1974 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Exeter Falcons |
No. of competitors | 17 |
Knockout Cup | Sheffield Tigers |
Individual | Peter Collins |
Highest average | Ole Olsen |
Division/s below | British 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 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 11.39 | |
2 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue Aces | 10.98 | |
3 | Ivan Mauger | Exeter Falcons | 10.88 | |
4 | Phil Crump | Newport | 10.79 | |
5 | John Louis | Ipswich Witches | 10.79 | |
6 | Terry Betts | King's Lynn Stars | 10.32 | |
7 | Dag Lövaas | Hackney Hawks | 10.17 | |
8 | Martin Ashby | Swindon Robins | 10.09 | |
9 | John Boulger | Cradley United | 10.06 | |
10 | Bob Valentine | Sheffield Tigers | 9.92 | |
11 | Malcolm Simmons | King's Lynn Stars | 9.78 | |
13 | Sören Sjösten | Belle Vue Aces | 9.72 | |
14 | Jim McMillan | Hull Vikings | 9.71 | |
15 | Dave Jessup | Leicester Lions | 9.66 | |
15 | Eric Boocock | Halifax Dukes | 9.61 | |
17 | Reidar Eide | Newport | 9.42 | |
18 | Billy Sanders | Ipswich Witches | 9.34 | |
19 | Ray Wilson | Leicester Lions | 9.34 | |
20 | Barry Briggs | 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 - 41 | Sheffield Tigers Arnie Haley 13 Bob Valentine 11 Doug Wyer 8 Reg Wilson 6 2 1 Carl Glover 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Second leg[]
Sheffield Tigers Bob Valentine 11 Arnie Haley 8 Doug Wyer 8 8 Reg Wilson 7 Carl Glover 6 1 | 49 - 29 | Ipswich Witches John Louis 13 Tony Davey 9 Billy Sanders 3 2 1 Mike Lanham 1 0 |
---|---|---|
[6] |
Sheffield Tigers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 90-65.
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
- Peter Collins
- Steve Holden
- Chris Morton
- Joe Owen
- Chris Pusey
- Sören Sjösten
- Alan Wilkinson
Coventry Bees[]
- Nigel Boocock
- Ronnie Moore
- Olle Nygren
Cradley United[]
- Steve Bastable
- John Boulger
- Howard Cole+ (+ rode under the name of Kid Brodie)
- Bruce Cribb
- Sándor Lévai
- Alan Molyneux
- Dave Perks
- Arthur Price
- Dave Younghusband
Exeter Falcons[]
- Scott Autrey
- Kevin Holden
- Chris Julian
- Tony Lomas
- Ivan Mauger
- Neil Middleditch
- Alan Molyneux
- Mike Sampson
- Frank Shuter
Hackney Hawks[]
- Laurie Etheridge
- Barney Kennett
- Dag Lövaas
- Dave Morton
- Hugh Saunders
- Barry Thomas
Halifax Dukes[]
- Eric Boocock
- Ian Cartwright
- Rick France
- Brian Havelock
- John Jackson
- Henny Kroeze
- Charlie Monk
- Graham Plant
Hull Vikings[]
- Josef Angermüller
- Bobby Beaton
- Alan Cowland
- Paul Gachet
- Jimmy McMillan
- Tom Owen
- Tommy Roper
Ipswich Witches[]
- Tony Davey
- Phil Herne
- Mike Lanham
- John Louis
- Olle Nygren
- Billy Sanders
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Ray Bales
- Terry Betts
- David Gagen
- Kelvin Mullarkey
- Malcolm Simmons
- Ian Turner
Leicester Lions[]
- David Ashby
- Frank Auffret
- Malcolm Ballard
- Mick Bell
- Tom Black
- Malcolm Brown
- Bob Cooper
- Bruce Forrester
- Dave Jessup
- Alan Molyneux
- Norman Storer
- Keith White
- Ray Wilson
Newport[]
- Phil Crump
- Reidar Eide
- Alan Molyneux
- Geoff Mudge
- Tom Owen
- Neil Street
- Roy Trigg
- Brian Woodward
Oxford Rebels[]
- John Davis
- John Dews
- Paul Gachet
- David Gagen
- Trevor Geer
- Richard Greer
- Gordon Kennett
- Bob Kilby
- Ulf Lövaas
- Neil Middleditch
- Rick Timmo
- Brian Woodward
- Martin Yeates
Poole Pirates[]
- Malcolm Ballard
- Eric Broadbelt
- Mike Cake
- Odd Fossengen
- Colin Gooddy
- Phil Herne
- Neil Middleditch
- Richard May
- Pete Smith
- Antoni Woryna
- Martin Yeates
Sheffield Tigers[]
- Carl Glover
- Arnold Haley
- Taffy Owen
- Bob Valentine
- Reg Wilson
- Doug Wyer
Swindon Robins[]
- David Ashby
- Martin Ashby
- Geoff Bouchard
- Mick Handley
- Phil Herne
- Norman Hunter
- Brian Leonard
Wimbledon Dons[]
- Barry Briggs
- Bert Harkins
- Trevor Hedge
- Roger Johns
- Reg Luckhurst
- Graeme Stapleton
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- Arthur Browning
- Ken Eyre
- Paul Gachet
- Phil Herne
- George Hunter
- Tom Leadbitter
- Colin Meredith
- Neil Middleditch
- Alan Molyneux
- Ole Olsen
- Malcolm Shakespeare
- Finn Thomsen
- Steve Weatherley
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "1974 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "Season 1974" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- British League
- 1974 in British motorsport
- 1974 in speedway