1978 National League season

The 1978 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.[1]

1978 National League season

League	National League
Season	1978
Champions	Canterbury Crusaders
No. of competitors	20
Knockout Cup	Eastbourne Eagles
Division/s above	1978 British League

Summary

Newport Dragons dropped out of the league after just one season of second tier racing, however two new entrants - Milton Keynes Knights and Barrow Furness Flyers - saw the league expanded to twenty teams. Weymouth changed their nickname from Wizards to Wildcats.

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.[2]

Final table

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

Top Five Riders

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Tom Owen		Newcastle Diamonds	10.86
2	Bob Humphreys		Milton Keynes Knights	10.59
3	John Jackson		Ellesmere Port Gunners	10.32
4	Les Rumsey		Canterbury Crusaders	10.17
5	Steve Koppe		Canterbury Crusaders	9.95

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.[3]

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

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
22/10	Eastbourne	46-32	Rye House
29/10	Rye House	41-37	Eastbourne

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions

References

1. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speedwayyears/1978.html
2. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
3. "1978 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.