1983 British League season

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1983 British League season
LeagueBritish League
ChampionsCradley Heath Heathens
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
League CupBelle Vue Aces
IndividualErik Gundersen
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1983 National League

The 1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as the British League.[1]

Summary[]

Cradley Heath Heathens won the league and cup double.[2] Despite losing their double world champion Bruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well. Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg and Lance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up by Phil Collins, Alan Grahame and Peter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from Denmark Jan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future.[3]

Final table[]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Cradley Heath Heathens 28 26 0 2 52
2 Ipswich Witches 28 22 1 5 45
3 Coventry Bees 28 19 0 9 38
4 Reading Racers 28 17 0 11 34
5 Belle Vue Aces 28 15 3 10 33
6 Wimbledon Dons 28 15 1 12 31
7 Hackney Hawks 28 14 0 14 28
8 King's Lynn Stars 28 12 1 15 25
9 Birmingham Brummies 28 12 0 16 24
10 Sheffield Tigers 28 10 2 16 22
11 Halifax Dukes 28 10 1 17 21
12 Leicester Lions 28 9 2 17 20
13 Poole Pirates 28 9 0 19 18
14 Eastbourne Eagles 28 7 1 20 15
15 Swindon Robins 28 7 0 21 14

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

Leading averages[]

Rider Team Average
Denmark Hans Nielsen Birmingham 10.82
United States Dennis Sigalos Ipswich 10.75
England Chris Morton Belle Vue 10.30
England Kenny Carter Halifax 10.28
Denmark Erik Gundersen Cradley Heath 10.23
England Michael Lee Poole 10.16
Australia Phil Crump Swindon 10.03
New Zealand Mitch Shirra Reading 10.02
Denmark Tommy Knudsen Coventry 9.87
Australia Billy Sanders Ipswich 9.70
Denmark Ole Olsen Coventry 9.56

British League Knockout Cup[]

The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.[4]

First Round[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
09/07 Belle Vue 56-22 Halifax
30/06 Wimbledon 46-32 Swindon
25/06 Halifax 41-37 Belle Vue
25/06 Swindon 34-44 Wimbledon
19/06 Eastbourne 34-43 Kings Lynn
11/06 Coventry 45-33 Sheffield
11/06 Cradley Heath 46-32 Hackney
11/06 Kings Lynn 47-31 Eastbourne
09/06 Sheffield 37-41 Coventry
30/05 Birmingham 43-35 Reading
30/05 Reading 44-34 Birmingham
27/05 Hackney 35-43 Cradley Heath
24/05 Leicester 40-38 Ipswich
19/05 Ipswich 43-34 Leicester

Quarter Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
21/08 Kings Lynn 45-33 Belle Vue
20/08 Belle Vue 58-20 Kings Lynn
23/07 Coventry 44-34 Wimbledon
21/07 Wimbledon 38-40 Coventry
18/07 Reading 40-38 Ipswich
13/07 Poole 35-43 Cradley Heath
09/07 Cradley Heath 53-25 Poole
07/07 Ipswich 39-39 Reading

Semi Finals[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
09/10 Belle Vue 38-40 Coventry
08/10 Coventry 44-34 Belle Vue
24/09 Cradley Heath 47-31 Reading
19/09 Reading 32-46 Cradley Heath

Final[]

First leg[]

Coventry Bees
Ole Olsen 10
8
7
5
Rick Miller 4
Finn Thomsen (guest) 3
2		39 - 39Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 13
Simon Wigg 11
Phil Collins 8
Alan Grahame 3
Peter Ravn 2
Jan O. Pedersen 2
Lance King R/R
[5]
Brandon Stadium

Second leg[]

Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 13
Alan Grahame 9
Peter Ravn 7
Simon Wigg 7
Phil Collins 6
Jan O. Pedersen 5
Lance King R/R		47 - 31Coventry Bees
Ole Olsen 10
10
Bo Petersen (guest) 7
2
Rick Miller 1
1
0
[5]
Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.

League Cup[]

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Belle Vue Aces beating Coventry Bees in the final 86-70 on aggregate.

South Group[]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 14 11 0 3 22
2 Ipswich Witches 14 9 0 5 18
3 Reading Racers 14 8 0 6 16
4 Poole Pirates 14 8 0 6 16
5 Hackney Hawks 14 8 0 6 16
6 King's Lynn Stars 13 6 1 6 13
7 Eastbourne Eagles 14 2 1 11 5
8 Swindon Robins 13 2 0 11 4

North Group[]

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 12 9 1 2 19
2 Belle Vue Aces 12 8 0 4 16
3 Cradley Heathens 12 7 1 4 15
4 Halifax Dukes 11 5 0 7 10
5 Leicester Lions 12 4 0 8 8
6 Sheffield Tigers 12 4 0 8 8
7 Birmingham Brummies 12 4 0 8 8

Final[]

Date Team One Score Team Two
22/10 Coventry 39–39 Belle Vue
23/10 Belle Vue 47–31 Coventry


Teams[]

Belle Vue Aces[]

  • Scotland Bobby Beaton
  • England Louis Carr
  • England Peter Carr
  • England Peter Collins
  • Australia Rod Hunter
  • Scotland Kenny McKinna
  • England Chris Morton
  • Denmark Peter Ravn
  • New Zealand Larry Ross
  • England
  • England Andy Smith

Birmingham Brummies[]

Coventry Bees[]

  • England Steve Bastable
  • England David Gagen
  • Australia Gary Guglielmi
  • England
  • Denmark Tommy Knudsen
  • Denmark
  • Denmark Ole Olsen
  • United States Rick Miller
  • England Keith White

Cradley Heath[]

Eastbourne Eagles[]

Hackney Hawks[]

  • England Ian Clark
  • England Marvyn Cox
  • England Bob Garrad
  • England Martin Hagon
  • Czech Republic Antonín Kasper Jr.
  • Denmark Bo Petersen
  • Denmark Jens Rasmussen
  • England Barry Thomas
  • Denmark Finn Thomsen
  • Australia John Titman
  • England Sean Willmott

Halifax Dukes[]

  • Australia Steve Baker
  • England Eric Boocock
  • England Kenny Carter
  • England Martin Dixon
  • Italy
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • Sweden
  • England Doug Wyer

Ipswich Witches[]

  • England
  • England
  • England Jeremy Doncaster
  • England
  • Denmark Preben Eriksen
  • England
  • England
  • Australia Billy Sanders
  • United States Dennis Sigalos

King's Lynn Stars[]

  • England
  • England
  • Sweden Richard Hellsen
  • England Kevin Jolly
  • England Gordon Kennett
  • England John Louis
  • England Colin Richardson
  • England Melvyn Taylor

Leicester Lions[]

  • England David Blackburn
  • England Billy Burton
  • England Les Collins
  • England Neil Collins
  • England Colin Cook
  • England Mark Courtney
  • England
  • Australia Mark Fiora
  • Denmark Finn Jensen
  • Australia Phil Herne
  • England Mike Lanham
  • England Rob Lightfoot
  • Denmark Steen Mastrup
  • England
  • England Joe Owen
  • England
  • Australia Steve Regeling

Poole Pirates[]

Reading Racers[]

  • Sweden Jan Andersson
  • Sweden Pierre Brannefors
  • Denmark
  • England
  • England Derek Harrison
  • England Tim Hunt
  • Denmark Finn Jensen
  • England Richard Knight
  • England Steve McDermott
  • England Dave Perks
  • England Steve Schofield
  • United States Bobby Schwartz
  • New Zealand Mitch Shirra
  • England
  • Australia Glyn Taylor
  • England
  • Czech Republic
  • England

Sheffield Tigers[]

  • New Zealand David Bargh
  • England John Davis
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • England
  • United States Shawn Moran
  • England Dave Morton
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England
  • England David Walsh
  • England
  • England Reg Wilson

Swindon Robins[]

Wimbledon Dons[]

  • Zimbabwe Mike Ferreira
  • England Dave Jessup
  • England Roger Johns
  • England Richard Knight
  • Finland
  • Finland Kai Niemi
  • England Alan Mogridge
  • England
  • England Malcolm Simmons
  • England Kelvin Tatum

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. ^ "1983". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  4. ^ "1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ a b "Coventry Bees 1983 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
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