# 1987 National League season

In 1987 the National League, also known as British League Division Two, was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom.

## Team changes

Glasgow Tigers were without a home so they joined the 1987 season based at Workington's Derwent Park.

## Mid-season withdrawals

On 31 July, Glasgow Tigers (now called Workington Tigers held their last fixture against Stoke. The following day on 1 August, Boston Barracudas withdrew after a heavy home defeat to Eastbourne. Both Glasgow-Workington and Boston had their results expunged.

## Summary

The league champions that year were Eastbourne Eagles.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Eastbourne Eagles | 30 | 22 | 0 | 8 | 44 |
| 2 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 41 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Knights | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 39 |
| 4 | Stoke Potters | 30 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 37 |
| 5 | Peterborough Panthers | 30 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 36 |
| 6 | Berwick Bandits | 30 | 17 | 1 | 22 | 35 |
| 7 | Wimbledon Dons | 30 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 30 |
| 8 | Poole Pirates | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| 9 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 30 | 13 | 3 | 14 | 29 |
| 10 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 28 |
| 11 | Newcastle Diamonds | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 26 |
| 12 | Arena Essex Hammers | 30 | 12 | 1 | 17 | 25 |
| 13 | Canterbury Crusaders | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 23 |
| 14 | Exeter Falcons | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 23 |
| 15 | Long Eaton Invaders | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 17 |
| 16 | Rye House Rockets | 30 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 17 |

## National League Knockout Cup

The 1987 National League Knockout Cup was the 20th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition for the third successive year.

### First round

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 24/05 | Mildenhall | 66-30 | Rye House |
| 17/05 | Rye House | 24-24a | Mildenhall |
| 25/04 | Berwick | 64-32 | Newcastle |
| 20/04 | Newcastle | 51-44 | Berwick |
a=Abandoned

### Second round

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 10/07 | Peterborough | 57-39 | Middlesbrough |
| 21/06 | Glasgow | 47-49 | Edinburgh |
| 21/06 | Peterborough | 34-32a | Middlesbrough |
| 20/06 | Berwick | 65-31 | Long Eaton |
| 19/06 | Edinburgh | 65-31 | Glasgow |
| 18/06 | Middlesbrough | 56-40 | Peterborough |
| 17/06 | Long Eaton | 51-45 | Berwick |
| 17/06 | Mildenhall | 64-31 | Exeter |
| 16/06 | Poole | 51-45 | Eastbourne |
| 15/06 | Exeter | 51-45 | Mildenhall |
| 14/06 | Eastbourne | 62-33 | Poole |
| 01/06 | Arena Essex | 52-44 | Wimbledon |
| 30/05 | Canterbury | 61-35 | Boston |
| 25/05 | Rye House | 47-48 | Mildenhall |
| 20/05 | Wimbledon | 48-48 | Arena Essex |
| 16/05 | Stoke | 60-36 | Milton Keynes |
| 12/05 | Milton Keynes | 50-46 | Stoke |
| 10/05 | Boston | 50-46 | Canterbury |
a=Abandoned

### Quarter-finals

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 01/08 | Stoke | 49-29 | Peterborough |
| 31/07 | Edinburgh | 45-50 | Eastbourne |
| 25/07 | Berwick | 46-50 | Mildenhall |
| 25/07 | Canterbury | 54-42 | Arena Essex |
| 25/07 | Eastbourne | 56-40 | Edinburgh |
| 24/07 | Peterborough | 50-46 | Stoke |
| 09/07 | Arena Essex | 60-36 | Canterbury |
| 01/07 | Mildenhall | 61-35 | Berwick |

### Semi-finals

| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 31/08 | Mildenhall | 60-36 | Arena Essex |
| 23/08 | Eastbourne | 57-39 | Stoke |
| 20/08 | Arena Essex | 51-45 | Mildenhall |
| 15/08 | Stoke | 53-42 | Eastbourne |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100–91.

## Riders' Championship

Andrew Silver won the Riders' Championship. The final sponsored by Jawa Moto & Barum was held on 12 September 1987 at Brandon Stadium.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
| 1 | Andrew Silver | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Nigel Crabtree | 3 3 3 3 2 | 14 |
| 3 | David Blackburn | 2 2 1 3 2 | 10+3 |
| 4 | Les Collins | 1 3 3 2 1 | 10+2 |
| 5 | David Biles | 1 2 2 2 3 | 10+1 |
| 6 | Dave Mullett | 2 1 2 2 2 | 9 |
| 7 | Martin Dixon | 3 2 2 1 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Dave Jessup | ef 3 3 2 0 | 8 |
| 9 | Kevin Jolly | 2 0 1 1 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Martin Dugard | 3 2 0 fr 2 | 7 |
| 11 | Trevor Banks | 0 1 2 3 0 | 6 |
| 12 | Paul Woods | 1 1 1 0 3 | 6 |
| 13 | Steve Lawson | 2 0 0 1 1 | 4 |
| 14 | Nigel Sparshott | 0 0 1 0 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Ian Barney | 0 1 0 0 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Rob Woffinden | 1 tex ef 1 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Wayne Broadhurst | r | 0 |
* f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t-touched tapes

## Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Wimborne Road on 26 July and was won by Mildenhall Fen Tigers.
Semi finals
* Peterborough (Hawkins & Barney) bt Stoke (Crabtree & Stead) 6-3
* Mildenhall (Jessup & Taylor) bt Eastbourne (Kennett & Dugard) 6-3
Final
* Mildenhall bt Peterborough 6-3

## Fours

Mildenhall won the fours championship final. The first semi final was held at Peterborough on 9 August but the remaining semi final and final were cancelled due to heavy rain. The re-run was not held until 16 October at Hackney.
Semi finals
* SF1 = Mildenhall 18, Arena Essex 16, Berwick 8, Poole 6
* SF2 = 1 Eastbourne, 2 Wimbledon, 3 Middlesbrough 4 Peterborough
Final
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 31 | Taylor 10, Monaghan 9, Jackson 6, Jessup 6 |
| 2 | Arena Essex Hammers | 30 | Silver 12, Goodwin 10, G Chessell 5 M Chessell 3 |
| 3 | Eastbourne Eagles | 27 | Buck 8, Kennett 8, Dean Standing 4, Pritchard 4 Dugard 3 |
| 4 | Wimbledon Dons | 7 | Tatum 5, Johns 1 Simpson 1, Jolly 0, Mussett 0 |

## Leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Andrew Silver | Arena Essex | 10.66 |
| Martin Dugard | Eastbourne | 10.40 |
| Melvyn Taylor | Mildenhall | 10.38 |
| Nigel Crabtree | Stoke | 10.20 |
| Martin Dixon | Middlesbrough | 10.01 |
| Les Collins | Edinburgh | 9.96 |
| Dave Jessup | Mildenhall | 9.92 |
| Steve Schofield | Poole | 9.54 |
| Kevin Jolly | Wimbledon | 9.48 |
| Gordon Kennett | Eastbourne | 9.40 |

## Riders & final averages

Arena Essex
* Andrew Silver 10.66
* Martin Goodwin 8.91
* Nigel Leaver 6.76
* Gary Chessell 6.18
* Ian Humphreys 4.55
* Steve Bishop 4.06
* Mark Chessell 2.98
* Lawrie Bloomfield 2.73
* Simon Wolstenholme 2.00
Berwick
* Charlie McKinna 8.08
* Steve McDermott 8.00
* Phil White 7.88
* Rob Woffinden 7.68
* Rob Grant Sr. 6.93
* Ian Stead 6.85
* Wayne Ross 6.45
* Sean Courtney 6.06
* Paul McHale 4.57
Boston (withdrew from league)
* Andy Hines 8.17
* Carl Baldwin 6.35
* Phil White 5.81
* Andy Fisher 4.96
* Wally Hill 3.60
* Jonathan Cooper 3.32
* Gary Clegg 3.29
* Jamie Young 3.27
* Chris Mulvihill 1.75
Canterbury
* Dave Mullett 8.62
* Mike Spink 7.51
* Rob Tilbury 7.15
* Paul Whittaker 6.93
* Paul Evitts 6.33
* Mark Lyndon 5.63
* Richard Pettman 3.95
* Carl Chalcraft 3.76
* Jimmy Goodsell 2.00
Eastbourne
* Martin Dugard 10.40
* Gordon Kennett 9.40
* Andy Buck 8.66
* Dean Standing 7.33
* Keith Pritchard 7.02
* Dean Barker 5.16
* Darren Standing 4.30
* Steve Chambers 4.00
Edinburgh
* Les Collins 9.96
* Doug Wyer 8.40
* Brett Saunders 7.77
* Dave Trownson 6.90
* Chris Cobby 6.15
* Scott Lamb 5.55
* Phil Jeffrey 4.73
* Jamie Young 2.87
* Ray Taaffe 2.82
* Colin Smith 1.00
* Shaun Bickley 0.71
Exeter
* Alan Rivett 7.59
* Colin Cook 7.44
* David Smart 7.43
* Kevin Price 6.81
* Michael Coles 5.09
* Andy Sell 4.66
* Dave Gibbs 4.46
* Tony Mattingley 3.77
Glasgow/Workington (withdrew from league)
* Steve Lawson 8.48
* Gordon Whitaker 7.16
* Martin McKinna 5.35
* Jacko Irving 4.63
* Derek Cooper 3.35
* Geoff Powell 3.10
* Jim Graham 2.59
Long Eaton
* Glenn Doyle 8.50
* Nigel Sparshott 7.72
* Keith White 7.33
* Gerald Short 7.02
* Glyn Taylor 6.14
* Miles Evans 6.00
* Richie Owen 4.78
* Ian Stead 4.00
* Rob Carter 3.52
* Kevin Price 3.31
* Mark Ferry 2.30
* Mark Hepworth 1.84
Middlesbrough
* Martin Dixon 10.01
* Mark Fiora 8.89
* Steve Wilcock 7.56
* Peter McNamara 5.40
* Ashley Norton 5.18
* Andy Buck 4.97
* Mark Burrows 4.38
* Geoff Pusey 4.06
Mildenhall
* Melvyn Taylor 10.38
* Dave Jessup 9.92
* Eric Monaghan 7.90
* Dave Jackson 6.42
* Richard Green 5.91
* Glen Baxter 5.28
* Lee Farthing 4.08
* Rob Parish 3.40
Milton Keynes
* Kevin Smart 8.51
* Trevor Banks 8.48
* Keith White 8.19
* Andy Hines 7.27
* Mark Carlson 6.96
* Troy Butler 6.83
* Peter Lloyd 6.46
* Ian Clark 5.09
Newcastle
* David Blackburn 8.90
* Tom Owen 7.31
* Dave Morton 7.22
* Mark Courtney 7.18
* Gary O'Hare 5.42
* Shane Bowes 4.69
* Bernie Collier 4.67
* Paul Cooper 1.69
Peterborough
* Ian Barney 9.16
* Kevin Hawkins 8.69
* Nigel Flatman 7.63
* Carl Baldwin 7.35
* Craig Hodgson 6.23
* Jamie Habbin 6.17
* Pete Chapman 6.09
* Rob Fortune 5.08
Poole
* Steve Schofield 9.54
* David Biles 9.16
* Martin Yeates 7.66
* Kevin Smith 7.33
* Wayne Barrett 4.08
* Peter Read 3.53
* Will James 3.39
* Nigel Newman 2.90
Rye House
* Paul Woods 8.11
* Barry Thomas 6.93
* Jamie Luckhurst 6.40
* Kevin Brice 5.10
* Linden Warner 4.99
* Kevin Teager 4.81
* Gary Rolls 4.44
* Rob Parish 4.15
* Steve Bryenton 4.00
* Julian Parr 3.51
Stoke
* Nigel Crabtree 10.20
* Darren Sumner 8.03
* Graham Jones 7.94
* Paul Stead 7.38
* Mike Wilding 6.34
* Derek Richardson 5.16
* Bobby Duncan 3.71
Wimbledon
* Kevin Jolly 9.48
* Roger Johns 9.02
* Neville Tatum 8.56
* Jeremy Luckhurst 6.06
* Alan Farmer 5.27
* Terry Mussett 5.00
* Nathan Simpson 4.36
* Mark Fordham 3.79
* Mark Lyndon 3.46