1969 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Poole Pirates |
No. of competitors | 19 |
Knockout Cup | Wimbledon Dons |
Individual | Barry Briggs |
Highest average | Ivan Mauger |
Division/s below | British League (Div 2) |
The 1969 British League season was the 35th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fifth season known as the British League.[1]
Summary[]
The 19 competitors were the same as the previous season.[2]
Poole Pirates won their first title.[3] The Pirates were extremely consistent and despite their riders not coming in the top 18 league averages they won the league by a clear 6 points. Pete Smith was their top rider with an average of 9.34 but aided by four other riders (Geoff Mudge (9.05), Odd Fossengen (7.73), Bruce Cribb (7.31) and Gordon Guasco (7.26)) they were able to claim the title.[4] Wimbledon Dons had a much better season than the last, finishing third and managed to retain their British League Knockout Cup crown. Belle Vue Aces finished runner-up, mainly due to the performances of their outstanding World champion rider Ivan Mauger; the New Zealander finished with an average of 11.67 and would also seal his second world title before the end of the season.
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Poole Pirates | 36 | 26 | 1 | 9 | 53 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 36 | 23 | 1 | 12 | 47 |
3 | Wimbledon Dons | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 46 |
4 | Halifax Dukes | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 46 |
5 | Leicester Lions | 36 | 21 | 2 | 13 | 44 |
6 | Sheffield Tigers | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
7 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 36 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 38 |
8 | Glasgow Tigers | 36 | 17 | 3 | 16 | 37 |
9 | King's Lynn Stars | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 |
10 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 |
11 | Coatbridge Monarchs | 36 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 35 |
12 | Exeter Falcons | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 32 |
13 | Newcastle Diamonds | 36 | 15 | 2 | 19 | 32 |
14 | Coventry Bees | 36 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 31 |
15 | Oxford Cheetahs | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 31 |
16 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 36 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 27 |
17 | Newport Wasps | 36 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 27 |
18 | West Ham Hammers | 36 | 11 | 3 | 22 | 25 |
19 | Hackney Hawks | 36 | 10 | 2 | 24 | 22 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Leading Riders[]
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Ivan Mauger | Belle Vue Aces | 11.67 | |
2 | Barry Briggs | Swindon Robins | 11.12 | |
3 | Eric Boocock | Halifax Dukes | 11.08 | |
4 | Nigel Boocock | Coventry Bees | 10.78 | |
5 | Ray Wilson | Leicester Lions | 10.56 | |
6 | Ole Olsen | Newcastle Diamonds | 10.39 | |
7 | Norman Hunter | Wolverhampton Wolves | 10.35 | |
8 | Trevor Hedge | Wimbledon Dons | 10.33 | |
9 | Sören Sjösten | Belle Vue Aces | 10.09 | |
10 | Reidar Eide | Wolverhampton Wolves | 10.01 | |
11 | Jim McMillan | Glasgow Tigers | 10.01 | |
12 | Martin Ashby | Exeter Falcons | 9.97 | |
13 | Jim Airey | Sheffield Tigers | 9.90 | |
14 | Ronnie Moore | Wimbledon Dons | 9.74 | |
15 | Charlie Monk | Glasgow Tigers | 9.56 | |
16 | Reg Luckhurst | Wimbledon Dons | 9.39 | |
17 | Dave Younghusband | Halifax Dukes | 9.38 | |
18 | Terry Betts | King's Lynn Stars | 9.35 | |
19 | Pete Smith | Poole Pirates | 9.34 | |
20 | Roy Trigg | Cradley Heathens | 9.27 |
British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1969 British League Knockout Cup was the 31st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.[5]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
10/05 | Coatbridge | 53-25 | Hackney |
06/05 | Leicester | 54-24 | Newport |
06/05 | West Ham | 39-39 | Kings Lynn |
31/05 | Kings Lynn | 39-39 | West Ham |
17/06 | West Ham | 36-42 | Kings Lynn |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
10/07 | Sheffield | 52-26 | Kings Lynn |
17/06 | West Ham | 36-42 | Oxford |
14/06 | Canterbury | 51-26 | Crayford |
14/06 | Coventry | 46-32 | Oxford |
14/06 | Cradley Heath | 41-37 | Glasgow |
11/06 | Poole | 43-35 | Coatbridge |
09/06 | Exeter | 36-42 | Wimbledon |
09/06 | Newcastle | 36-42 | Belle Vue |
07/06 | Halifax | 43-35 | Wolverhampton |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
02/08 | Belle Vue | 38-40 | Sheffield |
31/07 | Wimbledon | 49-29 | Poole |
21/07 | Cradley Heath | 41-37 | Swindon |
05/07 | Halifax | 47-31 | Coventry |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
27/09 | Cradley Heath | 36-42 | Wimbledon |
21/08 | Sheffield | 43.5-34.5 | Halifax |
Final[]
First leg[]
Sheffield Tigers Arnie Haley 11 Jim Airey 9 Billy Bales 9 John Dews 5 3 Bengt Larsson 2 Reg Wilson 1 | 40 - 38 | Wimbledon Dons Trevor Hedge 12 Cyril Maidment 10 Reg Luckhurst 8 Ronnie Moore 4 3 Bob Dugard 1 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Second leg[]
Wimbledon Dons Trevor Hedge 12 Ronnie Moore 12 Reg Luckhurst 9 7 Cyril Maidment 6 Bob Dugard 6 4 | 56 - 22 | Sheffield Tigers Arnie Haley 9 Jim Airey 9 Bengt Larsson 3 Billy Bales 1 John Dews 0 0 Reg Wilson 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-62.
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
- Eric Broadbelt
- Ken Eyre
- Ivan Mauger
- Taffy Owen
- Chris Pusey
- Tommy Roper
- Sören Sjösten
Coatbridge Tigers[]
- Wayne Briggs
- Brian Collins
- Reidar Eide
- Bert Harkins
- George Hunter
Coventry Bees[]
- Nigel Boocock
- Rick France
- Antonín Kasper Sr.
- Tony Lomas
- Göte Nordin
Cradley Heath[]
- Bob Andrews
- Bernt Persson
- Roy Trigg
- Reg Wilson
Exeter Falcons[]
- Martin Ashby
- Mike Cake
- Alan Cowland
- Jan Holub I
- Des Lukehurst
Glasgow Tigers[]
- Bobby Beaton
- Jimmy McMillan
- Charlie Monk
Hackney Hawks[]
- Jack Biggs
- Laurie Etheridge
- Jimmy Gooch
- Brian Leonard
- Des Lukehurst
- Garry Middleton
- Colin Pratt
Halifax Dukes[]
- Eric Boocock
- Arne Pander
- Dave Younghusband
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Terry Betts
- Howard Cole+ (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
- Malcolm Simmons
Leicester Lions[]
- Malcolm Brown
- John Boulger
- John Hart
- DeWayne Keeter
- Graham Plant
- Norman Storer
- Ray Wilson
Newcastle Diamonds[]
- Murray Burt
- Dave Jessup
- Tom Leadbitter
- Garry Middleton
- Ole Olsen
- Gary Peterson
Newport Wasps[]
Oxford Cheetahs[]
- Mick Bell
- Colin Gooddy
- George Major
- Leo McAuliffe
- Conny Samuelsson
- Rick Timmo
Poole Pirates[]
- Bruce Cribb
- Gordon Guasco
- Geoff Mudge
- Odd Fossengen
- Frank Shuter
- Pete Smith
Sheffield Tigers[]
- Jim Airey
- Billy Bales
- John Dews
- Arnold Haley
- Reg Wilson
- Doug Wyer
Swindon Robins[]
- Barry Briggs
- Mike Broadbank
- Bob Kilby
- Des Lukehurst
- Jon Ødegaard
West Ham Hammers[]
- George Barclay
- Sverre Harrfeldt
- Dave Jessup
- Ken McKinlay
- Brian Leonard
- Olle Nygren
Wimbledon Dons[]
- Eric Broadbelt
- Bob Dugard
- Ken Eyre
- Trevor Hedge
- Reg Luckhurst
- Cyril Maidment
- Ronnie Moore
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- Geoff Ambrose
- James Bond
- Mick Handley
- Norman Hunter
- Des Lukehurst
- Peter Vandenberg
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "1969 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "Season 1969" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- British League
- 1969 in British motorsport
- 1969 in speedway