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1983 National League season

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

Fixtures and results

Top five riders (league averages)

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

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

First leg

Second leg

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.

  • 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.

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

Final leading averages

Riders & final averages

Berwick

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

Crayford

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

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

Mildenhall

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

Oxford

Peterborough

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

See also

References