1980 National League season

1980 National League season

League	National League
Season	1980
Champions	Rye House Rockets
No. of competitors	20
Knockout Cup	Berwick Bandits
Division/s above	1980 British League

The 1980 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.

Summary

The league was increased from 19 teams to 20 from the previous season. Exeter Falcons dropped down from the British League to join the 19 incumbent sides.

Rye House Rockets who had been pipped to the title in the previous season in the last meeting, won the title by just one point from Newcastle Diamonds to win their first National League title.

Final table

Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
Rye House Rockets	38	31	0	7	62
Newcastle Diamonds	38	30	1	7	61
Middlesbrough Tigers	38	27	2	9	56
Berwick Bandits	38	24	1	13	49
Edinburgh Monarchs	38	23	2	13	48
Boston Barracudas	38	23	2	13	48
Mildenhall Fen Tigers	38	21	2	15	44
Peterborough Panthers	38	21	0	17	42
Crayford Kestrels	37	20	1	16	41
Ellesmere Port Gunners	38	20	1	17	41
Glasgow Tigers	38	19	2	17	40
Exeter Falcons	38	17	1	20	35
Scunthorpe Stags	38	15	1	22	31
Nottingham Outlaws	38	14	2	22	30
Oxford Cheetahs	38	14	1	23	29
Stoke Potters	38	14	0	24	28
Weymouth Wildcats	37	13	1	23	27
Canterbury Crusaders	38	10	4	24	24
Milton Keynes Knights	38	8	2	28	18
Workington Comets	38	2	0	36	4

• Crayford v Weymouth fixture was never ridden.

Top Five Riders

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Dave Perks		Oxford Cheetahs	10.94
2	Paul Woods		Crayford Kestrels	10.53
3	Steve Wilcock		Middlesbrough Tigers	10.29
4	Mike Ferreira		Canterbury Crusaders	10.21
5	Steve Lawson		Glasgow Tigers	10.07

National League Knockout Cup

The 1980 National League Knockout Cup was the 13th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Berwick Bandits were the winners of the competition for the first time, having been runners-up three times in the previous four seasons.

First Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
03/05	Berwick	52-26	Newcastle
28/04	Newcastle	41-37	Berwick
25/05	Mildenhall	45-33	Rye House
26/05	Rye House	44-34	Mildenhall
04/05	Boston	54-24	Stoke
05/05	Stoke	27-51	Boston

Second Round

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
07/06	Berwick	46-32	Ellesmere Port
13/06	Ellesmere Port	42-36	Berwick
23/05	Edinburgh	42-34	Glasgow
25/05	Glasgow	40-37	Edinburgh
01/06	Mildenhall	46-32	Nottingham
18/06	Nottingham	37-41	Mildenhall
07/06	Canterbury	44-33	Milton Keynes
10/06	Milton Keynes	40-38	Canterbury
19/06	Middlesbrough	51-27	Scunthorpe
29/06	Scunthorpe	37-40	Middlesbrough
05/06	Oxford	40-37	Weymouth
27/06	Weymouth	40-38	Oxford
08/06	Boston	59-19	Workington
11/07	Workington	26-52	Boston
13/06	Peterborough	42-25	Crayford
22/07	Crayford	41-37	Peterborough

Quarter Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
20/07	Berwick	47-31	Edinburgh
18/07	Edinburgh	39-39	Berwick
23/07	Mildenhall	51-27	Canterbury
26/07	Canterbury	44-34	Mildenhall
24/07	Middlesbrough	45-33	Oxford
06/08	Oxford	32-46	Middlesbrough
31/08	Boston	50-27	Peterborough
12/09	Peterborough	39-39	Boston

Semi Finals

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
06/09	Berwick	52-26	Mildenhall
07/09	Mildenhall	41-37	Berwick
18/09	Middlesbrough	54-24	Boston
05/10	Boston	42-36	Middlesbrough

Final

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
26/10	Middlesbrough	42-36	Berwick
29/10	Berwick	43-34	Middlesbrough

See also

List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions