The 1996 Speedway Conference League was the inaugural season of the Conference League, which was the second tier of British

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

. It was listed as the second tier of British speedway because during 1995 and 1996 the two divisions of the British League had merged into one division only. The following season it would be a third tier/division competition.

Summary

The Conference League was the first to promoted under the name and was an entirely amateur competition contested by thirteen teams (many were junior sides belonging to their parent clubs). The league expanded from the eight that had begun the previous season's

1995 Academy League The 1995 Academy League was the second tier/division of British speedway. It was effectively the same division of teams that had competed in the 1994 British League Division 3 but was renamed because the British League Division 1 and 2 had merged. ...

- Berwick, Buxton, Devon, Linlithgow, Mildenhall, and Sittingbourne all returned from 1995, and were joined by Arena Essex, Eastbourne, Owlerton, Peterborough, Reading, Ryde, and Swindon.

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

did not return from 1995. As not all fixtures were able to be run, the champions were decided by a percentage of total points available.

Linlithgow Lightning Linlithgow Lightning were a British speedway team based in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland. They raced at Heathersfield Stadium. History They first raced in 1994 in the 1994 British League Division Three. In 1995 they raced in the 1995 Acade ...

topped the table to become champions.

Final table

PL = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Match Points; % = Win Rate

Conference League Knockout Cup

The 1996 Conference League Knockout Cup was the 29th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. It was only the tier two competition because the Division 1 & 2 had merged during 1995 & 1996, this meant that the newly formed Conference League was tier two of British speedway at the time. Linlithgow Lightning were the winners of the Cup.

Final

Riders' Championship

Mike Hampson won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 7 September at Long Eaton Stadium.

Teams and riders

References

{{United Kingdom Speedway Seasons 1996 in British motorsport