The 2023 National Development League was the third division/tier of British speedway for the 2023 season. It was a semi-professional development league, containing mainly the junior sides of SGB Premiership and SGB Championship clubs. Leicester Lion Cubs were the defending champions having won the title in 2022. Oxford Chargers won the title, defeating Leicester in a one-off Grand Final.
Summary Eight clubs competed for the National Development League Championship after the addition of the Workington Comets to the league, who raced on the new Northside track. Armadale Devils were renamed Edinburgh Monarchs Academy, while the Plymouth Centurions did not return.
The league points system changed in-line with the SGB Premiership and SGB Championship, with teams scoring two points for a win (home or away), with a bonus point scored for an aggregate win. A 'Super Heat' was also introduced in the event of a tied meeting, with the winners scoring two league points and the losers gaining one point. The top two in the league qualified for the Grand Final. The rider points limit for team construction was 42 points.
Defending champions Leicester Lion Cubs topped the table, however they lost a one-off Grand Final to the Oxford Chargers. The final was initially supposed to be a two-legged affair, however Leicester were unable to stage their home fixture due to bad weather and the BSPA ruled the title would be decided on the outcome of the Oxford leg. Oxford won the final 34–32, with the meeting ending after just 11 heats due to rain. It was the first major trophy Oxford had won since the Cheetahs claimed the Craven Shield in 2005.
Mildenhall Fen Tigers were controversially awarded the NDL KO Cup after Leicester were also unable to host the home leg of the final. Leicester had won the away leg, but the BSPA ruled a 75-0 walkover for Mildenhall in the second leg.
Workington's Connor Bailey won the Riders' Championship, while Leicester's Dan Thompson topped the averages for the second year running.
League
League table
Club Home Away 1 Leicester Lion Cubs (Q) 14 7 0 0 5 0 2 708 543 7 31 +165 2 Oxford Chargers (Q) 14 7 0 0 4 0 3 710 542 5 27 +168 3 Belle Vue Colts 14 6 0 1 2 0 5 675 583 6 22 +92 4 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 14 6 0 1 2 0 5 592 632 3 19 -40 5 Monarchs Academy 14 5 0 2 1 0 6 614 641 4 16 -27 6 Workington Comets 14 4 0 3 1 0 6 575 648 2 12 -73 7 Kent Royals 14 5 0 2 0 0 7 545 684 1 11 -139 8 Berwick Bullets 14 1 0 6 0 0 7 540 686 0 2 -146
Fixtures & results
Grand Final
Knockout Cup The 2023 National Development League Knockout Cup was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. It was limited to teams that were not also running promotions in the SGB Championship. It ended in controversial circumstances as Leicester were unable to stage their home leg of the final, and the competition was therefore awarded to Mildenhall.
Home team scores are in bold Overall aggregate scores are in red
Final First leg
Second leg
Riders' Championship The 2023 National League Riders' Championship took place on Sunday 15 October, at Northside Speedway, Workington and was won by Connor Bailey.
Pos. Rider Pts Total 1 Connor Bailey (Workington) 3,3,3,3,3 152 Max Clegg (Edinburgh) 2,2,2,3,3 12+33 Jacob Hook (Edinburgh) 1,3,3,2,3 12+24 Ashton Boughen (Leicester) 2,3,3,0,3 115 Ben Morley (Kent) 2,1,2,3,2 106 Sam McGurk (Workington) 1,2,3,2,1 97 Freddy Hodder (Belle Vue) 3,2,2,1,1 98 Ben Trigger (Mildenhall) 0,3,0,3,2 89 Max Perry (Leicester) 3,0,1,2,0 610 Danny Phillips (Berwick) X,1,2,2,1 611 Lee Complin (Mildenhall) 3,2,X,-,- 512 Tom Woolley (Kent) 2,0,1,0,2 513 Jamie Halder (Berwick) 0,0,1,1,2 414 Luke Muff (Belle Vue) 1,1,1,1,- 415 Jacob Clouting (Oxford) 1,1,0,1,1 416 Jody Scott (Oxford) 0,0,0,0,R 017 Callum Foy - res (Workington) -,-,-,0,0018 Ben Rathbone - res (Berwick) -,-,-,-,0 0 F=fell, R=retired, X=excluded TM=two minute warning excluded
Leading averages Rider Team Average 1 Dan Thompson Leicester 10.64 2 Jordan Jenkins Oxford 10.43 3 Henry Atkins Oxford 10.17 4 Connor Bailey Workington 10.03 5 Joe Thompson Leicester 9.82 6 Alfie Bowtell Mildenhall 9.80 7 Max Clegg Edinburgh 9.57 8 James Pearson Belle Vue 9.24 9 Jack Smith Belle Vue 9.15 10 Adam Roynon Edinburgh 9.02 averages include league, play offs & knockout cup, min 6 matches
Squads & final averages
Belle Vue Colts 9.24 (C) 9.15 8.63 7.31 7.21 6.00 4.39 1.00
Berwick Bullets 7.86 7.73 7.21 (C) 6.75 5.97 4.80 4.48 4.00 2.80
Edinburgh Monarchs Academy 9.57 9.05 9.02 8.75 6.40 5.27 5.17 3.40 1.94
Kent Royals 8.38 8.26 6.91 (C) 6.58 6.10 4.57 4.00 3.56
Leicester Lion Cubs 10.64 (C) 9.82 8.61 8.15 6.77 6.70 5.43
Mildenhall Fen Tigers 9.80 (C) 8.50 7.16 6.67 5.94 5.33 2.07
Oxford Chargers (C) 10.43 10.17 8.49 8.31 7.43 6.69 6.06 5.85 0.86
Workington Comets 10.03 7.01 6.90 6.77 (C) 4.80 4.68 2.82 0.00
See also List of United Kingdom speedway league champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References