2012_National_League_speedway_season
2012 National League speedway season
British motorcycle speedway season
The 2012 season of the National League was the third tier/division of British speedway and was contested by eight teams.[1]
| League | National League |
|---|---|
| Champions | Mildenhall Fen Tigers |
| Knockout Cup | Mildenhall Fen Tigers |
| Individual | Ashley Birks |
| Pairs | Mildenhall Fen Tigers |
| Fours | Mildenhall Fen Tigers |
| Division/s above | 2012 Elite League 2012 Premier League |
Newport and Belle Vue did not return from 2011, and Hackney opted to run at Rye House only, renaming the team Rye House Raiders.
Mildenhall Fen Tigers beat Dudley Heathens in the play-off final to become champions.[2]
| Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Dudley Heathens | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 42 |
| 2 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 38 |
| 3 | Isle of Wight Islanders | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| 4 | Stoke Potters | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 20 |
| 5 | Rye House Raiders | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 20 |
| 6 | Scunthorpe Saints | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| 7 | Buxton Hitmen | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| 8 | King's Lynn Young Stars | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 9 |
[3] PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
SCORING SYSTEM Home loss by any number of points = 0 Home draw = 1 Home win by between 1 and 6 points = 2 Home win by 7 points or more = 3 Away loss by 7 points or more = 0 Away loss by 6 points or less = 1 Away draw = 2 Away win by between 1 and 6 points = 3 Away win by 7 points or more = 4
Top four teams race off in two-legged semi-finals and final to decide championship. Mildenhall Fen Tigers defeated Dudley Heathens in the final.[4]
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/09 | Mildenhall | 58-36 | Isle of Wight |
| 16/10 | Isle of Wight | 45-44 | Mildenhall |
| 09/10 | Dudley | 44-43 | Stoke |
| 10/10 | Stoke | 41-54 | Dudley |
Final
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23/10 | Dudley | 51-37 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers |
| 24/10 | Mildenhall Fen Tigers | 54-39 | Dudley |
| Rider | Team | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Adam Roynton | Dudley | 11.64 |
| Tom Perry | Dudley | 9.88 |
| Ashley Birks | Stoke | 9.66 |
The 2012 National League Knockout Cup was the 15th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Mildenhall Fen Tigers were the winners for the second successive year.[6][7]
First round
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/05 | Stoke | 49-40 | Scunthorpe Saints |
| 08/05 | Dudley | 65-28 | Buxton |
| 07/05 | Scunthorpe Saints | 47-42 | Stoke |
| 06/05 | Buxton | 36-54 | Dudley |
| 02/05 | King's Lynn | 39-51 | Mildenhall |
| 01/05 | Isle Of Wight | 58-31 | Rye House Raiders |
| 15/04 | Mildenhall | 55-40 | King's Lynn |
| 06/04 | Rye House Raiders | 49-46 | Isle Of Wight |
Semi-finals
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15/09 | Stoke | 44-50 | Mildenhall |
| 27/08 | Mildenhall | 55-39 | Stoke |
| 09/08 | Isle of Wight | 15-21 | Dudley |
| 12/06 | Dudley | 60-32 | Isle Of Wight |
Final
| Date | Team one | Score | Team two |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07/10 | Mildenhall | 61-33 | Dudley |
| 23/10 | Dudley | 41-32+ | Mildenhall |
+abandoned heat 12 due to curfew result stands
Ashley Birks won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 29 September at Rye House Stadium.[8]
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashley Birks | Stoke | 14+3 |
| 2 | Jason Garrity | Rye House | 14+2 |
| 3 | Gary Irving | Scunthorpe | 13 |
| 4 | Tom Perry | Dudley | 11 |
| 5 | Charles Wright | Buxton | 8 |
| 6 | Lewis Kerr | Kings Lynn | 8 |
| 7 | Lewis Blackbird | Mildenhall | 8 |
| 8 | Stefan Nielsen | Mildenhall | 7 |
| 9 | James Sarjeant | Rye House | 6 |
| 10 | Ben Morley | Rye House | 5 |
| 11 | Ashley Morris | Dudley | 5 |
| 12 | Ben Reade | Stoke | 5 |
| 13 | Danny Warwick | Isle of Wight | 4 |
| 14 | Ben Hopwood | Isle of Wight | 4 |
| 15 | Adam Mckinna | Buxton | 4 |
| 16 | Joe Jacobs | Mildenhall | 3 |
The National League Pairs Championship, was held at Mildenhall Stadium, on 22 July 2012. The event was won by Cameron Heeps and Lewis Blackbird of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers.[9]
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| Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Mildenhall | 20 | Heeps 11, Blackbird 6 |
| 2 | Buxton | 14 | Branford 8, Wright 6 |
| 3 | Dudley | 12 | Perry 10, Bekker 2 |
| 4 | Scunthorpe | 11 | Irving 8, Young 3 |
Mildenhall won the National League Fours, held on 26 August 2012 at Loomer Road Stadium.[10]
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| Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | Pts | Riders |
| 1 | Mildenhall | 17 | Nielsen 6, Jacobs 6, Halsey 3, Blackbird 2 |
| 2 | Buxton | 13 | Wright 4, Priest 4, Felton 3, McKinna 2 |
| 3 | Dudley | 10 | Morris 5, Roynon 2, Ritchings 2, Bekker 1 |
| 4 | Stoke | 7 | Birks 3, Cockle 2, Atkin 1, Carr 1 |
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Midland Development League
| Pos | team | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milton Keynes Knights | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Colts | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | Coventry-Mercia Vikings | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Long Eaton | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| 5 | Stoke | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| 6 | Scunthorpe | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | Sheffield | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 |
Milton Keynes won grand final 21–15[11]
Anglian Development League
| Pos | team | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | King's Lynn | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 2 | Lakeside | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| 3 | Mildenhall | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 | Rye House | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| 5 | Peterborough | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| 6 | Ipswich | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
Northern Development League
| Pos | team | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edinburgh | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Redcar | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | Berwick | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Workington | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
- "Major League Competitions". Speedway Archive.
- "Mildenhall Fen Tigers celebrate win". ITV.com.
- "2012 Play Offs". Speedway Archive.
- "2012 Averages" (PDF). Speedway GB.
- "National League Knockout Cup Winners". Speedway Archive.
- "2012 National League Knockout Cup". Speedway Archive.
- "BIRKS WINS NLRC". Rye House Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- Butt, Randall (28 July 2012). "On-Song Tigers". Speedway Star page 26-27.
- "2012 Cradley results". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- "MK KNIGHTS ARE 2012 MDL CHAMPIONS". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 1 September 2021.