1966 British League season

1966 British League season

League	British League
Season	1966
Champions	Halifax Dukes
No. of competitors	19
Knockout Cup	Halifax Dukes
Individual	Barry Briggs
Highest average	Barry Briggs
← 1965 1967 →

The 1966 British League season was the 32nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second season known as the British League.^[1] Halifax Dukes won the league and then secured the league and cup double.^[2]

Summary[]

The League expanded to 19, with a new team, the King's Lynn Stars.^[3] Halifax Dukes won the league after 36 games and finished three points clear of Coventry Bees. The Halifax team success was due to the consistency of their riders, in particular Eric Boocock, Eric Boothroyd, Dave Younghusband and Tommy Roper who all scored heavily throughout the season. Halifax also completed the double winning the British League Knockout Cup. In they final they easily beat Wimbledon Dons.^[4]

The four times world champion Barry Briggs topped the averages for Swindon Robins during the same season in which he sealed his fourth world title. The dangers of speedway were highlighted once again however when Welshman Ivor Hughes was killed during the league match rding for Cradley Heath Heathens against Sheffield Tigers on 20 August.^[5]

Final table[]

		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Halifax Dukes	36	27	0	9	1574	1229	54
2	Coventry Bees	36	25	1	10	1548	1255	51
3	Swindon Robins	36	23	0	13	1553	1248	46
4	Wimbledon Dons	36	22	0	14	1485	1314	44
5	Newcastle Diamonds	36	20	0	16	1491.5	1304.5	40
6	Poole Pirates	36	19	2	15	1443	1356	40
7	West Ham Hammers	36	19	1	10	1499.5	1304.5	39
8	Glasgow Tigers	36	18	0	18	1395	1394	36
9	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	17	2	17	1340.5	1461.5	36
10	Exeter Falcons	36	17	1	18	1392.5	1403.5	35
11	Sheffield Tigers	36	17	0	19	1410	1394	34
12	Edinburgh Monarchs	35	17	0	18	1310.5	1413.5	34
13	Belle Vue Aces	36	16	0	20	1362	1443	32
14	Hackney Hawks	36	15	1	20	1347.5	1456.5	31
15	Oxford Cheetahs	36	14	2	20	1291	1510	30
16	King's Lynn Stars	36	15	0	21	1275	1524	30
17	Newport Wasps	36	12	1	23	1319	1486	25
18	Long Eaton Archers	36	12	1	23	1286	1516	25
19	Cradley Heath Heathens	35	10	0	25	1196	1506	20

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Leading Riders by Average[]

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Barry Briggs		Swindon Robins	11.08
2	Nigel Boocock		Coventry Bees	10.67
3	Göte Nordin		Newport Wasps	10.53
4	Eric Boocock		Halifax Dukes	10.41
5	Olle Nygren		Wimbledon Dons	10.32
6	Colin Pratt		Hackney Hawks	9.93
7	Ivan Mauger		Newcastle Diamonds	9.82
8	Ken McKinlay		West Ham Hammers	9.78
9	Mike Broadbank		Swindon Robins	9.77
10	Sverre Harrfeldt		West Ham Hammers	9.76
11	Trevor Hedge		Wimbledon Dons	9.64
12	Cyril Maidment		Belle Vue Aces	9.55
13	Arne Pander		Oxford Cheetahs	9.53
14	Norman Hunter		West Ham Hammers	9.42
15	Terry Betts		King's Lynn Stars	9.41
16	Trevor Hedge		Wimbledon Dons	9.39
17	Eric Boothroyd		Halifax Dukes	9.29
18	Ron Mountford		Coventry Bees	9.29
19	Charlie Monk		Glasgow Tigers	9.27
20	Rick France		Coventry Bees	9.22

Knockout Cup[]

Halifax Dukes won the cup and therefore secured the league and cup double.^[6]

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

• 
• Dick Fisher
• Sándor Lévai
• Cyril Maidment
• 
• 
• 
• Taffy Owen
• 
• 

Coventry Bees[]

• Nigel Boocock
• 
• Rick France
• 
• 
• Jim Lightfoot
• Ron Mountford
• 
• 

Cradley Heath[]

• 
• Ivor Brown
• Howard Cole + (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
• 
• 
• John Hart
• 
• Ivor Hughes
• Chris Julian
• 
• Chum Taylor
• 
• 

Edinburgh Monarchs[]

• Brian Collins
• Reidar Eide
• Bert Harkins
• 
• George Hunter
• Bengt Jansson
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Exeter Falcons[]

• 
• 
• 
• Jack Geran
• Colin Gooddy
• 
• 
• Nils Paulsen
• 
• 
• 
• Neil Street
• 
• 
• 

Glasgow Tigers[]

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Tom Leadbitter
• 
• 
• Jimmy McMillan
• Charlie Monk
• 
• 
• 
• 

Hackney Hawks[]

• 
• Malcolm Brown
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Colin Pratt
• Roy Trigg

Halifax Dukes[]

• Eric Boocock
• Eric Boothroyd
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Tommy Roper
• 
• Dave Younghusband

King's Lynn Stars[]

• 
• Terry Betts
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Peter Moore
• Nils Paulsen
• 
• 
• 

Long Eaton Archers[]

• 
• 
• Ray Cresp
• Leif Enecrona
• Ove Fundin
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Norman Storer
• Vic White
• Ray Wilson
• 

Newcastle Diamonds[]

• Brian Brett
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Ivan Mauger
• 

Newport Wasps[]

• Jack Biggs
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Göte Nordin
• 
• 
• 

Oxford Cheetahs[]

• 
• 
• Jimmy Gooch
• Des Lukehurst
• 
• Taffy Owen
• Arne Pander
• 
• 

Poole Pirates[]

• Bill Andrew
• Wayne Briggs
• Bruce Cribb
• Ronnie Genz
• 
• Geoff Mudge
• Pete Smith
• 

Sheffield Tigers[]

• Billy Bales
• John Dews
• Arnold Haley
• John Hart
• 
• 
• 
• 
• George Major
• 
• 
• 

Swindon Robins[]

• Martin Ashby
• 
• Barry Briggs
• Mike Broadbank
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Bob Kilby
• 
• Frank Shuter
• 

West Ham Hammers[]

• Brian Collins
• 
• Sverre Harrfeldt
• Norman Hunter
• Ken McKinlay
• Brian Leonard
• Malcolm Simmons
• 
• 
• 
• 

Wimbledon Dons[]

• 
• 
• 
• Bob Dugard
• 
• Trevor Hedge
• 
• Reg Luckhurst
• Olle Nygren
• 

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

• James Bond
• Alan Cowland
• 
• Gordon Guasco
• Mick Handley
• 
• 
• 
• Peter Vandenberg

See also[]

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References[]