# 1978 National League season

The 1978 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.

## Summary

Newport Dragons dropped out of the league after just one season of second tier racing following a dispute over rent at Somerton Park.
Ttwo new entrants – Milton Keynes Knights and Barrow Furness Flyers – saw the league expanded to twenty teams. Weymouth changed their nickname from Wizards to Wildcats.
Former Leicester and Teesside promoter Ron Wilson brought speedway to Milton Keynes with a team called the Knights who would race at the Milton Keynes Greyhound Stadium (known in speedway circles as the Groveway).
Canterbury Crusaders won the National League title. Although equal on points with Newcastle Diamonds they won by virtue of the fact that their race points difference was greater than their rival. It was Canterbury's second title win in eight years, previously winning in 1970. The Crusaders were led by heavy scoring from Les Rumsey and Riders' Champion Steve Koppe, while Newcastle's Tom Owen topped the averages for the second consecutive year.
Earlier in the season 18 year-old junior rider Chris Prime was representing Newcastle when he was killed in the National League match against Mildenhall on 3 April.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Canterbury Crusaders | 38 | 30 | 0 | 8 | 60 |
| 2 | Newcastle Diamonds | 38 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 60 |
| 3 | Rye House Rockets | 38 | 27 | 0 | 11 | 54 |
| 4 | Eastbourne Eagles | 38 | 25 | 1 | 12 | 51 |
| 5 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 38 | 24 | 0 | 14 | 48 |
| 6 | Peterborough Panthers | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 45 |
| 7 | Oxford Cheetahs | 38 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 44 |
| 8 | Stoke Potters | 38 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 43 |
| 9 | Glasgow Tigers | 38 | 19 | 1 | 18 | 39 |
| 10 | Crayford Kestrels | 38 | 16 | 2 | 20 | 34 |
| 11 | Berwick Bandits | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 34 |
| 12 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 33 |
| 13 | Weymouth Wildcats | 38 | 16 | 0 | 22 | 32 |
| 14 | Workington Comets | 38 | 16 | 0 | 22 | 32 |
| 15 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 38 | 15 | 1 | 22 | 31 |
| 16 | Milton Keynes Knights | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 30 |
| 17 | Boston Barracudas | 38 | 13 | 2 | 23 | 28 |
| 18 | Teesside Tigers | 38 | 12 | 0 | 26 | 24 |
| 19 | Scunthorpe Saints | 38 | 9 | 2 | 27 | 20 |
| 20 | Barrow Furness Flyers | 38 | 8 | 2 | 28 | 18 |

## National League Knockout Cup

The 1978 National League Knockout Cup was the 11th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition for the second successive year.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 13/05 | Stoke | 51–27 | Workington |
| 12/05 | Workington | 40–38 | Stoke |
| 29/05 | Newcastle | 43–33 | Teesside |
| 01/06 | Teesside | 39–39 | Newcastle |
| 21/05 | Rye House | 58–20 | Milton Keynes |
| 23/05 | Milton Keynes | 26–52 | Rye House |
| 19/05 | Ellesmere Port | 47–31 | Berwick |
| 21/05 | Berwick | 35–42 | Ellesmere Port |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 11/06 | Eastbourne | 57–21 | Scunthorpe |
| 12/06 | Scunthorpe | 28–47 | Eastbourne |
| 23/06 | Peterborough | 43–35 | Barrow |
| 20/06 | Barrow | 33–45 | Peterborough |
| 08/06 | Oxford | 47–31 | Stoke |
| 10/06 | Stoke | 43–35 | Oxford |
| 25/06 | Mildenhall | 56–21 | Newcastle |
| 26/06 | Newcastle | 40–38 | Mildenhall |
| 11/06 | Rye House | 52–26 | Glasgow |
| 16/06 | Glasgow | 39–39 | Rye House |
| 04/07 | Crayford | 46–32 | Edinburgh |
| 30/06 | Edinburgh | 40–38 | Crayford |
| 17/06 | Canterbury | 48–27 | Weymouth |
| 20/06 | Weymouth | 37–41 | Canterbury |
| 07/07 | Ellesmere Port | 54–23 | Boston |
| 25/06 | Boston | 36–42 | Ellesmere Port |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 06/08 | Eastbourne | 45–30 | Peterborough |
| 11/08 | Peterborough | 39–38 | Eastbourne |
| 10/08 | Oxford | 43–34 | Mildenhall |
| 09/07 | Mildenhall | 40–38 | Oxford |
| 09/07 | Rye House | 44–34 | Crayford |
| 18/07 | Crayford | 39–39 | Rye House |
| 12/08 | Canterbury | 55–23 | Ellesmere |
| 28/07 | Ellesmere | 48–30 | Canterbury |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 27/08 | Eastbourne | 56–22 | Oxford |
| 07/09 | Oxford | 32–45 | Eastbourne |
| 24/09 | Rye House | 57–20 | Canterbury |
| 30/09 | Canterbury | 41–37 | Rye House |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–73.

## Riders' Championship

Steve Koppe won the Riders' Championship, held at Wimbledon Stadium on 23 September 1978.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
| 1 | Steve Koppe | 3 3 3 2 3 | 14 |
| 2 | John Jackson | 3 3 2 2 3 | 13 |
| 3 | Ted Hubbard | 3 2 2 3 2 | 12+3 |
| 4 | Dave Gooderham | 1 2 3 3 3 | 12+2 |
| 5 | Ray Bales | 2 0 3 3 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Tom Owen | 1 1 2 3 2 | 9 |
| 7 | Arthur Price | 3 2 2 1 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Danny Kennedy | 0 1 3 2 2 | 8 |
| 9 | Laurie Etheridge | 2 3 0 1 1 | 7 |
| 10 | Tony Lomas | 1 1 1 2 1 | 6 |
| 11 | Graham Jones | 1 3 1 0 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Rob Hollingworth | 0 2 1 1 0 | 4 |
| 13 | George Hunter | 2 1 | 3 |
| 14 | Steve Wilcock (res) | 1 1 0 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Nicky Allott | 0 0 0 0 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Mike Sampson | 2 | 2 |
| 17 | Steve Lawson | 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 |

## Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at The Shay on 15 July and was won by Ellesmere Port.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Newcastle | 15 | Owen T 9 Blackadder 6 |
| 2 | Stoke | 10 | Lomas 6 Harrhy 4 |
| 3 | Crayford | 6 | Etheridge 3 Sage 3 |
| 4 | Oxford | 5 | Hunter 3 Hack 2 |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Eastbourne | 11 | Sampson 9 Naylor 2 |
| 2 | Peterborough | 10 | Gooderham 8 Hines A 2 |
| 3 | Workington | 9 | Price 6 Maxfield 3 |
| 4 | Berwick | 6 | Jones 4 Hiftle 2 |
Group C :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Canterbury | 13 | Rumsey 7 Koppe 6 |
| 2 | Edinburgh | 8 | Hollingworth 4 Lomas 4 |
| 3 | Mildenhall | 8 | Coles 4 Taylor 4 |
| 4 | Scunthorpe | 7 | White 4 Allott 3 |
Group D :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Ellesmere P | 15 | Jackson 9 Finch 6 |
| 2 | Rye House | 8 | Fiala 5 Hubbard 3 |
| 3 | Glasgow | 7 | Lawson 5 Janke 2 |
| 4 | Weymouth | 5 | Kennedy 4 Shakespeare 1 |
Semi finals
* Newcastle bt Canterbury
* Ellesmere Port bt Eastbourne
Final
* Ellesmere Port bt Newcastle

## Fours

Peterborough won the fours championship final for the second successive year, held at the East of England Arena on 30 July.
Semi finals
* SF1 = Stoke 13, Peterborough 12, Newcastle 12, Edinburgh 10
* SF2 = Canterbury 16, Weymouth 12, Ellesmere Port 12, Eastbourne 8
Final
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Peterborough Panthers | 18 | Couzens 6, Flatman 5, Hunt 4, Gooderham 3 |
| 2 | Stoke Potters | 12 | Robertson 4, Lomas 3, Harrhy 3, Mountford 2 |
| 3 | Canterbury Crusaders | 9 | Koppe 4, Clifton 3, Ferreira 2, Rumsey 0 |
| 4 | Ellesmere Port Gunners | 9 | Ellams 4, Collins 3, Carr L 2, Finch 0, Jackson 0 |

## Top Five Riders

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Tom Owen | Newcastle | 10.82 |
| 2 | Bob Humphreys | Milton Keynes | 10.59 |
| 3 | John Jackson | Ellesmere Port | 10.36 |
| 4 | Les Rumsey | Canterbury | 9.81 |
| 5 | Mike Sampson | Eastbourne | 9.74 |

## Riders & final averages

Barrow
* Charlie Monk 8.20
* Geoff Pusey 7.22
* Chris Bevan 6.82
* Andy Reid 5.53
* Chris Roynon 5.01
* Ken Murray 4.23
* Mark Courtney 3.61
* Chris Robins 3.13
* Malcolm Chambers 2.29
* Gary Pottenger 2.29
* Les Race 1.74
* Dave Butt 1.73
* Des Wilson 1.25
Berwick
* Graham Jones 8.79
* Roger Wright 7.66
* Mike Hiftle 6.40
* Willie Templeton 6.12
* Mike Fullerton 6.02
* Dave Gifford 5.62
* Colin Caffrey 4.25
* Wayne Brown 3.94
* Ian Darling 2.72
Boston
* Gary Guglielmi 8.38
* Tony Boyle 7.95
* Steve Clarke 7.11
* Dave Allen 7.02
* Paul Gilbert 6.50
* Stuart Cope 5.36
* Andy Fisher 5.33
* Craig Featherby 5.26
* Dave Mortiboys 4.94
* Ron Cooper 4.13
* Roger Lambert 4.00
* Keith Bloxsome 3.79
* Dennis Mallett 2.93
Canterbury
* Les Rumsey 9.81
* Steve Koppe 9.68
* Graham Banks 8.11
* Mike Ferreira 7.65
* Bob Spelta 7.54
* Graham Clifton 7.48
* Brendan Shiletto 6.58
* Barney Kennett 6.48
* Dave Piddock 5.65
* Derek Hole 3.71
Crayford
* Laurie Etheridge 9.34
* Alan Sage 8.63
* Alan Johns 6.28
* Pete Wigley 5.19
* Richard Davey 5.18
* Tony Featherstone 5.02
* John Hooper 4.36
Eastbourne
* Mike Sampson 9.74
* Dave Kennett 8.93
* Eric Dugard 8.88
* Roger Abel 7.40
* Steve Naylor 7.31
* Paul Woods 6.64
* Colin Ackroyd 5.94
* John Barker 5.78
Edinburgh
* Rob Hollingworth 7.39
* Bert Harkins 7.17
* Steve Lomas 6.93
* Dave Trownson 6.55
* Brian Collins 6.04
* Steve McDermott 6.00
* Ivan Blacka 5.11
* Alan Morrison 4.67
* Alan Bridgett 4.75
* Mark Stokes 2.00
Ellesmere Port
* John Jackson 10.36
* Steve Finch 9.28
* Phil Collins 8.70
* John Williams 5.77
* Louis Carr 5.73
* Paul Tyrer 5.13
* Pete Ellams 4.39
* Steve Taylor 4.06
* Neil Collins 2.87
Glasgow
* Steve Lawson 7.93
* Derek Richardson 7.52
* Merv Janke 7.51
* Benny Rourke 6.68
* Colin Farquharson 4.64
* Jim Beaton 4.49
* Charlie McKinna 3.54
* Keith Bloxsome 3.50
* Terry Kelly 3.48
* Mick Newton 2.97
Mildenhall
* Ray Bales 9.12
* Bob Coles 8.35
* Melvyn Taylor 8.35
* Robert Henry 6.47
* Neil Leeks 6.31
* Mike Spink 6.26
* Mick Bates 5.43
* Richard Knight 4.31
Milton Keynes
* Bob Humphreys 10.59
* Derek Harrison 6.87
* Chris Robins 6.52
* Andy Grahame 6.17
* Malcolm Holloway 5.39
* Cliff Anderson 4.93
* Phil Bass 4.82
* Harry Maclean 4.57
* Richard Evans 3.04
Newcastle
* Tom Owen 10.82
* Robbie Blackadder 9.10
* Kenny Carter 7.58
* Robbie Gardner 7.40
* Graeme Stapleton 6.55
* Rod Hunter 6.54
* Neil Coddington 4.16
* Nigel Crabtree 3.56
Oxford
* George Hunter 9.53
* David Shields 8.75
* John Hack 7.37
* Carl Askew 7.08
* Colin Meredith 6.87
* Pip Lamb 6.39
* James Moore 5.81
* Mick Handley 5.47
* Les Sawyer 3.26
Peterborough
* Dave Gooderham 8.36
* Ian Clark 8.03
* Andy Hines 7.97
* Nigel Flatman 7.48
* Kevin Hawkins 6.67
* Tim Hunt 6.54
* Brian Clark 6.38
* Nigel Couzens 6.07
* Peter Spink 4.74
Rye House
* Ted Hubbard 9.32
* Kelvin Mullarkey 9.11
* Karl Fiala 7.81
* Hugh Saunders 7.74
* Bobby Garrad 7.52
* Ashley Pullen 6.86
* Peter Tarrant 4.85
* Bob Cooper 4.84
* Kevin Smith 4.82
Scunthorpe
* Nicky Allott 9.03
* John McNeill 7.96
* Arthur Browning 6.03
* Phil White 5.63
* Mick Handley 4.29
* Danny Boyle 4.00
* Trevor Whiting 4.00
* Danny Young 3.47
* Paul Cooper 2.77
* John Priest 2.24
Stoke
* Tony Lomas 9.07
* Ian Gledhill 7.45
* John Harrhy 6.98
* Stuart Mountford 6.93
* Ian Robertson 6.89
* Tim Nunan 6.20
* Frank Smith 6.05
* Ian Jeffcoate 4.20
Teesside
* Steve Wilcock 7.94
* Nigel Close 7.39
* Pete Smith 7.23
* Pete Reading 6.13
* Martyn Cusworth 4.75
* Peter Spink 4.46
* Martin Dixon 4.09
* Bob Watts 3.79
* John Robson 3.14
* Dave Gatenby 2.90
Weymouth
* Danny Kennedy 9.16
* Malcolm Shakespeare 7.49
* Sean Willmott 6.96
* Malcolm Corradine 6.76
* Geoff Swindells 6.56
* Gary Ford 5.46
* Mick Conroy 3.77
* Nigel Davis 2.83
Workington
* Arthur Price 8.63
* Brian Havelock 8.39
* Rob Maxfield 7.66
* Ian Hindle 6.40
* Mark Dickinson 5.14
* David Coles 4.82
* Andy Margarson 4.79
* Des Wilson 4.43
* Tony Childs 3.27