The current National Development League formerly the National League was formed in 2009 as the third division of

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

in the United Kingdom, replacing the Conference League. It follows the same rules and regulations as the

SGB Premiership The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Premiership is the top division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It was in ...

and

SGB Championship The Speedway Great Britain (SGB) Championship is the second division of speedway league competition in the United Kingdom, governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA). It ...

, including the use of rider averages. There were two previous speedway leagues in Britain sharing the 'National League' name, the main league that operated from 1932 to 1964, and

British League Division Two The British League Division Two was created in 1968 and was the second tier of speedway racing in the United Kingdom until the restructuring of British speedway in 1995. It was renamed the New National League in 1975 and the National League betwee ...

, which was renamed the National League between 1975 and 1990.

History

Overview

The current National Development League, originally the Conference League, was formed in 2009 with ten teams. Several teams were in the league in the past, but are no longer in speedway for various reasons, such as Newport, Bournemouth, and Weymouth. These were replaced in more recent years by

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 2013, along with

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, former Elite League teams. After a decline in National League teams to eight in 2013, the National League has increased to 11 teams as of late 2017.

2009-2013

In the early years of the National League, Plymouth was a National League team; however, they went into the Premier League at the start of the 2011 season. The teams Newport, Bournemouth, and Weymouth left speedway around this time.

2014-present

At the start of the 2014 season, the Dudley Heathens National League team changed its name to

Cradley Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

. This was accompanied in 2014 by short spells of the teams

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

and

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

. These two teams returned completely to the Premier League in 2015, but Eastbourne and Birmingham joined the National League that same year. In 2017, the Plymouth Devils, under new management, joined the National League. In 2019, Leicester Lion Cubs joined the newly named National Development League, with Birmingham and Eastbourne leaving the league and moving up to the

and Coventry not applying to race in 2019.

Rules

The rules follow those of the SGB Premiership and SGB Championship with some relaxation of regulations. Riders who hold a non-British FMN licence are not permitted to compete in the National League.SCB Rulebook
, SCB, retrieved 2012-03-31

Champions

References

{{United Kingdom Speedway Seasons Speedway leagues Speedway competitions in the United Kingdom Professional sports leagues in the United Kingdom