The 1981 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom.
Summary 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. However, Wolverhampton Wolves joined having moved down from the British League. Wolves promoter Mike Parker was replaced by Dan McCormick for the 1981 season.
Berwick Bandits were forced to quit after 26 league meetings, their record being expunged. Middlesbrough Tigers comfortably won their first ever title.
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. A memorial trophy was held in subsequent years in his memory.
Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Middlesbrough Tigers 36 30 1 5 612 Weymouth Wildcats 36 26 1 9 533 Newcastle Diamonds 36 25 1 10 514 Edinburgh Monarchs 36 25 0 11 505 Glasgow Tigers 36 24 0 12 486 Boston Barracudas 36 22 0 14 447 Exeter Falcons 36 22 0 14 448 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 36 20 0 16 409 Peterborough Panthers 36 19 1 16 3910 Crayford Kestrels 36 19 0 17 3811 Ellesmere Port Gunners 36 18 1 17 3712 Oxford Cheetahs 36 18 1 17 3713 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 14 1 21 2914 Canterbury Crusaders 36 14 1 21 2915 Stoke Potters 36 14 0 22 2816 Rye House Rockets 36 11 0 25 2217 Scunthorpe Stags 36 6 1 29 1318 Workington Comets 36 6 1 29 1319 Milton Keynes Knights 36 4 0 32 8
Fixtures and results
National League Knockout Cup 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.
First round Date Team one Score Team two29/03 Mildenhall 58-38 Canterbury04/04 Canterbury 52-44 Mildenhall17/04 Ellesmere Port 47-49 Wolverhampton19/04 Wolverhampton 43-53 Ellesmere Port23/04 Middlesbrough 69-27 Glasgow29/05 Glasgow 55-40 Middlesbrough11/04 Stoke 51-45 Milton Keynes07/04 Milton Keynes 38-58 Stoke Second round Date Team one Score Team two29/05 Edinburgh 65-31 Exeter01/06 Exeter 56-40 Edinburgh04/06 Oxford 59-34 Scunthorpe01/06 Scunthorpe 46-49 Oxford07/06 Mildenhall 76-20 Ellesmere Port29/05 Ellesmere Port 30-64 Mildenhall29/05 Peterborough 70-26 Rye House07/06 Rye House 32-64 Peterborough06/06 Berwick 53-42 Newcastle08/06 Newcastle 52-44 Berwick09/06 Weymouth 74-20 Workington29/05 Workington 31-59 Weymouth07/06 Boston 69-27 Crayford02/06 Crayford 42-51 Boston07/06 Middlesbrough 55-41 Stoke06/06 Stoke 48-48 Middlesbrough Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two14/08 Edinburgh 65-31 Oxford13/08 Oxford 41-54 Edinburgh05/07 Mildenhall 61-35 Peterborough26/06 Peterborough 49-47 Mildenhall17/07 Berwick 51-45 Weymouth14/07 Weymouth 48-48 Berwick02/08 Boston 57-39 Middlesbrough?Middlesbrough 45-51 Boston Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two27/09 Edinburgh 64-32 Mildenhall11/09 Mildenhall 46-50 Edinburgh14/10 Berwick 64-32 Boston27/09 Boston 58½-37½ Berwick Final First leg
Second leg
Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101–89.
Riders' Championship Mike Ferreira won the Riders' Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 26 September 1981.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Mike Ferreira 3 3 3 3 3 152 Simon Wigg 1 3 3 3 3 133 Bruce Cribb 3 3 2 0 3 114 Dave Perks 3 1 2 2 2 105 Neil Collins 2 3 2 2 1 10 6 Steve Wilcock 2 2 1 2 2 9 7 Steve Lawson 2 0 3 3 8 8 Barry Thomas 2 0 3 2 1 8 9 Kelvin Mullarkey 0 2 1 3 2 8 10 Steve Finch 0 2 2 1 6 11 Wayne Brown 3 2 5 12 Ian Gledhill 0 2 1 1 4 13 Rob Maxfield 1 1 1 1 0 4 14 David Gagen 2 0 1 0 3 15 David Bargh 1 1 1 0 3 16 Bob Humphreys 1 0 0 1 17 John Barclay 1 118 Neville Moore 0 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure
Pairs The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 18 July and was won by Canterbury Crusaders.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Mildenhall 13Gledhill 9Bales 42Middlesbrough 11Wilcock 8Dixon 33Rye House6Mullarkey 6Naylor 04Edinburgh 5Turner 4Collins N 1
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Wolverhampton13Cribb 8Evitts 52Glasgow10Lawson 8McKinna 23Oxford7Perks 5Harrison 24Peterborough6Greer 6Buck 0
Group CPosTeamPtsRiders1Berwick 11Brown 9McDermott 22Newcastle11Hunter 7Bargh 43Weymouth8Yeates 5Wigg 34Exeter6Maxfield 6Hewlett 0
Group DPosTeamPtsRiders1Canterbury12Ferreira 9Kent 52Crayford12Thomas 7Sage 53Boston7Gagen 4Lomas 34Ellesmere P3Jackson 2Finch 1
Semi finals Canterbury bt Wolverhampton Berwick bt Mildenhall
Final Canterbury bt Berwick
Fours Edinburgh Monarchs won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 26 July.
Semi finals SF1 = Wolverhampton 16, Edinburgh 16, Mildenhall 13, Crayford 3 SF2 = Middlesbrough 16, Newcastle 16, Peterborough 11, Weymouth 4
Final Pos TeamPts Riders1 Edinburgh Monarchs 15 Turner 4, Collins 4, Trownson 4, Blacka 32 Newcastle Diamonds 13 Bargh 5, Emerson 3, Hunter 3, Blackadder 23 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 Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Mike Ferreira Canterbury Crusaders 10.87 2 Steve Lawson Glasgow Tigers 10.55 3 Mark Courtney Middlesbrough Tigers 10.44 4 Les Rumsey Weymouth 10.19 5 Dave Perks Oxford Cheetahs 10.13
Riders & final averages Berwick (withdrew from league)
Wayne Brown 9.24 Steve McDermott 8.40 Rob Grant Sr. 6.95 Mike Caroline 5.94 Brian Collins 5.38 Brett Saunders 5.05 Roger Wright 4.92 Graham Jones 4.61 Jim Beaton 4.00 Ian Anderson 1.26
Boston
David Gagen 8.84 Steve Lomas 8.84 Steve Regeling 8.47 Rob Hollingworth 8.45 Dennis Mallett 6.35 Mike Spinks 5.95 Michael Holding 5.23 Keven Dye 4.31 Chris Cole 3.45
Canterbury
Mike Ferreira 10.87 Denzil Kent 7.75 Barney Kennett 6.81 Mark Martin 4.69 Darryl Simpson 4.43 Kevin Brice 4.21 Brendan Shiletto 4.07 Jamie Luckhurst 3.78 Rob Dolman 3.30 Graham Knowler 2.67
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
Neil Collins 9.68 Dave Trownson 8.57 George Hunter 8.45 Chris Turner 7.49 Ivan Blacka 7.07 Benny Rourke 5.85 Roger Lambert 5.27 Guy Robson 2.77 Ian Westwell 2.27
Ellesmere Port
Billy Burton 8.63 Steve Finch 8.14 Peter Carr 7.49 John Jackson 7.34 Rob Ashton 6.51 Phil Alderman 5.98 Eric Monaghan 5.98 Paul Embley 4.81 Paul Price 3.11 Andrew Reeves 1.68
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
Steve Lawson 10.55 Charlie McKinna 8.04 Kenny McKinna 7.57 Nigel Close 7.08 Harry Maclean 6.02 Colin Caffrey 5.80 Andy Reid 5.52 Ray Palmer 4.44 Alan Mason 2.74
Middlesbrough
Mark Courtney 10.44 Steve Wilcock 9.95 Martin Dixon 8.28 Brian Havelock 7.20 Mike Spink 7.18 Geoff Pusey 6.71 Bernie Collier 5.05 Peter Tarrant 3.60 Alan Armstrong 3.54
Mildenhall
Robert Henry 8.59 Ray Bales 8.35 Mick Bates 8.25 Ian Gledhill 7.89 Richard Knight 7.24 Carl Baldwin 4.48 Andy Warne 3.78 Mark Bilner 3.73 Carl Blackbird 2.77
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
David Bargh 9.04 Rod Hunter 8.68 Robbie Blackadder 8.40 Alan Emerson 8.07 Keith Bloxsome 6.87 Glenn MacDonald 5.54 Kym Mauger 2.92
Oxford
Dave Perks 10.13 Derek Harrison 9.40 Colin Ackroyd 8.12 Paul Evitts 5.31 Arthur Price 4.51 John Grahame 4.14 Mick Handley .4.04 Mick Fletcher 3.94 Alan MacLean 1.44
Peterborough
Richard Greer 8.20 Andy Hines 8.04 Dave Allen 7.69 Mick Hines 7.58 Andy Fisher 6.08 Nigel Couzens 5.97 Andy Buck 5.32 Ian Barney 4.91
Rye House
Bobby Garrad 8.85 Kelvin Mullarkey 8.27 Steve Naylor 7.67 Kevin Bowen 5.05 Peter Johns 4.71 Peter Tarrant 4.62 Marvyn Cox 4.57 Garry Monk 4.51 Barry King 4.20 Tony Garard 2.18
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
Pete Smith 8.28 Mike Sampson 7.97 Arthur Browning 6.68 Rob Lightfoot 6.55 Mark Collins 6.29 Rod North 6.11 Steve Sant 6.06 Ian Robertson 3.87
Weymouth
Les Rumsey 10.19 Martin Yeates 10.12 Simon Wigg 10.07 Brian Woodward 7.11 Malcolm Shakespeare 7.02 Terry Tulloch 5.91 Steve Crockett 5.68 Steve Schofield 5.64 Bob Coles 5.22
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 List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References