1976 National League season

Summary

The league was reduced from 20 teams down to 18, following the loss of three teams and gain of one. Birmingham Brummies moved up to the British League and Bradford Barons and Crewe Kings both closed down. Sadly for Crewe the team would never return. The additional team was the Oxford Cheetahs, who had returned to their traditional name following a three year period known as the Oxford Rebels. The Rebels team and promoters had moved to White City during the winter but Oxford were saved by new promoters Harry Bastable and Tony Allsop after a committee of fans had created a "Save Our Stadium" campaign over the previous winter.

Newcastle Diamonds comfortably won their first National League title, completing a cup double, and dropping only seven points. The Owen brothers Joe Owen and Tom Owen topped the averages for the second consecutive year. Joe finished with an 11+ average and won the British League Division Two Riders Championship and Newcastle completed the league and cup double.

Final table

Fixtures and results

+Oxford/Scunthorpe refused to ride

Top five riders (league averages)

National League Knockout Cup

The 1976 Speedway Star Knockout Cup was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Newcastle Diamonds were the winners of the competition.

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg Mike Hiftle 10 Graham Jones 10 Dave Gifford 9 Willie Templeton 5 Eddie Argall 5 Robin Adlington 4 Wayne Brown 0 Joe Owen 15 Tom Owen 14 Robbie Blackadder 3 Phil Michelidies 1 Andy Cusworth 1 Tim Swales 1 Ron Henderson R/R

Second leg Joe Owen 12 Tom Owen 12 Ron Henderson 6 Tim Swales 5 Andy Cusworth 5 Robbie Blackadder 4 Phil Michelidies 4 Eddie Argall 11 Roger Wright (guest) 6 Dave Gifford 6 Graham Jones 4 Willie Templeton 2 Peter Waite 0 Mike Hiftle R/R

Newcastle were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–72.

Riders' Championship

Joe Owen won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by Gauloises and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 2 October.

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

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 5 June and was won by Ellesmere Port Gunners.

Semi finals

• Ellesmere Port bt Workington
• Newcastle bt Mildenhall

Final

• Ellesmere Port bt Newcastle

Fours

Newcastle won the fours championship final, held at King's Lynn Stadium on 17 July.

Semi finals

• SF1 = Ellesmere Port 17, Workington 15, Rye House 10, Peterborough 5
• SF2 = Newcastle 17, Eastbourne 13, Coatbridge 9, Boston 9

Final

Leading final averages

Riders & final averages

Berwick

• Graham Jones 8.12
• Dave Gifford 7.91
• Mike Hiftle 7.17
• Robin Adlington 6.84
• Willie Templeton 6.63
• Eddie Argall 6.54
• Keith Williams 2.00
• Peter Waite 1.80
• Wayne Brown 1.71

Boston

• Rob Hollingworth 9.63
• Billy Burton 8.26
• Paul Gilbert 6.58
• Stuart Cope 5.82
• Trevor Whiting 5.57
• Chris Emery 5.56
• Steve Clarke 5.28
• Ron Cooper 5.00
• Dave Allen 3.46

Canterbury

• Graham Banks 8.06
• Steve Koppe 7.85
• Les Rumsey 7.50
• Barney Kennett 6.84
• Graham Clifton 6.55
• Reg Luckhurst 6.51
• Bob Spelta 5.47
• Terry Casserley 5.13

Coatbridge

• Brian Collins 9.09
• Grahame Dawson 7.91
• Mick McKeon 6.79
• Jimmy Gallacher 5.68
• Derek Richardson 5.65
• Max Brown 5.18
• Doug Templeton 5.18
• Rob Maxfield 5.02
• Benny Rourke 4.83
• John Wilson 2.93

Crayford

• Laurie Etheridge 9.87
• Alan Sage 8.78
• Mike Broadbank 7.33
• Pete Wigley 7.22
• Alan Johns 6.54
• Trevor Barnwell 5.71
• Bill Archer 5.45
• Richard Davey 4.71
• Gary Spencer 4.10
• John Hooper 3.09
• Dave Shepherd 2.77

Eastbourne

• Steve Weatherley 10.35
• Eric Dugard 7.03
• Pete Jarman 6.75
• Colin Richardson 6.50
• Mike Sampson 6.49
• Ian Gledhill 6.43
• Steve Naylor 5.45
• Roger Abel 5.27
• Ian Fletcher 4.32

Ellesmere Port

• John Jackson 10.08
• Chris Turner 9.35
• Steve Finch 8.07
• Robbie Gardner 7.45
• Duncan Meredith 6.09
• Gerald Smitherman 5.80
• Phil Collins 4.33
• Geoff Jones 3.71
• Louis Carr 2.78

Mildenhall

• Bob Coles 9.21
• Kevin Jolly 8.41
• Trevor Jones 7.88
• Alan Cowland 6.24
• Fred Mills 5.67
• John Gibbons 5.54
• Stan Stevens 5.13
• Robert Henry 4.93
• Mick Bates 4.81
• Neil Leeks 3.54

Newcastle

• Joe Owen 11.54
• Tom Owen 10.43
• Ron Henderson 8.33
• Phil Micheledies 7.54
• Brian Havelock 7.51
• Andy Cusworth 7.40
• Robbie Blackadder 6.20
• Tim Swales 5.91

Oxford

• Carl Askew 8.03
• Brian Leonard 7.33
• Phil Bass 7.14
• Mick Handley 7.02
• Malcolm Corradine 6.10
• Roy Sizmore 5.91
• Jim Wells 5.88
• Kevin Young 5.47
• Steve Holden 3.69

Paisley

• Colin Farquharson 8.22
• Mick Fishwick 6.99
• Stuart Mountford 6.79
• Mike Fullerton 5.37
• Alan Bridgett 5.17
• Sid Sheldrick 5.10
• Malcolm Chambers 3.96
• Chris Roynon 3.91
• Mick Sheldrick 3.83
• Colin Caffrey 3.16
• Tom Davie 2.34

Peterborough

• Brian Clark 9.37
• Tony Featherstone 8.11
• Ian Clark 6.93
• Roy Carter 6.85
• Ken Matthews 6.53
• Steve Taylor 6.42
• Kevin Hawkins 5.33
• Nigel Couzens 5.11
• Alan Cowland 4.24
• Paul Cooper 4.19
• Russ Osborne 4.15

Rye House

• Ted Hubbard 9.17
• Kelvin Mullarkey 7.55
• Hugh Saunders 7.47
• Brian Foote 7.03
• Karl Fiala 6.73
• Bobby Garrad 6.13
• Bob Cooper 5.11
• Ashley Pullen 4.91

Scunthorpe

• Keith Evans 9.27
• Andy Hines 6.77
• Tony Boyle 5.97
• Phil Kynman 5.72
• Colin Cook 5.34
• Sid Sheldrick 5.10
• Ray Watkins 4.98
• Tony Gillias 4.75

Stoke

• Les Collins 9.31
• Jack Millen 7.90
• Malcolm Corradine 7.35
• Ricky Day 6.07
• Jim Brett 5.74
• Mick Newton 5.69
• Steve McDermott 5.33
• Tim Nunan 5.01
• Colin Meredith 4.82

Teesside

• Alan Emerson 8.41
• Tom Leadbitter 7.67
• Steve Wilcock 5.85
• Pete Reading 5.54
• Andy Cowan 5.27
• Pete Smith 4.92
• Nigel Close 4.78
• John Robson 2.95
• Martyn Cusworth 2.50

Weymouth

• Martin Yeates 8.69
• Vic Harding 7.18
• Chris Robins 7.07
• Gerald Purkiss 6.25
• Danny Kennedy 5.82
• Billy Spiers 5.32
• Garry May 3.51
• Trevor Vincent/Charley 3.94
• Jack Walker 3.54
• Roger Stratton 3.47

Workington

• Lou Sansom 8.77
• Steve Lawson 8.72
• Taffy Owen 8.07
• Colin Goad 7.67
• Brian Havelock 7.67
• Roger Wright 6.54
• Terry Kelly 5.57
• Chris Bevan 3.80
• Stewart Collin 3.16

References

References

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2. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
3. Rogers, Martin. (1978). "The Illustrated History of Speedway". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
4. "Teams".
5. "Crewe Speedway".
6. Lawson, K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”. {{ISBN. 978-0-244-99725-0
7. Oakes, P. (2006). "Speedway Star Almanac". Pinegen Ltd.
8. Lawson, K (2018) “The Cheetahs – The Resurrection”. {{ISBN. 978-0-244-69934-5
9. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)".
10. Oakes, Peter. (1981). "1981 Speedway Yearbook". Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd.
11. "1976 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
12. "1976 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
13. "1976 KO cup final".
14. (4 October 1976). "Joe Owen gains speedway double". Lincolnshire Echo.
15. "1976 season results".
16. (20 July 1976). "Brothers clinch win for Diamonds". Lynn Advertiser.