In 1982 the National League, also known as British League Division Two, was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom.
Summary Long Eaton Invaders replaced Workington Comets, after the latter withdrew from the league before the start of the season. Wolverhampton Wolves were unable to form a team and would not race for two seasons.
The league champions were Newcastle Diamonds.
Milton Keynes rider Brett Alderton was killed in an accident during the second half of a league meeting at King's Lynn. The 18-year old Australian sustained a fatal head injury on 17 April.
Final table Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Newcastle Diamonds 36 30 0 6 602 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 36 26 1 9 533 Ellesmere Port Gunners 36 25 0 11 504 Middlesbrough Tigers 36 24 1 11 495 Weymouth Wildcats 36 22 1 13 456 Rye House Rockets 36 22 0 14 447 Long Eaton Invaders 36 20 1 15 418 Boston Barracudas 36 19 1 16 399 Berwick Bandits 36 18 1 17 3710 Exeter Falcons 36 17 0 19 3411 Glasgow Tigers 36 16 0 20 3212 Milton Keynes Knights 36 14 1 21 2913 Peterborough Panthers 36 13 2 21 2814 Edinburgh Monarchs 36 14 0 22 2815 Crayford Kestrels 36 13 0 23 2616 Canterbury Crusaders 36 12 1 23 2517 Scunthorpe Stags 36 11 2 23 2418 Stoke Potters 36 11 1 24 2319 Oxford Cheetahs 36 7 3 26 17
Fixtures and results
Top five riders (league averages) Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Joe Owen Newcastle 11.09 2 Simon Wigg Weymouth 10.67 3 Steve Lawson Glasgow 10.40 4 Rod Hunter Newcastle 10.22 5 Bob Garrad Rye House 9.86
National League Knockout Cup The 1982 National League Knockout Cup was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Newcastle Diamonds were the winners of the competition.
First round Date Team one Score Team two11/05 Milton Keynes 47-49 Oxford06/05 Oxford 54-42 Milton Keynes27/04 Weymouth 60-36 Canterbury24/04 Canterbury 54-42 Weymouth Second round Date Team one Score Team two24/06 Oxford 39-56 Mildenhall07/06 Scunthorpe 51-45 Peterborough31/05 Rye House 35-25 Crayford31/05 Long Eaton 67-29 Berwick29/05 Berwick 67-29 Long Eaton26/05 Edinburgh 53-43 Ellesmere Port26/05 Mildenhall 62-34 Oxford25/05 Crayford 33-62 Rye House24/05 Newcastle 55-41 Middlesbrough23/05 Boston 59-37 Stoke22/05 Stoke 42-54 Boston21/05 Ellesmere Port 60-36 Edinburgh21/05 Peterborough 58-38 Scunthorpe20/05 Middlesbrough 53-43 Newcastle18/05 Weymouth 62-34 Exeter17/05 Exeter 60-36 Weymouth30/06replay Long Eaton 62-34 Berwick06/06replay Berwick 67-29 Long Eaton Quarter-finals Date Team one Score Team two07/08 Berwick 64-32 Ellesmere Port30/07 Ellesmere Port 69-26 Berwick29/07 Weymouth 53-43 Peterborough26/07 Newcastle 62-34 Boston18/07 Boston 47-49 Newcastle11/07 Rye House 60-35 Mildenhall10/07 Mildenhall 56-39 Rye House02/07 Peterborough 48-48 Weymouth Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two05/09 Rye House 59-37 Ellesmere Port31/08 Weymouth 35-61 Newcastle20/08 Ellesmere Port 71-25 Rye House16/08 Newcastle 63-32 Weymouth Final First leg
Second leg
Newcastle were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 118–74.
Riders' Championship Joe Owen won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by the Daily Mirror and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 18 September 1982.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Joe Owen 3 3 3 3 2 142 Steve Lomas 3 3 3 3 123 Bob Garrad 1 3 2 3 2 114 Andy Hines 2 3 2 3 10 5 Keith White 0 1 2 3 3 96 Derek Harrison 2 3 2 1 1 9 7 Steve Lawson 2 0 1 2 3 8 8 Andy Campbell 1 2 3 1 1 8 9 Dave Trownson 0 2 1 2 2 7 10 Alan Molyneux 2 2 2 0 6 11 Martin Yeates 3 0 0 0 2 5 12 Barry Thomas 3 0 1 1 0 5 13 Steve Wilcock 3 1 1 0 5 14 Barney Kennett 1 1 2 0 1 5 15 John Jackson 2 1 0 1 0 4 16 Steve McDermott 1 0 0 1 2
Pairs The National League Pairs were held in Swindon on 28 August and was won by Weymouth Wildcats.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Weymouth 15Yeates 8Wigg 72Boston 8Hollingworth 6Lomas 23Glasgow7Lawson 4McKinna 34Crayford 6Thomas 3Sage 3
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Newcastle15Hunter 9Owen J 62Mildenhall9Bales 5Harrison 43Peterborough9Allen 5Hines 44Berwick0McDermott 0Cribb 0
Group CPosTeamPtsRiders1Middlesbrough 11Dixon 9Wilcock 22Milton K11Featherby 8White 33Ellesmere P8Jackson 5Finch 34Canterbury6Kennett 5Clark 1
Group DPosTeamPtsRiders1Long Eaton13Perks 8Molyneux 52Rye House11Garrad 6Cox 53Exeter7Campbell 5Millard 24Edinburgh5Trownson 5Blacka 0
Semi finals Weymouth bt Middlesbrough Long Eaton bt Newcastle
Final Weymouth bt Long Eaton
Fours Newcastle Diamonds won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 25 July.
Semi finals SF1 = Newcastle 16, Middlesbrough 12, Ellesmere Port 10, Peterborough 10 SF2 = Mildenhall 15, Rye House 14, Oxford 12, Exeter 7
Final Pos TeamPts Riders1 Newcastle 17 Owen 6, Beaton 4, Hunter 4, Emerson 32 Mildenhall 15 Henry 5, Knight 5, Bales 4, Harrison 13 Middlesbrough 13 Dixon 5, Wilcock 4, Pusey 2, Spink 24 Rye House 3 Mullarkey 2, Naylor 1, Garrad 0, Bryenton 0
Leading final averages Rider Nat Team C.M.A. 1 Joe Owen Newcastle 11.01 2 Steve Lawson Glasgow 10.40 3 Simon Wigg Weymouth 10.36 4 Rod Hunter Newcastle 10.12 5 Bob Garrad Rye House 9.85
Riders & final averages Berwick
Steve McDermott 8.83 Bruce Cribb 7.85 Brian Collins 7.24 George Hunter 7.23 Paul Thorp 6.47 Rob Grant Sr. 6.12 Mike Caroline 5.45 Rob Carter 2.75
Boston
Steve Lomas 9.17 David Gagen 9.09 Rob Hollingworth 8.86 Dennis Mallett 5.94 David Blackburn 4.71 Guy Wilson 4.68 Peter Framingham 4.19 Robbie McGregor 3.60 Chris Cole 2.97
Canterbury
Barney Kennett 8.66 Denzil Kent 7.74 Ian Clark 7.64 Darryl Simpson 5.18 Keith Pritchard 4.46 Kevin Brice 4.36 Nigel Couzens 4.36 Mark Martin 3.74
Crayford
Barry Thomas 8.75 Trevor Banks 7.62 Mike Spinks 6.83 Alan Sage 6.48 Alan Mogridge 5.96 Laurie Etheridge 5.67 Paul Bosley 5.22 Mike Pither 5.02 Trevor Barnwell 3.53 Chris Tritton 3.23 Andy Galvin 2.40
Edinburgh
Dave Trownson 9.21 Eric Broadbelt 7.05 Brett Saunders 7.03 Ivan Blacka 6.54 Benny Rourke 6.00 Chris Turner 5.95 Mark Fiora 5.69 Roger Lambert 4.36 Ian Westwell 2.87 Sean Courtney 2.53
Ellesmere Port
John Jackson 9.15 Steve Finch 8.56 Rob Maxfield 7.26 Eric Monaghan 6.97 Phil Alderman 5.98 Billy Burton 5.98 Glen Parrott 4.91 Rob Tate 4.63
Exeter
John Barker 9.07 Les Sawyer 8.56 Andy Campbell 8.38 Keith Millard 8.18 Bob Coles 6.54 Keith Wright 4.67 Steve Bishop 4.37 Mike Semmonds 3.72 Dave Brewer 3.43
Glasgow
Steve Lawson 10.40 Kenny McKinna 8.78 Colin Caffrey 5.92 Harry Maclean 4.53 Rob Carter .86 Kym Mauger 3.67 Alan Mason 3.65 Martin McKinna 2.64 Des Wilson 1.71
Long Eaton
Alan Molyneux 9.35 Paul Stead 8.41 Dave Perks 7.94 Nigel Close 6.63 Paul Evitts 6.46 Nicky Allott 6.20 Mark Summerfield 5.03 David Blackburn 4.56
Middlesbrough
Martin Dixon 9.39 Steve Wilcock 9.27 Mike Spink 7.67 Geoff Pusey 7.34 Paul Price 5.21 Rob Woffinden 4.86 Alan Armstrong 4.33 Peter Spink 3.61 Bernie Collier 1.64
Mildenhall
Derek Harrison 9.33 Ray Bales 8.78 Richard Knight 8.32 Mick Bates 7.65 Robert Henry 7.62 Carl Baldwin 7.59 Andy Warne 4.48 Carl Blackbird 4.44
Milton Keynes
Keith White 8.09 Andy Hibbs 8.00 Craig Featherby 7.25 Nigel Sparshott 7.03 Steve Payne 6.29 Tony Featherstone 5.60 Paul Clarke 4.08
Newcastle
Joe Owen 11.01 Rod Hunter 10.12 Bobby Beaton 9.01 Alan Emerson 7.81 Keith Bloxsome 7.35 Tom Owen 7.12 Robbie Foy 3.65 Barry Shearer 1.47
Oxford
Ashley Pullen 7.73 Graham Drury 7.54 Colin Ackroyd 7.42 Simon Cross 6.88 Kevin Smart 5.13 Wayne Jackson 5.10 Brian Woodward 4.83 John Frankland 4.50 Gary Chessell 3.90 Bill Barrett 3.14 Mick Handley 3.06 Mick Fletcher 2.15
Peterborough
Andy Hines 8.64 Dave Allen 8.26 Mick Hines 7.33 Andy Buck 6.38 Andy Fisher 5.49 Ian Barney 5.38 Neil Cotton 3.06
Rye House
Bobby Garrad 9.85 Marvyn Cox 8.87 Kelvin Mullarkey 7.78 Steve Naylor 7.72 Peter Johns 4.95 Andy Fines 4.68 Steve Bryenton 4.31 Garry Monk 3.04
Scunthorpe
Mike Wilding 7.88 Kevin Teager 7.18 Nigel Crabtree 7.07 Rob Woffinden 5.97 Derek Richardson 5.74 Julian Parr 5.45 Terry Kelly 5.11 Ian Gibson 4.13 Mark DeKok 4.09
Stoke
Rod North 7.24 Pete Smith 6.91 Mark Collins 6.53 Mike Sampson 6.05 Ian Robertson 6.01 Brian Havelock 5.69 Arthur Browning 5.36 Pete Ellams 5.31 Jim Burdfield 4.41 Steve Sant 3.32
Weymouth
Simon Wigg 10.36 Martin Yeates 8.46 Steve Schofield 7.10 Terry Tulloch 6.72 Les Rumsey 6.39 Stan Bear 6.00 John McNeill 5.69 Steve Crockett 3.56 Mark Minett 2.86 Rob Mather 2.85
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References