1988 National League season

1988 National League season
LeagueNational League
No. of competitors16
ChampionsHackney Kestrels
Knockout CupHackney Kestrels
IndividualTroy Butler
PairsStoke Potters
FoursPeterborough Panthers
Highest averageMark Loram
Division/s above1988 British League

In 1988 the National League, also known as British League Division Two, was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom.[1]

Summary

Glasgow Tigers returned to Glasgow for the first time in 15 years, when they moved into Shawfield Stadium in Rutherglen.[2] The Canterbury Crusaders had been disbanded following the end of their lease at Kingsmead Stadium.[3]

The league champions that year were Hackney Kestrels.[4][5]

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Hackney Kestrels 30 26 2 2 54
2 Poole Pirates 30 20 1 9 41
3 Eastbourne Eagles 30 17 2 11 36
4 Wimbledon Dons 30 17 2 11 36
5 Berwick Bandits 30 17 2 11 36
6 Milton Keynes Knights 30 17 2 11 36
7 Stoke Potters 30 16 0 14 32
8 Peterborough Panthers 30 15 1 14 31
9 Arena Essex Hammers 30 15 1 14 31
10 Glasgow Tigers 30 13 2 15 28
11 Edinburgh Monarchs 30 14 0 16 28
12 Exeter Falcons 30 12 0 18 24
13 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 30 10 1 19 21
14 Rye House Rockets 30 8 1 21 17
15 Middlesbrough Tigers 30 7 1 22 15
16 Long Eaton Invaders 30 7 0 23 14

National League Knockout Cup

The 1988 National League Knockout Cup was the 21st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Hackney Kestrels were the winners of the competition.

First round

Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg
Edinburgh Stoke 55–41 45–50
Berwick Glasgow 56–40 49–47
Hackney Poole 70–26 40–56
Peterborough Rye House 58–38 39–56
Arena Essex Mildenhall 54–42 39–57
Eastbourne Exeter 66–29 50–46
Milton Keynes Wimbledon 44–52 41–55
Long Eaton Middlesbrough 51–45 33–63

Quarter-finals

Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg replay replay
Edinburgh Peterborough 51–45 46–49
Berwick Eastbourne 56–40 45–51
Mildenhall Wimbledon 59–37 37–59 45–50 46–50
Hackney Middlesbrough 56–40 51–45

Semi-finals

Team one Team two 1st leg 2nd leg
Berwick Wimbledon 58–38 33–63
Edinburgh Hackney 45–51 25–71

Final

First leg

Hackney Kestrels60 – 36Wimbledon Dons
[6]

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons46 – 50Hackney Kestrels
[6]

Hackney were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 110–82.

Riders' Championship

Troy Butler won the Riders' Championship. The final sponsored by Jawa Moto & Barum was held on 10 September 1988 at Brandon Stadium.[7][8]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1 Australia Troy Butler 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 England Mark Loram 3 2 2 2 2 11+3
3 Scotland Kenny McKinna 3 1 2 2 3 11+2
4 England Melvyn Taylor 2 3 3 2 ef 10
5 England Graham Jones 1 3 0 3 3 10
6 England Kevin Jolly 0 2 3 3 1 9
7 England Steve Schofield 3 3 0 1 2 9
8 England Gordon Kennett 2 1 2 2 1 8
9 England Ian Barney 2 1 1 0 2 6
10 Australia Mark Fiora 1 0 3 0 3 7
11 Australia Steve Regeling 2 2 1 1 0 6
12 England Martin Goodwin 1 0 1 1 2 5
13 Denmark Jens Rasmussen 0 2 2 ef 1 5
14 England Jamie Luckhurst 0 0 1 3 r 4
15 England Keith White 1 0 0 1 1 3
16 England Mark Courtney 0 1 0 0 x 1
17 England Mike Bacon (res) ef 0
  • f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure t=touched tapes

Pairs

The National League Pairs was held at Wimborne Road was due to be held on 24 July but was postponed before being held on 23 August. The event was won by Stoke Potters.[9][10]

Semi finals

  • Stoke bt Eastbourne 5-4
  • Poole bt Peterborough 5-4

Final

  • Stoke bt Poole 7-2

Fours

Peterborough Panthers won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 7 August.[11]

Semi finals

  • SF1 = Poole 20, Peterborough 18, Stoke 9, Glasgow 1
  • SF2 = Mildenhall 15, Eastbourne 12, Middlesbrough 11, Hackney 10

Final

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Peterborough Panthers 14 Hodgson 5, Poole 4, Hawkins 4, Barney 1
2 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 13 Hines 4, Taylor 4, Monaghan 3, Baxter 1
3 Eastbourne Eagles 13 Buck 6, Standing 4, Barker 3, Kennett 0
4 Poole Pirates 8 Biles 4, Smart 2, Boyce 2, Schofield 0

Leading averages

Rider Team Average
Mark Loram Hackney 10.34
Steve Schofield Poole 10.22
Melvyn Taylor Mildenhall 10.11
Mark Courtney Berwick 10.07
Kenny McKinna Glasgow 10.05
Gordon Kennett Eastbourne 9.97
Andy Galvin Hackney 9.86
Martin Goodwin Arena Essex 9.68
Andy Buck Eastbourne 9.56
Mick Poole Peterborough 9.52
Mark Fiora Middlesbrough 9.45

Riders & final averages

Arena Essex

  • Martin Goodwin 9.68
  • David Smart 7.27
  • Rob Tilbury 6.75
  • Nigel Leaver 5.80
  • Chris Cobby 5.71
  • Ian Humphreys 4.76
  • Simon Wolstenholme 4.61

Berwick

Eastbourne

Edinburgh

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Long Eaton

  • Keith White 8.40
  • Glenn Doyle 7.83
  • Mike Spink 6.20
  • Gary O'Hare 5.44
  • Richie Owen 4.00
  • Darrell Branford 3.48
  • Dave Morton 3.29
  • Wayne Elliott 3.21
  • Jon Roberts 2.92
  • Steve Bishop 2.71

Middlesbrough

Mildenhall

Milton Keynes

Peterborough

Poole

Rye House

Stoke

Wimbledon

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "Shawfield welcomes the roar of the Tigers". Rutherglen Reformer. 15 January 1988. Retrieved 25 April 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Speedway is family sport". Kentish Gazette. 10 July 1987. Retrieved 27 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ Oakes, P.(2006). Speedway Star Almanac. ISBN 0-9552376-1-0
  5. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - BRITISH LEAGUE ERA (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b "1988 KO cup final" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Leading the way home". Cambridge Daily News. 12 September 1988. Retrieved 21 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Troy Butler". Speedway Museum. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  9. ^ "1988 fixtures" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Stokespeedway pair triumph". Staffordshire Sentinel. 24 August 1988. Retrieved 25 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Speedway". Cambridge Daily News. 8 August 1988. Retrieved 11 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.