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1975 New National League season

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British motorcycle speedway season

1975 New National League season
League	New National League
No. of competitors	20
Champions	Birmingham Brummies
Knockout Cup	Eastbourne Eagles
Individual	Laurie Etheridge
Pairs	Newcastle Diamonds
Highest average	Joe Owen
Division/s above	1975 British League
←1974 1976 →

The1975 New National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom whenBritish League Division Two was renamed.^[1] It was subsequently named the National League.^[2] The change came about following unrest between some of the clubs and the speedway authorities in previous seasons.^[3]

Summary

[edit]

The league increased by one team for the fourth season in a row, despite the loss of three teams; theBarrow Bombers,Long Eaton Archers andSunderland Gladiators.^[4] Sunderland closed for good but in November 1974,Ian Thomas bought the defunct Sunderland licence and transferred it to re-form theNewcastle Diamonds.^[5]^[6] Three other new teams entered, in addition to the Newcastle Diamonds and they wereCrayford Kestrels (returning for their first season since 1970), whileMildenhall Fen Tigers andPaisley Lions both competed in their inaugural seasons.^[4] Paisley would race at a new track constructed aroundLove Street, home ofSt Mirren F.C..^[7]

Birmingham Brummies, winners of the lastBritish League Division Two, retained their title^[8] and were promoted to the British League for 1976.^[9]^[10] Birmingham won the league by 5 points despite losing their leading riderPhil Herne toNewport in division 1. Birmingham relied heavily onArthur Browning,Alan Grahame andKeith White, improved performances by Ricky Day andCarl Askew and solid seasons once again fromJohn Hart andGeorge Major.^[4]

Newcastle finished runner-up on their return to league action, with the Owen brothersJoe Owen andTom Owen topping the league averages.

Final table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Birmingham Brummies	38	29	1	8	59
2	Newcastle Diamonds	38	27	0	11	54
3	Stoke Potters	38	26	0	12	52
4	Eastbourne Eagles	38	25	0	13	50
5	Boston Barracudas	38	24	2	12	50
6	Workington Comets	38	23	2	13	48
7	Berwick Bandits	38	21	3	14	45
8	Crayford Kestrels	38	20	2	16	42
9	Ellesmere Port Gunners	38	19	1	18	39
10	Canterbury Crusaders	38	19	0	19	38
11	Bradford Barons	38	17	2	19	36
12	Coatbridge Tigers	38	17	1	20	35
13	Scunthorpe Saints	38	17	0	21	34
14	Rye House Rockets	38	13	2	23	28
15	Paisley Lions	38	14	0	24	28
16	Crewe Kings	37	13	1	23	27
17	Teesside Tigers	38	13	0	25	26
18	Peterborough Panthers	37	13	0	24	26
19	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	38	11	1	26	23
20	Weymouth Wizards	38	8	2	28	18

Fixtures and results

[edit]

Home \ Away	BER	BIR	BOS	BRA	CAN	COA	CRY	CK	EAS	EP	MIL	NEW	PAI	PET	RH	SCU	STO	TEE	WEY	WOR
Berwick		42–35	41–37	47–31	50–27	39–39	56–22	43–35	47–31	48–30	52–26	43–35	52–26	53–25	47–31	47–30	50–27	48–29	41–36	44–34
Birmingham	54–24		41–36	55–22	45–33	52–25	49–29	55–23	45–33	51–27	57–20	46–32	53–25	59–19	52–26	56–22	44–34	49–29	53–25	47–31
Boston	48–30	45–33		47–31	47–31	52–26	54–24	49–29	48–30	60–18	50–28	42–36	56–22	54–24	39–38	64–14	34–44	45–33	61–17	37–41
Bradford	51–27	36–42	39–39		43–35	48–30	49–29	48–30	42–36	47–29	51–27	45–33	40–38	47–31	54–24	53–25	45–33	43–35	63–15	39–39
Canterbury	61–17	49–28	45–32	55–23		52–26	49–29	42–36	40–37	43–35	53–23	38–40	59–19	60–18	44–34	55–23	43–35	49–29	43–35	37–41
Coatbridge	50–28	34–43	37–41	50–27	45–32		53–25	41–37	38–40	46–31	58–20	43–35	54–24	43–35	43–34	49–29	38–40	45–32	51–27	43–35
Crayford	58–20	43–35	46–30	59–19	47–31	45–31		48–30	38–40	57–20	50–28	37–41	55–23	53–25	46–32	43–35	50–28	48–30	50–27	57–21
Crewe	50–28	32–46	39–39	54–24	50–28	51–26	37–41		31–46	47–31	47–31	38–39	42–36	46–32	58–20	36–40	37–41	41–37	59–19	42–36
Eastbourne	50–28	45–33	52–26	63–15	48–30	55–23	55–23	55–23		53–24	61–17	37–40	60–18	59–19	52–26	57–21	52–26	53–25	43–34	46–32
Ellesmere Port	45–33	39–39	46–32	51–27	46–32	46–32	55–23	44–33	48–30		54–24	41–37	40–38	45–32	51–27	45–33	34–44	44–34	51–27	43–35
Mildenhall	46–32	26–52	31–47	49–29	44–34	40–38	39–38	36–41	37–41	41–37		41–37	57–20	37–41	39–39	37–41	21.5–55.5	51–27	46–32	40–37
Newcastle	54–24	38–40	47–31	62–16	49–29	49–29	46–32	50–28	44–34	40–38	49–29		46–32	52–26	52–26	47–29	44–34	50–28	54–24	42–36
Paisley	33–45	45–32	47–31	35–43	43–35	38–40	44–33	46–32	45–32	47–31	41–37	46–30		48–30	48–29	47–31	36–41	41–37	42–36	37–41
Peterborough	35–43	38–40	31–46	43–34	30–48	40–38	45–33	nh	44–34	41–37	42–36	37–41	47–29		47–31	40–38	40–38	47–31	50–28	38–40
Rye House	46–32	33–45	38–39	49–29	39–38	46–32	39–39	53–25	31–45	47–30	47–30	36–42	49–28	47–31		44–34	32–46	48–29	44–33	45–32
Scunthorpe	48–30	32–46	34–44	41–37	41–37	52–26	38–40	41–37	40–38	46–32	47–31	38–40	41–37	42–36	43–34		44–34	51–27	45–33	37–41
Stoke	42–36	48–30	44–34	49–29	53–25	48–30	36–42	54–24	54–24	53–25	51–27	41–37	58–20	56–21	44–34	58–20		49–29	46–32	52–26
Teesside	37–41	33–44	37–40	49–29	52–26	50–28	42–35	52–26	38–40	37–41	45–33	35–43	47–30	48–30	48–30	49–29	42–36		58–20	42–36
Weymouth	39–39	38–39	28–50	50–28	35–42	34–43	39–39	43–35	33–45	37–41	50–28	34–44	53–25	48–30	43–35	41–37	37–41	44–34		30–48
Workington	39–39	41–36	53–25	47–30	55–23	46–32	49–29	44–34	40–38	48–30	58–20	40–38	64–14	43–35	54–24	36.5–41.5	41–37	43–35	40–38

Source:^[11]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top five riders (league averages)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Joe Owen	Newcastle	10.89
2	Tom Owen	Newcastle	10.78
3	Alan Molyneux	Stoke	10.10
4	Paul Gachet	Eastbourne	10.08
5	Les Rumsey	Canterbury	10.01

National League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1975 National League Knockout Cup was the eighth edition (first under its new name) of theKnockout Cup for tier two teams.Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.^[12]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
15/04	Ellesmere Port	43-35	Coatbridge
11/04	Coatbridge	50-28	Ellesmere Port
14/04	Newcastle	44-34	Berwick
05/04	Berwick	40-38	Newcastle
21/03	Peterborough	42-36	Boston
16/03	Boston	40-38	Peterborough
14/04	Birmingham	51-27	Crayford
15/04	Crayford	37-40	Birmingham

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
05/05	Scunthorpe	38-40	Teesside
01/05	Teesside	45-32	Scunthorpe
30/05	Coatbridge	39-39	Newcastle
19/05	Newcastle	50-27	Coatbridge
10/05	Paisley	43-34	Workington
30/05	Workington	45-33	Paisley
05/05	Crewe	38-40	Bradford
14/05	Bradford	48-30	Crewe
09/05	Peterborough	49-29	Weymouth
29/04	Weymouth	50-28	Peterborough
11/05	Rye House	31-46	Birmingham
05/05	Birmingham	60-18	Rye House
10/05	Canterbury	40-37	Eastbourne
11/05	Eastbourne	49-29	Canterbury

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
07/08	Teesside	32-46	Newcastle
28/07	Newcastle	54-24	Teesside
24/08	Workington	47-31	Stoke
21/08	Stoke	42-36	Workington
23/09	Weymouth	42-36	Eastbourne
09/07	Bradford	47-31	Weymouth
14/07	Birmingham	41-37	Eastbourne
06/07	Eastbourne	45-33	Birmingham

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
19/09	Workington	48-30	Newcastle
15/09	Newcastle	48-30	Workington
23/09	Weymouth	42-36	Eastbourne
21/09	Eastbourne	60-18	Weymouth
29/09 replay	Newcastle	37-41	Workington
26/09 replay	Workington	51-27	Newcastle

Final

[edit]

First leg

17 October 1975

Workington Comets Mike Newton 11 Taffy Owen 11 Lou Sansom 10 Roger Wright 8 Robbie Gardner 5 Terry Kelly 1 Steve Lawson 1	47 – 31	Eastbourne Eagles Neil Middleditch 12 Paul Gachet 7 Mike Sampson 5 Eric Dugard 3 Pete Jarman 2 Colin Richardson 2 Mike Pither 0
	^[13]

Derwent Park

Second leg

19 October 1975

Eastbourne Eagles Neil Middleditch 10 Mike Sampson 10 Pete Jarman 10 Paul Gachet 8 Eric Dugard 7 Mike Pither 4 Colin Richardson 3	52 – 25	Workington Comets Lou Sansom 13 Robbie Gardner 6 Taffy Owen 4 Terry Kelly 1 Steve Lawson 1 Mick Newton 0 Roger Wright 0
	^[13]

Arlington Stadium

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate83–72.

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Laurie Etheridge won theRiders' Championship, held atWimbledon Stadium on 27 September.^[14]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Laurie Etheridge	32233	13+3
2	Brian Collins	33331	13+2
3	Arthur Browning	22312	10+3
4	Les Rumsey	23023	10+2
5	Michael Lee	11323	10+1
6	John Jackson	31311	9
7	Tom Leadbitter	02213	8
8	Joe Owen	20132	8
9	Paul Gachet	33 fex 2 0	8
10	Bob Coles	22201	7
11	Brian Clark	0123 f	6
12	Alan Molyneux	11102	5
13	Brian Foote	0 f 122	5
14	Colin Meredith	1011	4
15	Lou Sansom	03000	3
16	Tony Childs	10000

f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Pairs

[edit]

TheNational League Pairs was held atHyde Road on 17 May and was won by Newcastle Diamonds.^[15]

Group A
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Eastbourne	14	Gachet 9 Middleditch 5
2	Scunthorpe	10	McKinlay 6 Childs 4
3	Workington	8	Sansom 7 Gardner 1
4	Paisley	4	Sheldrick 4 Roynon 0

Group B
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Crayford	14	Sage 8 Etheridge 6
2	Birmingham	10	Hart 8 Browning 2
3	Bradford	9	Featherstone 6 Baugh 3
4	Rye House	3	Foote 3 Clarke 0

Group C
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Ellesmere P	12	Jackson 9 Goad 3
2	Peterborough	11	Clark 6 Matthews 5
3	Coatbridge	7	Collins 6 Gallacher 1
4	Stoke	6	Molyneux 4 Millen 2

Group D
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Newcastle	13	Havelock 8 Owen T 5
2	Crewe	10	Drury 8 Wasley 2
3	Teesside	9	Reading 5 Durham 4
4	Berwick	4	Gifford 4 Templeton W 0

Semi finals

Ellesmere Port bt Eastbourne
Newcastle bt Crayford

Final

Newcastle bt Eastbourne

Leading final averages

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Joe Owen	Newcastle	10.65
2	Tom Owen	Newcastle	10.65
3	Alan Molyneux	Stoke	10.14
4	Les Rumsey	Canterbury	9.90
5	Paul Gachet	Eastbourne	9.87

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Berwick

Dave Gifford 8.58
Graham Jones 7.65
Colin Farquharson 7.41
Steve Finch 6.75
Willie Templeton 6.34
Denny Morter 4.89
Dave Trownson 4.86
Bernie Hornby 4.85

Birmingham

Arthur Browning 9.35
Alan Grahame 8.38
Keith White 8.22
John Hart 8.00
Keith Anderson 7.58
Ricky Day 7.34
George Major 7.31
Carl Askew 6.91

Boston

Michael Lee 9.04
Bruce Forrester 8.22
David Gagen 7.83
Rob Hollingworth 7.30
Billy Burton 7.19
Les Glover 6.95
Dave Piddock 6.17
Rob Mouncer 6.13
Trevor Whiting 4.53

Bradford

Tony Featherstone 8.34
Colin Meredith 7.92
Dave Baugh 7.42
Tony Boyle 7.11
Steve Wilcock 5.75
Andy Cowan 5.55
Alan Knapkin 5.48
Mick Fielding 4.49
Brenton Langlois 4.34
Dave Parkin 3.06
Barry Weaver 1.82

Canterbury

Les Rumsey 9.90
Dave Gooderham 8.63
Barney Kennett 8.23
Graham Clifton 5.31
Bob Spelta 5.11
Jimmy Squibb 5.00
Gerald Purkiss 4.85
Terry Casserley 3.77

Coatbridge

Brian Collins 9.46
Mitch Shirra 8.37
Jimmy Gallacher 7.54
Grahame Dawson 6.39
Mick McKeon 5.64
Doug Templeton 4.94
John Wilson 4.73
Paul Heller 4.00
Eddie Argall 3.90
Derek Richardson 3.71
Barry Booth 1.68

Crayford

Laurie Etheridge 9.74
Alan Sage 8.51
Trevor Barnwell 7.72
Pete Wigley 6.26
Bob Young 5.86
Les Ott 5.78
Alan Johns 5.68
George Barclay 5.34
Dave Shepherd 4.92
Bill Archer 4.11

Crewe

Graham Drury 8.70
Chris Turner 8.13
Nigel Wasley 7.75
Chris Emery 6.3
Ricky Day 6.06
Stuart Cope 5.83
Les Collins 5.25
Max Brown 4.99
Geoff Ambrose 4.96
Cliff Anderson 4.90
Ian Robertson 3.27

Eastbourne

Paul Gachet 9.87
Neil Middleditch 9.62
Steve Weatherley 8.07
Pete Jarman 7.32
Mike Sampson 7.28
Eric Dugard 5.49
Colin Richardson 5.24
Terry Barclay 3.78

Ellesmere Port

John Jackson 9.78
Colin Goad 7.13
Wayne Hughes 6.76
Nicky Allott 6.41
Duncan Meredith 5.78
Mick McKeon 4.86
Steve Casey 4.52
Gerald Smitherman 4.37
Barry Booth 4.00
Andy Reid 3.68

Mildenhall

Bob Coles 8.82
Chris Julian 6.74
Stan Stevens 6.02
John Gibbons 5.93
Kevin Jolly 5.76
John McNeill 4.77
Paul Clipstone 3.59
Paul Gilbert 3.43
Fred Mills 2.97

Newcastle

Joe Owen 10.65
Tom Owen 10.65
Brian Havelock 6.72
Ron Henderson 5.81
Mike Watkin 5.59
Robbie Blackadder 5.45
Tim Swales 5.23
Phil Micheledies 5.05

Paisley

Sid Sheldrick 8.00
Mike Fullerton 7.20
Alan Bridgett 7.12
Chris Roynon 6.00
Tom Davie 5.26
Bernie Foot 5.20
Stuart Mountford 4.47
Mick Sheldrick 4.00
Geoff Snider 4.00

Peterborough

Brian Clark 9.00
Russ Osborne 7.14
Roy Carter 6.67
Ken Matthews 6.66
Mike Cake 5.53
Jack Walker 4.70
Ian Clark 4.36
Roy Sizmore 4.33
Steve Taylor 3.52
Phil Cornwell 1.33

Rye House

Brian Foote 8.39
Hugh Saunders 7.46
Bob Cooper 6.75
Kelvin Mullarkey 6.25
Tiger Beech 5.69
John Gibbons 5.25
Bob Young 4.73
Dingle Brown 4.62
Karl Fiala 4.58
Barry Duke 4.33
Steve Clarke 3.87

Scunthorpe

Tony Childs 8.35
Keith Evans 7.52
Ken McKinlay 6.46
Andy Hines 5.99
Colin Cook 5.91
Tony Gillias 5.55
Andy Sims 5.38
Ray Watkins 4.24
Chris Emery 4.13
Ian Silk 2.09

Stoke

Alan Molyneux 10.14
Steve Bastable 8.04
Steve Holden 7.92
Andy Cusworth 7.52
Jack Millen 6.96
Phil Bass 6.93
Jim Wells 6.55
Mick Handley 6.09
Alan Bridgett 4.62

Teesside

Tom Leadbitter 9.40
Doug Underwood 8.34
Alan Emerson 8.33
Roger Wright 7.68
Dave Durham 6.05
Pete Reading 5.69
Harry Maclean 5.25
Trevor Stead 3.44
David Levings 3.08
Colin Pestell 2.83
Ian Silk 2.29

Weymouth

Martin Yeates 8.31
Brian Woodward 7.77
Vic Harding 6.82
Chris Robins 5.15
Geoff Swindells 4.77
Nigel Couzens 4.73
Melvin Soffe 4.24
Tony Freegard 3.59
Ricky Owen 3.09
Roger Stratton 2.86

Workington

Lou Sansom 8.81
Taffy Owen 8.37
Robbie Gardner 7.38
Kym Amundson 6.94
Mick Newton .6.63
Roger Wright 6.24
Terry Kelly 6.07
Steve Watson 4.42
Steve Lawson 3.64

References

[edit]

^"Second is now National".Wolverhampton Express and Star. 23 November 1974. Retrieved20 February 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^"Eagles want speedway shake-up".Eastbourne Gazette. 13 November 1974. Retrieved20 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^^a ^b ^c"teams".wwosbackup. Retrieved21 September 2021.
^"Ian Thomas buys out Sunderland".Hull Daily Mail. 28 November 1974. Retrieved4 May 2024 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"Sunderland Speedway".Defunct Speedway. Retrieved21 September 2021.
^"Speedway Team for Paisley".Sunday Post. 13 October 1974. Retrieved20 February 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^Rogers, Martin (1978).The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129.ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^"BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)".Official British Speedway website. Retrieved11 September 2021.
^Oakes, Peter (1981).1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101.ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
^"1975 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved10 March 2025.
^"1975 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^^a ^b"1975 KO cup final"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved21 September 2021.
^"Lee's title bid fails".Cambridge Daily News. 29 September 1975. Retrieved17 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1975 season results"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved20 May 2023.

v t e Speedway in the United Kingdom
Current leagues	SGB Premiership SGB Championship National Development League List of champions
Former leagues	Elite League Premier League National League (1932–1964) Provincial League (1960–1964) British League British League Division Two/National League Conference League National League Division Two National League Division Three English Dirt Track League/Northern League Southern League (1929–1931) Southern League (1952–1953) Provincial League (1936–1937) Southern Area League
Current team competitions	Knockout Cup League Pairs champions League Fours champions
Former team competitions	London Cup Midland Cup Craven and Young Shields Premiership Shield
Current individual competitions	British Speedway Championship League Riders' champions British U-21 British U-19 Scottish Open
Former individual competitions	London Riders' Midland Riders' Northern Riders' Southern Riders' Olympique Internationale
See also	Speedway British Speedway Promoters' Association Speedway Control Bureau

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners

v t e British League Division Two/National League seasons
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994	Speedway British League Division Two