# 1983 National League season

The 1983 National League was the second tier of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom.

## Summary

The winning team was Newcastle Diamonds.
After the tragedy of losing a rider the previous season Milton Keynes endured a second loss when their rider Craig Featherby was killed in a crash at Peterborough in a National League match on 16 September. Featherby hit a lamp standard after being thrown from the bike.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Newcastle Diamonds | 34 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 51 |
| 2 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 34 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 48 |
| 3 | Crayford Kestrels | 34 | 23 | 0 | 11 | 46 |
| 4 | Weymouth Wildcats | 34 | 19 | 2 | 13 | 40 |
| 5 | Scunthorpe Stags | 34 | 19 | 2 | 13 | 40 |
| 6 | Milton Keynes Knights | 34 | 19 | 1 | 14 | 39 |
| 7 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 34 | 18 | 3 | 13 | 39 |
| 8 | Berwick Bandits | 34 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 34 |
| 9 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 34 | 16 | 1 | 17 | 33 |
| 10 | Exeter Falcons | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 32 |
| 11 | Rye House Rockets | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 31 |
| 12 | Peterborough Panthers | 34 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 30 |
| 13 | Glasgow Tigers | 34 | 14 | 1 | 19 | 29 |
| 14 | Oxford Cheetahs | 34 | 14 | 1 | 19 | 29 |
| 15 | Canterbury Crusaders | 34 | 12 | 2 | 20 | 26 |
| 16 | Boston Barracudas | 34 | 12 | 1 | 21 | 25 |
| 17 | Stoke Potters | 34 | 10 | 1 | 23 | 21 |
| 18 | Long Eaton Invaders | 34 | 9 | 1 | 24 | 19 |

## Top Five Riders (League Averages)

| | Rider | Team | C.M.A. |
| 1 | Joe Owen | Newcastle | 11.18 |
| 2 | Martin Yeates | Weymouth | 10.41 |
| 3 | Rod Hunter | Newcastle | 10.39 |
| 4 | Bobby Beaton | Newcastle | 10.12 |
| 5 | Jim McMillan | Glasgow | 10.03 |

## National League Knockout Cup

The 1983 National League Knockout Cup was the 16th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Exeter Falcons were the winners of the competition.
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 19/04 | Crayford | 45-50 | Mildenhall |
| 17/04 | Mildenhall | 55-41 | Crayford |
| 01/04 | Oxford | 51-45 | Milton Keynes |
| 29/03 | Milton Keynes | 47-49 | Oxford |
Second round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 22/06 | Long Eaton | 58-38 | Berwick |
| 09/06 | Oxford | 45-51 | Rye House |
| 05/06 | Berwick | 61-35 | Long Eaton |
| 27/05 | Peterborough | 57-39 | Mildenhall |
| 25/05 | Mildenhall | 58-38 | Peterborough |
| 23/05 | Newcastle | 61-35 | Scunthorpe |
| 22/05 | Rye House | 51-45 | Oxford |
| 22/05 | Scunthorpe | 43-53 | Newcastle |
| 20/05 | Edinburgh | 50-46 | Middlesbrough |
| 30/04 | Canterbury | 45-51 | Exeter |
| 24/04 | Boston | 45-51 | Weymouth |
| 22/04 | Glasgow | 62-34 | Stoke |
| 19/04 | Weymouth | 58-38 | Boston |
| 16/04 | Stoke | 55-41 | Glasgow |
| 14/04 | Middlesbrough | 55-41 | Edinburgh |
| 11/04 | Exeter | 70-26 | Canterbury |
Quarter-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 15/08 | Exeter | 64-32 | Rye House |
| 14/08 | Rye House | 55-41 | Exeter |
| 23/07 | Berwick | 45-50 | Newcastle |
| 19/07 | Weymouth | 65-31 | Glasgow |
| 03/07 | Mildenhall | 67-25 | Middlesbrough |
| 27/06 | Newcastle | 53-42 | Berwick |
| 11/06 | Glasgow | 41-54 | Weymouth |
| 09/06 | Middlesbrough | 47-49 | Mildenhall |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
| 02/10 | Mildenhall | 66-30 | Exeter |
| 12/09 | Exeter | 74-21 | Mildenhall |
| 12/09 | Newcastle | 54-42 | Weymouth |
| 02/08 | Weymouth | 55-41 | Newcastle |

### Final

First leg
Second leg
Exeter were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 96–95.

## Riders' Championship

Steve McDermott won the Riders' Championship, sponsored by the FSO Cars and held at Wimbledon Stadium on 24 September 1983.
| Pos. | Rider | Pts | Total |
| 1 | Steve McDermott | 3 2 3 3 2 | 13+3 |
| 2 | Richard Knight | 2 3 3 2 3 | 13+2 |
| 3 | Martin Yeates | 3 2 1 3 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Marvyn Cox | 3 3 2 3 0 | 11 |
| 5 | Steve Wilcock | f 3 1 3 3 | 10 |
| 6 | Dave Perks | 2 0 2 2 2 | 8 |
| 7 | Dave Trownson | 0 1 3 1 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Keith Millard | 3 2 0 2 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Nigel Crabtree | 0 3 2 1 1 | 7 |
| 10 | Joe Owen | 2 ef 3 2 fexc | 7 |
| 11 | Barney Kennett | 1 1 2 1 1 | 6 |
| 12 | Jim McMillan | 2 2 0 1 0 | 5 |
| 13 | Barry Thomas | 1 1 1 0 1 | 4 |
| 14 | Tom Owen | 0 1 1 0 2 | 4 |
| 15 | Keith White | 0 0 0 0 3 | 3 |
| 16 | Nigel Sparshott | 1 0 0 0 0 | 1 |
* f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

## Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Hyde Road on 4 June and was won by Weymouth Wildcats for the second consecutive season.
Group A :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Newcastle | 15 | Owen J 8 Hunter 7 |
| 2 | Stoke | 8 | Jackson 5 Owen T 3 |
| 3 | Berwick | 7 | McDermott 6 Cribb 1 |
| 4 | Scunthorpe | 6 | Crabtree 6 Hollingworth 0 |
Group B :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Glasgow | 14 | McMillan 9 Lawson 5 |
| 2 | Peterborough | 10 | Allen 6 Pullen 4 |
| 3 | Middlesbrough | 9 | Wilcock 5 Spink 4 |
| 4 | Canterbury | 3 | Mullarkey 3 Kennett 0 |
Group C :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Weymouth | 14 | Yeates 7 Cross 7 |
| 2 | Crayford | 9 | Bosley 5 Thomas 4 |
| 3 | Rye House | 6 | Cox 4 Garrad 2 |
| 4 | Edinburgh | 5 | Fiora 5 Hunter 0 |
Group D :
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Mildenhall | 11 | Harrison 6 Knight 5 |
| 2 | Boston | 9 | Lomas 6 Gagen 3 |
| 3 | Milton K | 9 | McKinna 9 White 0 |
| 4 | Long Eaton | 6 | Stead 6 Molyneux 0 |
Semi finals
* Weymouth bt Newcastle
* Glasgow bt Mildenhall
Final
* Weymouth bt Glasgow

## Fours

Newcastle Diamonds won the fours championship final for the second successive year, held at the East of England Arena on 24 July.
Semi finals
* SF1 = Newcastle 15, Milton Keynes 13, Middlesbrough 13, Crayford 7
* SF2 = Mildenhall 21, Long Eaton 11, Edinburgh 8, Weymouth 7
Final
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Newcastle Diamonds | 21 | Emerson 6, Hunter 5, Owen 5, Scarisbrick 3, Beaton 2 |
| 2 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 17 | Knight 5, Harrison 5, Baldwin 4, Henry 3 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Knights | 6 | Pendlebury 2, White 1, Clarke 1, McKinna 1, Mallett 1 |
| 4 | Long Eaton Invaders | 4 | Perks 2, Molyneux 1, Stead 1, Frankland 0, Evitts 0 |

## Final leading averages

| Rider | Team | Average |
| Joe Owen | Newcastle | 11.10 |
| Rod Hunter | Newcastle | 10.51 |
| Martin Yeates | Weymouth | 10.39 |
| Bobby Beaton | Newcastle | 10.20 |
| Steve Lawson | Glasgow | 10.00 |
| Jim McMillan | Glasgow | 9.85 |
| Marvyn Cox | Rye House | 9.83 |
| Barry Thomas | Crayford | 9.69 |
| Steve Wilcock | Middlesbrough | 9.48 |
| Steve McDermott | Berwick | 9.43 |
| Bob Garrad | Rye House | 9.28 |

## Riders & final averages

Berwick
* Steve McDermott 9.43
* Bruce Cribb 8.30
* Brian Collins 6.33
* Paul Thorp 6.20
* Rob Grant Sr. 5.87
* Mike Caroline 5.58
* Phil Jeffrey 4.36
* Robin Hampton 3.43
Boston
* Steve Lomas 7.93
* David Gagen 7.75
* Billy Burton 6.40
* Phil Alderman 5.67
* David Blackburn 5.21
* Dennis Mallett 4.94
* Peter Framingham 4.37
* Pete Chapman 4.31
* Guy Wilson 3.92
* Michael Holding 2.83
Canterbury
* Denzil Kent 8.20
* Barney Kennett 7.56
* Kelvin Mullarkey 7.43
* Andy Hibbs 6.70
* Jamie Luckhurst 6.27
* Dave Mullett 5.66
* Laurie Etheridge 5.54
* Kevin Brice 5.47
* Keith Pritchard 4.91
Crayford
* Barry Thomas 9.69
* Paul Bosley 7.88
* Kevin Teager 7.56
* Andy Galvin 6.72
* Alan Sage 6.63
* Alan Mogridge 6.59
* Trevor Banks 6.46
Edinburgh
* Dave Trownson 8.74
* Mark Fiora 7.77
* Brett Saunders 7.44
* George Hunter 6.96
* Chris Turner 6.90
* Roger Lambert 6.10
* Glyn Taylor 6.07
* Sean Courtney 4.68
* Chris Kelly 2.83
* Scott Cook 2.35
Exeter
* Keith Millard 8.73
* Rob Maxfield 7.88
* Rob Ashton 7.35
* Alun Rossiter 7.12
* Steve Bishop 7.03
* Kevin Price 6.28
* Bob Coles 5.74
Glasgow
* Steve Lawson 10.00
* Jimmy McMillan 9.85
* Kenny McKinna 9.00
* Andy Reid 8.23
* Colin Caffrey 5.64
* David Cassels 4.95
* Jim Beaton 4.00
* Martin McKinna 3.74
* Geoff Powell 3.57
* Miles Evans 3.40
* David Walsh 2.88
Long Eaton
* Dave Perks 8.14
* Alan Molyneux 8.09
* Paul Stead 7.86
* Paul Evitts 5.64
* John Frankland 5.21
* Mark Stevenson 4.63
* Nicky Allot 3.50
* David Tyler 2.58
* John Proctor 1.18
Middlesbrough
* Steve Wilcock 9.48
* Mike Spink 8.66
* Geoff Pusey 6.72
* Brian Havelock 6.16
* Rob Woffinden 5.92
* Paul Price 5.48
* Ashley Norton 4.77
* Peter Nightingale 2.98
* Mark Crang 2.88
Mildenhall
* Derek Harrison 9.22
* Richard Knight 8.98
* Carl Baldwin 8.23
* Robert Henry 7.00
* Carl Blackbird 6.42
* Dave Jackson 4.78
* Andy Warne 4.11
* Ian Farnham 2.34
* Rob Parish 1.80
Milton Keynes
* Craig Featherby 8.66
* Keith White 8.56
* Steve Payne 8.51
* Charlie McKinna 7.84
* Chris Pidcock 6.09
* Paul Clarke 5.57
* Dennis Mallett 5.02
* Peter Framingham 5.00
* Steve Mildoon 2.78
* Rob Wall 2.37
Newcastle
* Joe Owen 11.10
* Rod Hunter 10.51
* Bobby Beaton 10.20
* Alan Emerson 7.20
* Martin Scarisbrick 5.74
* Bernie Collier 3.60
* Dave Wild 3.05
* Lawrie Bloomfield 2.52
* Paul McHale 2.47
* Neal Barnsley 1.80
* Greg DeKok 1.63
Oxford
* Nigel Sparshott 8.06
* Graham Drury 7.79
* Ian Clark 7.28
* Mike Wilding 7.13
* Kevin Smart 6.35
* Wayne Jackson 5.40
* Nigel De'ath 5.36
* Steve Crockett 4.71
* Mark Summerfield 4.17
* Mark Chessell 1.65
Peterborough
* Ashley Pullen 8.74
* Dave Allen 8.09
* Mick Hines 7.22
* Ian Barney 6.53
* Andy Buck 6.44
* Mike Spinks 5.37
* Neil Cotton 4.89
* Dale Watson 2.36
Rye House
* Marvyn Cox 9.83
* Bobby Garrad 9.28
* Steve Naylor 8.00
* Peter Johns 7.03
* Kerry Gray 5.73
* Steve Bryenton 5.70
* Andrew Silver 4.69
* Kevin Bowen 4.60
* Chris Chaplin 2.89
* Terry Broadbank 2.87
* John Barclay 1.27
Scunthorpe
* Nigel Crabtree 9.10
* Andy Fisher 7.59
* Rob Hollingworth 7.15
* Craig Pendlebury 6.91
* Julian Parr 6.56
* Derek Richardson 6.28
* Ian Gibson 5.68
* Kevin Armitage 5.29
* Mark DeKok 4.00
Stoke
* Tom Owen 8.98
* Pete Smith 7.35
* John Jackson 6.66
* Ian Robertson 5.16
* Gary O'Hare 4.91
* Jim Burdfield 4.80
* Steve Sant 3.95
* Gary Johnson 3.00
* Richie Owen 2.60
Weymouth
* Martin Yeates 10.39
* Steve Schofield 8.97
* Simon Cross 8.35
* Stan Bear 7.18
* Rob Mather 5.83
* Gordon Humphreys 4.40
* Chris Martin 4.11
* David Biles 2.87
* Ian Humphreys 2.17