National League Knockout Cup was the 13th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Berwick Bandits were the winners of the competition for the first time, having been runners-up three times in the previous four seasons.[6]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
03/05 | Berwick | 52-26 | Newcastle |
28/04 | Newcastle | 41-37 | Berwick |
25/05 | Mildenhall | 45-33 | Rye House |
26/05 | Rye House | 44-34 | Mildenhall |
04/05 | Boston | 54-24 | Stoke |
05/05 | Stoke | 27-51 | Boston |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
07/06 | Berwick | 46-32 | Ellesmere Port |
13/06 | Ellesmere Port | 42-36 | Berwick |
23/05 | Edinburgh | 42-34 | Glasgow |
25/05 | Glasgow | 40-37 | Edinburgh |
01/06 | Mildenhall | 46-32 | Nottingham |
18/06 | Nottingham | 37-41 | Mildenhall |
07/06 | Canterbury | 44-33 | Milton Keynes |
10/06 | Milton Keynes | 40-38 | Canterbury |
19/06 | Middlesbrough | 51-27 | Scunthorpe |
29/06 | Scunthorpe | 37-40 | Middlesbrough |
05/06 | Oxford | 40-37 | Weymouth |
27/06 | Weymouth | 40-38 | Oxford |
08/06 | Boston | 59-19 | Workington |
11/07 | Workington | 26-52 | Boston |
13/06 | Peterborough | 42-25 | Crayford |
22/07 | Crayford | 41-37 | Peterborough |
Quarter-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
20/07 | Berwick | 47-31 | Edinburgh |
18/07 | Edinburgh | 39-39 | Berwick |
23/07 | Mildenhall | 51-27 | Canterbury |
26/07 | Canterbury | 44-34 | Mildenhall |
24/07 | Middlesbrough | 45-33 | Oxford |
06/08 | Oxford | 32-46 | Middlesbrough |
31/08 | Boston | 50-27 | Peterborough |
12/09 | Peterborough | 39-39 | Boston |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
06/09 | Berwick | 52-26 | Mildenhall |
07/09 | Mildenhall | 41-37 | Berwick |
18/09 | Middlesbrough | 54-24 | Boston |
05/10 | Boston | 42-36 | Middlesbrough |
Final
First leg
Middlesbrough Tigers Brian Havelock 10 Mike Spink 10 Steve Wilcock 9 Mark Courtney 6 Geoff Pusey 4 Martin Dixon 3 John Clegg 0 | 42 – 36 | Berwick Bandits Mike Fullerton 11 Steve McDermott 9 Brett Saunders 6 Mike Caroline 5 Rob Grant 3 Nigel Close 2 Wayne Brown R/R |
---|---|---|
[7] |
Second leg
Berwick Bandits Steve McDermott 15 Mike Fullerton 9 Nigel Close 8 Rob Grant 8 Brett Saunders 3 Mike Caroline 0 Wayne Brown R/R | 43 – 34 | Middlesbrough Tigers Mark Courtney 11 Steve Wilcock 9 Geoff Pusey 6 Martin Dixon 6 Mike Spink 2 John Clegg 0 Alan Armstrong 0 |
---|---|---|
[7] |
Berwick were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79–76.
Riders' Championship
Wayne Brown won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by Toshiba and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 28 September 1980.[8]
Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Wayne Brown | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 |
2 | Martin Yeates | 2 1 3 3 3 | 12 |
3 | Steve Finch | 2 2 2 3 3 | 12 |
4 | Gary Guglielmi | 3 0 3 1 3 | 10 |
5 | Paul Woods | 2 3 3 2 | 10 |
6 | Mike Ferreira | 3 1 2 2 2 | 10 |
7 | Mike Sampson | 3 2 2 2 1 | 10 |
8 | Rob Maxfield | 0 3 0 2 3 | 8 |
9 | Rod Hunter | 1 1 3 1 | 6 |
10 | Kelvin Mullarkey | 1 2 1 1 1 | 6 |
11 | Steve Wilcock | 2 0 0 2 1 | 5 |
12 | Andy Hines | 1 1 2 1 0 | 5 |
13 | Phil White | 1 0 1 1 2 | 5 |
14 | Ray Bales | 3 1 0 | 4 |
15 | Derek Harrison | 0 2 0 0 0 | 2 |
16 | Graham Knowler | 1 0 0 0 | 1 |
17 | Keith Yorke | 0 | 0 |
- f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure
Pairs
The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 19 July and was won by Middlesbrough Tigers.[9][10]