The 2013 season of the National League, the third tier of British speedway was contested by eight teams.
Summary Scunthorpe Saints and Rye House Cobras were both missing from the 2012 league. Two newcomers were the Coventry Storm and the newly formed Kent Kings.
The Dudley Heathens were champions.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Dudley Heathens 13 11 0 2 372 King's Lynn Young Stars 13 8 0 5 273 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 13 8 0 5 254 Isle of Wight Islanders 14 7 0 7 225 Coventry Storm 14 6 0 8 196 Buxton Hitmen 14 6 0 8 187 Kent Kings 13 5 0 8 158 Stoke Potters 12 2 0 10 7 PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Scoring system: Home loss by any number of points = 0 Home draw = 1 Home win by between 1 and 6 points = 2 Home win by 7 points or more = 3 Away loss by 7 points or more = 0 Away loss by 6 points or fewer = 1 Away draw = 2 Away win by between 1 and 6 points = 3 Away win by 7 points or more = 4
Fixtures & results
Playoffs Top four teams race off in two-legged semi-finals and final to decide the championship. Dudley Heathens defeated King's Lynn Young Stars in the final.
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two02/10 King's Lynn 57-39 Mildenhall01/10 Isle of Wight 43-47Dudley29/09 Mildenhall 49-41 King's Lynn24/09 Dudley 59-31 Isle of Wight Final
National League Knockout Cup The 2013 National League Knockout Cup was the 16th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Dudley Heathens were the winners.
First round Date Team one Score Team two04/08 Buxton 47-43 Dudley09/07 Isle of Wight 61-32 Kent24/06 Kent 44-49 Isle of Wight19/06 King's Lynn 64-26 Stoke08/06 Stoke 57-32 King's Lynn04/06 Dudley 55-39 Buxton26/05 Mildenhall 48-42 Coventry Storm17/05 Coventry Storm 45-47 Mildenhall
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two24/10 Mildenhall 44-46 Isle of Wight15/10 Isle of Wight 46-44 Mildenhall08/10 Isle of Wight 50-40 Mildenhall5/09 King's Lynn 44-46 Dudley22/09 Mildenhall 50-40 Isle of Wight10/09Dudley 56-34 King's Lynn
Final
Riders' Championship Steve Boxall won the Riders' Championship for the second time. The final was held on 21 September at Rye House Stadium.
Pos. Rider Total1 Steve Boxall 14+32 Lewis Kerr 14+23 Lewis Blackbird 124 Steve Worrall 115 Robert Lambert 116 Stefan Nielsen 97 Charles Wright 88 Ben Morley 69Paul Starke 610 Tom Perry 511 Joe Jacobs 512 James Sarjeant 513 Liam Carr 414 Ashley Morris 4 15 Josh Bates 016 Adam Ellis 0
Pairs The National League Pairs Championship, was held at Mildenhall Stadium, on 30 June 2013. The event was won by Ashley Morris and Lewis Blackbird of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Dudley18 Morris 10, Blackbird 82Stoke15Smart 9, Priest 63Isle of Wight 11Hopwood 9, Ritchings 24King's Lynn 10Waldron 5, Worrall S 5
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Mildenhall 14 Halsey 9, Bates 52Kent 14Boxall 12, Morley 23Coventry 13 Sarjeant 7, Branford 64Buxton 13Wright 11, McKinna 2
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1Dudley17 Blackbird 9, Morris 82Mildenhall15Halsey 10, Bates 53Kent 14Boxall 8, Morley 64Stoke 8Priest 6, Smart 2
Fours Dudley won the National League Fours, held on 18 August 2013 at Loomer Road Stadium.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 King's Lynn16Kerr 6, Mallett 5, Rose 4, Knight 12 Mildenhall 15Armstrong 5, Stoneman 4, Bates 3, Halsey 33 Isle of Wight10Ritchings 4, Hopwood 2, Johnson 2, Ellis 24 Coventry7 Sarjeant 5, Greenwood 2, Terry-Daley 0, Shanes 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Dudley17 Starke 6, Blackbird 5, Morris 4, Isherwood 1, Ward 12 Kent12Boxall 6, Compton 5, Mason 1, Morley 03 Stoke 11Worrall 4, Hughes 4, Priest 3, Payne 04 Buxton 8 McKinna 3, Wright 3, Carr 2, Blacklock 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Dudley14 Starke 6, Morris 5, Blackbird 3, Isherwood 02 Kent 13Boxall 5, Compton 4, Morley 2, Mason 23 Mildenhall11 Halsey 5, Bates 4, Armstrong 2, Stoneman 04 King's Lynn 10Kerr 5, Mallett 3, Rose 1, Knight 1
National Trophy Pos team P Pts 1 Isle of Wight8222 Mildenhall8173 Stoke8134 Buxton875 Kent83
Final leading averages
Rider Team Average Lewis Blackbird Dudley 10.49 Charles Wright Buxton 10.37 Robert Lambert Kings Lynn 10.30
Teams and final averages
Buxton Hitmen Charles Wright 10.37 Tony Atkin 7.75 Liam Carr 6.87 Adam McKinna 6.22 Lee Smart 5.76 Ryan Blacklock 4.43 Tom Woolley 3.64 Matt Williamson 3.33 Tyler Govier 3.00
Coventry Storm Joe Jacobs 8.71 Robert Branford 8.53 James Sarjeant 7.38 Oliver Greenwood 6.89 Richard Franklin 4.84 Luke Crang 4.78 Trevor Heath 4.18 James Shanes 3.46 Martin Knuckey 3.00 Tommy Fenwick 3.00
Dudley Heathens Lewis Blackbird 10.49 Paul Starke 9.93 Ashley Morris 8.83 Max Clegg 6.27 Dan Greenwood 5.74 Gareth Isherwood 4.57 Nathan Greaves 4.00
Isle of Wight Islanders Adam Ellis 8.90 Byron Bekker 7.44 Ben Hopwood 6.89 Tom Perry 6.30 Darryl Ritchings 5.94 Brendan Johnson 4.84 Danny Stoneman 4.29 Chris Widman 3.50 Brandon Freemantle 3.00
Kent Kings Steve Boxall 9.56 Ben Morley 7.13 David Mason 6.38 Jack Kingston 4.20 Connor Coles 3.67 Adam Kirby 3.00 Sam Woods 3.00
King's Lynn Young Stars Robert Lambert 10.30 Lewis Kerr 8.22 Jake Knight 7.62 Lewis Rose 6.76 James Cockle 6.24 Shane Hazelden 4.77 Scott Campos 4.56 Shane Waldron 3.00
Mildenhall Fen Tigers Stefan Nielsen 8.00 Jon Armstrong 7.93 Josh Bates 7.49 Danny Halsey 7.43 Aaron Baseby 4.56 Nathan Stoneman 3.35 Liam Rumsey 3.05
Stoke Potters Ben Reade 7.70 Steve Worrall 7.09 Tom Young 7.04 Kyle Hughes 6.22 Lee Payne 4.90 Luke Priest 4.75 Luke Chessell 4.22 Shaun Tedham 3.00 Emerson Jones 3.00
Development Leagues Midland Development League Pos team P W D L Pts 1 Belle Vue Colts 12 8 1 4 16 2 Milton Keynes 11 7 1 3 153 Kings Lynn 12 6 2 4144 Stoke 12 5 2 5125 Castleford 11 4 1 696 Coventry 12 4 1 797 Long Eaton 12 3 1 87
Northern Junior League Pos team P W D L Pts 1 Redcar 8 6 1 1 132 Workington 8 6 0 2 123 Northside 8 4 1 3 94 Newcastle 8 1 1 6 35 Berwick 8 1 1 6 3
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
References