The 2012 season of the National League was the third tier/division of British speedway and was contested by eight teams.
Summary Newport and Belle Vue did not return from 2011, and Hackney opted to run at Rye House only, renaming the team Rye House Raiders.
Mildenhall Fen Tigers beat Dudley Heathens in the play-off final to become champions.
Final table Pos Team PL W D L Pts1 Dudley Heathens 14 13 0 1 422 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 14 10 2 2 383 Isle of Wight Islanders 14 7 0 7 214 Stoke Potters 14 6 1 7 205 Rye House Raiders 14 6 0 8 206 Scunthorpe Saints 14 6 0 8 177 Buxton Hitmen 14 3 1 10 118 King's Lynn Young Stars 14 3 0 11 9 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 less = 1 Away draw = 2 Away win by between 1 and 6 points = 3 Away win by 7 points or more = 4
Fixtures & results
Play Offs Top four teams race off in two-legged semi-finals and final to decide championship. Mildenhall Fen Tigers defeated Dudley Heathens in the final.
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two30/09 Mildenhall 58-36 Isle of Wight16/10 Isle of Wight 45-44 Mildenhall09/10 Dudley 44-43 Stoke10/10 Stoke 41-54 Dudley
Final
Final Leading averages
Rider Team Average Adam Roynton Dudley 11.64 Tom Perry Dudley 9.88 Ashley Birks Stoke 9.66
National League Knockout Cup The 2012 National League Knockout Cup was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Mildenhall Fen Tigers were the winners for the second successive year.
First round Date Team one Score Team two13/05 Stoke 49-40 Scunthorpe Saints08/05 Dudley 65-28 Buxton07/05 Scunthorpe Saints 47-42 Stoke06/05 Buxton 36-54 Dudley02/05 King's Lynn 39-51 Mildenhall01/05 Isle Of Wight 58-31 Rye House Raiders15/04 Mildenhall 55-40 King's Lynn06/04 Rye House Raiders 49-46 Isle Of Wight
Semi-finals Date Team one Score Team two15/09 Stoke 44-50 Mildenhall27/08 Mildenhall 55-39 Stoke09/08 Isle of Wight 15-21 Dudley12/06 Dudley 60-32 Isle Of Wight
Final
Riders' Championship Ashley Birks won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 29 September at Rye House Stadium.
Pos. Rider Team Total1 Ashley Birks Stoke 14+32 Jason Garrity Rye House 14+2 3 Gary Irving Scunthorpe 13 4 Tom Perry Dudley 11 5 Charles Wright Buxton 8 6 Lewis Kerr Kings Lynn 8 7 Lewis Blackbird Mildenhall 8 8 Stefan Nielsen Mildenhall 7 9James Sarjeant Rye House 610 Ben Morley Rye House 5 11 Ashley Morris Dudley 5 12 Ben Reade Stoke 5 13 Danny Warwick Isle of Wight 4 14 Ben Hopwood Isle of Wight 4 15 Adam Mckinna Buxton 4 16 Joe Jacobs Mildenhall 3
Pairs The National League Pairs Championship, was held at Mildenhall Stadium, on 22 July 2012. The event was won by Cameron Heeps and Lewis Blackbird of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1Mildenhall20 Blackbird 11, Heeps 92Buxton 17Wright 10, Branford 73Isle of Wight 11Warwick 6, Hughes 54Rye House 6Morley 4, Sarjeant 2
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1Scunthorpe 20 Irving 12, Young 82Dudley 13Bekker 9, Perry 43King's Lynn 12 Kerr 10, Cockle 24Stoke 9Lambert 9, Reade 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1Mildenhall 20 Heeps 11, Blackbird 62Buxton 14Branford 8, Wright 63Dudley 12 Perry 10, Bekker 24Scunthorpe 11 Irving 8, Young 3
Fours Mildenhall won the National League Fours, held on 26 August 2012 at Loomer Road Stadium.
Group APosTeamPtsRiders1 Dudley21Roynon 6, Morris 6, Ritchings 5, Bekker 42 Stoke 13Birks 5, Cockle 5, Atkin 2, Carr 13 Rye House9 Morley 4, Sarjeant 3, Chessell 2, Coles 04 Isle of Wight5 Starke 2, Stoneman 2, Walter 1, Hopwood 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1 Mildenhall23 Blackbird 6, Nielsen 6, Jacobs 6, Halsey 52 Buxton 12Wright 5, McKinna 4, Felton 2, Priest 13 King's Lynn 6Kerr 3, Knight 2, Stokes 1, Johnson 04 Scunthorpe 5 Greenwood 3, Phillips 2, Fenwick 0, Young 0
FinalPosTeamPtsRiders1 Mildenhall17Nielsen 6, Jacobs 6, Halsey 3, Blackbird 22 Buxton 13Wright 4, Priest 4, Felton 3, McKinna 23 Dudley10Morris 5, Roynon 2, Ritchings 2, Bekker 14 Stoke 7Birks 3, Cockle 2, Atkin 1, Carr 1
Teams and averages
Buxton Hitmen Charles Wright 8.53 Robert Branford 7.54 Adam McKinna 6.74 Dean Felton 5.77 Luke Priest 5.67 Ryan Blacklock 3.51 Chris Widman 3.49
Dudley Heathens Adam Roynon 11.64 Tom Perry 9.88 Ashley Morris 8.51 Byron Bekker 7.44 Dan Greenwood 5.90 Darryl Ritchings 5.84 James White-Williams 4.88
Isle of Wight Islanders Danny Warwick 7.01 Ben Hopwood 6.16 Paul Starke 5.70 Mark Baseby 5.67 Steve Jones 5.33 Danny Stoneman 3.83 Ross Walter 3.00 Adam Ellis 3.00
King's Lynn Young Stars Darren Mallet 7.48 Lewis Kerr 6.67 Jake Knight 5.93 Adam Lowe 5.62 Brendan Johnson 5.25 Tom Stokes 5.12 Scott Campos 4.54 Lewis Rose 3.00
Mildenhall Fen Tigers Cameron Heeps 9.18 Stefan Nielsen 8.32 Joe Jacobs 7.94 Lewis Blackbird 7.01 Danny Halsey 6.57 Josh Bates 5.30 Ryan Terry-Daley 3.00 Joe Graver 3.00
Rye House Raiders Jason Garrity 9.42 James Sarjeant 7.87 Ben Morley 7.82 Luke Chessell 4.59 Shane Hazelden 4.57 Connor Coles 4.30 Brad Tokley 3.00
Scunthorpe Saints Jerran Hart 9.04 Steve Worrall 8.36 Gary Irving 8.17 Tom Young 7.04 Oliver Greenwood 6.57 Max Clegg 4.54 Danny Phillips 3.00 Tommy Fenwick 3.00
Stoke Potters Ashley Birks 9.66 Tony Atkin 7.75 Ben Reade 7.70 James Cockle 6.24 Liam Carr 3.61 Richard Andrews 3.41 Liam Rumsey 3.00
Development Leagues Midland Development League Pos team P W D L Pts1 Milton Keynes Knights 12 9 1 2 192 Belle Vue Colts 11 7 1 3 153 Coventry-Mercia Vikings 11 5 2 4124 Long Eaton 12 5 1 6115 Stoke 12 4 1 796 Scunthorpe 12 4 0 887 Sheffield 12 3 0 96 Milton Keynes won grand final 21–15
Anglian Development League Pos team P W D L Pts1 King's Lynn 10 10 0 0 202 Lakeside 10 7 0 3 143 Mildenhall 9 5 1 3 114 Rye House 10 3 0 7 65 Peterborough 10 2 0 8 46 Ipswich 9 1 1 7 3
Northern Development League Pos team P W D L Pts1 Edinburgh 6 0 0 0 122 Redcar 6 4 0 2 83 Berwick 6 1 1 4 34 Workington 6 0 1 5 1
See also List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
References
See also