2023 National Development League speedway season

2023 National Development League speedway season
LeagueNational Development League
ChampionsOxford Chargers
Knockout CupMildenhall Fen Tigers
Riders' ChampionshipConnor Bailey
Highest averageDan Thompson
Division/s aboveSGB Premiership
SGB Championship

The 2023 National Development League was the third division/tier of British speedway for the 2023 season.[1] It was a semi-professional development league, containing mainly the junior sides of SGB Premiership and SGB Championship clubs. Leicester Lion Cubs were the defending champions having won the title in 2022.[2] Oxford Chargers won the title, defeating Leicester in a one-off Grand Final.[3]

Summary

Eight clubs competed for the National Development League Championship[4] after the addition of the Workington Comets to the league,[5] who raced on the new Northside track.[6] Armadale Devils were renamed Edinburgh Monarchs Academy,[7] while the Plymouth Centurions did not return.

The league points system changed in-line with the SGB Premiership and SGB Championship, with teams scoring two points for a win (home or away), with a bonus point scored for an aggregate win. A 'Super Heat' was also introduced in the event of a tied meeting, with the winners scoring two league points and the losers gaining one point.[8] The top two in the league qualified for the Grand Final. The rider points limit for team construction was 42 points.

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Locations of the 2023 National Development League teams

Defending champions Leicester Lion Cubs topped the table, however they lost a one-off Grand Final to the Oxford Chargers. The final was initially supposed to be a two-legged affair, however Leicester were unable to stage their home fixture due to bad weather and the BSPA ruled the title would be decided on the outcome of the Oxford leg. Oxford won the final 34-32, with the meeting ending after just 11 heats due to rain. It was the first major trophy Oxford had won since the Cheetahs claimed the Craven Shield in 2005.

Mildenhall Fen Tigers were controversially awarded the NDL KO Cup after Leicester were also unable to host the home leg of the final. Leicester had won the away leg, but the BSPA ruled a 75-0 walkover for Mildenhall in the second leg.

Workington's Connor Bailey won the Riders' Championship, while Leicester's Dan Thompson topped the averages for the second year running.

League

[9]

League table

Pos. Club M Home Away F A B Pts +/−
W SHL L W SHL L
1 Leicester Lion Cubs (Q) 14 7 0 0 5 0 2 708 543 7 31 +165
2 Oxford Chargers (Q) 14 7 0 0 4 0 3 710 542 5 27 +168
3 Belle Vue Colts 14 6 0 1 2 0 5 675 583 6 22 +92
4 Mildenhall Fen Tigers 14 6 0 1 2 0 5 592 632 3 19 -40
5 Monarchs Academy 14 5 0 2 1 0 6 614 641 4 16 -27
6 Workington Comets 14 4 0 3 1 0 6 575 648 2 12 -73
7 Kent Royals 14 5 0 2 0 0 7 545 684 1 11 -139
8 Berwick Bullets 14 1 0 6 0 0 7 540 686 0 2 -146

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away BEL BER EDI KEN LEI MIL OXF WOR
Belle Vue 61–29 54–36 67–23 41–49 52–38 56–33 49–41
Berwick 44–46 38–51 43–23 30–59 43–46 44–46 38–48
Edinburgh 50–40 46–44 52–37 43–47 54–36 32–57 59–31
Kent 54–36 54–34 48–41 38–50 47–43 39–51 50–40
Leicester 51–39 47–42 53–37 56–34 61–28 50–38 61–29
Mildenhall 47–43 49–41 48–41 53–37 44–46 45–43 30–29
Oxford 49–40 60–30 55–35 64–26 50–39 54–36 59–31
Workington 39–51 50–40 53–37 54–35 50–39 41–49 39–51
Source: [10]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Grand Final

31 October [11] Oxford Chargers
Ryan Kinsley 8
Henry Atkins 7
Jordan Jenkins 6
Jody Scott 5
Luke Killeen 3
Jacob Clouting 3
Jason Garrad 2 		34–32 Leicester Lion Cubs
Dan Thompson 8
Joe Thompson 8
Tom Spencer 5
Ashton Boughen 4
Vinnie Foord 4
Max James 3
Max Perry 0 		Oxford Stadium
Referee(s):
Simon Humphrey-Kennett

Knockout Cup

The 2023 National Development League Knockout Cup was the 24th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. It was limited to teams that were not also running promotions in the SGB Championship. It ended in controversial circumstances as Leicester were unable to stage their home leg of the final, and the competition was therefore awarded to Mildenhall.[12]

Semi-finals Grand Final
        
Kent Royals 44 29 73
Mildenhall Fen Tigers 46 60 106
Mildenhall Fen Tigers 38 75 113
Leicester Lion Cubs 49 0 49
Workington Comets 37 23 60
Leicester Lion Cubs 53 49 102

Home team scores are in bold
Overall aggregate scores are in red

Final

First leg

8 October [13] Mildenhall Fen Tigers
George Congreve 11
Ben Trigger 10
Kai Ward (guest) 9
William Richardson 3
Arran Butcher 3
Alfie Bowtell 2
Jody Scott (guest) 0 		38–49 Leicester Lion Cubs
Ashton Boughen 15
Jacob Hook (guest) 13
Max Perry 12
Tom Spencer 5
Max James 4
Jack Smith (guest) 0
Vinnie Foord 0 		Mildenhall Stadium
Referee(s):
Wayne Jarvis

Second leg

30 October [14] Leicester Lion Cubs 0–75
(awarded) 		Mildenhall Fen Tigers Beaumont Park

Riders' Championship

The 2023 National League Riders' Championship took place on Sunday 15 October, at Northside Speedway, Workington and was won by Connor Bailey.[15]

Pos. Rider Pts Total
1 Connor Bailey (Workington) 3,3,3,3,3 15
2 Max Clegg (Edinburgh) 2,2,2,3,3 12+3
3 Jacob Hook (Edinburgh) 1,3,3,2,3 12+2
4 Ashton Boughen (Leicester) 2,3,3,0,3 11
5 Ben Morley (Kent) 2,1,2,3,2 10
6 Sam McGurk (Workington) 1,2,3,2,1 9
7 Freddy Hodder (Belle Vue) 3,2,2,1,1 9
8 Ben Trigger (Mildenhall) 0,3,0,3,2 8
9 Max Perry (Leicester) 3,0,1,2,0 6
10 Danny Phillips (Berwick) X,1,2,2,1 6
11 Lee Complin (Mildenhall) 3,2,X,-,- 5
12 Tom Woolley (Kent) 2,0,1,0,2 5
13 Jamie Halder (Berwick) 0,0,1,1,2 4
14 Luke Muff (Belle Vue) 1,1,1,1,- 4
15 Jacob Clouting (Oxford) 1,1,0,1,1 4
16 Jody Scott (Oxford) 0,0,0,0,R 0
17 Callum Foy - res (Workington) -,-,-,0,0 0
18 Ben Rathbone - res (Berwick) -,-,-,-,0 0
  • F=fell, R=retired, X=excluded TM=two minute warning excluded

Leading averages

Rider Team Average
1 Dan Thompson Leicester 10.64
2 Jordan Jenkins Oxford 10.43
3 Henry Atkins Oxford 10.17
4 Connor Bailey Workington 10.03
5 Joe Thompson Leicester 9.82
6 Alfie Bowtell Mildenhall 9.80
7 Max Clegg Edinburgh 9.57
8 James Pearson Belle Vue 9.24
9 Jack Smith Belle Vue 9.15
10 Adam Roynon Edinburgh 9.02
  • averages include league, play offs & knockout cup, min 6 matches

Squads & final averages

Belle Vue Colts

Berwick Bullets

  • England Connor Coles 7.86
  • England Steve Boxall[16] 7.73
  • England Danny Phillips 7.21
  • Scotland Greg Blair (C)[17] 6.75
  • England Jamie Halder 5.97
  • England Josh Embleton 4.80
  • Scotland Mason Watson 4.48
  • England Ben Rathbone 4.00
  • Scotland Kieran Douglas 2.80

Edinburgh Monarchs Academy

Kent Royals

  • England Nathan Ablitt 8.38
  • England Ben Morley 8.26
  • England Jack Kingston 6.91
  • England Tom Woolley (C) 6.58
  • England Rhys Naylor 6.10
  • England Joe Alcock 4.57
  • England Connor King 4.00
  • England Ashton Vale 3.56

Leicester Lion Cubs

Mildenhall Fen Tigers

Oxford Chargers

Workington Comets

  • Australia Connor Bailey 10.03
  • England Luke Harrison 7.01
  • Scotland Ace Pijper[18] 6.90
  • England Sam McGurk[19] 6.77
  • England Luke Crang (C) 4.80
  • England Elliot Kelly 4.68
  • England Harry McGurk[19] 2.82
  • England Callum Foy 0.00

See also

References

  1. ^ "BRITISH SPEEDWAY AGM STATEMENT". British Speedway. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Lion Cubs complete". British Speedway. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Chargers' win title". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  4. ^ "NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE STATEMENT". British Speedway. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Comets taking shape". British Speedway. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Workington Comets will ride again next year". Cumbria Crack. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Edinburgh Monarchs Academy enter NDL". SCB. 18 January 2023.
  8. ^ "National Development League statement". SCB. 29 November 2022.
  9. ^ "2023 NDL Table, Fixtures & Results - British Speedway Official Website". 17 June 2023.
  10. ^ "2023 National Development League Table, Fixtures & Results - British Speedway Official Website". 1 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Oxford Chargers vs Leicester Lion Cubs scorecard" (PDF). Speedway GB.
  12. ^ "NDL GRAND FINAL/KO CUP FINAL UPDATE". Speedway GB. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Mildenhall Fen Tigers vs Leicester Lion Cubs scorecard" (PDF). Speedway GB.
  14. ^ "Fen Tigers awarded KO Cup". Speedway GB. 31 October 2023.
  15. ^ "NDL Riders' Championship scorecard" (PDF). Speedway GB.
  16. ^ "Steve ticks box for Bullets". Berwick Speedway. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Blair to skipper Bullets". British Speedway. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Comets Make Ace Move". British Speedway. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Comets move for McGurk brothers". British Speedway. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
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