# 1984 National League season

The 1984 National League was contested as the second division of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom.

## Summary

A new team called the Arena Essex Hammers, promoted by Wally Mawdsley joined the league. Crayford Kestrels moved to Hackney Wick Stadium to become the Hackney Kestrels.
The title was won by the Long Eaton Invaders who finished just one point clear of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers. Remarkably the Long Eaton Invaders had gone from finishing last in 1983 to first in 1984 under former rider Vic White. He had been brought in as the team manager and had signed Graham Drury and Chris Pidcock to support Dave Perks, Paul Stead and David Tyler.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Long Eaton Invaders | 30 | 21 | 1 | 8 | 43 |
| 2 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 42 |
| 3 | Stoke Potters | 30 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 37 |
| 4 | Hackney Kestrels | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 32 |
| 5 | Berwick Bandits | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 31 |
| 6 | Boston Barracudas | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 31 |
| 7 | Milton Keynes Knights | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 29 |
| 8 | Rye House Rockets | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 28 |
| 9 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 28 |
| 10 | Scunthorpe Stags | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 28 |
| 11 | Glasgow Tigers | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 28 |
| 12 | Canterbury Crusaders | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 27 |
| 13 | Weymouth Wildcats | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 26 |
| 14 | Arena Essex Hammers | 30 | 11 | 3 | 16 | 25 |
| 15 | Peterborough Panthers | 30 | 12 | 0 | 18 | 24 |
| 16 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 21 |

## Top Five Riders (League Averages)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Steve Lawson | Glasgow | 10.41 |
| 2 | Martin Yeates | Weymouth | 10.35 |
| 3 | Steve Wilcock | Middlesbrough | 9.89 |
| 4 | Tom Owen | Stoke | 9.77 |
| 5 | Steve McDermott | Berwick | 9.74 |

## National League Knockout Cup

The 1984 National League Knockout Cup was the 17th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Hackney Kestrels were the winners of the competition.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 08/06 | Peterborough | 48-30 | Arena Essex |
| 31/05 | Arena Essex | 41-37 | Peterborough |
| 11/05 | Peterborough | 42-36 | Arena Essex |
| 26/04 | Arena Essex | 42-36 | Peterborough |
| 26/04 | Middlesbrough | 52-26 | Scunthorpe |
| 22/04 | Boston | 40-38 | Edinburgh |
| 21/04 | Berwick | 44-34 | Glasgow |
| 21/04 | Stoke | 39-38 | Long Eaton |
| 20/04 | Edinburgh | 46-32 | Boston |
| 20/04 | Glasgow | 33-44 | Berwick |
| 18/04 | Long Eaton | 45-33 | Stoke |
| 17/04 | Weymouth | 34-44 | Canterbury |
| 16/04 | Scunthorpe | 43-35 | Middlesbrough |
| 15/04 | Mildenhall | 44-34 | Milton Keynes |
| 15/04 | Rye House | 36-42 | Hackney |
| 14/04 | Canterbury | 39-39 | Weymouth |
| 13/04 | Hackney | 53-25 | Rye House |
| 10/04 | Milton Keynes | 41-37 | Mildenhall |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 28/07 | Canterbury | 44-34 | Peterborough |
| 20/07 | Edinburgh | 35-43 | Berwick |
| 20/07 | Peterborough | 47-30 | Canterbury |
| 18/05 | Hackney | 51-27 | Mildenhall |
| 17/05 | Middlesbrough | 55-23 | Long Eaton |
| 13/05 | Mildenhall | 44-34 | Hackney |
| 05/05 | Berwick | 43-35 | Edinburgh |
| 02/05 | Long Eaton | 48-30 | Middlesbrough |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 07/09 | Peterborough | 53-25 | Hackney |
| 27/08 | Hackney | 54-24 | Peterborough |
| 26/07 | Middlesbrough | 41-37 | Berwick |
| 21/07 | Berwick | 46-31 | Middlesbrough |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Hackney were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–72.

## Riders' Championship

Ian Barney won the Riders' Championship. The final was originally held at Wimbledon Stadium on 23 September but was abandoned after eight heats due to rain. The Championship was restaged on 13 October at East of England Arena.
| Pos. | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Ian Barney | 14+3 |
| 2 | Dave Perks | 14+ef |
| 3 | Martin Yeates | 12+3 |
| 4 | Andy Buck | 12+2 |
| 5 | Steve Wilcock | 10 |
| 6 | Colin Cook | 8 |
| 7 | Tom Owen | 8 |
| ? | Alan Sage | |
| ? | Bob Garrard | |
| ? | Mark Fiora | |
| ? | Barry Thomas | |
| ? | Bruce Cribb | 4 |
| ? | Keith White | |
| ? | Jamie Luckhurst | |
| ? | Steve Lawson | |
| ? | Carl Baldwin | |

## Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 30 June and was won by Stoke Potters.
Top 4 Qualifying :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Stoke | 20 | Owen T 12, Crabtree 8 |
| 2 | Berwick | 18 | Cribb 11, McDermott 7 |
| 3 | Weymouth | 18 | Yeates, Biles 6 |
| 4 | Mildenhall | 18 | Blackbird, Bales 7 |
Semi finals
* Stoke bt Mildenhall
* Berwick bt Weymouth
Final
* Stoke bt Berwick

## Fours

Mildenhall won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Showground on 22 July.
Semi finals
* SF1 = Boston 16, Stoke 13, Canterbury 10, Berwick 9
* SF2 = Mildenhall 23 Milton Keynes 10, Middlesbrough 8, Hackney 7
Final
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 19 | Bales 6, Henry 5, Blackbird 5, Baldwin 3 |
| 2 | Stoke Potters | 15 | Crabtree 5, Thorp 4, Owen 4, Evitts 2 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Knights | 11 | White 4, Blackburn 4, Payne 2, De'Ath 1, Framingham 0 |
| 4 | Boston Barracudas | 3 | Burton 2, Wilson 1, Cook 0, Hollingworth 0 |

## Leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Steve Lawson | Glasgow | 10.38 |
| Martin Yeates | Weymouth | 10.35 |
| Steve McDermott | Berwick | 9.97 |
| Tom Owen | Stoke | 9.86 |
| Steve Wilcock | Middlesbrough | 9.71 |
| Nigel Crabtree | Stoke | 9.56 |
| Bobby Beaton | Edinburgh | 9.30 |
| Bruce Cribb | Berwick | 9.24 |
| Alun Rossiter | Weymouth | 9.23 |
| Carl Baldwin | Mildenhall | 9.11 |
| Mark Fiora | Edinburgh | 9.10 |

## Riders & final averages

Arena Essex
* Bob Humphreys 7.19
* Alan Sage 7.19
* Martin Goodwin 7.10
* David Smart 6.25
* Bill Barrett 6.02
* David Cheshire 5.61
* Jeremy Luckhurst 4.81
* Peter Johns 4.77
* Steve Collins 1.33
Berwick
* Steve McDermott 9.97
* Bruce Cribb 9.24
* Jimmy McMillan 8.73
* Charlie McKinna 6.65
* Phil Kynman 6.21
* Craig Pendlebury 5.40
* David Walsh 5.34
* Rob Grant Sr. 5.10
* Mike Caroline 3.64
* Dennis Gallagher 3.64
* Paul Cooper 3.58
* Jacko Irving 2.50
Boston
* Colin Cook 7.26
* Rob Hollingworth 7.16
* Guy Wilson 7.11
* David Gagen 7.03
* Dennis Mallett 6.67
* Billy Burton 6.44
* Paul Clarke 5.63
* Steve Lomas 5.14
* Pete Chapman 4.40
Canterbury
* Jamie Luckhurst 8.11
* Alan Mogridge 7.69
* Dave Mullett 7.61
* Barney Kennett 6.73
* Rob Tilbury 5.72
* Kevin Brice 5.59
* Andy Fines 5.16
* Keith Pritchard 5.13
* Neville Tatum 4.79
Edinburgh
* Bobby Beaton 9.30
* Mark Fiora 9.10
* Dave Trownson 7.67
* Craig Pendlebury 6.39
* Sean Courtney 6.00
* Roger Lambert 5.85
* Brett Saunders 5.40
* Paul McHale 4.48
* Phil Jeffrey 4.31
* Martin Johnson 2.78
Glasgow
* Steve Lawson 10.38
* Andy Reid 7.64
* Brian Collins 6.58
* Colin Caffrey 6.11
* Martin McKinna 5.44
* Jim Beaton 4.55
* David Cassels 3.26
* Tam Baggley 2.75
* Barry Ayres 2.67
* Geoff Powell 2.59
Hackney
* Trevor Banks 8.46
* Barry Thomas 8.44
* Kevin Teager 7.34
* Andy Galvin 6.01
* Mark Terry 5.22
* Linden Warner 5.16
* Paul Whittaker 4.98
Long Eaton
* Dave Perks 8.99
* Paul Stead 8.75
* Graham Drury 8.50
* David Tyler 7.37
* Chris Pidcock 6.96
* Miles Evans 5.83
* Mark Stevenson 5.41
* John Frankland 5.35
Middlesbrough
* Steve Wilcock 9.71
* Mike Spink 8.50
* Geoff Pusey 7.26
* Paul Price 5.70
* Pete Smith 4.87
* Mark Crang 4.75
* Jim Burdfield 4.68
* Ashley Norton 4.24
* Rob Carter 3.22
* John Place 2.06
Mildenhall
* Carl Baldwin 9.11
* Carl Blackbird 8.97
* Robert Henry 8.42
* Ray Bales 7.89
* Dave Jackson 5.29
* Wally Hill 4.64
* Rob Parish 3.70
* Ian Farnham 2.67
Milton Keynes
* Keith White 8.84
* Kevin Smart 8.39
* David Blackburn 7.36
* Paul Clarke 6.75
* Nigel De'ath 6.38
* Steve Payne 5.89
* Peter Framingham 5.18
* Rob Wall 4.94
* Chris Hunt 2.93
Peterborough
* Mick Hines 7.51
* Dave Allen 6.98
* Ian Barney 6.96
* Andy Fisher 6.36
* Keith Millard 6.25
* Adrian Hume 5.86
* Mike Spinks 4.65
* Neil Cotton 4.32
* Lawrie Bloomfield 3.90
* Mike Smart 2.56
Rye House
* Bobby Garrad 8.69
* Andrew Silver 7.79
* Steve Naylor 7.69
* Kelvin Mullarkey 7.10
* Kerry Gray 5.71
* Steve Bryenton 5.46
* Chris Chaplin 4.93
* Michael Keepe 3.86
* Mark Chessell 3.70
* Gary Rolls 3.31
Scunthorpe
* Julian Parr 8.11
* Andy Buck 7.80
* Rob Woffinden 7.65
* Derek Richardson 7.5
* Paul Evitts 6.64
* Mike Wilding 6.06
* Kevin Armitage 5.54
* Ian Gibson 4.73
* Mark Burrows 3.94
* Richie Owen 2.43
Stoke
* Tom Owen 9.86
* Nigel Crabtree 9.56
* Paul Thorp 7.26
* Paul Evitts 6.47
* Steve Bishop 5.47
* Ashley Pullen 5.46
* Graham Jones 5.09
* Phil Alderman 5.00
* Ian Stead 4.25
Weymouth
* Martin Yeates 10.35
* Alun Rossiter 9.23
* David Biles 7.06
* John Barker 6.84
* Kevin Price 5.21
* Gordon Humphreys 4.28
* Mike Semmonds 4.10
* Michael Coles 3.78
* Ian Humphreys 3.62
* Dave Gibbs 3.55
* Terry Mussett 2.92
* Wayne Barrett 1.09