1978 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Coventry Bees |
No. of competitors | 19 |
Knockout Cup | Ipswich Witches |
Individual | Ole Olsen |
Pairs | Cradley Heath & Coventry Bees |
Highest average | Malcolm Simmons |
Division/s below | 1978 National League |
The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 14th season known as the British League.[1]
Summary[]
The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previous season. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fourth season.[2]
Coventry Bees won their second title and their first for ten years. Belle Vue Aces were runners-up for the fourth time in five seasons and would receive a double blow when losing in the final of the Knockout Cup. Two time world champion Ole Olsen was in sensational form for Coventry and made the difference throughout the season. Olsen would also seal his third world individual crown by the end of the season. The Coventry side consisted of an array of overseas riders including Olsen and fellow Dane Alf Busk, New Zealander Mitch Shirra, Australian Gary Guglielmi and Jiří Štancl from Czechoslovakia.[3]
League table[]
Pos | Team | M | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Coventry Bees | 36 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 54 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 36 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 52 |
3 | Hull Vikings | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 46 |
4 | Wimbledon Dons | 36 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 45 |
5 | Cradley Heathens | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 |
6 | Ipswich Witches | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 |
7 | Exeter Falcons | 36 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 41 |
8 | Sheffield Tigers | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 |
9 | Bristol Bulldogs | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 38 |
10 | Poole Pirates | 36 | 17 | 3 | 16 | 37 |
11 | Leicester Lions | 36 | 17 | 0 | 19 | 34 |
12 | Halifax Dukes | 36 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 31 |
13 | King's Lynn Stars | 36 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 30 |
14 | Reading Racers | 36 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 29 |
15 | White City Rebels | 36 | 12 | 3 | 21 | 27 |
16 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 12 | 3 | 21 | 27 |
17 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
18 | Birmingham Brummies | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
19 | Hackney Hawks | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Riders[]
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Malcolm Simmons | Poole Pirates | 10.78 | |
2 | Ole Olsen | Coventry Bees | 10.71 | |
3 | Scott Autrey | Exeter Falcons | 10.45 | |
4 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue Aces | 10.44 | |
5 | Michael Lee | King's Lynn Stars | 10.40 | |
6 | Chris Morton | Belle Vue Aces | 10.31 | |
7 | Dave Jessup | Reading Racers | 10.24 | |
8 | Billy Sanders | Ipswich Witches | 10.23 | |
9 | Phil Crump | Bristol Bulldogs | 9.99 | |
10 | Ivan Mauger | Hull Vikings | 9.91 |
British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1978 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 40th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.[4]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
29/04 | Kings Lynn | 40-38 | Hull |
26/04 | Hull | 39-39 | Kings Lynn |
10/04 | Exeter | 44-34 | Coventry |
08/04 | Coventry | 44-34 | Exeter |
17/04 | Birmingham | 37-41 | Poole |
12/04 | Poole | 48-30 | Birmingham |
15/06 | Coventry | 37.5-40.5 | Exeter |
01/06 | Exeter | 48-30 | Coventry |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
19/07 | Poole | 49-29 | Swindon |
15/07 | Swindon | 37-41 | Poole |
09/06 | Hackney | 51-26 | Kings Lynn |
03/06 | Kings Lynn | 31-46 | Hackney |
06/07 | Sheffield | 45-33 | Exeter# |
Exeter | 52-26 | Sheffield | |
10/06 | Swindon | 36-42 | Poole |
21/06 | Poole | 36-42 | Swindon |
03/06 | Belle Vue | 44-34 | Wimbledon |
08/06 | Wimbledon | 41-37 | Belle Vue |
23/06 | Bristol | 35-43 | Leicester |
06/06 | Leicester | 39-39 | Bristol |
10/06 | Cradley Heath | 38-40 | Reading |
05/06 | Reading | 37-41 | Cradley Heath |
13/06 | White City | 52-26 | Halifax |
10/06 | Halifax | 43-34 | White City |
09/06 | Wolverhampton | 40-38 | Ipswich |
08/06 | Ipswich | 43-34 | Wolverhampton |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
09/08 | White City | 23-54 | Ipswich |
05/08 | Belle Vue | 44-34 | Poole |
04/08 | Poole | 34-43 | Belle Vue |
29/07 | Cradley Heath | 48-30 | Leicester |
27/07 | Ipswich | 52-26 | White City |
21/07 | Hackney | 34-44 | Exeter |
11/07 | Leicester | 39-39 | Cradley Heath |
17/07 | Exeter | 58-20 | Hackney |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
14/09 | Ipswich | 44-34 | Cradley Heath |
13/09 | Cradley Heath | 40-38 | Ipswich |
26/08 | Belle Vue | 57-21 | Exeter |
25/08 | Exeter | 51-27 | Belle Vue |
Final[]
First leg[]
Belle Vue Aces Peter Collins 15 Chris Morton 14 Les Collins 5 Chris Turner 2 1 1 1 | 39 - 39 | Ipswich Witches Mike Lanham 9 John Louis 8 Tony Davey 7 Colin Cook 6 Kevin Jolly 5 Billy Sanders 4 Tim Hunt 0 |
---|---|---|
Second leg[]
Ipswich Witches Georg Hack 10 Billy Sanders 9 John Louis 9 Tony Davey 9 Mike Lanham 7 Kevin Jolly 6 Colin Cook 4 | 53 - 25 | Belle Vue Aces Peter Collins 10 Chris Morton 8 Les Collins 4 Chris Turner 1 (guest) 1 1 0 |
---|---|---|
Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
1978
- Les Collins
- Peter Collins
- Chris Morton
- Chris Turner
- Steve Wilcock
- Alan Wilkinson
- Sean Willmott
- Paul Woods
Birmingham Brummies[]
- Phil Collins
- Alan Emerson
- Andy Grahame
- Richard Greer
- Phil Herne
- Bengt Jansson
- Finn Jensen
- Malcolm Shakespeare
- Ray Wilson
Bristol Bulldogs[]
- Nigel Boocock
- Phil Collins
- Bruce Cribb
- Phil Crump
- Mike Ferreira
- Henny Kroeze
- Sören Sjösten
Coventry Bees[]
- Mick Bell
- Alf Busk
- Gary Guglielmi
- Pip Lamb
- Alan Molyneux
- Ole Olsen
- Mitch Shirra
- Jiří Štancl
Cradley Heath[]
- Carl Askew
- Steve Bastable
- Phil Collins
- Bruce Cribb
- Alan Grahame
- Pip Lamb
- Bruce Penhall
- Dave Perks
- Arthur Price
Exeter Falcons[]
- Scott Autrey
- Ian Clark
- Phil Collins
- Aleš Dryml Sr.
- Reidar Eide
- Mike Farrell
- Graham Jones
- Steve Lawson
- Steve Koppe
- Pip Lamb
- Les Rumsey
- Jan Verner
- Václav Verner
- Sean Willmott
- Paul Woods
Hackney Hawks[]
- Laurie Etheridge
- Karl Fiala
- Bob Garrad
- Gary Guglielmi
- Vic Harding
- Bo Petersen
- Malcolm Shakespeare
- Barry Thomas
- Finn Thomsen
- Keith White
- Sean Willmott
Halifax Dukes[]
- Eric Broadbelt
- Kenny Carter
- Ian Cartwright
- Phil Collins
- Tom Godal
- Mike Lohmann
- Chris Pusey
Hull Vikings[]
- Frank Auffret
- Bobby Beaton
- Phil Collins
- Rod Hunter
- John Jackson
- Ivan Mauger
- Joe Owen
- Kelly Moran
- Tom Owen
Ipswich Witches[]
- Colin Cook
- Tony Davey
- Georg Hack
- Tim Hunt
- Kevin Jolly
- Mike Lanham
- John Louis
- Billy Sanders
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Terry Betts
- Phil Collins
- David Gagen
- Carl Glover
- Derek Harrison
- Richard Hellsen
- Michael Lee
- Pete Smith
- Melvyn Taylor
- Ian Turner
Leicester Lions[]
- Ray Bales
- John Boulger
- Phil Collins
- Lars Ericsson
- Tom Godal
- Neil Leeks
- Colin Meredith
- Jerzy Rembas
- Malcolm Shakespeare
- Ila Teromaa
- John Titman
- Steve Wilcock
Poole Pirates[]
- Colin Gooddy
- Neil Middleditch
- Kelvin Mullarkey
- Malcolm Simmons
- Christer Sjösten
- Andrzej Tkocz
- Sean Willmott
- Martin Yeates
Reading Racers[]
- Roger Abel
- Phil Collins
- John Davis
- Ian Gledhill
- Henryk Glücklich
- Dave Jessup
- Ashley Pullen
- Melvyn Taylor
- Doug Underwood
- Hans Wassermann
Sheffield Tigers[]
- Billy Burton
- Ian Clark
- Mike Ferreira
- Arnold Haley
- Barney Kennett
- Bernt Persson
- Sean Willmott
- Reg Wilson
- Doug Wyer
Swindon Robins[]
- Jan Andersson
- David Ashby
- Martin Ashby
- Geoff Bouchard
- Rolf Gramstad
- Robert Henry
- Malcolm Holloway
- Bob Kilby
- Steen Mastrup
- Jerzy Trzeszkowski
White City Rebels[]
- Marek Cieślak
- Ian Clark
- Paul Gachet
- Trevor Geer
- Gordon Kennett
- Kai Niemi
- Mike Sampson
- Steve Weatherley
- Sean Willmott
- Paul Woods
Wimbledon Dons[]
- David Bargh
- Trevor Geer
- Edward Jancarz
- Roger Johns
- Colin Richardson
- Larry Ross
- Graeme Stapleton
- Steve Weatherley
- Ian Williams
- Paul Woods
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- Carl Askew
- Arthur Browning
- Jimmy McMillan
- Dave Morton
- Hans Nielsen
- Steve McDermott
- Edgar Stangeland
- Steve Wilcock
- Sean Willmott
- Brian Woodward
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ^ "1978 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- British League
- 1978 in British motorsport
- 1978 in speedway