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1983 National League season

British motorcycle speedway season

British motorcycle speedway season

FieldValue
competitionNational League
competitors18
domesticcup1Champions
domesticcup1 winnersNewcastle Diamonds
domesticcup2Knockout Cup
domesticcup2 winnersExeter Falcons
domesticcup3Individual
domesticcup3 winnersSteve McDermott
domesticcup4Pairs
domesticcup4 winnersWeymouth Wildcats
domesticcup5Fours
domesticcup5 winnersNewcastle Diamonds
highest averageJoe Owen
league above1983 British League
prevseason1982
nextseason1984

The 1983 National League was the second tier of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom.

Summary

Ellesmere Port Gunners dropped out of the league despite reaching the previous season's KO Cup final and assurances by promoter Richard Park that the team would continue racing at Thornton Road amidst rising costs.

The winning team was Newcastle Diamonds.

After the tragedy of losing a rider the previous season Milton Keynes endured a second loss when their rider Craig Featherby was killed in a crash at Peterborough in a National League match on 16 September. Featherby hit a lamp standard after being thrown from the bike.

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1Newcastle Diamonds34251851
2Mildenhall Fen Tigers34232948
3Crayford Kestrels342301146
4Weymouth Wildcats341921340
5Scunthorpe Stags341921340
6Milton Keynes Knights341911439
7Middlesbrough Tigers341831339
8Berwick Bandits341701734
9Edinburgh Monarchs341611733
10Exeter Falcons341601832
11Rye House Rockets341511831
12Peterborough Panthers341421830
13Glasgow Tigers341411929
14Oxford Cheetahs341411929
15Canterbury Crusaders341222026
16Boston Barracudas341212125
17Stoke Potters341012321
18Long Eaton Invaders34912419

Fixtures and results

Top five riders (league averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1Joe OwenENGNewcastle
2Martin YeatesENGWeymouth
3Rod HunterAUSNewcastle
4Bobby BeatonSCONewcastle
5Jim McMillanSCOGlasgow

National League Knockout Cup

The 1983 National League Knockout Cup was the 16th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners of the competition.

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
19/04Crayford45-50Mildenhall
17/04Mildenhall55-41Crayford
01/04Oxford51-45Milton Keynes
29/03Milton Keynes47-49Oxford

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
22/06Long Eaton58-38Berwick
09/06Oxford45-51Rye House
05/06Berwick61-35Long Eaton
27/05Peterborough57-39Mildenhall
25/05Mildenhall58-38Peterborough
23/05Newcastle61-35Scunthorpe
22/05Rye House51-45Oxford
22/05Scunthorpe43-53Newcastle
20/05Edinburgh50-46Middlesbrough
30/04Canterbury45-51Exeter
24/04Boston45-51Weymouth
22/04Glasgow62-34Stoke
19/04Weymouth58-38Boston
16/04Stoke55-41Glasgow
14/04Middlesbrough55-41Edinburgh
11/04Exeter70-26Canterbury

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
15/08Exeter64-32Rye House
14/08Rye House55-41Exeter
23/07Berwick45-50Newcastle
19/07Weymouth65-31Glasgow
03/07Mildenhall67-25Middlesbrough
27/06Newcastle53-42Berwick
11/06Glasgow41-54Weymouth
09/06Middlesbrough47-49Mildenhall

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
02/10Mildenhall66-30Exeter
12/09Exeter74-21Mildenhall
12/09Newcastle54-42Weymouth
02/08Weymouth55-41Newcastle

Final

First leg Kevin Price 10 Rob Maxfield 9 Keith Millard 9 Steve Bishop 8 Rob Ashton 7 Bob Coles 6 Alun Rossiter 3 Martin Yeates 13 Steve Schofield 10 Simon Cross 9 Stan Bear 9 Gordon Humphreys 1 Chris Martin 1 David Biles 0 Second leg Steve Schofield 15 Martin Yeates 12 Simon Cross 11 Stan Bear 6 Gordon Humphreys 3 David Biles 3 Chris Martin 2 Rob Ashton 10 Alun Rossiter 10 Keith Millard 9 Bob Coles 7 Rob Maxfield 5 Kevin Price 2 Steve Bishop 1

Exeter were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 96–95.

Riders' Championship

Steve McDermott won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by the FSO Cars and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 24 September 1983.

Pos.width=180pxRiderwidth=100pxPtswidth=50pxTotal
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 4 June and was won by Weymouth Wildcats for the second consecutive season.

Group APosTeamPtsRiders1234
Newcastle15Owen J 8
Hunter 7
Stoke8Jackson 5
Owen T 3
Berwick7McDermott 6
Cribb 1
Scunthorpe6Crabtree 6
Hollingworth 0
Group BPosTeamPtsRiders1234
Glasgow14McMillan 9
Lawson 5
Peterborough10Allen 6
Pullen 4
Middlesbrough9Wilcock 5
Spink 4
Canterbury3Mullarkey 3
Kennett 0
Group CPosTeamPtsRiders1234
Weymouth14Yeates 7
Cross 7
Crayford9Bosley 5
Thomas 4
Rye House6Cox 4
Garrad 2
Edinburgh5Fiora 5
Hunter 0
Group DPosTeamPtsRiders1234
Mildenhall11Harrison 6
Knight 5
Boston9Lomas 6
Gagen 3
Milton K9McKinna 9
White 0
Long Eaton6Stead 6
Molyneux 0

Semi finals

  • Weymouth bt Newcastle
  • Glasgow bt Mildenhall

Final

  • Weymouth bt Glasgow

Fours

Newcastle Diamonds won the fours championship final for the second successive year, held at the East of England Arena on 24 July.

Semi finals

  • SF1 = Newcastle 15, Milton Keynes 13, Middlesbrough 13, Crayford 7
  • SF2 = Mildenhall 21, Long Eaton 11, Edinburgh 8, Weymouth 7

Final

Poswidth=150pxTeamwidth=50pxPtswidth=400pxRiders
1
2
3
4

Final leading averages

RiderTeamAverage
Joe OwenNewcastle11.10
Rod HunterNewcastle10.51
Martin YeatesWeymouth10.39
Bobby BeatonNewcastle10.20
Steve LawsonGlasgow10.00
Jim McMillanGlasgow9.85
Marvyn CoxRye House9.83
Barry ThomasCrayford9.69
Steve WilcockMiddlesbrough9.48
Steve McDermottBerwick9.43
Bob GarradRye House9.28

Riders & final averages

Berwick

  • Steve McDermott 9.43
  • Bruce Cribb 8.30
  • Brian Collins 6.33
  • Paul Thorp 6.20
  • Rob Grant Sr. 5.87
  • Mike Caroline 5.58
  • Phil Jeffrey 4.36
  • Robin Hampton 3.43

Boston

  • Steve Lomas 7.93
  • David Gagen 7.75
  • Billy Burton 6.40
  • Phil Alderman 5.67
  • David Blackburn 5.21
  • Dennis Mallett 4.94
  • Peter Framingham 4.37
  • Pete Chapman 4.31
  • Guy Wilson 3.92
  • Michael Holding 2.83

Canterbury

  • Denzil Kent 8.20
  • Barney Kennett 7.56
  • Kelvin Mullarkey 7.43
  • Andy Hibbs 6.70
  • Jamie Luckhurst 6.27
  • Dave Mullett 5.66
  • Laurie Etheridge 5.54
  • Kevin Brice 5.47
  • Keith Pritchard 4.91

Crayford

  • Barry Thomas 9.69
  • Paul Bosley 7.88
  • Kevin Teager 7.56
  • Andy Galvin 6.72
  • Alan Sage 6.63
  • Alan Mogridge 6.59
  • Trevor Banks 6.46

Edinburgh

  • Dave Trownson 8.74
  • Mark Fiora 7.77
  • Brett Saunders 7.44
  • George Hunter 6.96
  • Chris Turner 6.90
  • Roger Lambert 6.10
  • Glyn Taylor 6.07
  • Sean Courtney 4.68
  • Chris Kelly 2.83
  • Scott Cook 2.35

Exeter

  • Keith Millard 8.73
  • Rob Maxfield 7.88
  • Rob Ashton 7.35
  • Alun Rossiter 7.12
  • Steve Bishop 7.03
  • Kevin Price 6.28
  • Bob Coles 5.74

Glasgow

  • Steve Lawson 10.00
  • Jimmy McMillan 9.85
  • Kenny McKinna 9.00
  • Andy Reid 8.23
  • Colin Caffrey 5.64
  • David Cassels 4.95
  • Jim Beaton 4.00
  • Martin McKinna 3.74
  • Geoff Powell 3.57
  • Miles Evans 3.40
  • David Walsh 2.88

Long Eaton

  • Dave Perks 8.14
  • Alan Molyneux 8.09
  • Paul Stead 7.86
  • Paul Evitts 5.64
  • John Frankland 5.21
  • Mark Stevenson 4.63
  • Nicky Allot 3.50
  • David Tyler 2.58
  • John Proctor 1.18

Middlesbrough

  • Steve Wilcock 9.48
  • Mike Spink 8.66
  • Geoff Pusey 6.72
  • Brian Havelock 6.16
  • Rob Woffinden 5.92
  • Paul Price 5.48
  • Ashley Norton 4.77
  • Peter Nightingale 2.98
  • Mark Crang 2.88

Mildenhall

  • Derek Harrison 9.22
  • Richard Knight 8.98
  • Carl Baldwin 8.23
  • Robert Henry 7.00
  • Carl Blackbird 6.42
  • Dave Jackson 4.78
  • Andy Warne 4.11
  • Ian Farnham 2.34
  • Rob Parish 1.80

Milton Keynes

  • Craig Featherby 8.66
  • Keith White 8.56
  • Steve Payne 8.51
  • Charlie McKinna 7.84
  • Chris Pidcock 6.09
  • Paul Clarke 5.57
  • Dennis Mallett 5.02
  • Peter Framingham 5.00
  • Steve Mildoon 2.78
  • Rob Wall 2.37

Newcastle

  • Joe Owen 11.10
  • Rod Hunter 10.51
  • Bobby Beaton 10.20
  • Alan Emerson 7.20
  • Martin Scarisbrick 5.74
  • Bernie Collier 3.60
  • Dave Wild 3.05
  • Lawrie Bloomfield 2.52
  • Paul McHale 2.47
  • Neal Barnsley 1.80
  • Greg DeKok 1.63

Oxford

  • Nigel Sparshott 8.06
  • Graham Drury 7.79
  • Ian Clark 7.28
  • Mike Wilding 7.13
  • Kevin Smart 6.35
  • Wayne Jackson 5.40
  • Nigel De'ath 5.36
  • Steve Crockett 4.71
  • Mark Summerfield 4.17
  • Mark Chessell 1.65

Peterborough

  • Ashley Pullen 8.74
  • Dave Allen 8.09
  • Mick Hines 7.22
  • Ian Barney 6.53
  • Andy Buck 6.44
  • Mike Spinks 5.37
  • Neil Cotton 4.89
  • Dale Watson 2.36

Rye House

  • Marvyn Cox 9.83
  • Bobby Garrad 9.28
  • Steve Naylor 8.00
  • Peter Johns 7.03
  • Kerry Gray 5.73
  • Steve Bryenton 5.70
  • Andrew Silver 4.69
  • Kevin Bowen 4.60
  • Chris Chaplin 2.89
  • Terry Broadbank 2.87
  • John Barclay 1.27

Scunthorpe

  • Nigel Crabtree 9.10
  • Andy Fisher 7.59
  • Rob Hollingworth 7.15
  • Craig Pendlebury 6.91
  • Julian Parr 6.56
  • Derek Richardson 6.28
  • Ian Gibson 5.68
  • Kevin Armitage 5.29
  • Mark DeKok 4.00

Stoke

  • Tom Owen 8.98
  • Pete Smith 7.35
  • John Jackson 6.66
  • Ian Robertson 5.16
  • Gary O'Hare 4.91
  • Jim Burdfield 4.80
  • Steve Sant 3.95
  • Gary Johnson 3.00
  • Richie Owen 2.60

Weymouth

  • Martin Yeates 10.39
  • Steve Schofield 8.97
  • Simon Cross 8.35
  • Stan Bear 7.18
  • Rob Mather 5.83
  • Gordon Humphreys 4.40
  • Chris Martin 4.11
  • David Biles 2.87
  • Ian Humphreys 2.17

References

References

  1. "1983 full season results".
  2. (26 November 1982). "Gunners to continue".
  3. (22 February 1983). "Gunners to shut up shop".
  4. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  5. Oakes, P.(2006). ''Speedway Star Almanac''. {{ISBN. 0-9552376-1-0
  6. "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)".
  7. "Craig Featherby".
  8. "1983 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher.
  9. "1983 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  10. (11 October 1983). "Speedway". Daily Mirror.
  11. "1983 KO cup final".
  12. (25 September 1983). "Bandit Steals Title". Sunday Sun (Newcastle).
  13. "1983 season results".
  14. (25 July 1983). "Tigers miss out again in dramatic finish". Cambridge Daily News.
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