1977 National League season

The 1977 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1][2]

1977 National League season
LeagueNational League
ChampionsEastbourne Eagles
No. of competitors19
Knockout CupEastbourne Eagles
IndividualColin Richardson
PairsBoston Barracudas
FoursPeterborough Panthers
Highest averageTom Owen
Division/s above1977 British League

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.

Eastbourne Eagles won the National League title, completing a league and cup double.[3][4] 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.[5]

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.[5]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Eastbourne Eagles 36 29 0 7 58
2 Rye House Rockets 36 24 3 9 51
3 Ellesmere Port Gunners 36 22 2 12 46
4 Canterbury Crusaders 36 23 0 13 46
5 Peterborough Panthers 36 22 0 14 44
6 Newcastle Diamonds 36 21 1 14 43
7 Boston Barracudas 36 20 0 16 40
8 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 36 16 4 16 36
9 Teesside Tigers 36 17 1 18 35
10 Crayford Kestrels 36 17 0 19 34
11 Glasgow Tigers 36 16 0 20 32
12 Newport Dragons 36 16 0 20 32
13 Oxford Cheetahs 36 15 1 20 31
14 Scunthorpe Saints 36 15 1 20 31
15 Edinburgh Monarchs 36 15 0 21 30
16 Workington Comets 36 14 1 21 29
17 Weymouth Wizards 36 11 3 22 25
18 Berwick Bandits 36 11 1 24 23
19 Stoke Potters 36 9 0 27 18

Top Five Riders
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Tom Owen Newcastle Diamonds 11.01
2 Colin Richardson Eastbourne Eagles 10.70
3 Martin Yeates Oxford Cheetahs 10.59
4 John Jackson Ellesmere Port Gunners 10.22
5 Mike Sampson Eastbourne Eagles 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.[6]

First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
03/04Eastbourne55-23Canterbury
23/04Canterbury26-52Eastbourne
14/04Oxford44-34Rye House
17/04Rye House44-34Oxford
22/04Edinburgh48-30Scunthorpe
25/04Scunthorpe43-34Edinburgh
02/06
replay		Oxford45-32Rye House
29/05
replay		Rye House42-36Oxford

Second Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
15/05Eastbourne54-23Crayford
03/05Crayford35-43Eastbourne
22/05Newcastle49-29Glasgow
29/04Glasgow47-30Newcastle
17/05Ellesmere Port46-32Workington
03/06Workington42-36Ellesmere Port
12/06Oxford50-28Newport
23/06Newport41-37Oxford
28/05Berwick46-32Teesside
02/06Teesside44-34Berwick
27/05Edinburgh44-34Stoke
21/05Stoke40-38Edinburgh
22/05Boston43-34Weymouth
24/05Weymouth35-43Boston
20/05Peterborough44-34Mildenhall
22/05Mildenhall38-40Peterborough

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
10/07Eastbourne54-24Newcastle
08/08Newcastle34-43Eastbourne
26/07Ellesmere Port46½-31½Oxford
14/07Oxford37-41Ellesmere Port
25/06Berwick46-32Edinburgh
15/07Edinburgh41-37Berwick
17/07Boston45-33Peterborough
01/07Peterborough40-38Boston

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
25/09Eastbourne57-21Ellesmere Port
02/09Ellesmere Port50-28Eastbourne
27/08Berwick45-33Boston
19/08Boston38-40Berwick

Final

First leg

Berwick Bandits
Willie Templeton 9
Graham Jones 9
Dave Gifford 7
Mike Hiftle 6
Wayne Brown 5
Robin Adlington 4
Colin Caffrey 1		41 – 37Eastbourne Eagles
Colin Richardson 13
Mike Sampson 11
Steve Naylor 7
Eric Dugard 5
Paul Woods 1
Roger Abel 0
Dave Kennett 0
[7]

Second leg

Eastbourne Eagles
Colin Richardson 12
Mike Sampson 11
Steve Naylor 9
Eric Dugard 9
Dave Kennett 7
Roger Abel 7
Paul Woods 6		61 – 16Berwick Bandits
Brendan Shileto (guest) 6
Graham Jones 5
Willie Templeton 2
Mike Hiftle 2
Ian Darling 1
Dave Gifford 0
Colin Caffrey 0
[7]

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

See also

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. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  4. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. "1977 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. "1977 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.