2024 National Development League speedway season
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| League | National Development League |
|---|---|
| Champions | Leicester Lion Cubs |
| Knockout Cup | not held |
| Riders' Championship | not held |
| Highest average | Sam Hagon |
| Division/s above | SGB Premiership 2024 SGB Championship 2024 |
The 2024 National Development League was the third division/tier of British motorcycle speedway for the 2024 season.[1] It is a semi-professional development league, containing mainly the junior sides of SGB Premiership and SGB Championship clubs. Oxford Chargers were the defending champions having won the title in 2023.[2] The league is sponsored by the World Speedway Riders' Association.[3]
Six clubs competed for the National Development League Championship, after the addition of Middlesbrough Tigers[4] and a Scunthorpe Stags and Sheffield Prowlers combined team.[5] The three teams that dropped out were Berwick Bullets, Kent Royals and Mildenhall Fen Tigers, while Workington Comets had moved up a division.[1]
The league points limit was set at 36, later increased to 36.25,[6] while all riders who achieved a Championship average higher than 4.00 in the past were unable to race in the National Development League. The playoff system was also scrapped, with the winners now being decided by whoever finished top of the league table during the regular season. The knockout cup was also not staged in 2024. In addition to the 2024 NDL league, all other senior teams were required to run a formal programme of second half racing called the National League Riders' Development Series.
Leicester Lion Cubs won the title.[7]
League
League table
| Pos. | Club | M | Home | Away | F | A | B | Pts | +/− | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | SHL | L | W | SHL | L | ||||||||
| 1 | Leicester Lion Cubs (C) | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 512 | 382 | 5 | 23 | +130 |
| 2 | Belle Vue Colts | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 469 | 423 | 3 | 15 | +46 |
| 3 | Oxford Chargers | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 461 | 430 | 3 | 15 | +31 |
| 4 | Monarchs Academy | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 419 | 472 | 2 | 10 | -53 |
| 5 | Scunthorpe/Sheffield | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 415 | 481 | 1 | 7 | -66 |
| 6 | Middlesbrough Tigers | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 404 | 492 | 1 | 5 | -88 |
Fixtures & results
NDL Riders Development Series
Three National League Riders Development Series events took place across the 2024 NDL Series. These were hosted by Poole, Leicester and Berwick.[9]
| Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDL Development Series | |||||
| 26 June | Poole | Sam Hagon | Jake Mulford | Joe Thompson | |
| 4 August | Leicester | Joe Thompson | William Cairns | Vinnie Foord | |
| 7 September | Berwick | Freddy Hodder | Connor Coles | Jake Mulford | |
Leading averages
| Rider | Team | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sam Hagon |
Belle Vue | 11.03 |
| 2 | William Cairns |
Belle Vue | 10.67 |
| 3 | Joe Thompson |
Leicester | 10.37 |
| 4 |  Luke Killeen |
Oxford | 9.96 |
| 5 | Ben Trigger |
Middlesbrough | 8.98 |
| 6 | Jake Mulford |
Middlesbrough | 8.86 |
| 7 | Jason Garrad |
Oxford | 8.73 |
| 8 | Jody Scott |
Oxford | 8.68 |
| 9 | Nathan Ablitt |
Sheffield/Scunthorpe | 8.56 |
| 10 | Connor Coles |
Edinburgh | 8.42 |
- averages include all league fixtures, min 4 matches
