1971 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Belle Vue Aces |
No. of competitors | 19 |
Knockout Cup | Hackney Hawks |
Individual | Ivan Mauger |
Highest average | Ivan Mauger |
Division/s below | British League (Div 2) |
The 1971 British League season was the 37th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the seventh season known as the British League.[1][2]
Summary[]
Reading Racers moved up from Division 2 and Newcastle Diamonds dropped out.[3] Belle Vue Aces retained their title to become the first team to win the title for the second time. The team included three time world champion Ivan Mauger, Swedish international Sören Sjösten, Tommy Roper, Eric Broadbelt, Chris Pusey and a 17 year old Peter Collins in his debut season.[4]
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Belle Vue Aces | 36 | 25 | 1 | 10 | 51 |
2 | Leicester Lions | 36 | 22 | 3 | 11 | 47 |
3 | Coventry Bees | 36 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 46 |
4 | Sheffield Tigers | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 |
5 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 19 | 3 | 14 | 40 |
6 | Reading Racers | 36 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 41 |
7 | Hackney Hawks | 36 | 17 | 4 | 15 | 38 |
8 | Newport Wasps | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 37 |
9 | Wembley Lions | 36 | 17 | 3 | 16 | 37 |
10 | Wimbledon Dons | 36 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 36 |
11 | Poole Pirates | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 35 |
12 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 36 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 34 |
13 | King's Lynn Stars | 36 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 34 |
14 | Halifax Dukes | 36 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 32 |
15 | Exeter Falcons | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 31 |
16 | Glasgow Tigers | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 25 |
17 | Oxford Cheetahs | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 20 |
18 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 36 | 8 | 4 | 24 | 20 |
19 | West Ham Hammers | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
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 | 11.33 | |
2 | Ole Olsen | Wolverhampton Wolves | 10.99 | |
3 | Ray Wilson | Leicester Lions | 10.94 | |
4 | Jim Airey | Sheffield Tigers | 10.74 | |
5 | Barry Briggs | Swindon Robins | 10.67 | |
6 | Bengt Jansson | Hackney Hawks | 10.26 | |
7 | Eric Boocock | Halifax Dukes | 10.19 | |
8 | Anders Michanek | Reading Racers | 10.05 | |
9 | Nigel Boocock | Coventry Bees | 9.95 | |
10 | Ronnie Moore | Wimbledon Dons | 9.89 | |
11 | Martin Ashby | Swindon Robins | 9.76 | |
12 | Bernt Persson | Cradley Heathens | 9.68 | |
13 | Terry Betts | King's Lynn Stars | 9.62 | |
14 | Malcolm Simmons | King's Lynn Stars | 9.22 | |
15 | Trevor Hedge | Wimbledon Dons | 9.18 | |
16 | Jim McMillan | Glasgow Tigers | 9.18 | |
17 | Sören Sjösten | Belle Vue Aces | 9.11 | |
18 | Reidar Eide | Poole Pirates | 9.10 | |
19 | Göte Nordin | Wembley Lions | 9.04 | |
20 | John Boulger | Leicester Lions | 8.99 |
British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1971 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 33rd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Hackney were the winners.[5]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
08/05 | Halifax | 49-29 | West Ham |
08/05 | Swindon | 43-35 | Wimbledon |
06/05 | Oxford | 46-32 | Poole |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
25/06 | Wolverhampton | 43-35 | Belle Vue |
21/06 | Reading | 38-40 | Cradley Heath |
17/06 | Oxford | 39-38 | Exeter |
12/06 | King's Lynn | 46-32 | Newport |
11/06 | Glasgow | 43-34 | Leicester |
10/06 | Sheffield | 48-30 | Wembley |
05/06 | Halifax | 42-36 | Coventry |
05/06 | Swindon | 36-42 | Hackney |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
14/08 | Halifax | 43-35 | Sheffield |
06/08 | Wolverhampton | 45-32 | Oxford |
31/07 | King's Lynn | 39-39 | Hackney |
31/07 | Cradley Heath | 40-38 | Glasgow |
03/09 | Hackney | 49-29 | King's Lynn |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
17/09 | Hackney | 50-27 | Halifax |
06/09 | Cradley Heath | 50-28 | Wolverhampton |
Final[]
First leg[]
Cradley Heath Bernt Persson 11 Bob Andrews 9 Mick Handley 7 6 John Hart 5 Roy Trigg 3 0 | 41 - 37 | Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 10 Barry Thomas 8 Hugh Saunders 8 Garry Middleton 7 Laurie Etheridge 2 1 1 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Second leg[]
Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Garry Middleton 10 Barry Thomas 9 9 Hugh Saunders 6 3 Laurie Etheridge 2 | 51 - 27 | Cradley Heath Howard Cole (guest) 13 Bob Andrews 5 Roy Trigg 3 John Hart 3 2 Mick Handley 1 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Hackney Hawks were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 88-68.
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
- Eric Broadbelt
- Peter Collins
- Ken Eyre
- George Major
- Ivan Mauger
- Chris Pusey
- Tommy Roper
- Sören Sjösten
- Alan Wilkinson
Coventry Bees[]
- Nigel Boocock
- Rick France
- Tony Lomas
- Ron Mountford
- Jan Simensen
Cradley Heath[]
- Bob Andrews
- Malcolm Ballard
- Geoff Bouchard
- John Hart
- Gordon Kennett
- Mick Handley
- John Jackson
- Bernt Persson
- Roy Trigg
Exeter Falcons[]
- Wayne Briggs
- Bruce Cribb
- Kjell Gimre
- Kevin Holden
- Chris Julian
- Bob Kilby
- Taffy Owen
Glasgow Tigers[]
- Bobby Beaton
- George Hunter
- Jimmy McMillan
- Charlie Monk
Hackney Hawks[]
- Malcolm Ballard
- George Barclay
- Phil Crump
- Laurie Etheridge
- Bengt Jansson
- Gordon Kennett
- Garry Middleton
- Taffy Owen
- Roger Mills
- Hugh Saunders
- Barry Thomas
Halifax Dukes[]
- Eric Boocock
- Reg Wilson
- Dave Younghusband
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Terry Betts
- Howard Cole+ (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
- Phil Crump
- Bruce Forrester
- Trevor Geer
- Gordon Kennett
- George Major
- Kelvin Mullarkey
- Arthur Price
- Mike Sampson
- Malcolm Simmons
- Ian Turner
Leicester Lions[]
- Malcolm Brown
- John Boulger
- Alan Cowland
- Bruce Forrester
- Gordon Kennett
- Tom Leadbitter
- Graham Plant
- Malcolm Shakespeare
- Norman Storer
- Ray Wilson
Newport Wasps[]
- Bill Andrew
- Malcolm Ballard
- Phil Crump
- Ronnie Genz
- Tommy Johansson
- Sándor Lévai
- Edgar Stangeland
Oxford Cheetahs[]
- Phil Crump
- John Davis
- Ronnie Genz
- Colin Gooddy
- Richard Greer
- John Jackson
- John Louis
- Ken McKinlay
- Arthur Price
- Tommy Roper
- Rick Timmo
Poole Pirates[]
- Mike Cake
- John Davis
- Reidar Eide
- Odd Fossengen
- Pete Smith
Reading Racers[]
- Josef Angermüller
- Mick Bell
- Geoff Curtis
- Dag Lövaas
- Richard May
- Anders Michanek
- Geoff Mudge
Sheffield Tigers[]
- Jim Airey
- Arnold Haley
- George Major
- Taffy Owen
- Bob Valentine
- Reg Wilson
- Doug Wyer
Swindon Robins[]
- Martin Ashby
- James Bond
- Barry Briggs
- Mike Broadbank
Wembley Lions[]
- Trevor Geer
- Bert Harkins
- Sverre Harrfeldt
- Tommy Jansson
- Dave Jessup
- Roger Johns
- Brian Leonard
- John Louis
- Göte Nordin
- Christer Sjösten
West Ham Hammers[]
- John Davis
- Carl Glover
- Mick Handley
- Christer Löfqvist
- Reg Luckhurst
- Olle Nygren
- Alan Wilkinson
Wimbledon Dons[]
- John Dews
- Trevor Hedge
- Cyril Maidment
- Ronnie Moore
- Graeme Stapleton
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- Geoff Ambrose
- Geoff Bouchard
- James Bond
- Phil Crump
- Norman Hunter
- Roger Johns
- Ole Olsen
- Gary Peterson
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 1 July 2021.
- ^ "1971 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "Season 1971" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- British League
- 1971 in British motorsport
- 1971 in speedway