1977 British League season

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1977 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsWhite City Rebels
No. of competitors19
Knockout CupKing's Lynn Stars
IndividualOle Olsen
PairsIpswich Witches
Highest averageMichael Lee
Division/s below1977 National League

The 1977 Gulf British League season was the 43rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom[1] and the 13th season known as the British League.[2]

Summary[]

Newport had dropped down to the National League but their riders transferred to the Bristol Bulldogs so the league retained 19 teams. Cradley Heath reverted to their nickname of Heathens after four years of being called United.[3] The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a third season.[4]

White City Rebels won the title in only their second season of existence. The London team caused a surprise with their consistent form throughout the season with heavy scoring of Gordon Kennett leading the team. The success came from a group of five other riders hitting around a seven average to support Kennett. The five were Englishmen Mike Sampson, Steve Weatherley and Trevor Geer, Pole Marek Cieślak and Finn Kai Niemi.[5] Wolverhampton Wolves signed 18 year-old Danish rider Hans Nielsen.

Kevin Holden of Poole Pirates had started the season in great form for his new club, following his move from Exeter Falcons. He was hitting over a 9 point average but sadly was killed during the home match against Reading on 27 April. After sliding into the fence he ruptured a blood vessel of the heart.[6]

Final table[]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 White City Rebels 36 27 1 8 55
2 Exeter Falcons 36 25 3 8 53
3 Reading Racers 36 25 3 8 53
4 Ipswich Witches 36 25 1 10 51
5 Belle Vue Aces 36 19 3 14 41
6 King's Lynn Stars 36 19 2 15 40
7 Cradley Heathens 36 20 0 16 40
8 Coventry Bees 36 19 1 16 39
9 Wimbledon Dons 36 17 2 17 36
10 Poole Pirates 36 17 2 17 36
11 Swindon Robins 36 17 1 18 35
12 Bristol Bulldogs 36 17 0 19 34
13 Sheffield Tigers 36 16 2 18 34
14 Hull Vikings 36 15 0 21 30
15 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 14 0 22 28
16 Hackney Hawks 36 13 1 22 27
17 Halifax Dukes 36 12 0 24 24
18 Birmingham Brummies 36 8 0 28 16
19 Leicester Lions 36 6 0 30 12

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

Top Ten Riders[]

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Michael Lee England King's Lynn Stars 10.64
2 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Exeter Falcons 10.62
3 Peter Collins England Belle Vue Aces 10.49
4 Gordon Kennett England White City Rebels 10.41
5 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry Bees 10.40
6 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich Witches 10.39
7 Anders Michanek Sweden Cradley Heathens 10.35
8 Dave Jessup England Reading Racers 10.27
9 Malcolm Simmons England Poole Pirates 10.22
10 John Davis England Reading Racers 9.84

British League Knockout Cup[]

The 1977 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 39th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners.[7]

First Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
18/05 Poole 41-37 Reading
25/04 Exeter 50-28 Swindon
25/04 Reading 43-35 Poole
15/04 Wolverhampton 51-27 Leicester
12/04 Leicester 40-38 Wolverhampton

Second Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
23/07 Halifax 38-40 Reading
22/07 Wolverhampton 41-37 Kings Lynn
28/06 White City 51-27 Birmingham
20/06 Birmingham 34-44 White City
18/06 Coventry 57-21 Exeter
18/06 Kings Lynn 55-23 Wolverhampton
17/06 Bristol 56-22 Wimbledon
16/06 Wimbledon 48-30 Bristol
13/06 Exeter 38-40 Coventry
09/06 Sheffield 46-32 Hackney
08/06 Hull 46-32 Cradley Heath
11/06 Cradley Heath 42-36 Hull
03/06 Hackney 49-29 Sheffield
02/06 Ipswich 38-40 Belle Vue
30/05 Reading 53-25 Halifax

Quarter Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
22/08 Reading 51-27 Belle Vue
08/08 White City 50-28 Coventry
06/08 Kings Lynn 42-36 Hackney
05/08 Bristol 52-26 Hull
03/08 Coventry 43-35 White City
03/08 Hull 49-29 Bristol
29/07 Hackney 34-44 Kings Lynn

Semi Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
14/10 Bristol 42-36 Reading
10/10 Reading 47-31 Bristol
24/09 Kings Lynn 44-34 White City
21/09 White City 42-34 Kings Lynn

Final[]

First leg[]

Reading Racers
John Davis 10
Dave Jessup 8
Hans Wassermann 7
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
3
Ian Gledhill 2		40 - 38King's Lynn Stars
Michael Lee 15
Terry Betts 12
Carl Glover 5
Ian Turner 5
Richard Hellsen 1
0
David Gagen 0
[8]
Smallmead Stadium

Second leg[]

King's Lynn Stars
Terry Betts 10
Michael Lee 7
Richard Hellsen 7
David Gagen 6
Ian Turner 6
3
Carl Glover 2		41 - 37Reading Racers
Dave Jessup 15
John Davis 8
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
3
Hans Wassermann 1
Ian Gledhill 0
[8]

King's Lynn Stars were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-77.

Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

  • England
  • England
  • England Les Collins
  • England Peter Collins
  • England Phil Collins
  • England Alan Emerson
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England Steve Lawson
  • Australia
  • England Chris Morton
  • Denmark
  • England
  • England
  • England Chris Turner
  • England Alan Wilkinson

Birmingham Brummies[]

  • Australia Carl Askew
  • England Ian Clark
  • England Phil Collins
  • Australia
  • England
  • England Alan Grahame
  • England Andy Grahame
  • Norway Jan Terje Gravningen
  • England Richard Greer
  • England
  • Denmark Finn Jensen
  • Australia
  • Australia
  • England Malcolm Shakespeare
  • Australia Lou Sansom
  • England Ray Wilson

Bristol Bulldogs[]

  • England
  • England Nigel Boocock
  • England
  • England Phil Collins
  • Australia Phil Crump
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • United States
  • Australia Phil Herne
  • England
  • Australia
  • Norway
  • England Tom Leadbitter
  • Norway
  • Sweden Tommy Pettersson
  • Norway Edgar Stangeland
  • England Ian Williams
  • England Sean Willmott
  • Wales Brian Woodward

Coventry Bees[]

  • England Mick Bell
  • Denmark Alf Busk
  • England
  • Australia Gary Guglielmi
  • Denmark Ole Olsen
  • England Alan Molyneux
  • England
  • Sweden Tommy Nilsson
  • England
  • New Zealand Mitch Shirra
  • England

Cradley Heathens[]

  • England Steve Bastable
  • England
  • England Phil Collins
  • New Zealand Bruce Cribb
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • Sweden Anders Michanek
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • England Dave Perks
  • Sweden Bernt Persson
  • England Arthur Price
  • England
  • Australia Bob Valentine
  • England
  • England

Exeter Falcons[]

Hackney Hawks[]

  • England Laurie Etheridge
  • England
  • England Karl Fiala
  • England Bob Garrad
  • Australia
  • England Vic Harding
  • England Trevor Hedge
  • England Robert Henry
  • England
  • England
  • England Dave Morton
  • New Zealand
  • Denmark
  • England
  • England Barry Thomas
  • England Keith White

Halifax Dukes[]

  • England Ian Cartwright
  • England
  • England
  • Norway Tom Godal
  • Netherlands Henny Kroeze
  • Denmark Mike Lohmann
  • Australia
  • England
  • England Graham Plant
  • England Chris Pusey
  • England
  • England
  • England Sean Willmott

Hull Vikings[]

Ipswich Witches[]

  • England Colin Cook
  • England Tony Davey
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England Kevin Jolly
  • England Mike Lanham
  • England John Louis
  • Australia Billy Sanders

King's Lynn Stars[]

Leicester Lions[]

  • England Ray Bales
  • England
  • Australia John Boulger
  • Australia
  • England
  • Norway Reidar Eide
  • Austria Adi Funk
  • Finland Markku Helminen
  • Australia
  • Australia
  • Australia Garry Middleton
  • Sweden Tommy Pettersson
  • Poland Bolesław Proch
  • England
  • Finland Ila Teromaa
  • Finland Pepe Teromaa
  • Australia Doug Underwood
  • England

Poole Pirates[]

  • New Zealand Roger Abel
  • England Eric Broadbelt
  • England
  • England Colin Gooddy
  • England Kevin Holden
  • England Richard May
  • England Neil Middleditch
  • England
  • England Mike Sampson
  • Sweden Christer Sjösten
  • England Malcolm Simmons
  • England Pete Smith
  • England
  • England Martin Yeates

Reading Racers[]

Sheffield Tigers[]

  • England
  • Australia
  • England Billy Burton
  • England
  • England Carl Glover
  • England Arnold Haley
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England Reg Wilson
  • England Doug Wyer

Swindon Robins[]

  • Sweden Jan Andersson
  • England David Ashby
  • England Martin Ashby
  • England Geoff Bouchard
  • England
  • England Malcolm Holloway
  • Sweden
  • England Bob Kilby
  • England
  • England
  • Australia
  • England

White City Rebels[]

  • New Zealand Roger Abel
  • Poland Marek Cieślak
  • England
  • England Ian Clark
  • England
  • England Paul Gachet
  • England Trevor Geer
  • England
  • England
  • England Gordon Kennett
  • Finland Kai Niemi
  • England Mike Sampson
  • England Steve Weatherley
  • England Paul Woods

Wimbledon Dons[]

  • England
  • Poland Edward Jancarz
  • England Roger Johns
  • England
  • Netherlands
  • England Colin Richardson
  • New Zealand Larry Ross
  • England
  • Sweden
  • England
  • Norway Edgar Stangeland
  • New Zealand Graeme Stapleton
  • England
  • England Ian Williams

Wolverhampton Wolves[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  2. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  5. ^ "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. ^ "IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY.....1977". Poole Speedway. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. ^ "1977 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. ^ a b "Season 1977" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
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