1980 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Reading Racers |
No. of competitors | 17 |
Knockout Cup | Cradley Heath Heathens |
Individual | Les Collins |
Highest average | Peter Collins |
Division/s below | 1980 National League |
The 1980 British League season was the 46th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 16th season known as the British League.[1][2]
Summary[]
The league comprised 17 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Exeter Falcons had dropped down to the National League. Hackney Hawks underwent a dramatic transformation from being the bottom side in 1979 to title contenders in 1980, but their challenge faded in the last few weeks and Reading Racers were crowned champions for the second time.[3][4]
Reading's success came down to three strong heat leaders, Swedish champion Jan Andersson, their new American signing Bobby Schwartz and England international John Davis. All three produced season averages around the 10 mark, which enabled the team to constantly pick up victories.[5] Cradley Heathens successfully retained their Knockout Cup crown overcoming a huge first leg deficit in the final.
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Reading Racers | 32 | 24 | 1 | 7 | 49 |
2 | Hackney Hawks | 32 | 23 | 0 | 9 | 46 |
3 | Belle Vue Aces | 32 | 21 | 1 | 10 | 43 |
4 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 20 | 2 | 10 | 42 |
5 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 32 | 20 | 0 | 12 | 40 |
6 | Ipswich Witches | 32 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 34 |
7 | King's Lynn Stars | 32 | 17 | 0 | 15 | 34 |
8 | Swindon Robins | 32 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 34 |
9 | Poole Pirates | 32 | 15 | 2 | 15 | 32 |
10 | Halifax Dukes | 32 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 31 |
11 | Leicester Lions | 32 | 14 | 0 | 18 | 28 |
12 | Hull Vikings | 32 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 27 |
13 | Wimbledon Dons | 32 | 12 | 2 | 18 | 26 |
14 | Birmingham Brummies | 32 | 11 | 1 | 20 | 23 |
15 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 20 |
16 | Eastbourne Eagles | 32 | 9 | 1 | 22 | 19 |
17 | Sheffield Tigers | 32 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 16 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Riders[]
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
1 | Peter Collins | Belle Vue Aces | 10.70 | |
2 | Hans Nielsen | Wolverhampton Wolves | 10.70 | |
3 | Dave Jessup | King's Lynn Stars | 10.52 | |
4 | Bo Petersen | Hackney Hawks | 10.46 | |
5 | Bruce Penhall | Cradley Heathens | 10.46 | |
6 | Michael Lee | King's Lynn Stars | 10.17 | |
7 | Chris Morton | Belle Vue Aces | 10.11 | |
8 | Jan Andersson | Reading Racers | 10.08 | |
9 | Scott Autrey | Swindon Robins | 9.97 | |
10 | Bobby Schwartz | Reading Racers | 9.95 |
British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1980 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 42nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.[6]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
06/05 | Leicester | 59-49 | Poole |
05/05 | Poole | 53-55 | Leicester |
Second Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
17/07 | Coventry | 54-54 | Birmingham |
09/07 | Cradley Heath | 60-48 | Kings Lynn |
04/07 | Wolverhampton | 53-55 | Sheffield |
09/06 | Birmingham | 56-51 | Coventry |
06/06 | Eastbourne | 52.5-55.5 | Swindon |
05/06 | Sheffield | 56-52 | Wolverhampton |
03/06 | Hull | 67-41 | Hackney |
31/05 | Belle Vue | 60-48 | Wimbledon |
31/05 | Halifax | 57-50 | Reading |
31/05 | Swindon | 62-46 | Eastbourne |
30/05 | Hackney | 45-63 | Hull |
29/05 | Wimbledon | 57-51 | Belle Vue |
29/05 | Ipswich | 66-42 | Leicester |
27/05 | Leicester | 54-54 | Ipswich |
25/05 | Kings Lynn | 58-50 | Cradley Heath |
21/04 | Reading | 62-46 | Halifax |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
03/09 | Birmingham | 76-30 | Sheffield |
23/08 | Belle Vue | 68-40 | Hull |
21/08 | Cradley Heath | 54-54 | Reading |
21/08 | Sheffield | 49-58 | Birmingham |
04/08 | Reading | 53-55 | Cradley Heath |
19/07 | Swindon | 63-45 | Ipswich |
17/07 | Ipswich | 55-53 | Swindon |
09/07 | Hull | 66-42 | Belle Vue |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
01/10 | Cradley Heath | 67-41 | Birmingham |
24/09 | Belle Vue | 59-49 | Swindon |
15/09 | Birmingham | 56-52 | Cradley Heath |
30/08 | Swindon | 56-52 | Belle Vue |
Final[]
First leg[]
Belle Vue Aces Chris Morton 14 14 Peter Collins 13 10 Louis Carr 5 Steve Wilcock 5 4 2 | 67 - 41 | Cradley Heath Phil Collins 13 Alan Grahame 13 Erik Gundersen 7 Ila Teromaa 6 1 Steve Lawson 1 0 Bruce Penhall R/R |
---|---|---|
Second leg[]
Cradley Heath Bruce Penhall 15 Erik Gundersen 13 Phil Collins 12 Alan Grahame 11 9 Ila Teromaa 8 Steve Lawson 5 5 | 75 - 33 | Belle Vue Aces 10 Louis Carr 10 6 4 Chris Morton 2 (inj) Peter Collins 1 (inj) 0 R/R |
---|---|---|
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-100.
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
- Louis Carr
- Peter Carr
- Peter Collins
- Mike Lohmann
- Chris Morton
- Steve Wilcock
Birmingham Brummies[]
- Steve Bastable
- Wayne Brown
- Peter Carr
- Alan Emerson
- Neil Evitts
- Andy Grahame
- Phil Herne
- Finn Jensen
- Zdeněk Kudrna
- Kelly Moran
- Audun Ove Olsen
- Paul Thorp
- Brian Woodward
Coventry Bees[]
- Alf Busk
- Laurie Etheridge
- David Gagen
- Gary Guglielmi
- Rod Hunter
- Tommy Knudsen
- Steve McDermott
- Alan Molyneux
- Ole Olsen
- Mitch Shirra
Cradley Heath[]
- Phil Collins
- Alan Grahame
- Erik Gundersen
- Derek Harrison
- Robert Henry
- Steve Lawson
- Bruce Penhall
- Dave Perks
- Mike Sampson
- Ila Teromaa
Eastbourne Eagles[]
- Reidar Eide
- Trevor Geer
- Richard Greer
- Barney Kennett
- Gordon Kennett
- Niklas Klingberg
- Kelvin Mullarkey
- Kai Niemi
- Les Rumsey
- Paul Woods
Hackney Hawks[]
- Karl Fiala
- Bob Garrad
- Andrzej Huszcza
- Roman Jankowski
- Kelvin Mullarkey
- Bo Petersen
- Zenon Plech
- Kevin Smith
- Barry Thomas
- Finn Thomsen
- Keith White
- Sean Willmott
Halifax Dukes[]
- Kenny Carter
- Ian Cartwright
Hull Vikings[]
- Frank Auffret
- David Bargh
- Bobby Beaton
- Peter Carr
- John Cook
- Nigel Crabtree
- Ian Gledhill
- Robert Henry
- Rod Hunter
- Ivan Mauger
- Shawn Moran
- Joe Owen
- Tom Owen
- Dennis Sigalos
Ipswich Witches[]
- Tony Davey
- Preben Eriksen
- Tim Hunt
- Kevin Jolly
- Mike Lanham
- John Louis
- Billy Sanders
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Derek Harrison
- Richard Hellsen
- Dave Jessup
- Michael Lee
- Pete Smith
- Melvyn Taylor
- Chris Turner
- Ian Turner
Leicester Lions[]
- Ian Clark
- Les Collins
- Colin Cook
- Mark Courtney
- Bob Garrad
- Rolf Gramstad
- Andrzej Huszcza
- Steve Regeling
- John Titman
- Phil Vance
Poole Pirates[]
- Neil Middleditch
- Ron Preston
- Malcolm Simmons
- Václav Verner
- Martin Yeates
Reading Racers[]
- Jan Andersson
- Martin Ashby
- Andy Campbell
- John Davis
- Reidar Eide
- Ashley Pullen
- Bobby Schwartz
- Jiří Štancl
Sheffield Tigers[]
- Eric Broadbelt
- Neil Collins
- Aleš Dryml Sr.
- Carl Glover
- Arnold Haley
- Henny Kroeze
- Shawn Moran
- Reg Wilson
- Doug Wyer
Swindon Robins[]
- Scott Autrey
- Nigel Boocock
- Louis Carr
- Phil Crump
- Reidar Eide
- Mike Ferreira
- Malcolm Holloway
- Bob Kilby
- Steve Koppe
- Steen Mastrup
- Milan Špinka
- Jan Verner
- Martin Yeates
Wimbledon Dons[]
- Edward Jancarz
- Roger Johns
- Colin Richardson
- Larry Ross
- Simon Wigg
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- Wayne Brown
- Arthur Browning
- Billy Burton
- Hans Christensen
- Bruce Cribb
- Reidar Eide
- Richard Greer
- George Hunter
- Jimmy McMillan
- Dave Morton
- Hans Nielsen
- Petr Ondrašík
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.
- ^ "1979 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ "1980 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "1980 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- British League
- 1980 in British motorsport
- 1980 in speedway