1974 British League season

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1974 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsExeter Falcons
No. of competitors17
Knockout CupSheffield Tigers
IndividualPeter Collins
Highest averageOle Olsen
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

The 1974 British League season was the 40th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the tenth season known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary[]

The 1973 Champions Reading didn't compete as they no longer had a stadium, following the closure of Reading Stadium and Hull Vikings replaced them. The league was reduced to seventeen teams when the Coatbridge Tigers dropped down to Division Two. Overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad were banned which meant that top Swedish riders such as Anders Michanek, Bernt Persson, Tommy Jansson and Christer Löfqvist didn't compete.[3]

The Exeter Falcons won their first title. They were headed by the legendary four time world champion Ivan Mauger and backed up well by Scott Autrey (8.32), Tony Lomas (7.29) and Kevin Holden (7.26).

At the end of the season Oxford Rebels finished four points above the Hull Vikings courtesy of a protest over Hull's victory against the Rebels.[4] Hull were later re-awarded the points after a close season hearing and moved above the Rebels.

Final table[]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Exeter Falcons 32 25 1 6 51
2 Belle Vue Aces 32 23 0 9 46
3 Ipswich Witches 32 22 1 9 45
4 Sheffield Tigers 32 21 0 11 42
5 King's Lynn Stars 32 20 1 11 41
6 Newport 32 17 3 12 37
7 Halifax Dukes 32 14 3 15 31
8 Wimbledon Dons 32 14 1 17 29
9 Hackney Hawks 32 13 2 17 28
10 Leicester Lions 32 13 1 18 27
11 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 13 1 18 27
12 Swindon Robins 32 12 2 18 26
13 Cradley United 32 12 1 19 25
14 Poole Pirates 32 12 1 19 25
15 Coventry Bees 32 12 0 20 24
16 Hull Vikings 32 10 0 22 20
17 Oxford Rebels 32 10 0 22 20

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

Leading riders[]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ole Olsen Denmark Wolverhampton Wolves 11.39
2 Peter Collins England Belle Vue Aces 10.98
3 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter Falcons 10.88
4 Phil Crump Australia Newport 10.79
5 John Louis England Ipswich Witches 10.79
6 Terry Betts England King's Lynn Stars 10.32
7 Dag Lövaas Norway Hackney Hawks 10.17
8 Martin Ashby England Swindon Robins 10.09
9 John Boulger Australia Cradley United 10.06
10 Bob Valentine Australia Sheffield Tigers 9.92
11 Malcolm Simmons England King's Lynn Stars 9.78
13 Sören Sjösten Sweden Belle Vue Aces 9.72
14 Jim McMillan Scotland Hull Vikings 9.71
15 Dave Jessup England Leicester Lions 9.66
15 Eric Boocock England Halifax Dukes 9.61
17 Reidar Eide Norway Newport 9.42
18 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich Witches 9.34
19 Ray Wilson England Leicester Lions 9.34
20 Barry Briggs New Zealand Wimbledon Dons 9.30

British League Knockout Cup[]

The 1974 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 36th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Sheffield were the winners.[5]

First Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
20/04 Cradley United 40-38 Wolverhampton
19/04 Ipswich 50-28 Oxford
12/04 Wolverhampton 48-30 Cradley United
21/03 Oxford 40-37 Ipswich

Second Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
07/06 Wolverhampton 36-42 Kings Lynn
04/06 Wimbledon 38-40 Ipswich
30/05 Ipswich 52-26 Wimbledon
29/05 Hull 38-40 Sheffield
25/05 Coventry 42-36 Leicester
22/05 Belle Vue 53-25 Halifax
18/05 Kings Lynn 45-33 Wolverhampton
17/05 Hackney 40-38 Poole
15/05 Poole 42-36 Hackney
13/05 Halifax 35-43 Belle Vue
09/05 Sheffield 52-26 Hull
07/05 Leicester 43-35 Coventry
27/04 Swindon 40-38 Newport
26/04 Newport 42-36 Swindon

Quarter Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
31/07 Poole 38-40 Kings Lynn
20/07 King's Lynn 38-40 Poole
16/07 Leicester 38-40 Ipswich
08/07 Sheffield 46-32 Newport
06/07 Belle Vue 44-32 Exeter
05/07 Newport 35-43 Sheffield
20/06 Ipswich 42-36 Leicester
10/06 Exeter 46-32 Belle Vue
24/08 Kings Lynn 42-36 Poole
21/08 Poole 45-32 Kings Lynn

Semi Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
09/09 Sheffield 46-32 Poole
04/09 Poole 37-40 Sheffield
29/08 Ipswich 50-28 Exeter
19/08 Exeter 42-36 Ipswich

Final[]

First leg[]

Ipswich Witches
John Louis 11
Billy Sanders 10
Tony Davey 6
5
3
2
0		37 - 41Sheffield Tigers
Arnie Haley 13
Bob Valentine 11
Doug Wyer 8
Reg Wilson 6
2
1
Carl Glover 0
[6]
Foxhall Stadium

Second leg[]

Sheffield Tigers
Bob Valentine 11
Arnie Haley 8
Doug Wyer 8
8
Reg Wilson 7
Carl Glover 6
1		49 - 29Ipswich Witches
John Louis 13
Tony Davey 9
Billy Sanders 3
2
1
Mike Lanham 1
0
[6]
Owlerton Stadium

Sheffield Tigers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-65.

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

Coventry Bees[]

  • New Zealand
  • England
  • England
  • England Nigel Boocock
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • Denmark
  • New Zealand Ronnie Moore
  • Sweden Olle Nygren
  • Finland
  • England
  • England

Cradley United[]

Exeter Falcons[]

  • United States Scott Autrey
  • England
  • England Kevin Holden
  • England Chris Julian
  • England Tony Lomas
  • New Zealand Ivan Mauger
  • England Neil Middleditch
  • England Alan Molyneux
  • Australia
  • England Mike Sampson
  • New Zealand Frank Shuter
  • England

Hackney Hawks[]

Halifax Dukes[]

Hull Vikings[]

Ipswich Witches[]

  • England Tony Davey
  • Australia
  • England
  • Australia Phil Herne
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England Mike Lanham
  • England
  • England John Louis
  • Sweden Olle Nygren
  • England
  • Australia Billy Sanders

King's Lynn Stars[]

Leicester Lions[]

  • England David Ashby
  • England Frank Auffret
  • England Malcolm Ballard
  • England Mick Bell
  • New Zealand Tom Black
  • England Malcolm Brown
  • England Bob Cooper
  • England
  • England
  • England Bruce Forrester
  • England Dave Jessup
  • England Alan Molyneux
  • England Norman Storer
  • England Keith White
  • England Ray Wilson

Newport[]

Oxford Rebels[]

Poole Pirates[]

  • England Malcolm Ballard
  • Norway
  • England Eric Broadbelt
  • England
  • England Mike Cake
  • England
  • England
  • Norway Odd Fossengen
  • England Colin Gooddy
  • Australia Phil Herne
  • England Neil Middleditch
  • England Richard May
  • Australia
  • England Pete Smith
  • Poland Antoni Woryna
  • England Martin Yeates

Sheffield Tigers[]

  • England Carl Glover
  • England Arnold Haley
  • England
  • Wales Taffy Owen
  • England
  • England
  • Australia Bob Valentine
  • England Reg Wilson
  • England Doug Wyer

Swindon Robins[]

  • England David Ashby
  • England Martin Ashby
  • England Geoff Bouchard
  • England Mick Handley
  • Australia Phil Herne
  • England Norman Hunter
  • England
  • England
  • England Brian Leonard
  • Australia
  • Norway

Wimbledon Dons[]

  • New Zealand Barry Briggs
  • Australia
  • England
  • Scotland Bert Harkins
  • England Trevor Hedge
  • England Roger Johns
  • England
  • England Reg Luckhurst
  • New Zealand Graeme Stapleton

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  4. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. ^ "1974 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  6. ^ a b "Season 1974" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
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