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1976 National League season

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1976 National League season
League	National League
No. of competitors	18
Champions	Newcastle Diamonds
Knockout Cup	Newcastle Diamonds
Individual	Joe Owen
Pairs	Ellesmere Port Gunners
Fours	Newcastle Diamonds
Highest average	Joe Owen
Division/s above	1976 British League
←1975 1977 →

The1976 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom having been renamed from the previous season's moniker ofNew National League.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Summary

[edit]

The league was reduced from 20 teams down to 18, following the loss of three teams and gain of one.Birmingham Brummies moved up to theBritish League andBradford Barons andCrewe Kings both closed down.^[4] Sadly for Crewe the team would never return.^[5] The additional team was theOxford Cheetahs, who had returned to their traditional name following a three year period known as the Oxford Rebels. The Rebels team and promoters had moved to White City during the winter^[6] but Oxford were saved by new promotersHarry Bastable and Tony Allsop after a committee of fans had created a "Save Our Stadium" campaign over the previous winter.^[7]^[8]

Newcastle Diamonds comfortably won their firstNational League title, completing a cup double, and dropping only seven points.^[9]^[10] The Owen brothersJoe Owen andTom Owen topped the averages for the second consecutive year. Joe finished with an 11+ average and won theBritish League Division Two Riders Championship and Newcastle completed the league and cup double.

Final table

[edit]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Newcastle Diamonds	34	30	1	3	61
2	Ellesmere Port Gunners	34	24	1	9	49
3	Workington Comets	34	20	1	13	41
4	Canterbury Crusaders	34	20	0	14	40
5	Rye House Rockets	34	17	2	15	36
6	Crayford Kestrels	34	17	1	16	35
7	Coatbridge Tigers	34	17	1	16	35
8	Eastbourne Eagles	34	17	0	17	34
9	Peterborough Panthers	34	16	2	16	34
10	Berwick Bandits	34	17	0	17	34
11	Stoke Potters	34	15	1	18	31
12	Boston Barracudas	34	15	1	18	31
13	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	34	15	1	18	31
14	Oxford Cheetahs	34	14	1	19	29
15	Weymouth Wizards	34	11	2	21	24
16	Paisley Lions	34	12	0	22	24
17	Scunthorpe Saints	34	11	1	22	23
18	Teesside Tigers	34	10	0	24	20

Fixtures and results

[edit]

Home \ Away	BER	BOS	CAN	COA	CRY	EAS	EP	MIL	NEW	OX	PAI	PET	RH	SCU	STO	TEE	WEY	WOR
Berwick		47–31	39–38	44–33	52–25	45–33	41–37	48–30	36–40	46–32	48–29	46–32	44–34	48–30	46–32	51–27	42–36	49–29
Boston	52–26		57–21	47–31	41–37	54–24	38–40	41–37	34–44	40–37	46–32	40–38	40–38	43–32	39–39	52–26	43–35	42–36
Canterbury	51–27	46–31		54–24	38–40	45–32	58–20	46–32	38–40	53–25	57–21	46–32	44–34	47–31	40–37	63–14	49–29	40–38
Coatbridge	48–29	51–26	56–22		60–18	45–32	40–37	56–22	32–46	40–38	43–35	47–31	42–35	47–31	41–37	53–24	56–19	38–40
Crayford	62–16	44–34	48–30	51–25		36–42	51–27	45–33	40–38	49–27	51–27	39–39	40–38	58–29	46–32	50–27	54–24	46–29
Eastbourne	50–26	42–36	53–24	59–19	57–21		50–28	45–33	38–40	49–29	54–24	41–36	45–33	59–19	52–26	46–32	55–23	41–35
Ellesmere Port	40–38	43–35	57–21	57–21	47–31	42–35		55–23	42–36	51–27	52–26	46–32	56–22	45–32	55–23	49–29	55–23	38.5–38.5
Mildenhall	42–36	38–40	55–23	41–37	40–37	50–28	34–44		41–37	48–30	50–28	38–40	48–30	43–35	40–38	49–28	48–30	41–37
Newcastle	43–35	53–25	62–16	52–26	53–25	55–23	48–30	54–24		54–24	55–22	47–31	57–21	57–21	53–25	60–18	57–21	46–32
Oxford	56–22	42–36	41–37	49–29	42–36	53–25	47–30	41–37	30–48		56–22	44–34	39–39	41–37	50–27	43–35	51–27	35–43
Paisley	35–43	52–25	38–40	29–49	43–35	41–37	32–46	53–24	25–53	48–30		49–29	43–35	48–29	40–37	50–27	48–30	49–29
Peterborough	47–31	44–33	47–31	39–39	60–18	49–29	36–42	49–29	36–42	40–0+	60–18		47–30	45–33	42–36	46–32	52–26	46–32
Rye House	59–19	48–30	38–40	53–23	40–38	44–33	36–39	49–29	39–39	46–32	59–19	53–25		53–25	42–35	50–28	54.5–23.5	55–23
Scunthorpe	41–36	50–28	38–40	48–29	41–37	48–30	38–40	47–31	25–53	43–35	46–31	37–41	14–16+		49–27	54–24	39–39	34–43
Stoke	53–25	43–35	43–35	42–36	43–33	43–35	40–38	45–33	29–49	45–33	57–21	41–37	42–36	38–40		40–38	37–41	55–23
Teesside	45–32	40–38	37–41	45–33	36–42	41–37	33–45	37–40	36–42	43–34	60–18	43–35	32–45	40–38	40–38		48–29	34–43
Weymouth	42–33	43–34	38–40	38–40	41–37	49–29	38–40	39–39	33–45	41–36	55–23	46–32	34–43	50–28	37–41	44–34		41–37
Workington	46–32	46–32	48–30	50–27	44–34	57–21	44–33	50–28	34–44	50–28	45–33	56–22	52–26	53–25	40–38	48–30	55–22

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

+Oxford/Scunthorpe refused to ride

Top five riders (league averages)

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Joe Owen	Newcastle	11.55
2	Tom Owen	Newcastle	10.28
3	Steve Weatherley	Eastbourne	10.27
4	John Jackson	Ellesmere Port	10.20
5	Laurie Etheridge	Crayford	9.96

National League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1976 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the ninth edition of theKnockout Cup for tier two teams.Newcastle Diamonds were the winners of the competition.^[12]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
22/04	Oxford	48-30	Weymouth
20/04	Weymouth	40-38	Oxford

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
01/06	Ellesmere Port	46-32	Paisley
27/05	Stoke	37-41	Newcastle
24/05	Newcastle	59-19	Stoke
23/05	Mildenhall	38-40	Peterborough
22/05	Paisley	36-42	Ellesmere Port
21/05	Peterborough	42-36	Mildenhall
17/05	Scunthorpe	43-35	Berwick
16/05	Eastbourne	41-37	Oxford
16/05	Workington	46-32	Coatbridge
14/05	Coatbridge	33-45	Workington
13/05	Oxford	47-31	Eastbourne
11/05	Crayford	46-32	Boston
09/05	Boston	48-30	Crayford
02/05	Rye House	45-32	Canterbury
01/05	Berwick	45-32	Scunthorpe
01/05	Canterbury	44-34	Rye House
23/04	Coatbridge	52-25	Teesside
22/04	Teesside	46-32	Coatbridge

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
23/07	Workington	46-31	Boston
20/07	Ellesmere Port	50-28	Rye House
18/07	Rye House	38-39	Ellesmere Port
17/07	Berwick	48-30	Oxford
11/07	Boston	48-29	Workington
08/07	Oxford	40-38	Berwick
05/07	Newcastle	47-31	Peterborough
25/06	Peterborough	39-39	Newcastle

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
05/09	Boston	42-35	Berwick
28/08	Berwick	49-29	Boston
17/08	Ellesmere Port	41-37	Newcastle
16/08	Newcastle	46-31	Ellesmere Port

Final

[edit]

First leg

18 September 1976

Berwick Bandits Mike Hiftle 10 Graham Jones 10 Dave Gifford 9 Willie Templeton 5 Eddie Argall 5 Robin Adlington 4 Wayne Brown 0	43 – 35	Newcastle Diamonds Joe Owen 15 Tom Owen 14 Robbie Blackadder 3 Phil Michelidies 1 Andy Cusworth 1 Tim Swales 1 Ron Henderson R/R
	^[13]

Shielfield Park

Second leg

27 September 1976

Newcastle Diamonds Joe Owen 12 Tom Owen 12 Ron Henderson 6 Tim Swales 5 Andy Cusworth 5 Robbie Blackadder 4 Phil Michelidies 4	48 – 29	Berwick Bandits Eddie Argall 11 Roger Wright (guest) 6 Dave Gifford 6 Graham Jones 4 Willie Templeton 2 Peter Waite 0 Mike Hiftle R/R
	^[13]

Brough Park

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

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Joe Owen won theRiders' Championship, sponsored byGauloises and held atWimbledon Stadium on 2 October.^[14]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Joe Owen	33332	14
2	John Jackson	33033	12+3
3	Ted Hubbard	12333	12+2
4	Alan Emerson	22322	11
5	Steve Weatherley	23131	10
6	Brian Clark	22213	10
7	Lou Sansom	30222	9
8	Rob Hollingworth	11123	8
9	Les Rumsey	30211	7
10	Bob Coles	11212	7
11	Brian Collins	23001	6
12	Laurie Etheridge	1230 0	6
13	Martin Yeates	01011	3
14	Graham Jones	0110 0	2
15	Carl Askew (res)	020	2
16	Keith Evans	001	1
17	Les Collins	0	0
18	Ian Williams (res)	000	0

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

Pairs

[edit]

TheNational League Pairs was held atHyde Road on 5 June and was won by Ellesmere Port Gunners.^[15]

Group A
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Ellesmere P	11	Jackson 7 Turner 4
2	Eastbourne	10	Weatherley 9 Jarman 1
3	Peterborough	10	Clark 7 Featherstone 3
4	Teesside	5	Emerson 5 Reading 0

Group B
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Newcastle	15	Owen J 9 Owen T 6
2	Boston	9	Burton 5 Hollingworth 4
3	Scunthorpe	8	Featherstone 6 Baugh 3
4	Coatbridge	4	Dawson 3 Collins 1

Group C
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Workington	11	Sansom 6 Goad 5
2	Paisley	9	Farquharson 9 Sheldrick 0
3	Berwick	8	Hiftle 5 Adlington 3
4	Rye House	8	Hubbard 7 Foote 1

Group D
Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Mildenhall	12	Coles 8 Jolly 4
2	Stoke	10	Collins L 8 Millen 2
3	Weymouth	9	Yeates 8 Harding 1
4	Crayford	5	Etheridge 4 Johns 1

Semi finals

Ellesmere Port bt Workington
Newcastle bt Mildenhall

Final

Ellesmere Port bt Newcastle

Fours

[edit]

Newcastle won the fours championship final, held atKing's Lynn Stadium on 17 July.^[16]

Semi finals

SF1 = Ellesmere Port 17, Workington 15, Rye House 10, Peterborough 5
SF2 = Newcastle 17, Eastbourne 13, Coatbridge 9, Boston 9

Final

Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Newcastle	18	Owen T 6, Owen J 6, Cusworth 3, Michelides 3
2	Eastbourne	13	Weatherley 5, Sampson 4, Richardson 4, Dugard 0, Jarman 0
3	Ellesmere Port	12	Jackson 6, Gardner 3, Turner 2, Finch 1
4	Workington	5	Lawson 4, Goad 1, Havelock 0, Kelly 0

Leading final averages

[edit]

	Rider	Team	C.M.A.
1	Joe Owen	Newcastle	11.54
2	Tom Owen	Newcastle	10.43
3	Steve Weatherley	Eastbourne	10.35
4	John Jackson	Ellesmere Port	10.08
5	Laurie Etheridge	Crayford	9.87

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Berwick

Graham Jones 8.12
Dave Gifford 7.91
Mike Hiftle 7.17
Robin Adlington 6.84
Willie Templeton 6.63
Eddie Argall 6.54
Keith Williams 2.00
Peter Waite 1.80
Wayne Brown 1.71

Boston

Rob Hollingworth 9.63
Billy Burton 8.26
Paul Gilbert 6.58
Stuart Cope 5.82
Trevor Whiting 5.57
Chris Emery 5.56
Steve Clarke 5.28
Ron Cooper 5.00
Dave Allen 3.46

Canterbury

Graham Banks 8.06
Steve Koppe 7.85
Les Rumsey 7.50
Barney Kennett 6.84
Graham Clifton 6.55
Reg Luckhurst 6.51
Bob Spelta 5.47
Terry Casserley 5.13

Coatbridge

Brian Collins 9.09
Grahame Dawson 7.91
Mick McKeon 6.79
Jimmy Gallacher 5.68
Derek Richardson 5.65
Max Brown 5.18
Doug Templeton 5.18
Rob Maxfield 5.02
Benny Rourke 4.83
John Wilson 2.93

Crayford

Laurie Etheridge 9.87
Alan Sage 8.78
Mike Broadbank 7.33
Pete Wigley 7.22
Alan Johns 6.54
Trevor Barnwell 5.71
Bill Archer 5.45
Richard Davey 4.71
Gary Spencer 4.10
John Hooper 3.09
Dave Shepherd 2.77

Eastbourne

Steve Weatherley 10.35
Eric Dugard 7.03
Pete Jarman 6.75
Colin Richardson 6.50
Mike Sampson 6.49
Ian Gledhill 6.43
Steve Naylor 5.45
Roger Abel 5.27
Ian Fletcher 4.32

Ellesmere Port

John Jackson 10.08
Chris Turner 9.35
Steve Finch 8.07
Robbie Gardner 7.45
Duncan Meredith 6.09
Gerald Smitherman 5.80
Phil Collins 4.33
Geoff Jones 3.71
Louis Carr 2.78

Mildenhall

Bob Coles 9.21
Kevin Jolly 8.41
Trevor Jones 7.88
Alan Cowland 6.24
Fred Mills 5.67
John Gibbons 5.54
Stan Stevens 5.13
Robert Henry 4.93
Mick Bates 4.81
Neil Leeks 3.54

Newcastle

Joe Owen 11.54
Tom Owen 10.43
Ron Henderson 8.33
Phil Micheledies 7.54
Brian Havelock 7.51
Andy Cusworth 7.40
Robbie Blackadder 6.20
Tim Swales 5.91

Oxford

Carl Askew 8.03
Brian Leonard 7.33
Phil Bass 7.14
Mick Handley 7.02
Malcolm Corradine 6.10
Roy Sizmore 5.91
Jim Wells 5.88
Kevin Young 5.47
Steve Holden 3.69

Paisley

Colin Farquharson 8.22
Mick Fishwick 6.99
Stuart Mountford 6.79
Mike Fullerton 5.37
Alan Bridgett 5.17
Sid Sheldrick 5.10
Malcolm Chambers 3.96
Chris Roynon 3.91
Mick Sheldrick 3.83
Colin Caffrey 3.16
Tom Davie 2.34

Peterborough

Brian Clark 9.37
Tony Featherstone 8.11
Ian Clark 6.93
Roy Carter 6.85
Ken Matthews 6.53
Steve Taylor 6.42
Kevin Hawkins 5.33
Nigel Couzens 5.11
Alan Cowland 4.24
Paul Cooper 4.19
Russ Osborne 4.15

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Keith Evans 9.27
Andy Hines 6.77
Tony Boyle 5.97
Phil Kynman 5.72
Colin Cook 5.34
Sid Sheldrick 5.10
Ray Watkins 4.98
Tony Gillias 4.75

Stoke

Les Collins 9.31
Jack Millen 7.90
Malcolm Corradine 7.35
Ricky Day 6.07
Jim Brett 5.74
Mick Newton 5.69
Steve McDermott 5.33
Tim Nunan 5.01
Colin Meredith 4.82

Teesside

Alan Emerson 8.41
Tom Leadbitter 7.67
Steve Wilcock 5.85
Pete Reading 5.54
Andy Cowan 5.27
Pete Smith 4.92
Nigel Close 4.78
John Robson 2.95
Martyn Cusworth 2.50

Weymouth

Martin Yeates 8.69
Vic Harding 7.18
Chris Robins 7.07
Gerald Purkiss 6.25
Danny Kennedy 5.82
Billy Spiers 5.32
Garry May 3.51
Trevor Vincent/Charley 3.94
Jack Walker 3.54
Roger Stratton 3.47

Workington

Lou Sansom 8.77
Steve Lawson 8.72
Taffy Owen 8.07
Colin Goad 7.67
Brian Havelock 7.67
Roger Wright 6.54
Terry Kelly 5.57
Chris Bevan 3.80
Stewart Collin 3.16

References

[edit]

^Oakes, P.(2006).Speedway Star Almanac.ISBN 0-9552376-1-0
^"Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
^Rogers, Martin (1978).The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129.ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^"Teams".wwosbackup. Retrieved26 September 2021.
^"Crewe Speedway".Defunct Speedway. Retrieved26 September 2021.
^Lawson, K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”.ISBN 978-0-244-99725-0
^Oakes, P (2006).Speedway Star Almanac. Pinegen Ltd.ISBN 0-9552376-1-0.
^Lawson, K (2018) “The Cheetahs – The Resurrection”.ISBN 978-0-244-69934-5
^"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.
^"1976 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved11 March 2025.
^"1976 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
^^a ^b"1976 KO cup final"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved26 September 2021.
^"Joe Owen gains speedway double".Lincolnshire Echo. 4 October 1976. Retrieved17 June 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
^"1976 season results"(PDF).Speedway Researcher. Retrieved20 May 2023.
^"Brothers clinch win for Diamonds".Lynn Advertiser. 20 July 1976. Retrieved9 May 2023 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.

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

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