In 1988 the National League, also known as British League Division Two, was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom.
Summary Glasgow Tigers returned to Glasgow for the first time in 15 years, when they moved into Shawfield Stadium in Rutherglen. The Canterbury Crusaders had been disbanded following the end of their lease at Kingsmead Stadium.
The league champions that year were Hackney Kestrels.Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Hackney Kestrels 30 26 2 2 542 Poole Pirates 30 20 1 9 413 Eastbourne Eagles 30 17 2 11 364 Wimbledon Dons 30 17 2 11 365 Berwick Bandits 30 17 2 11 366 Milton Keynes Knights 30 17 2 11 367 Stoke Potters 30 16 0 14 328 Peterborough Panthers 30 15 1 14 319 Arena Essex Hammers 30 15 1 14 3110 Glasgow Tigers 30 13 2 15 2811 Edinburgh Monarchs 30 14 0 16 2812 Exeter Falcons 30 12 0 18 2413 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 30 10 1 19 2114 Rye House Rockets 30 8 1 21 1715 Middlesbrough Tigers 30 7 1 22 1516 Long Eaton Invaders 30 7 0 23 14
Fixtures and results
National League Knockout Cup The 1988 National League Knockout Cup was the 21st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Hackney Kestrels were the winners of the competition.
First round Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legEdinburgh Stoke 55–4145–50Berwick Glasgow 56–4049–47Hackney Poole 70–2640–56Peterborough Rye House 58–3839–56Arena Essex Mildenhall 54–4239–57Eastbourne Exeter 66–2950–46Milton Keynes Wimbledon 44–5241–55Long Eaton Middlesbrough 51–4533–63 Quarter-finals Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg replay replayEdinburgh Peterborough 51–4546–49 Berwick Eastbourne 56–4045–51 Mildenhall Wimbledon 59–3737–5945–5046–50 Hackney Middlesbrough 56–4051–45 Semi-finals Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd legBerwick Wimbledon 58–3833–63Edinburgh Hackney 45–5125–71 Final
First leg
Second leg
Hackney were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 110–82.
Riders' Championship Troy Butler won the Riders' Championship. The final sponsored by Jawa Moto & Barum was held on 10 September 1988 at Brandon Stadium.
Pos. Rider Pts Total1 Troy Butler 3 3 3 3 3 152 Mark Loram 3 2 2 2 2 11+33 Kenny McKinna 3 1 2 2 3 11+24 Melvyn Taylor 2 3 3 2 ef 105 Graham Jones 1 3 0 3 3 10 6 Kevin Jolly 0 2 3 3 1 9 7 Steve Schofield 3 3 0 1 2 9 8 Gordon Kennett 2 1 2 2 1 8 9 Ian Barney 2 1 1 0 2 6 10 Mark Fiora 1 0 3 0 3 7 11 Steve Regeling 2 2 1 1 0 6 12 Martin Goodwin 1 0 1 1 2 5 13 Jens Rasmussen 0 2 2 ef 1 5 14 Jamie Luckhurst 0 0 1 3 r 4 15 Keith White 1 0 0 1 1 3 16 Mark Courtney 0 1 0 0 x 1 17 Mike Bacon (res) ef 0 f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes
Pairs The National League Pairs was held at Wimborne Road was due to be held on 24 July but was postponed before being held on 23 August. The event was won by Stoke Potters.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Stoke18Jones 9Bastable 9uHackney uMiddlesbrough uRye House
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Peterborough PooleuMildenhall TaylorMonaghanuMilton Keynes ButlerBaldwinuArena Essex
Group CPosTeamPtsRiders1Eastbourne Kennett2Berwick CourtneyGrant3 4
Group DPosTeamPtsRiders1Poole SchofieldBiles2Edinburgh 3Glasgow 4
Semi finals Stoke bt Eastbourne 5-4 Poole bt Peterborough 5-4
Final Stoke bt Poole 7-2
Fours Peterborough Panthers won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.
Semi finals SF1 = Poole 20, Peterborough 18, Stoke 9, Glasgow 1 SF2 = Mildenhall 15, Eastbourne 12, Middlesbrough 11, Hackney 10
Final Pos TeamPts Riders1 Peterborough Panthers 14Hodgson 5, Poole 4, Hawkins 4, Barney 12 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 13 Hines 4, Taylor 4, Monaghan 3, Baxter 13 Eastbourne Eagles 13 Buck 6, Standing 4, Barker 3, Kennett 04 Poole Pirates 8 Biles 4, Smart 2, Boyce 2, Schofield 0
Leading averages Rider Team Average Mark LoramHackney10.34 Steve SchofieldPoole10.22 Melvyn TaylorMildenhall10.11 Mark CourtneyBerwick10.07 Kenny McKinnaGlasgow10.05 Gordon KennettEastbourne9.97 Andy GalvinHackney9.86 Martin GoodwinArena Essex9.68 Andy BuckEastbourne9.56 Mick PoolePeterborough9.52 Mark FioraMiddlesbrough9.45
Riders & final averages Arena Essex
Martin Goodwin 9.68 David Smart 7.27 Rob Tilbury 6.75 Nigel Leaver 5.80 Chris Cobby 5.71 Ian Humphreys 4.76 Simon Wolstenholme 4.61
Berwick
Mark Courtney 10.07 Charlie McKinna 8.40 Steve McDermott 6.66 Rob Grant Sr. 6.55 Sean Courtney 6.12 Phil Kynman 5.30 Rob Woffinden 4.75 Wayne Ross 4.61 Ian Stead 4.56 Scott Robson 2.15
Eastbourne
Gordon Kennett 9.97 Andy Buck 9.56 Dean Standing 7.71 Dean Barker 7.37 Keith Pritchard 5.62 David Norris 5.00 Jon Surman 4.44 Darren Standing 4.32
Edinburgh
Les Collins 9.00 Jamie Luckhurst 8.60 Doug Wyer 7.27 Brett Saunders 6.57 Scott Lamb 4.69 Rob Woffinden 4.59 Jeremy Luckhurst 4.24 Darrell Branford 2.86 Mike Long 2.74
Exeter
Steve Regeling 7.90 Colin Cook 6.80 Richard Green 6.46 Alan Rivett 6.43 Dave Trownson 6.16 Peter Jeffery 5.53 Andy Sell 5.32 Rob Fortune 4.72 Tony Mattingley 2.90 Bruce Cribb 3.24
Glasgow
Kenny McKinna 10.05 Steve Lawson 8.69 David Blackburn 7.33 Phil Jeffrey 5.36 Shane Bowes 5.01 Martin McKinna 4.17 Geoff Powell 3.73 Wayne Ross 3.06 Michael Irving 2.20
Hackney
Mark Loram 10.34 Andy Galvin 9.86 Chris Louis 8.04 Alan Mogridge 7.41 Paul Whittaker 7.29 Gary Rolls 5.94 Barry Thomas 5.92
Long Eaton
Keith White 8.40 Glenn Doyle 7.83 Mike Spink 6.20 Gary O'Hare 5.44 Richie Owen 4.00 Darrell Branford 3.48 Dave Morton 3.29 Wayne Elliott 3.21 Jon Roberts 2.92 Steve Bishop 2.71
Middlesbrough
Mark Fiora 9.45 Daz Sumner 8.10 Martin Dixon 8.00 Peter McNamara 5.80 Ashley Norton 4.56 Nigel Sparshott 4.52 Geoff Pusey 3.80 Andy Sumner 3.74 Andy Buck 3.04 David Clay 2.86 Max Schofield 2.38 Paul Bentley 2.33
Mildenhall
Melvyn Taylor 10.11 Dave Jackson 7.74 Andy Hines 7.08 Eric Monaghan 6.62 Glen Baxter 5.66 Michael Coles 5.59 Paul Blackbird 2.57 Simon Green 2.56
Milton Keynes
Troy Butler 8.72 Alastair Stevens 7.67 Carl Baldwin 7.51 Trevor Banks 7.20 Ian Clark 6.44 Mark Carlson 6.10 Tony Primmer 6.07 Nigel Sparshott 5.61 Paul Atkins 3.65
Peterborough
Mick Poole 9.52 Ian Barney 8.41 Kevin Hawkins 7.98 Craig Hodgson 7.81 Jamie Habbin 5.72 John Stokes 4.97 Pete Chapman 4.55
Poole
Steve Schofield 10.22 David Biles 8.48 Craig Boyce 7.65 Kevin Smart 6.68 Tony Langdon 6.67 Gary Allan 5.58 Robbie Fuller 4.98 Nigel Flatman 4.90 Steve Bishop 4.48 Steve Langdon 3.50
Rye House
Jens Rasmussen 9.28 Paul Woods 8.12 Steve Wilcock 6.27 Mark Lyndon 5.59 Kevin Brice 4.53 Carl Chalcraft 4.50 Peter Schroeck 3.46 John Wainwright 2.67 Kevin Teager 2.38
Stoke
Nigel Crabtree 9.16 Graham Jones 8.92 Louis Carr 8.02 Steve Bastable 6.96 Derek Richardson 6.87 Paul Fry 5.18 Wayne Broadhurst 2.48 Jon Hughes 2.08
Wimbledon
Kevin Jolly 9.05 Ray Morton 8.30 Todd Wiltshire 7.66 Roger Johns 7.29 Alastair Stevens 7.20 Andy Campbell 6.59 Nathan Simpson 6.26 Terry Mussett 4.73 Rodney Payne 4.00
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References