2015 National League speedway season

The 2015 National League was the seventh season of the National League, the third tier of British speedway. The Cradley Heathens were the defending champions after winning the competition in 2014.

2015 National League speedway season
LeagueNational League
ChampionsBirmingham Brummies
Knockout CupEastbourne Eagles
National TrophyEastbourne Eagles
IndividualBen Morley
PairsKent Kings
FoursBirmingham Brummies
Highest averageAdam Ellis
Division/s above2015 Elite League
2015 Premier League

Cradley finished the 2015 season in third place, as the Birmingham Brummies won the championship title. With 14 wins from 18 matches, the Brummies won the title after a 47–42 victory at the Mildenhall Fen Tigers in September,[1] and ultimately finished 6 points clear of the Eastbourne Eagles.

Teams

The 2015 season featured 10 teams, one more than in 2014. The Scunthorpe Stags and Devon Demons did not compete in 2015, whilst the Birmingham Brummies, Eastbourne Eagles and Rye House Raiders all joined the league. National League co-ordinator Peter Morrish expressed his excitement ahead of the new season, with the addition of the Brummies and Eagles especially – two teams with extensive Elite League experience – it was expected to be one of the most exciting National League seasons in years.[2]

Final league table
Pos. Club M Home Away F A +/− Pts
W D L 4W 3W D 1L L
1 Birmingham Brummies (C) 18 8 0 1 4 2 0 2 1 867 758 +109 48
2 Eastbourne Eagles 18 9 0 0 2 1 1 2 3 908 726 +182 42
3 Cradley Heathens 18 8 0 1 1 2 0 3 3 839 745 +94 37
4 Coventry Storm 18 8 0 1 1 2 0 2 4 816 774 +42 36
5 Rye House Raiders 18 6 1 2 1 2 0 1 5 797 766 +31 30
6 King's Lynn Young Stars 18 7 0 2 0 1 0 0 8 797 847 −50 24
7 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 18 7 0 2 0 0 0 1 8 730 879 −149 22
8 Buxton Hitmen 18 5 0 4 0 1 0 2 6 774 862 −88 20
9 Stoke Potters 18 4 1 4 0 2 0 0 7 765 838 −73 19
10 Kent Kings 18 4 0 5 0 0 1 4 4 766 864 −98 18

Final Leading averages

[3]

Rider Team Average
Adam EllisBirmingham10.14
Rob BranfordRye House10.14
Bradley Wilson-DeanEastbourne9.83

National League Knockout Cup

The 2015 National League Knockout Cup was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners.[4] [5]

First round
Date Team one Score Team two
12/04Mildenhall38-52King's Lynn
15/04King's Lynn54-35Mildenhall
06/04Rye House42-45Stoke
19/04Stoke44-45Rye House

Quarter-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
19/07Buxton51-39Kings Lynn
21/08Kings Lynn53-37Buxton
16/05Stoke35-43Cradley
27/05Cradley57-33Stoke
20/05Birmingham47-42Eastbourne
21/06Eastbourne50-39Birmingham
11/05Kent52-38Coventry
15/05Coventry45-45Kent

Semi-finals
Date Team one Score Team two
29/06Kent28-42Eastbourne
01.08Eastbourne50-40Kent
07/10King's Lynn39-51Cradley
14/10Cradley57-33King's Lynn

Final
Date Team one Score Team two
21/10Cradley30-30Eastbourne
24/10Eastbourne47-43Cradley

Riders' Championship

Ben Morley won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 26 September at Rye House Stadium.[6]

Pos.RiderTeamTotal
1Ben MorleyKent15
2Danny AyresKent12
3Robert BranfordRye House12
4Kyle HughesRye House11
5Adam EllisBirmingham11
6Liam CarrBuxton10
7Ryan BlacklockBuxton10
8Tom StokesKing's Lynn8
9Danny HalseyMildenhall7
10Zach WajtknechtBirmingham7
11Marc OwenEastbourne6
12Rob ShuttleworthCoventry5
13Jon ArmstrongStoke3
14Connor MountainMildenhall) 2
15Lee PayneStoke1
16Ryan KinsleyKing's Lynn0

Pairs

The National League Pairs Championship, was held at King's Lynn Stadium, on 5 September 2015. The event was won by Ben Morley and Danny Ayres of the Kent Kings.[7]

Semi finals

  • Kent bt King's Lynn 7–2
  • Cradley bt Rye House 7–2

Final

  • Kent bt Cradley 7–2

Fours

Birmingham won the National League Fours, held on 14 June 2015 at Brandon Stadium.[8]

Final
Pos Team Pts Riders
1Birmingham15Ellis 5, Perry 4, Wajtknecht 4, Chapman 2
2Coventry15Greenwood 6, Ritchings 4, Crang 3, Shuttleworth 2
3Kent13Morley 6, Ayres 3, Baseby 2, Shanes 2
4Rye House4Hughes 2, Chessell 1, Priest 1, Woods 0
  • Ellis beat Greenwood in run-off

Riders & averages

Unless otherwise stated, all listed riders were declared at the start of the 2015 National League season.[9]

Birmingham Brummies

Buxton Hitmen

Coventry Storm

Cradley Heathens

Eastbourne Eagles

Kent Kings

King's Lynn Young Stars

Mildenhall Fen Tigers

Rye House Raiders

Stoke Potters

Development Leagues

Midland Development League
Pos team P W D L Pts
1King's Lynn18132328
2Belle Vue18131427
3Buxton18111623
4Peterborough16100620
5Long Eaton1791719
6Coventry1661913
7Scunthorpe18601212
8Milton Keynes17511111
9Wolverhampton17511111
10Stoke1630136

Northern Junior League
Pos team P W D L Pts
1Northside1081117
2Berwick1080216
3Workington1051411
4Redcar104068
5Castleford103076
6Newcastle101092

See also

Notes
  1. Josh Bates replaced Perry for the eleventh declaration of the season.[10] This change was reverted for the thirteenth declaration of the season.[11] Bates replaced Perry once again, for the fourteenth declaration of the season,[12] but the change was reverted for the fifteenth declaration of the season.[13]
  2. Liam Carr replaced Ben Hopwood for the fourth declaration of the season.[14]
  3. Steve Jones replaced Adam Extance for the thirteenth declaration of the season.[11]
  4. David Speight replaced Paul Bowen for the thirteenth declaration of the season.[11]
  5. David Holt replaced Cameron Hoskins for the fourth declaration of the season.[14]
  6. Ryan Macdonald replaced David Holt for the twenty-first declaration of the season.[15]
  7. Ben Basford replaced Sam Darroch for the fourth declaration of the season.[14]
  8. Buxton Hitmen competed with seven riders for the majority of the season. However, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn was signed for the twenty-first declaration.[15]
  9. Mark Baseby replaced Luke Crang for the seventeenth declaration of the season.[16]
  10. Ben Hopwood replaced David Mason for Declaration 9a of the season.[18]
  11. Matthew Bates replaced Danny Warwick for the second declaration of the season.[17]
  12. Daniel Spiller replaced Matthew Bates for the nineteenth declaration of the season.[19]
  13. Gary Cottham replaced Kelsey Dugard for the twelfth declaration of the season.[20] This change was reverted for the sixteenth declaration of the season.[21]
  14. Kent Kings competed with seven riders for the majority of the season. However, Ben Basford was signed for the eighteenth declaration.[22]
  15. Jake Knight replaced James Cockle for the twelfth declaration of the season.[20]
  16. Stefan Farnaby replaced Liam Rumsey for the fifth declaration of the season.[23]
  17. Nick Laurence replaced Stefan Farnaby for the fourteenth declaration of the season.[12]
  18. For the twentieth declaration, Danyon Hume was no longer listed as a rider for the Rye House Raiders. No replacement was announced.[26] Hume returned to the team for the twenty-second declaration.[27]
  19. Paul Burnett replaced Cameron Hoskins for the fourth declaration of the season.[14]

References
  1. Pearson, Nigel (7 September 2015). "Mildenhall 42 Birmingham 47: Brilliant Brummies in title triumph". Birmingham Mail. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. "BRITISH SPEEDWAY NL STATEMENT - British Speedway Official Website".
  3. "2015 Averages" (PDF). Speedway GB.
  4. "National League Knockout Cup Winners". Speedway Archive.
  5. "Ocitber 2015 results". Speedway Great Britain.
  6. "2015 National League Riders' Championship" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  7. "National League Pairs" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  8. "2015 National League Fours" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  9. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 1" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  10. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 11" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  11. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 13" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  12. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 14" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  13. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 15" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  14. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 4" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  15. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 21" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  16. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 17" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  17. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 3" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  18. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 9a" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  19. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 19" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  20. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 12" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  21. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 16" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  22. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 18" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  23. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 5" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  24. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 2" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  25. Brendan Johnson replaced Luke Priest for the second declaration of the season.[24] This change was reverted for the fifth declaration of the season.
  26. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 20" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  27. "2015 National League Team Declarations Issue 22" (PDF). National League. Speedway GB. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
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