Misplaced Pages

The 1977 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.

Summary

Newport had moved down from the British League. Their riders were transferred to Bristol Bulldogs but they acquired new riders and were renamed Newport Dragons. Paisley Lions dropped out so the league had 19 teams, the same as the previous season. Part way through the season, Coatbridge Tigers relocated and changed name to Glasgow Tigers after being kicked out of Cliftonhill.

Eastbourne Eagles won the National League title, completing a league and cup double. Eastbournes's star rider was Colin Richardson, who won the Riders' Championship and averaged 10.70 for the season. He was backed up by Mike Sampson, who also surpassed a 10 average and Dave Kennett (8.37 average) and a member of Eastbourne's 1971 winning team.

Joe Owen, the leading rider of 1976 had moved from champions Newcastle Diamonds to join British League side Hull Vikings. Newcastle were unable to compensate for the loss and finished in 6th place, despite Joe's brother Tom Owen finishing top of the averages.

Final table

Top Five Riders (League Averages)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Tom Owen		Newcastle	11.01
2	Colin Richardson		Eastbourne	10.70
3	Martin Yeates		Oxford	10.59
4	John Jackson		Ellesmere Port	10.22
5	Mike Sampson		Eastbourne	10.18

National League Knockout Cup

The 1977 National League Knockout Cup was the tenth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–57.

Riders' Championship

Colin Richardson won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by Gauloises and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 24 September.

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Colin Richardson	3 3 3 3 3	15
2	Martin Yeates	3 3 2 3 2	13+3
3	Tom Owen	3 3 3 3 1	13+2
4	Kelvin Mullarkey	3 2 3 2 2	12
5	Rob Hollingworth	2 3 1 2 3	11
6	John Jackson	2 3 1 2 3	10
7	Steve Koppe	1 2 1 2 3	9
8	Laurie Etheridge	2 1 0 2 2	7
9	Stuart Mountford	0 0 2 1 2	5
10	Bert Harkins	1 1 1 1 1	5
11	Alan Emerson	0 0 0 1 3	4
12	Danny Kennedy	0 2 2 0 ex	4
13	Brian Woodward	2 0 1 1 0	4
14	Brian Collins	0 1 2 0 0	3
15	Bob Coles	1 1 0 ef 0	3
16	Steve Lawson	1 0 f 0 1	2
17	Ian Clark (res)	0	0

• f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 4 June and was won by Boston Barracudas.

Semi finals

• Boston bt Canterbury
• Newport bt Oxford

Final

• Boston bt Newport

Fours

Peterborough won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.

Semi finals

• SF1 = Eastbourne 21, Stoke 12, Ellesmere Port 8, Boston 7
• SF2 = Canterbury 18, Peterborough 14, Newcastle 9, Oxford 7

Final

Leading final averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Tom Owen		Newcastle	10.82
2	Colin Richardson		Eastbourne	10.63
3	Martin Yeates		Oxford	10.53
4	Mike Sampson		Eastbourne	10.09
5	John Jackson		Ellesmere Port	10.07

Riders & final averages

Berwick

• Graham Jones 7.85
• Robin Adlington 7.01
• Mike Hiftle 6.65
• Willie Templeton 5.76
• Dave Gifford 5.69
• Terry Kelly 4.44
• Keith Williams 4.00
• Noel Suckling 3.86
• Wayne Brown 3.85
• Colin Caffrey 3.47

Boston

• Rob Hollingworth 9.90
• Carl Glover 7.84
• Colin Cook 7.68
• Paul Gilbert 7.04
• Steve Clarke 6.48
• Billy Burton 6.27
• Dave Piddock 5.75
• Dave Allen 5.45
• Stuart Cope 5.37
• Ron Cooper 5.25

Canterbury

• Steve Koppe 8.83
• Graham Banks 8.29
• Les Rumsey 8.18
• Bob Spelta 7.37
• Barney Kennett 6.44
• Brendan Shiletto 6.09
• Terry Casserley 5.55
• Graham Clifton 4.66
• Brian Canning 4.32

Coatbridge/Glasgow

• Brian Collins 8.94
• Mick McKeon 7.95
• Grahame Dawson 7.65
• Rob Maxfield 7.13
• Derek Richardson 5.41
• Merv Janke 4.75
• Benny Rourke 4.57
• Jimmy Gallacher 4.35
• Nicky Hollingworth 2.87

Crayford

• Laurie Etheridge 9.41
• Alan Sage 8.63
• Colin Gooddy 8.53
• Alan Johns 5.47
• John Hooper 4.63
• Mike Bessant 4.18
• Richard Davey 4.17
• Garry May 3.78

Eastbourne

• Colin Richardson 10.63
• Mike Sampson 10.09
• Dave Kennett 8.37
• Eric Dugard 8.25
• Peter Jarman 7.50
• Roger Abel 7.32
• Paul Woods 6.85
• Steve Naylor 6.63

Edinburgh

• Bert Harkins 8.09
• Jack Millen 7.80
• Charlie Monk 7.31
• Steve McDermott 6.37
• Dave Trownson 6.15
• Colin Farquharson 5.75
• Alan Bridgett 4.58
• Alan Morrison 4.48
• Des Allen 3.53

Ellesmere Port

• John Jackson 10.07
• Steve Finch 8.83
• Dave Mortiboys 7.43
• Phil Collins 7.23
• Duncan Meredith 5.64
• James Moore 4.93
• John Williams 4.90
• Louis Carr 4.03
• Paul Sheard 3.20

Mildenhall

• Bob Coles 8.81
• Trevor Jones 7.05
• Robert Henry 6.66
• Mike Spink 6.40
• Mick Bates 6.22
• Neil Leeks 5.83
• John Gibbons 5.66
• Fred Mills 5.64
• Melvyn Taylor 4.63

Newcastle

• Tom Owen 10.82
• Robbie Blackadder 8.61
• Ron Henderson 7.72
• Phil Kynman 7.22
• Robbie Gardner 6.35
• Neil Coddington .06
• Phil Micheledies 4.75
• Eddie Argall 4.43
• Rob Maxfield 2.78
• Robin Dixon 2.19
• Nigel Crabtree 1.47

Newport

• Jim Brett 8.84
• Brian Woodward 8.31
• John Goodall 7.61
• Mike Broadbank 6.52
• Cliff Anderson 5.26
• Chris Robins 5.18
• Malc Bedkober 5.00
• Dave Shepherd 2.88

Oxford

• Martin Yeates 10.53
• Phil Bass 7.13
• Kevin Young 6.82
• Colin Meredith 6.71
• Brian Leonard 6.53
• Mick Handley .6.00
• Malcolm Holloway 5.90
• Pip Lamb 4.99
• Gerald Smitherman 3.83
• Richie Caulwell 3.31

Peterborough

• Andy Hines 7.83
• Ian Clark 7.47
• Kevin Hawkins 7.37
• Nigel Flatman 7.00
• Brian Clark 6.99
• Nigel Couzens 6.46
• Ken Matthews 6.26
• Peter Spink 4.33

Rye House

• Kelvin Mullarkey 9.14
• Ted Hubbard 9.02
• Bobby Garrad 8.07
• Hugh Saunders 7.32
• Karl Fiala 6.22
• Ashley Pullen 6.11
• Peter Tarrant 6.00
• Bob Cooper 4.79

Scunthorpe

• Nicky Allott 8.29
• Arthur Browning 7.69
• John McNeill 7.22
• Sid Sheldrick 5.86
• Dave Baugh 5.76
• Trevor Whiting 5.09
• Paul Cooper 4.80
• Phil White 4.75
• Danny Young 4.21

Stoke

• Stuart Mountford 8.15
• Tim Nunan 7.3
• Ian Gledhill 6.67
• Carl Askew 6.49
• Ian Robertson 6.26
• Mick Fishwick 5.65
• Steve McDermott 5.29
• Rob Dole 4.50
• Colin Farquharson 4.11
• Ian Jeffcoate 3.86
• Trevor Vincent/Charley 3.37

Teesside

• Alan Emerson 8.56
• Steve Wilcock 6.84
• Pete Reading 6.16
• Pete Smith 6.09
• Nigel Close 5.14
• Martyn Cusworth 4.95
• John Robson 4.80
• Mike Beaumont 4.67
• Harry Maclean 2.56

Weymouth

• Danny Kennedy 8.65
• Vic Harding 7.95
• Malcolm Corradine 7.91
• Chris Robins 6.14
• Sean Willmott 5.65
• Rob Jones 5.59
• Geoff Swindells 5.27
• Richard Evans 5.24
• Chris Julian 4.77
• Roger Stratton 4.58

Workington

• Steve Lawson 8.19
• Brian Havelock 7.82
• Mick Newton 6.47
• Ian Hindle 6.37
• Roger Wright 5.61
• Colin Goad 5.49
• Terry Kelly 4.65
• Mark Dickinson 3.14
• Chris Bevan 3.04
• Andy Reid 3.04

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
3. "Greyhounds beat Tigers". Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser. 10 February 1977. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
5. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
6. ^ "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
7. "1977 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
8. ^ "1977 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
9. "Stuart's five". Staffordshire Sentinel. 26 September 1977. Retrieved 17 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "1977 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
11. "Speedway". Lincolnshire Free Press. 9 August 1977. Retrieved 9 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. Oakes, Peter (1978). 1978 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 978-0904584509.

v t e United Kingdom Speedway Seasons
Tier One League Top division	1929 1929 1930 1930 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Two League Second division	1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Tier Three League Third division	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Champions	League champions Cup winners

v t e British League Division Two/National League seasons
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

• Speedway British League Division Two / National League