# 2024 National Development League speedway season

The 2024 National Development League was the third division/tier of British motorcycle speedway for the 2024 season. It is a semi-professional development league, containing mainly the junior sides of SGB Premiership and SGB Championship clubs. Oxford Chargers were the defending champions having won the title in 2023. The league is sponsored by the World Speedway Riders' Association.

## Summary

Six clubs competed for the National Development League Championship, after the addition of Middlesbrough Tigers and a Scunthorpe Stags and Sheffield Prowlers combined team. The three teams that dropped out were Berwick Bullets, Kent Royals and Mildenhall Fen Tigers, while Workington Comets had moved up a division.
The league points limit was set at 36, later increased to 36.25, while all riders who achieved a Championship average higher than 4.00 in the past were unable to race in the National Development League. The playoff system was also scrapped, with the winners now being decided by whoever finished top of the league table during the regular season. The knockout cup was also not staged in 2024. In addition to the 2024 NDL league, all other senior teams were required to run a formal programme of second half racing called the National League Riders' Development Series.
Leicester Lion Cubs won the title.

## League
### League table

| Pos. | Club | M | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | F | A | B | Pts | +/− |
| Pos. | Club | M | W | SHL | L | W | SHL | L | F | A | B | Pts | +/− |
| 1 | Leicester Lion Cubs (C) | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 512 | 382 | 5 | 23 | +130 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Colts | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 469 | 423 | 3 | 15 | +46 |
| 3 | Oxford Chargers | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 461 | 430 | 3 | 15 | +31 |
| 4 | Monarchs Academy | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 419 | 472 | 2 | 10 | -53 |
| 5 | Scunthorpe/Sheffield | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 415 | 481 | 1 | 7 | -66 |
| 6 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 404 | 492 | 1 | 5 | -88 |
Fixtures & results
| Home \ Away | BEL | EDI | LEI | MID | OXF | S/S |
| Belle Vue | | 56–34 | 38–49 | 51–39 | 48–42 | 55–35 |
| Edinburgh | 35–53 | | 47–42 | 52–37 | 44–45 | 58–31 |
| Leicester | 53–37 | 56–34 | | 55–35 | 47–41 | 63–27 |
| Middlesbrough | 48–41 | 44–46 | 36–54 | | 41–49 | 48–41 |
| Oxford | 49–40 | 51–36 | 43–47 | 55–34 | | 36–54 |
| Scunthorpe/Sheffield | 39–50 | 57–33 | 44–46 | 48–42 | 39–50 | |

## NDL Riders Development Series

Three National League Riders Development Series events took place across the 2024 NDL Series. These were hosted by Poole, Leicester and Berwick.
| Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
| NDL Development Series |||||
| 26 June | Poole | Sam Hagon | Jake Mulford | Joe Thompson |
| 4 August | Leicester | Joe Thompson | William Cairns | Vinnie Foord |
| 7 September | Berwick | Freddy Hodder | Connor Coles | Jake Mulford |

## Leading averages

| | Rider | Team | Average |
| 1 | Sam Hagon | Belle Vue | 11.03 |
| 2 | William Cairns | Belle Vue | 10.67 |
| 3 | Joe Thompson | Leicester | 10.37 |
| 4 | Luke Killeen | Oxford | 9.96 |
| 5 | Ben Trigger | Middlesbrough | 8.98 |
| 6 | Jake Mulford | Middlesbrough | 8.86 |
| 7 | Jason Garrad | Oxford | 8.73 |
| 8 | Jody Scott | Oxford | 8.68 |
| 9 | Nathan Ablitt | Sheffield/Scunthorpe | 8.56 |
| 10 | Connor Coles | Edinburgh | 8.42 |
* averages include all league fixtures, min 4 matches

## Squads & final averages
### Belle Vue Colts

* Sam Hagon 11.03
* William Cairns 10.67
* Freddy Hodder 7.82
* Matt Marson 7.00
* Chad Wirtzfeld 5.87
* Harry McGurk 5.33
* Luke Muff 2.22
* Jack Shimelt 1.55

### Edinburgh Monarchs Academy

* Connor Coles 8.42
* Dayle Wood 8.08
* Max Perry 7.40
* Sam McGurk 6.56
* Mason Watson 6.24
* Kyran Lyden 3.91
* Mark Parker 2.27

### Leicester Lion Cubs

* Joe Thompson (C) 10.37
* Max James 8.30
* Vinnie Ford 7.86
* Tom Spencer 7.80
* Sonny Springer 6.70
* Arran Butcher 6.63
* Luke Crang 6.42

### Middlesbrough Tigers

* Ben Trigger 8.98
* Jake Mulford 8.86
* Danny Phillips 6.60
* Jamie Halder 6.38
* Kai Ward 4.42
* Ben Rathbone 4.30
* William Hocaniuk 2.63

### Oxford Chargers

* Luke Killeen (C) 9.96
* Jason Garrad 8.73
* Jody Scott 8.68
* Ashton Vale 6.86
* Jacob Clouting 6.09
* Declan Killeen 5.50
* Senna Summers 4.56
* Alex Spooner 2.86

### Scunthorpe Stags/Sheffield Prowlers

* Nathan Ablitt 8.56
* Luke Harrison 8.00
* Ace Pijper 7.02
* Stene Pijper 5.91
* Mickie Simpson 5.76
* Sheldon Davies 4.57
* Kean Dicken 4.44
* Jamie Etherington 3.00