The 1977 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.
Summary Newport had moved down from the British League. Their riders were transferred to Bristol Bulldogs but they acquired new riders and were renamed Newport Dragons. Paisley Lions dropped out so the league had 19 teams, the same as the previous season. Part way through the season, Coatbridge Tigers relocated and changed name to Glasgow Tigers after being kicked out of Cliftonhill.
Eastbourne Eagles won the National League title, completing a league and cup double. Eastbournes's star rider was Colin Richardson, who won the Riders' Championship and averaged 10.70 for the season. He was backed up by Mike Sampson, who also surpassed a 10 average and Dave Kennett (8.37 average) and a member of Eastbourne's 1971 winning team.
Joe Owen, the leading rider of 1976 had moved from champions Newcastle Diamonds to join British League side Hull Vikings. Newcastle were unable to compensate for the loss and finished in 6th place, despite Joe's brother Tom Owen finishing top of the averages.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Eastbourne Eagles 36 29 0 7 582 Rye House Rockets 36 24 3 9 513 Ellesmere Port Gunners 36 22 2 12 464 Canterbury Crusaders 36 23 0 13 465 Peterborough Panthers 36 22 0 14 446 Newcastle Diamonds 36 21 1 14 437 Boston Barracudas 36 20 0 16 408 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 36 16 4 16 369 Teesside Tigers 36 17 1 18 3510 Crayford Kestrels 36 17 0 19 3411 Glasgow Tigers 36 16 0 20 3212 Newport Dragons 36 16 0 20 3213 Oxford Cheetahs 36 15 1 20 3114 Scunthorpe Saints 36 15 1 20 3115 Edinburgh Monarchs 36 15 0 21 3016 Workington Comets 36 14 1 21 2917 Weymouth Wizards 36 11 3 22 2518 Berwick Bandits 36 11 1 24 2319 Stoke Potters 36 9 0 27 18
Fixtures and results
Top five riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Tom Owen Newcastle 11.01 2 Colin Richardson Eastbourne 10.70 3 Martin Yeates Oxford 10.59 4 John Jackson Ellesmere Port 10.22 5 Mike Sampson Eastbourne 10.18
National League Knockout Cup The 1977 National League Knockout Cup was the tenth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two03/04 Eastbourne 55–23 Canterbury23/04 Canterbury 26–52 Eastbourne14/04 Oxford 44–34 Rye House17/04 Rye House 44–34 Oxford22/04 Edinburgh 48–30 Scunthorpe25/04 Scunthorpe 43–34 Edinburgh02/06replay Oxford 45–32 Rye House29/05replay Rye House 42–36 Oxford Second round Date Team one Score Team two15/05 Eastbourne 54–23 Crayford03/05 Crayford 35–43 Eastbourne22/05 Newcastle 49–29 Glasgow29/04 Glasgow 47–30 Newcastle17/05 Ellesmere Port 46–32 Workington03/06 Workington 42–36 Ellesmere Port12/06 Oxford 50–28 Newport23/06 Newport 41–37 Oxford28/05 Berwick 46–32 Teesside02/06 Teesside 44–34 Berwick27/05 Edinburgh 44–34 Stoke 21/05 Stoke 40–38 Edinburgh22/05 Boston 43–34 Weymouth24/05 Weymouth 35–43 Boston20/05 Peterborough 44–34 Mildenhall22/05 Mildenhall 38–40 Peterborough Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two10/07 Eastbourne 54–24 Newcastle08/08 Newcastle 34–43 Eastbourne26/07 Ellesmere Port 46½-31½ Oxford14/07 Oxford 37–41 Ellesmere Port25/06 Berwick 46–32 Edinburgh15/07 Edinburgh 41–37 Berwick17/07 Boston 45–33 Peterborough01/07 Peterborough 40–38 Boston Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two25/09 Eastbourne 57–21 Ellesmere Port02/09 Ellesmere Port 50–28 Eastbourne27/08 Berwick 45–33 Boston19/08 Boston 38–40 Berwick
Final First leg
Second leg
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–57.
Riders' Championship Colin Richardson won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by Gauloises and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 24 September.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Colin Richardson 3 3 3 3 3 152 Martin Yeates 3 3 2 3 2 13+33 Tom Owen 3 3 3 3 1 13+24 Kelvin Mullarkey 3 2 3 2 2 125 Rob Hollingworth 2 3 1 2 3 116 John Jackson 2 3 1 2 3 107 Steve Koppe 1 2 1 2 3 98 Laurie Etheridge 2 1 0 2 2 7 9 Stuart Mountford 0 0 2 1 2 510 Bert Harkins 1 1 1 1 1 511 Alan Emerson 0 0 0 1 3 412 Danny Kennedy 0 2 2 0 ex 413 Brian Woodward 2 0 1 1 0 414 Brian Collins 0 1 2 0 0 315 Bob Coles 1 1 0 ef 0 316 Steve Lawson 1 0 f 0 1217 Ian Clark (res) 0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure
Pairs The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 4 June and was won by Boston Barracudas.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Oxford10Yeates 9Handley 12Eastbourne 9Richardson 5Dugard 43Weymouth9Kennedy 6Harding 34Mildenhall8Coles 7Gibbons 1
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Canterbury 12Koppe 6Banks 62Stoke10Mountford 6Nunan 43Workington10Lawson 8Havelock 24Berwick4Jones 3Gifford 1
Group CPosTeamPtsRiders1Newport13Brett 8Woodward 52Ellesmere P12Jackson 9Finch 33Newcastle8Owen T 4Henderson 44Edinburgh3Millen 2Harkins 1
Group DPosTeamPtsRiders1Boston13Hollingworth 8Cook 52Coatbridge13Collins B 8Dawson 53Peterborough7Clark I 5Couzens 24Teesside2Wilcock 2Emerson 0
Semi finals Boston bt Canterbury Newport bt Oxford
Final Boston bt Newport
Fours Peterborough won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.
Semi finals SF1 = Eastbourne 21, Stoke 12, Ellesmere Port 8, Boston 7 SF2 = Canterbury 18, Peterborough 14, Newcastle 9, Oxford 7
Final Pos TeamPts Riders1 Peterborough Panthers 17 Clark I 6, Hawkins 5, Hines 5, Flatman 1, Clark B 02 Canterbury Crusaders 14Banks 6, Koppe 3, Spelta 3, Kennett 23 Eastbourne Eagles 13 Richardson 5, Sampson 5, Dugard 2, Abel 14 Stoke Potters 4 Mountford 2, Nunan 1, Gledhill 1, Robertson 0
Leading final averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Tom Owen Newcastle 10.82 2 Colin Richardson Eastbourne 10.63 3 Martin Yeates Oxford 10.53 4 Mike Sampson Eastbourne 10.09 5 John Jackson Ellesmere Port 10.07
Riders & final averages Berwick
Graham Jones 7.85 Robin Adlington 7.01 Mike Hiftle 6.65 Willie Templeton 5.76 Dave Gifford 5.69 Terry Kelly 4.44 Keith Williams 4.00 Noel Suckling 3.86 Wayne Brown 3.85 Colin Caffrey 3.47
Boston
Rob Hollingworth 9.90 Carl Glover 7.84 Colin Cook 7.68 Paul Gilbert 7.04 Steve Clarke 6.48 Billy Burton 6.27 Dave Piddock 5.75 Dave Allen 5.45 Stuart Cope 5.37 Ron Cooper 5.25
Canterbury
Steve Koppe 8.83 Graham Banks 8.29 Les Rumsey 8.18 Bob Spelta 7.37 Barney Kennett 6.44 Brendan Shiletto 6.09 Terry Casserley 5.55 Graham Clifton 4.66 Brian Canning 4.32
Coatbridge/Glasgow
Brian Collins 8.94 Mick McKeon 7.95 Grahame Dawson 7.65 Rob Maxfield 7.13 Derek Richardson 5.41 Merv Janke 4.75 Benny Rourke 4.57 Jimmy Gallacher 4.35 Nicky Hollingworth 2.87
Crayford
Laurie Etheridge 9.41 Alan Sage 8.63 Colin Gooddy 8.53 Alan Johns 5.47 John Hooper 4.63 Mike Bessant 4.18 Richard Davey 4.17 Garry May 3.78
Eastbourne
Colin Richardson 10.63 Mike Sampson 10.09 Dave Kennett 8.37 Eric Dugard 8.25 Peter Jarman 7.50 Roger Abel 7.32 Paul Woods 6.85 Steve Naylor 6.63
Edinburgh
Bert Harkins 8.09 Jack Millen 7.80 Charlie Monk 7.31 Steve McDermott 6.37 Dave Trownson 6.15 Colin Farquharson 5.75 Alan Bridgett 4.58 Alan Morrison 4.48 Des Allen 3.53
Ellesmere Port
John Jackson 10.07 Steve Finch 8.83 Dave Mortiboys 7.43 Phil Collins 7.23 Duncan Meredith 5.64 James Moore 4.93 John Williams 4.90 Louis Carr 4.03 Paul Sheard 3.20
Mildenhall
Bob Coles 8.81 Trevor Jones 7.05 Robert Henry 6.66 Mike Spink 6.40 Mick Bates 6.22 Neil Leeks 5.83 John Gibbons 5.66 Fred Mills 5.64 Melvyn Taylor 4.63
Newcastle
Tom Owen 10.82 Robbie Blackadder 8.61 Ron Henderson 7.72 Phil Kynman 7.22 Robbie Gardner 6.35 Neil Coddington .06 Phil Micheledies 4.75 Eddie Argall 4.43 Rob Maxfield 2.78 Robin Dixon 2.19 Nigel Crabtree 1.47
Newport
Jim Brett 8.84 Brian Woodward 8.31 John Goodall 7.61 Mike Broadbank 6.52 Cliff Anderson 5.26 Chris Robins 5.18 Malc Bedkober 5.00 Dave Shepherd 2.88
Oxford
Martin Yeates 10.53 Phil Bass 7.13 Kevin Young 6.82 Colin Meredith 6.71 Brian Leonard 6.53 Mick Handley .6.00 Malcolm Holloway 5.90 Pip Lamb 4.99 Gerald Smitherman 3.83 Richie Caulwell 3.31
Peterborough
Andy Hines 7.83 Ian Clark 7.47 Kevin Hawkins 7.37 Nigel Flatman 7.00 Brian Clark 6.99 Nigel Couzens 6.46 Ken Matthews 6.26 Peter Spink 4.33
Rye House
Kelvin Mullarkey 9.14 Ted Hubbard 9.02 Bobby Garrad 8.07 Hugh Saunders 7.32 Karl Fiala 6.22 Ashley Pullen 6.11 Peter Tarrant 6.00 Bob Cooper 4.79
Scunthorpe
Nicky Allott 8.29 Arthur Browning 7.69 John McNeill 7.22 Sid Sheldrick 5.86 Dave Baugh 5.76 Trevor Whiting 5.09 Paul Cooper 4.80 Phil White 4.75 Danny Young 4.21
Stoke
Stuart Mountford 8.15 Tim Nunan 7.3 Ian Gledhill 6.67 Carl Askew 6.49 Ian Robertson 6.26 Mick Fishwick 5.65 Steve McDermott 5.29 Rob Dole 4.50 Colin Farquharson 4.11 Ian Jeffcoate 3.86 Trevor Vincent/Charley 3.37
Teesside
Alan Emerson 8.56 Steve Wilcock 6.84 Pete Reading 6.16 Pete Smith 6.09 Nigel Close 5.14 Martyn Cusworth 4.95 John Robson 4.80 Mike Beaumont 4.67 Harry Maclean 2.56
Weymouth
Danny Kennedy 8.65 Vic Harding 7.95 Malcolm Corradine 7.91 Chris Robins 6.14 Sean Willmott 5.65 Rob Jones 5.59 Geoff Swindells 5.27 Richard Evans 5.24 Chris Julian 4.77 Roger Stratton 4.58
Workington
Steve Lawson 8.19 Brian Havelock 7.82 Mick Newton 6.47 Ian Hindle 6.37 Roger Wright 5.61 Colin Goad 5.49 Terry Kelly 4.65 Mark Dickinson 3.14 Chris Bevan 3.04 Andy Reid 3.04
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References