League | National League |
---|---|
No. of competitors | 19 |
Champions | Mildenhall Fen Tigers |
Knockout Cup | Rye House Rockets |
Individual | Ian Gledhill |
Pairs | Milton Keynes Knights |
Fours | Ellesmere Port Gunners |
Highest average | Tom Owen |
Division/s above | 1979 British League |
The 1979 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom. [1] [2]
The league was reduced from 20 teams to 19 from the previous season. White City Rebels closure saw their riders move to Eastbourne Eagles, who moved up to the British League and Barrow Furness Flyers dropped out. Teesside Tigers changed their name to Middlesbrough Tigers and Scunthorpe Saints changed their name to Scunthorpe Stags and left the Quibell Park Stadium for Ashby Ville Stadium. [3] [4] Long Eaton Stadium saw the return of speedway under the promotion of Dan McCormick but his decision to call the team the "Nottingham Outlaws" upset the supporters club. [5]
Tom Owen of Newcastle topped the averages for the third consecutive year and Ian Gledhill, riding for Stoke won the Riders' Championship but both Newcastle and Stoke finished well behind Mildenhall Fen Tigers and Rye House Rockets in the league table. [6] In a season that would go down to the last match, Mildenhall won their first title in their history. The consistency of four riders, Ray Bales, Mick Hines, Melvyn Taylor and Robert Henry was the crucial factor to their success. [6]
There was a controversial end to the season when Rye House visited Mildenhall, needing a draw to win the title. Needing a 5-1 in the last heat to tie the match, Rocket Karl Fiala's exclusion prompted team-mate Bob Garrad to withdraw from the re-run in protest. Mildenhall went on to win at bottom club Scunthorpe Saints in the last match of the season to win the title by one point. [1] [7] [8]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 36 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 60 |
2 | Rye House Rockets | 36 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 59 |
3 | Oxford Cheetahs | 36 | 24 | 1 | 11 | 49 |
4 | Berwick Bandits | 36 | 21 | 3 | 12 | 45 |
5 | Milton Keynes Knights | 36 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 42 |
6 | Newcastle Diamonds | 36 | 20 | 0 | 16 | 40 |
7 | Glasgow Tigers | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 38 |
8 | Peterborough Panthers | 36 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 38 |
9 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 36 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 37 |
10 | Canterbury Crusaders | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 36 |
11 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 36 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 35 |
12 | Crayford Kestrels | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 32 |
13 | Stoke Potters | 36 | 15 | 2 | 19 | 32 |
14 | Nottingham Outlaws | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 29 |
15 | Workington Comets | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 29 |
16 | Boston Barracudas | 36 | 13 | 2 | 21 | 28 |
17 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 36 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 27 |
18 | Weymouth Wildcats | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
19 | Scunthorpe Stags | 36 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 9 |
The 1979 National League Knockout Cup was the 12th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Rye House Rockets were the winners of the competition. [9]
First round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
29/04 | Rye House | 56-22 | Weymouth |
22/05 | Weymouth | 34-44 | Rye House |
20/04 | Edinburgh | 46-32 | Boston |
10/06 | Boston | 44-34 | Edinburgh |
Second round
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
03/06 | Rye House | 54-24 | Glasgow |
08/06 | Glasgow | 47-31 | Rye House |
15/06 | Workington | 46-30 | Middlesbrough |
14/06 | Middlesbrough | 45-32 | Workington |
10/06 | Mildenhall | 53-25 | Ellesmere Port |
08/06 | Ellesmere Port | 41-37 | Mildenhall |
19/06 | Crayford | 44-34 | Edinburgh |
06/07 | Edinburgh | 39-39 | Crayford |
09/06 | Berwick | 60-18 | Scunthorpe |
04/06 | Scunthorpe | 38-40 | Berwick |
14/06 | Oxford | 45-33 | Peterborough |
08/06 | Peterborough | 34-44 | Oxford |
18/06 | Newcastle | 57-21 | Canterbury |
26/05 | Canterbury | 39-39 | Newcastle |
12/06 | Milton Keynes | 50-28 | Stoke |
09/06 | Stoke | 42-36 | Milton Keynes |
Quarter-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
15/07 | Rye House | 59-19 | Workington |
29/06 | Workington | 49-29 | Rye House |
25/07 | Mildenhall | 56-22 | Crayford |
10/07 | Crayford | 39-39 | Mildenhall |
? | Berwick | 51-27 | Oxford |
05/07 | Oxford | 44-34 | Berwick |
09/07 | Newcastle | 53-25 | Milton Keynes |
10/07 | Milton Keynes | 35-42 | Newcastle |
Semi-finals
Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
---|---|---|---|
27/08 | Rye House | 44-34 | Mildenhall |
26/08 | Mildenhall | 38-40 | Rye House |
22/09 | Berwick | 47-31 | Newcastle |
19/08 | Newcastle | 46-32 | Berwick |
First leg
Rye House Rockets Bob Garrad 10 Karl Fiala 10 Kelvin Mullarkey 10 Ashley Pullen 9 Ted Hubbar 8 Peter Tarrant 6 Simon Aindow 1 | 54 – 24 | Berwick Bandits Wayne Brown 8 Nigel Close 6 Graham Jones 3 Mike Fullerton 3 Roger Wright 2 Phil Kynman 2 Rob Grant 0 |
---|---|---|
[10] |
Second leg
Berwick Bandits Roger Wright 10 Wayne Brown 10 Nigel Close 8 Graham Jones 4 Mike Caroline 4 Rob Grant 4 Phil Kynman 0 | 40 – 38 | Rye House Rockets Karl Fiala 11 Bob Garrad 7 Kelvin Mullarkey 7 Ashley Pullen 5 Ted Hubbard 5 Peter Tarrant 3 Simon Aindow 0 |
---|---|---|
[10] |
Rye House were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92–64.
Ian Gledhill won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by Gauloises and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 29 September 1979. [11]
Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ian Gledhill | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 |
2 | Steve Wilcock | 2 2 3 3 2 | 12 |
3 | Andy Grahame | 1 3 2 3 2 | 11+3 |
4 | Nigel Boocock | 2 2 3 1 3 | 11+2 |
5 | Alan Emerson | 1 1 1 3 3 | 9 |
6 | Karl Fiala | 3 1 2 2 1 | 9 |
7 | Rob Hollingworth | 0 3 3 1 1 | 8 |
8 | John Jackson | 3 2 1 2 0 | 8 |
9 | Les Rumsey | 1 2 2 0 3 | 8 |
10 | Ray Bales | 3 0 0 2 3 | 8 |
11 | Nigel Flatman | 2 1 2 1 2 | 8 |
12 | Dave Perks | 2 3 1 ret 1 | 7 |
13 | Steve Lawson | 0 0 1 2 0 | 3 |
14 | Steve Naylor | 0 1 0 1 1 | 3 |
15 | Brian Woodward | 1 f 0 0 0 | 1 |
16 | Graham Jones | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |
17 | Dave Brewer (res) | 0 | 0 |
The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 21 July and was won by Milton Keynes Knights. [12] [13]
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Semi finals
Final
Ellesmere Port Gunners won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 29 July. [14] [15]
Semi finals
Final
Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 17 | Jackson 6, Carr L 6, Finch 5, Ellams 0, Monaghan 0 |
2 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 15 | Hines 5, Bales 4, Taylor 3, Henry 3 |
3 | Peterborough Panthers | 9 | Gooderham 4, Flatman 2, Hines 1, Spink 1, Clark B 1 |
4 | Berwick Bandits | 7 | Brown 5, Close 2, Kynman 0, Jones 0, Matthews 0 |
The top ten averages of the National League. [16]
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tom Owen | Newcastle Diamonds | 11.18 | |
2 | George Hunter | Oxford Cheetahs | 10.86 | |
3 | Dave Perks | Nottingham Outlaws | 10.13 | |
4 | Les Rumsey | Oxford Cheetahs | 9.78 | |
5 | Mike Sampson | Nottingham Outlaws | 9.62 | |
6 | Andy Grahame | Milton Keynes Knights | 9.57 | |
7 | Steve Finch | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 9.52 | |
8 | Ray Bales | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 9.51 | |
9 | Mick Hines | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 9.31 | |
10 | John Jackson | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 9.27 |
Berwick
Boston
Canterbury
Crayford
Edinburgh
Ellesmere Port
Glasgow
Middlesbrough
Mildenhall
Milton Keynes
Newcastle
Nottingham
Oxford
Peterborough
Rye House
Scunthorpe
Stoke
Weymouth
Workington
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