The 2024 National Development League was the third division/tier of British motorcycle speedway for the 2024 season. It is a semi-professional development league, containing mainly the junior sides of SGB Premiership and SGB Championship clubs. Oxford Chargers were the defending champions having won the title in 2023. The league is sponsored by the World Speedway Riders' Association.
Summary Six clubs competed for the National Development League Championship, after the addition of Middlesbrough Tigers and a Scunthorpe Stags and Sheffield Prowlers combined team. The three teams that dropped out were Berwick Bullets, Kent Royals and Mildenhall Fen Tigers, while Workington Comets had moved up a division.
The league points limit was set at 36, later increased to 36.25, while all riders who achieved a Championship average higher than 4.00 in the past were unable to race in the National Development League. The playoff system was also scrapped, with the winners now being decided by whoever finished top of the league table during the regular season. The knockout cup was also not staged in 2024. In addition to the 2024 NDL league, all other senior teams were required to run a formal programme of second half racing called the National League Riders' Development Series.
Leicester Lion Cubs won the title.
League League table
Club Home Away 1 Leicester Lion Cubs (C) 10 5 0 0 4 0 1 512 382 5 23 +130 2 Belle Vue Colts 10 4 0 1 2 0 3 469 423 3 15 +46 3 Oxford Chargers 10 3 0 2 3 0 2 461 430 3 15 +31 4 Monarchs Academy 10 3 0 2 1 0 4 419 472 2 10 -53 5 Scunthorpe/Sheffield 10 2 0 3 1 0 4 415 481 1 7 -66 6 Middlesbrough Tigers 10 2 0 3 0 0 5 404 492 1 5 -88
Fixtures & results
NDL Riders Development Series
Three National League Riders Development Series events took place across the 2024 NDL Series. These were hosted by Poole, Leicester and Berwick.
DateVenueWinner2nd3rd NDL Development Series 26 JunePoole Sam Hagon Jake Mulford Joe Thompson 4 AugustLeicester Joe Thompson William Cairns Vinnie Foord 7 SeptemberBerwick Freddy Hodder Connor Coles Jake Mulford
Leading averages Rider Team Average 1 Sam Hagon Belle Vue 11.03 2 William Cairns Belle Vue 10.67 3 Joe Thompson Leicester 10.37 4 Luke Killeen Oxford 9.96 5 Ben Trigger Middlesbrough 8.98 6 Jake Mulford Middlesbrough 8.86 7 Jason Garrad Oxford 8.73 8 Jody Scott Oxford 8.68 9 Nathan Ablitt Sheffield/Scunthorpe 8.56 10 Connor Coles Edinburgh 8.42 averages include all league fixtures, min 4 matches
Squads & final averages
Belle Vue Colts 11.03 10.67 7.82 7.00 5.87 5.33 2.22 1.55
Edinburgh Monarchs Academy 8.42 8.08 7.40 6.56 6.24 3.91 2.27
Leicester Lion Cubs (C) 10.37 8.30 7.86 7.80 6.70 6.63 6.42
Middlesbrough Tigers 8.98 8.86 6.60 6.38 4.42 4.30 2.63
Oxford Chargers (C) 9.96 8.73 8.68 6.86 6.09 5.50 4.56 2.86
Scunthorpe Stags/Sheffield Prowlers 8.56 8.00 7.02 5.91 5.76 4.57 4.44 3.00
See also List of United Kingdom speedway league champions Knockout Cup (speedway)
References