1978 National League season

The 1978 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1]

1978 National League season
LeagueNational League
ChampionsCanterbury Crusaders
No. of competitors20
Knockout CupEastbourne Eagles
IndividualSteve Koppe
PairsEllesmere Port Gunners
FoursPeterborough Panthers
Highest averageTom Owen
Division/s above1978 British League

Summary

Newport Dragons dropped out of the league after just one season of second tier racing, however two new entrants - Milton Keynes Knights and Barrow Furness Flyers - saw the league expanded to twenty teams. Weymouth changed their nickname from Wizards to Wildcats.

Canterbury Crusaders won the National League title.[2][3] Although equal on points with Newcastle Diamonds they won by virtue of the fact that their race points difference was greater than their rival.[4] It was Canterbury's second title win in eight years, previously winning in 1970. The Crusaders were led by heavy scoring from Les Rumsey and Riders' Champion Steve Koppe, while Newcastle's Tom Owen topped the averages for the second consecutive year.[5]

Earlier in the season 18 year-old junior rider Chris Prime was representing Newcastle when he was killed in the National League match against Mildenhall on 3 April.[6]

Final table
Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Canterbury Crusaders 38 30 0 8 60
2 Newcastle Diamonds 38 29 2 7 60
3 Rye House Rockets 38 27 0 11 54
4 Eastbourne Eagles 38 25 1 12 51
5 Ellesmere Port Gunners 38 24 0 14 48
6 Peterborough Panthers 38 22 1 15 45
7 Oxford Cheetahs 38 20 4 14 44
8 Stoke Potters 38 21 1 16 43
9 Glasgow Tigers 38 19 1 18 39
10 Crayford Kestrels 38 16 2 20 34
11 Berwick Bandits 38 17 0 21 34
12 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 38 16 1 21 33
13 Weymouth Wildcats 38 16 0 22 32
14 Workington Comets 38 16 0 22 32
15 Edinburgh Monarchs 38 15 1 22 31
16 Milton Keynes Knights 38 12 6 20 30
17 Boston Barracudas 38 13 2 23 28
18 Teesside Tigers 38 12 0 26 24
19 Scunthorpe Saints 38 9 2 27 20
20 Barrow Furness Flyers 38 8 2 28 18

Top Five Riders
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Tom Owen Newcastle Diamonds 10.86
2 Bob Humphreys Milton Keynes Knights 10.59
3 John Jackson Ellesmere Port Gunners 10.32
4 Les Rumsey Canterbury Crusaders 10.17
5 Steve Koppe Canterbury Crusaders 9.95

National League Knockout Cup

The 1978 National League Knockout Cup was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.[7]

First Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
13/05Stoke51-27Workington
12/05Workington40-38Stoke
29/05Newcastle43-33Teesside
01/06Teesside39-39Newcastle
21/05Rye House58-20Milton Keynes
23/05Milton Keynes26-52Rye House
19/05Ellesmere Port47-31Berwick
21/05Berwick35-42Ellesmere Port

Second Round
Date Team One Score Team Two
11/06Eastbourne57-21Scunthorpe
12/06Scunthorpe28-47Eastbourne
23/06Peterborough43-35Barrow
20/06Barrow33-45Peterborough
08/06Oxford47-31Stoke
10/06Stoke43-35Oxford
25/06Mildenhall56-21Newcastle
26/06Newcastle40-38Mildenhall
11/06Rye House52-26Glasgow
16/06Glasgow39-39Rye House
04/07Crayford46-32Edinburgh
30/06Edinburgh40-38Crayford
17/06Canterbury48-27Weymouth
20/06Weymouth37-41Canterbury
07/07Ellesmere Port54-23Boston
25/06Boston36-42Ellesmere Port

Quarter Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
06/08Eastbourne45-30Peterborough
11/08Peterborough39-38Eastbourne
10/08Oxford43-34Mildenhall
09/07Mildenhall40-38Oxford
09/07Rye House44-34Crayford
18/07Crayford39-39Rye House
12/08Canterbury55-23Ellesmere
28/07Ellesmere48-30Canterbury

Semi Finals
Date Team One Score Team Two
27/08Eastbourne56-22Oxford
07/09Oxford32-45Eastbourne
24/09Rye House57-20Canterbury
30/09Canterbury41-37Rye House

Final

First leg

Eastbourne Eagles
Dave Kennett 10
Mike Sampson 9
Steve Naylor 9
Eric Dugard 8
Roger Abel 6
Paul Woods 4
Ian Fletcher 0		46 – 32Rye House Rockets
Bob Garrad 11
Ted Hubbard 7
Ashley Pullen 6
Kelvin Mullarkey 4
Kevin Smith 2
Karl Fiala 1
Hugh Saunders 1
[8]

Second leg

Rye House Rockets
Ted Hubbard 10
Kelvin Mullarkey 9
Bob Garrad 9
Hugh Saunders 5
Karl Fiala 4
Kevin Smith 4
Ashley Pullen 0		41 – 37Eastbourne Eagles
Eric Dugard 11
Dave Kennett 7
Mike Sampson 6
Roger Abel 4
Paul Woods 4
Steve Naylor 3
Ian Fletcher 2
[8]

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–73.

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-08-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  3. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 101. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  4. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  5. "Teams". wwosbackup. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. "Chris Prime Newcastle History". Newcastle Speedway. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. "1978 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. "1978 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
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