The 1996 Speedway Conference League was the inaugural season of the Conference League, which was the second tier of British motorcycle speedway. It was listed as the second tier of British speedway because during 1995 and 1996 the two divisions of the British League had merged into one division only. The following season it would be a third tier/division competition.
The Conference League was the first to promoted under the name and was an entirely amateur competition contested by thirteen teams (many were junior sides belonging to their parent clubs). The league expanded from the eight that had begun the previous season's 1995 Academy League - Berwick, Buxton, Devon, Linlithgow, Mildenhall, and Sittingbourne all returned from 1995, and were joined by Arena Essex, Eastbourne, Owlerton, Peterborough, Reading, Ryde, and Swindon. Stoke and Cleveland did not return from 1995.
As not all fixtures were able to be run, the champions were decided by a percentage of total points available. Linlithgow Lightning topped the table to become champions.
<small>PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Match Points; % = Win Rate</small>
A fixtures
B fixtures
The 1996 Conference League Knockout Cup was the 29th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams.
It was only the tier two competition because the Division 1 & 2 had merged during 1995 & 1996, this meant that the newly formed Conference League was tier two of British speedway at the time. Linlithgow Lightning were the winners of the Cup.
First round
First leg
Second leg
Linlithgow were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 88âÂÂ68.
Mike Hampson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 7 September at Long Eaton Stadium.