1968 British League season

1968 British League season

League	British League
Season	1968
Champions	Coventry Bees
No. of competitors	19
Knockout Cup	Wimbledon Dons
Individual	Barry Briggs
Highest average	Ivan Mauger
Division/s below	British League (Div 2)
← 1967 1969 →

The 1968 British League season was the 34th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fourth season known as the British League.^[1][2]

Summary[]

Edinburgh relocated to become the Coatbridge Monarchs. The Long Eaton team closed its doors, but a new team in Leicester returned to Speedway to join the League.^[3]

Coventry Bees secured their first title on points difference and after they scored points in the last heat of their last match away at King's Lynn. The title win came after two consecutive years as being runner-up. Coventry's Nigel Boocock was again one of the league's leading riders with his average going well above ten for the fifth consecutive year. He was well supported by Ron Mountford and Czechoslovakian star Antonín Kasper Sr..^[4] Wimnledon Dons who could only manage a mid table finish went on to win the British League Knockout Cup.

Final table[]

		M	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	36	22	0	14	1436	1369	44
2	Hackney Hawks	36	21	2	13	1421	1383	44
3	Exeter Falcons	36	20	1	15	1556.5	1248.5	41
4	Sheffield Tigers	36	20	1	15	1463.5	1337.5	41
5	Newcastle Diamonds	36	20	0	16	1454	1350	40
6	West Ham Hammers	36	19	1	16	1454	1348	39
7	Halifax Dukes	36	19	1	16	1424	1379	39
8	Coatbridge Monarchs	36	18	1	17	1404	1397	37
9	Wimbledon Dons	36	18	0	18	1411	1384	36
10	Belle Vue Aces	36	18	0	18	1387	1417	36
11	Swindon Robins	36	17	1	18	1448	1353	35
12	Leicester Lions	36	17	1	18	1373	1430	35
13	Newport Wasps	36	17	1	18	1348	1457	35
14	Cradley Heath Heathens	36	15	4	17	1373	1430	34
15	Oxford Cheetahs	36	17	0	19	1319	1487	34
16	Wolverhampton Wolves	36	16	0	20	1388	1413	32
17	Poole Pirates	36	13	2	21	1327	1478	28
18	King's Lynn Stars	36	13	1	22	1330	1473	27
19	Glasgow Tigers	36	13	1	22	1312	1495	27

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

Leading Riders[]

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ivan Mauger		Newcastle Diamonds	11.37
2	Barry Briggs		Swindon Robins	10.87
3	Nigel Boocock		Coventry Bees	10.74
4	Martin Ashby		Exeter Falcons	10.72
5	Anders Michanek		Leicester Lions	10.19
6	Eric Boocock		Halifax Dukes	10.17
7	Charlie Monk		Sheffield Tigers	10.07
8	Sverre Harrfeldt		West Ham Hammers	9.78
9	Torbjörn Harrysson		Newport Wasps	9.82
10	Norman Hunter		West Ham Hammers	9.71
11	Ron Mountford		Coventry Bees	9.62
12	Hasse Holmqvist		Wolverhampton Wolves	9.58
13	Colin Pratt		Hackney Hawks	9.58
14	Terry Betts		King's Lynn Stars	9.45
15	Malcolm Simmons		King's Lynn Stars	9.40
16	Ole Olsen		Newcastle Diamonds	9.39
17	Ray Wilson		Leicester Lions	9.37
18	Olle Nygren		Wimbledon Dons	9.39
19	Bernt Persson		Coatbridge Monarchs	9.28
20	Jim Airey		Wolverhampton Wolves	9.24

British League Knockout Cup[]

The 1968 British League Knockout Cup was the 30th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.^[5]

First Round[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
27/04	Coatbridge	66-42	Glasgow
27/04	Halifax	57-51	Exeter
16/04	West Ham	55-52	Hackney

Second Round[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
01/06	Belle Vue	64-44	West Ham
14/05	Leicester	52-56	Coventry
20/05	Newcastle	77-30	Coatbridge
23/05	Sheffield	71-37	Cradley Heath
25/05	Swindon	58-50	Oxford
23/05	Wimbledon	60-48	Kings Lynn
22/05	Poole	56-52	Newport
17/05	Wolverhampton	60-47	Halifax

Third Round[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
17/08	Belle Vue	65-42	Sheffield
26/07	Poole	54-54	Swindon
27/06	Wimbledon	64-44	Newcastle
28/06	Wolverhampton	58-50	Coventry
23/08 replay	Swindon	60-47	Poole

Semi Finals[]

Date	Team One	Score	Team Two
20/09	Wolverhampton	67-40	Belle Vue
12/09	Wimbledon	80-28	Swindon

Final[]

First leg[]

Second leg[]

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 118-98.

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

• 
• 
• Eric Broadbelt
• Ken Eyre
• Sándor Lévai
• Cyril Maidment
• 
• 
• Taffy Owen
• 
• Chris Pusey
• Tommy Roper
• Sören Sjösten
• 

Coatbridge Monarchs[]

• 
• Brian Collins
• Reidar Eide
• Bert Harkins
• 
• George Hunter
• 
• 
• Bernt Persson
• 
• 

Coventry Bees[]

• Nigel Boocock
• 
• 
• Rick France
• 
• 
• Antonín Kasper Sr.
• Tony Lomas
• Ron Mountford
• 
• 
• 

Cradley Heath[]

• Bob Andrews
• 
• Ivor Brown
• 
• 
• 
• Chris Julian
• 
• Roy Trigg
• 
• 
• 

Exeter Falcons[]

• Martin Ashby
• 
• 
• Mike Cake
• Wayne Briggs
• 
• 
• Neil Street
• 
• 

Glasgow Tigers[]

• Åke Andersson
• Bobby Beaton
• 
• 
• 
• Bo Josefsson
• 
• Jimmy McMillan
• 
• 
• 

Hackney Hawks[]

• Jack Biggs
• Malcolm Brown
• Laurie Etheridge
• 
• 
• Bengt Jansson
• Des Lukehurst
• 
• Colin Pratt
• 

Halifax Dukes[]

• Eric Boocock
• Eric Boothroyd
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Dave Younghusband

King's Lynn Stars[]

• 
• Terry Betts
• 
• Howard Cole+ (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Malcolm Simmons

Leicester Lions[]

• John Boulger
• Dene Davies
• John Hart
• Tom Leadbitter
• George Major
• Anders Michanek
• Roger Mills
• Graham Plant
• Norman Storer
• Vic White
• Ray Wilson

Newcastle Diamonds[]

• 
• 
• 
• Murray Burt
• 
• 
• 
• Ivan Mauger
• Ole Olsen
• 
• Gary Peterson
• 
• 

Newport Wasps[]

• 
• 
• 
• 
• Jimmy Gooch
• Torbjörn Harrysson
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Oxford Cheetahs[]

• 
• Mick Bell
• 
• Ronnie Genz
• Colin Gooddy
• Leo McAuliffe
• Arne Pander
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Rick Timmo

Poole Pirates[]

• Bill Andrew
• 
• Bruce Cribb
• Odd Fossengen
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Geoff Mudge
• Göte Nordin
• Arne Pander
• Pete Smith
• 

Sheffield Tigers[]

• Billy Bales
• 
• John Dews
• Arnold Haley
• 
• Charlie Monk
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Swindon Robins[]

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

West Ham Hammers[]

• George Barclay
• 
• 
• Sverre Harrfeldt
• + (+ rode under the name Tyburn Gallows)
• Norman Hunter
• Brian Leonard
• Ken McKinlay
• 
• 

Wimbledon Dons[]

• Alan Cowland
• Bob Dugard
• Trevor Hedge
• Reg Luckhurst
• Garry Middleton
• 
• Olle Nygren
• 
• 
• + (+ rode under the name Bernie Lagrosse)

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

• Jim Airey
• Geoff Ambrose
• James Bond
• Murray Burt
• 
• Mick Handley
• 
• Hasse Holmqvist
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Peter Vandenberg
• 

See also[]

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

References[]