1981 National League season

1981 National League season

League	National League
No. of competitors	19
Champions	Middlesbrough Tigers
Knockout Cup	Edinburgh Monarchs
Individual	Mike Ferreira
Pairs	Canterbury Crusaders
Fours	Edinburgh Monarchs
Highest average	Mike Ferreira
Division/s above	1981 British League
← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom. ^[1]

Summary

The league started with 20 teams with Nottingham Outlaws dropping out after the BSPA refused an application by promoter Maurice Jones to run during 1981. ^[2] However, Wolverhampton Wolves joined having moved down from the British League. Wolves promoter Mike Parker was replaced by Dan McCormick for the 1981 season. ^[3]

Berwick Bandits were forced to quit after 26 league meetings, their record being expunged. Middlesbrough Tigers comfortably won their first ever title. ^{[4] [5]}

Exeter Falcons rider Tony Sanford died following an accident at the County Ground Stadium on 7 September. He was racing in a match against Milton Keynes when he hit a barrier near the final bend. ^[6] A memorial trophy was held in subsequent years in his memory. ^[7]

Final table

^[8]

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Middlesbrough Tigers	36	30	1	5	61
2	Weymouth Wildcats	36	26	1	9	53
3	Newcastle Diamonds	36	25	1	10	51
4	Edinburgh Monarchs	36	25	0	11	50
5	Glasgow Tigers	36	24	0	12	48
6	Boston Barracudas	36	22	0	14	44
7	Exeter Falcons	36	22	0	14	44
8	Mildenhall Fen Tigers	36	20	0	16	40
9	Peterborough Panthers	36	19	1	16	39
10	Crayford Kestrels	36	19	0	17	38
11	Ellesmere Port Gunners	36	18	1	17	37
12	Oxford Cheetahs	36	18	1	17	37
13	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	14	1	21	29
14	Canterbury Crusaders	36	14	1	21	29
15	Stoke Potters	36	14	0	22	28
16	Rye House Rockets	36	11	0	25	22
17	Scunthorpe Stags	36	6	1	29	13
18	Workington Comets	36	6	1	29	13
19	Milton Keynes Knights	36	4	0	32	8

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	BER	BOS	CAN	CRY	ED	EP	EX	GLA	MID	MIL	MK	NEW	OX	PET	RH	SCU	STO	WEY	WOL	WOR
Berwick		n/a	n/a	44–34	n/a	n/a	44–34	n/a	n/a	n/a	46–32	37–41	n/a	46–31	55–23	57–21	n/a	37–41	n/a	n/a
Boston	45–33		47–30	57–21	47–31	51–27	48–30	53–25	40–38	50–28	53–25	43–35	51–27	42–36	47–31	52–26	51–27	51–27	40–38	55–23
Canterbury	38–40	36–42		40–38	39–38	35–43	43–35	41–37	31–46	35–43	43–35	34–44	41–37	44–34	45–33	53–25	36–42	35–43	32–45	60–18
Crayford	42–36	44–34	47–31		37–40	47–30	54–24	40–38	25–52	50–28	44–34	39–38	42–36	43–35	55–23	60–18	39–38	40–37	51.5–26.5	63–15
Edinburgh	42–36	50.5–27.5	41–35	47–30		49–29	47–31	48–29	37–41	58–20	53–13	36–42	42–36	51–27	50–27	43–30	41–37	46–32	49–29	62–16
Ellesmere Port	44–34	40–38	48–30	56–22	45–33		51–26	37–41	30–48	55–23	60–18	50–8	39–39	43–34	51–27	57–21	52–26	37–41	55–22	63–14
Exeter	47–31	44–34	48–30	62–16	45–33	43–35		47–31	49–29	47–31	58–20	44–34	51–27	53–25	57–21	59–19	40–35	43–35	51–27	52–26
Glasgow	46–32	44–34	46–32	58–20	52–25	58–20	50–28		40–38	41–34	47–31	41–35	41–37	47–30	46–32	55–23	55–22	40–38	54.5–23.5	55–23
Middlesbrough	48–30	57–21	55–23	51–27	51–27	55–22	45–33	48–29		42–36	58–19	43–35	54–24	55–23	44–34	59–19	41–37	46–32	55–23	63–15
Mildenhall	42–36	38–40	41–37	50–28	34–44	44–34	46–32	53–25	38–40		45–33	38.5–39.5	40–38	48–28	41–37	47–31	48–30	53–25	57–20	48–30
Milton Keynes	43–35	38–40	41–37	35–43	34–44	37–41	38–40	38–40	32–46	34–44		36–42	37–41	33–45	40–38	34–41	37–40	27–51	36–42	52–26
Newcastle	45–32	45–32	44–34	55–23	44–34	58–20	50–27	51–27	39–39	60–18	53–24		49–29	50–28	52–26	54–24	47–31	44–34	42–36	53–25
Oxford	44–34	42–36	37–40	44–34	43–35	46–30	41–37	42–36	33–45	35–43	49–29	36–42		42–36	43–35	43–35	44–34	34–43	44–34	62–15
Peterborough	40–38	52–26	44–33	54–24	34–44	44–34	43–35	48–30	48–29	44–34	56–22	43–35	52–26		42–36	47–31	54–24	45–33	44–33	58–20
Rye House	42–36	42–35	48–30	43–35	33–44	45–33	34–44	31–46	37–41	38–39	51–27	45–33	37–41	59–19		55–22	41–36	34–44	37–41	63–15
Scunthorpe	n/a	24–54	38–40	36–42	35–43	42–36	35–43	44–34	31–47	40–38	49–29	38–40	34–43	39–39	28–49		31–47	26–52	33–45	44–33
Stoke	42–36	43–35	38–40	35–39	38–40	37–41	40–37	37–41	23–54	28–50	48–30	40–38	41–37	37–4`	48–30	56–22		37–41	45–33	57–21
Weymouth	42–36	49–29	44–34	43–35	40–38	52–26	50–28	51–27	45–33	54–24	56–22	48–30	44–34	47–31	54–24	47–31	53–25		39–39	63–15
Wolverhampton	45–32	42–36	36–42	48–29	35–43	44–34	46–32	32–45	28–50	48–30	41–37	31–46	36–39	44–34	55–23	60–18	38–40	37–41		51–27
Workington	32–45	46–32	39–39	41–35	29–49	36–42	36–42	28–49	24–54	33–45	36–42	36–40	37–41	42–36	49–29	47–31	34–44	36–42	41–36

Source: ^[9]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

National League Knockout Cup

The 1981 National League Knockout Cup was the 14th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Edinburgh Monarchs were the winners of the competition. ^[10]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
29/03	Mildenhall	58-38	Canterbury
04/04	Canterbury	52-44	Mildenhall
17/04	Ellesmere Port	47-49	Wolverhampton
19/04	Wolverhampton	43-53	Ellesmere Port
23/04	Middlesbrough	69-27	Glasgow
29/05	Glasgow	55-40	Middlesbrough
11/04	Stoke	51-45	Milton Keynes
07/04	Milton Keynes	38-58	Stoke

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
29/05	Edinburgh	65-31	Exeter
01/06	Exeter	56-40	Edinburgh
04/06	Oxford	59-34	Scunthorpe
01/06	Scunthorpe	46-49	Oxford
07/06	Mildenhall	76-20	Ellesmere Port
29/05	Ellesmere Port	30-64	Mildenhall
29/05	Peterborough	70-26	Rye House
07/06	Rye House	32-64	Peterborough
06/06	Berwick	53-42	Newcastle
08/06	Newcastle	52-44	Berwick
09/06	Weymouth	74-20	Workington
29/05	Workington	31-59	Weymouth
07/06	Boston	69-27	Crayford
02/06	Crayford	42-51	Boston
07/06	Middlesbrough	55-41	Stoke
06/06	Stoke	48-48	Middlesbrough

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
14/08	Edinburgh	65-31	Oxford
13/08	Oxford	41-54	Edinburgh
05/07	Mildenhall	61-35	Peterborough
26/06	Peterborough	49-47	Mildenhall
17/07	Berwick	51-45	Weymouth
14/07	Weymouth	48-48	Berwick
02/08	Boston	57-39	Middlesbrough
?	Middlesbrough	45-51	Boston

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
27/09	Edinburgh	64-32	Mildenhall
11/09	Mildenhall	46-50	Edinburgh
14/10	Berwick	64-32	Boston
27/09	Boston	58½-37½	Berwick

Final

First leg

21 October 1981

Berwick Bandits Steve McDermott 13 Wayne Brown 11 Mike Caroline 9 Rob Grant 6 Brett Saunders 5 Brian Collins 3 Jim Beaton 2	49 – 46	Edinburgh Monarchs Dave Trownson 10 Neil Collins 9 Ivan Blacka 9 Chris Turner 8 George Hunter 7 Scott Robson 3 Ian Westwell 0
	[11]

Shielfield Park

Second leg

6 November 1980

Edinburgh Monarchs George Hunter 13 Dave Trownson 11 Ivan Blacka 11 Neil Collins 7 Chris Turner 7 Roger Lambert 6 Ian Westwell 0	55 – 40	Berwick Bandits Charlie McKinna (guest) 14 Steve McDermott 9 Mike Caroline 7 Rob Grant 5 Brett Saunders 3 Brian Collins 2 Jim Beaton 0
	[11]

Powderhall Stadium

Edinburgh were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 101–89.

Riders' Championship

Mike Ferreira won the Riders' Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 26 September 1981. ^[12]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Mike Ferreira	3 3 3 3 3	15
2	Simon Wigg	1 3 3 3 3	13
3	Bruce Cribb	3 3 2 0 3	11
4	Dave Perks	3 1 2 2 2	10
5	Neil Collins	2 3 2 2 1	10
6	Steve Wilcock	2 2 1 2 2	9
7	Steve Lawson	2 0 3 3	8
8	Barry Thomas	2 0 3 2 1	8
9	Kelvin Mullarkey	0 2 1 3 2	8
10	Steve Finch	0 2 2 1	6
11	Wayne Brown	3 2	5
12	Ian Gledhill	0 2 1 1	4
13	Rob Maxfield	1 1 1 1 0	4
14	David Gagen	2 0 1 0	3
15	David Bargh	1 1 1 0	3
16	Bob Humphreys	1 0 0	1
17	John Barclay	1	1
18	Neville Moore	0	0

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

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 18 July and was won by Canterbury Crusaders. ^[13]

Group A Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Mildenhall 13 Gledhill 9 Bales 4 2 Middlesbrough 11 Wilcock 8 Dixon 3 3 Rye House 6 Mullarkey 6 Naylor 0 4 Edinburgh 5 Turner 4 Collins N 1

Group B Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Wolverhampton 13 Cribb 8 Evitts 5 2 Glasgow 10 Lawson 8 McKinna 2 3 Oxford 7 Perks 5 Harrison 2 4 Peterborough 6 Greer 6 Buck 0

Group C Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Berwick 11 Brown 9 McDermott 2 2 Newcastle 11 Hunter 7 Bargh 4 3 Weymouth 8 Yeates 5 Wigg 3 4 Exeter 6 Maxfield 6 Hewlett 0

Group D Pos Team Pts Riders 1 Canterbury 12 Ferreira 9 Kent 5 2 Crayford 12 Thomas 7 Sage 5 3 Boston 7 Gagen 4 Lomas 3 4 Ellesmere P 3 Jackson 2 Finch 1

Semi finals

• Canterbury bt Wolverhampton
• Berwick bt Mildenhall

Final

• Canterbury bt Berwick

Fours

Edinburgh Monarchs won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 26 July. ^{[14] [15]}

Semi finals

• SF1 = Wolverhampton 16, Edinburgh 16, Mildenhall 13, Crayford 3
• SF2 = Middlesbrough 16, Newcastle 16, Peterborough 11, Weymouth 4

Final

Pos	Team	Pts	Riders
1	Edinburgh Monarchs	15	Turner 4, Collins 4, Trownson 4, Blacka 3
2	Newcastle Diamonds	13	Bargh 5, Emerson 3, Hunter 3, Blackadder 2
3	Middlesbrough Tigers	11	Courtney 5, Pusey 3, Wilcock 2, Havelock 1
4	Wolverhampton Wolves	9	Burton 5, Evitts 2, Stead 2, Cribb 0

Leading final averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Mike Ferreira		Canterbury Crusaders	10.87
2	Steve Lawson		Glasgow Tigers	10.55
3	Mark Courtney		Middlesbrough Tigers	10.44
4	Les Rumsey		Weymouth	10.19
5	Dave Perks		Oxford Cheetahs	10.13

Riders & final averages

Berwick (withdrew from league)

• Wayne Brown 9.24
• Steve McDermott 8.40
• Rob Grant Sr. 6.95
• Mike Caroline 5.94
• Brian Collins 5.38
• Brett Saunders 5.05
• Roger Wright 4.92
• Graham Jones 4.61
• Jim Beaton 4.00
• Ian Anderson 1.26

Boston

• David Gagen 8.84
• Steve Lomas 8.84
• Steve Regeling 8.47
• Rob Hollingworth 8.45
• Dennis Mallett 6.35
• Mike Spinks 5.95
• Michael Holding 5.23
• Keven Dye 4.31
• Chris Cole 3.45

Canterbury

• Mike Ferreira 10.87
• Denzil Kent 7.75
• Barney Kennett 6.81
• Mark Martin 4.69
• Darryl Simpson 4.43
• Kevin Brice 4.21
• Brendan Shiletto 4.07
• Jamie Luckhurst 3.78
• Rob Dolman 3.30
• Graham Knowler 2.67

Crayford

• Barry Thomas 9.02
• Alan Sage 7.88
• Laurie Etheridge 6.90
• Mike Pither 5.72
• Trevor Barnwell 5.70
• Mike Spinks 4.83
• Paul Hollingsbee 4.47
• Keith Pritchard 4.15
• Paul Bosley 2.24

Edinburgh

• Neil Collins 9.68
• Dave Trownson 8.57
• George Hunter 8.45
• Chris Turner 7.49
• Ivan Blacka 7.07
• Benny Rourke 5.85
• Roger Lambert 5.27
• Guy Robson 2.77
• Ian Westwell 2.27

Ellesmere Port

• Billy Burton 8.63
• Steve Finch 8.14
• Peter Carr 7.49
• John Jackson 7.34
• Rob Ashton 6.51
• Phil Alderman 5.98
• Eric Monaghan 5.98
• Paul Embley 4.81
• Paul Price 3.11
• Andrew Reeves 1.68

Exeter

• Rob Maxfield 9.07
• Bob Coles 8.24
• Martin Hewlett 8.10
• John Barker 7.85
• Les Sawyer 7.68
• Andy Campbell 6.53
• Keith Wright 6.00
• John Williams 5.99
• Keith Millard 4.30
• Tony Sanford 3.20

Glasgow

• Steve Lawson 10.55
• Charlie McKinna 8.04
• Kenny McKinna 7.57
• Nigel Close 7.08
• Harry Maclean 6.02
• Colin Caffrey 5.80
• Andy Reid 5.52
• Ray Palmer 4.44
• Alan Mason 2.74

Middlesbrough

• Mark Courtney 10.44
• Steve Wilcock 9.95
• Martin Dixon 8.28
• Brian Havelock 7.20
• Mike Spink 7.18
• Geoff Pusey 6.71
• Bernie Collier 5.05
• Peter Tarrant 3.60
• Alan Armstrong 3.54

Mildenhall

• Robert Henry 8.59
• Ray Bales 8.35
• Mick Bates 8.25
• Ian Gledhill 7.89
• Richard Knight 7.24
• Carl Baldwin 4.48
• Andy Warne 3.78
• Mark Bilner 3.73
• Carl Blackbird 2.77

Milton Keynes

• Bob Humphreys 9.14
• Graham Plant 6.38
• Andy Hibbs 6.00
• Mick Blaynee 4.77
• Barry Allaway 4.41
• Mark Baldwin 4.36
• Steve Payne 4.30
• Nigel Davis 4.20
• Brett Alderton 4.15

Newcastle

• David Bargh 9.04
• Rod Hunter 8.68
• Robbie Blackadder 8.40
• Alan Emerson 8.07
• Keith Bloxsome 6.87
• Glenn MacDonald 5.54
• Kym Mauger 2.92

Oxford

• Dave Perks 10.13
• Derek Harrison 9.40
• Colin Ackroyd 8.12
• Paul Evitts 5.31
• Arthur Price 4.51
• John Grahame 4.14
• Mick Handley .4.04
• Mick Fletcher 3.94
• Alan MacLean 1.44

Peterborough

• Richard Greer 8.20
• Andy Hines 8.04
• Dave Allen 7.69
• Mick Hines 7.58
• Andy Fisher 6.08
• Nigel Couzens 5.97
• Andy Buck 5.32
• Ian Barney 4.91

Rye House

• Bobby Garrad 8.85
• Kelvin Mullarkey 8.27
• Steve Naylor 7.67
• Kevin Bowen 5.05
• Peter Johns 4.71
• Peter Tarrant 4.62
• Marvyn Cox 4.57
• Garry Monk 4.51
• Barry King 4.20
• Tony Garard 2.18

Scunthorpe

• Kevin Teager 7.56
• Nicky Allott 7.51
• Mark DeKok 5.71
• Tony Featherstone 5.33
• Rob Woffinden 5.19
• Tony Childs 3.62
• Graeme Beardsley 3.45
• Julian Parr 2.99
• Phil Kynman 2.73

Stoke

• Pete Smith 8.28
• Mike Sampson 7.97
• Arthur Browning 6.68
• Rob Lightfoot 6.55
• Mark Collins 6.29
• Rod North 6.11
• Steve Sant 6.06
• Ian Robertson 3.87

Weymouth

• Les Rumsey 10.19
• Martin Yeates 10.12
• Simon Wigg 10.07
• Brian Woodward 7.11
• Malcolm Shakespeare 7.02
• Terry Tulloch 5.91
• Steve Crockett 5.68
• Steve Schofield 5.64
• Bob Coles 5.22

Wolverhampton

• Bruce Cribb 9.99
• Les Rumsey 8.77
• Neil Evitts 7.80
• Billy Burton 6.74
• Tony Boyle 5.95
• Paul Stead 5.51
• Mike Wilding 4.11
• Rob Carter 3.55
• John Hough 3.49
• Steve Crockett 1.41

Workington

• Terry Kelly 6.97
• Wayne Jackson 6.22
• Mark Dickinson 5.67
• Guy Wilson 4.47
• Des Wilson 4.42
• Kevin Clapham 3.67
• David Blackburn 3.51
• John Frankland 2.69
• Michael Irving 0.89

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "Hopes of racing at Long Eaton dim to flicker" . Long Eaton Advertiser. 19 February 1981. Retrieved 22 September 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Parker is back - now he needs a team" . Birmingham Mail. 10 December 1981. Retrieved 8 May 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. "Tony Sanford". Motorsport memorial. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
7. "PLYMOUTH: TONY SANFORD MEMORIAL TROPHY - PREVIEW". Speedway GB. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
8. "About - Exeter Speedway 1981". Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
9. "1981 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
10. "1981 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
11. "1981 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
12. "Tigers crash out" . Cambridge Daily News. 28 September 1981. Retrieved 20 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "1981 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
14. "Tigers miss the boat in four teams final" . Cambridge Daily News. 27 July 1981. Retrieved 23 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "1981 full season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 23 May 2023.