1987 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Coventry Bees |
No. of competitors | 12 |
Knockout Cup | Cradley Heath Heathens |
League Cup | Coventry Bees |
Individual | Hans Nielsen |
Pairs | Oxford Cheetahs |
Highest average | Hans Nielsen |
Division/s below | 1987 National League |
The 1987 British League season was the 53rd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 23rd known as the British League.[1]
Summary[]
Coventry Bees comfortably won the league finishing 16 points clear of Cradley Heath. The same five main riders who made up the 1986 team rode through the 1987 season but crucially four of them improved on their 1986 averages. Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum both hit over 10, while Rick Miller and David Bargh both improved by about 2 points on average. John Jørgensen also remained consistent for the Bees. Coventry also won the League Cup but lost to Cradley in the final of the Knockout Cup.[2] The double defending champions Oxford Cheetahs were forced to release Simon Wigg to Hackney and Per Sorensen because of the 45 point limit. They finished second from bottom despite Hans Nielsen topping the averages once again.[3]
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
1 | Coventry Bees | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 52 |
2 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 36 |
3 | Swindon Robins | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 33 |
4 | Sheffield Tigers | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 32 |
5 | Bradford Dukes | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 30 |
6 | Ipswich Witches | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 29 |
7 | Reading Racers | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 28 |
8 | Belle Vue Aces | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 26 |
9 | Hackney Kestrels | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 20 |
10 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
11 | Oxford Cheetahs | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 16 |
12 | King's Lynn Stars | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 11 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Leading averages[]
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
Hans Nielsen | Oxford | 11.38 |
Erik Gundersen | Cradley Heath | 10.44 |
Tommy Knudsen | Coventry | 10.25 |
Kelvin Tatum | Coventry | 10.06 |
Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton | 9.86 |
Jeremy Doncaster | Ipswich | 9.67 |
Jimmy Nilsen | Swindon | 9.61 |
Jan O. Pedersen | Cradley Heath | 9.60 |
Shawn Moran | Sheffield | 9.47 |
Simon Wigg | Hackney | 9.38 |
British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1987 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 49th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the second successive year if including the tied 1986 final.[4]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
10/07 | Hackney | 48-42 | Bradford |
10/07 | Oxford | 51-39 | Belle Vue |
04/07 | Kings Lynn | 41-49 | Sheffield |
13/06 | Swindon | 47-43 | Wolverhampton |
04/06 | Sheffield | 51-39 | Kings Lynn |
01/06 | Wolverhampton | 44-46 | Swindon |
30/05 | Belle Vue | 47-43 | Oxford |
30/05 | Bradford | 49-41 | Hackney |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
15/09 | Bradford | 41-49 | Cradley Heath |
15/08 | Swindon | 43-47 | Reading |
07/08 | Oxford | 48-42 | Ipswich |
06/08 | Ipswich | 47-43 | Oxford |
05/08 | Cradley Heath | 55-35 | Bradford |
27/07 | Reading | 48-41 | Swindon |
13/07 | Sheffield | 48-42 | Coventry |
11/07 | Coventry | 51-38 | Sheffield |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
30/09 | Coventry | 48-42 | Reading |
30/09 | Oxford | 47-43 | Cradley Heath |
16/09 | Cradley Heath | 39-33 A | Oxford |
07/09 | Reading | 47-43 | Coventry |
Final[]
First leg[]
Coventry Bees Tommy Knudsen 17 John Jørgensen 8 David Bargh 8 6 3 Rick Miller 3 Kelvin Tatum 0 (inj) | 45 - 45 | Cradley Heath David Walsh 12 Erik Gundersen 11 Jan O. Pedersen 11 Simon Cross 8 2 Paul Fry 1 0 |
---|---|---|
[5] |
Second leg[]
Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 11 Jan O. Pedersen 11 David Walsh 11 Simon Cross 9 Paul Fry 4 2 1 | 49 - 41 | Coventry Bees Tommy Knudsen 16 Kelly Moran (guest) 7 David Bargh 7 John Jørgensen 5 3 Rick Miller 3 3 |
---|---|---|
[5] |
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 94-86.
League Cup[]
The League Cup was contested as a league format. Coventry Bees won the final over two legs defeating Belle Vue Aces 84-72 on aggregrate. It was the last time that the competition was contested.[6]
Qualifying table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | Pts |
1 | Coventry Bees | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 43 |
2 | Oxford Cheetahs | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 39 |
3 | Belle Vue Aces | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 38 |
4 | Cradley Heathens | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 36 |
5 | Sheffield Tigers | 22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 33 |
6 | Reading Racers | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 31 |
7 | Swindon Robins | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 26 |
8 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 23 |
9 | Bradford Dukes | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 22 |
10 | Hackney Kestrels | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 17 |
11 | King's Lynn Stars | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 12 |
11 | Ipswich Witches | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 10 |
Semi finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
14/08 | Oxford | 42–36 | Belle Vue |
22/08 | Belle Vue | 44–34 | Oxford |
31/08 | Coventry | 45–33 | Cradley Heath |
31/08 | Cradley Heath | 36–42 | Coventry |
Final[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
15/09 | Coventry | 41–37 | Belle Vue |
18/10 | Belle Vue | 41–37 | Coventry |
Final replay[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
24/10 | Coventry | 46–32 | Belle Vue |
01/11 | Belle Vue | 40–38 | Coventry |
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
- Carl Blackbird
- David Blackburn
- Glenn Doyle
- Kenny McKinna
- Steve Lawson
- Chris Morton
- Peter Ravn
- Andy Smith
- Paul Thorp
Bradford Dukes[]
- Steve Bastable
- Neil Evitts
- Gary Havelock
- Lance King
- Sean Willmott
Coventry Bees[]
- David Bargh
- John Jørgensen
- Tommy Knudsen
- Rick Miller
- Neville Tatum
- Kelvin Tatum
Cradley Heath[]
- Dean Barker
- Simon Cross
- Martin Dugard
- Paul Fry
- Wayne Garratt
- Alan Grahame
- Erik Gundersen
- Jan O. Pedersen
- Alan Rivett
- Darren Sumner
- David Walsh
Hackney Kestrels[]
- Andy Galvin
- Mark Loram
- Alan Mogridge
- Malcolm Simmons
- Barry Thomas
- Simon Wigg
Ipswich Witches[]
- David Blackburn
- Louis Carr
- Armando Castagna
- Jeremy Doncaster
- Martin Hagon
- Kai Niemi
- Gerd Riss
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Ian Barney
- Andy Campbell
- John Cook
- Martin Goodwin
- Richard Knight
- Einar Kyllingstad
- Ray Morton
- Mick Poole
- Steve Regeling
- Bobby Schwartz
- Glyn Taylor
Oxford Cheetahs[]
- Troy Butler
- Marvyn Cox
- Nigel De'ath
- Andy Grahame
- Hans Nielsen
- Jens Rasmussen
Reading Racers[]
- Jan Andersson
- Nigel Crabtree
- John Davis
- Malcolm Holloway
- Per Jonsson
- Dave Mullett
- Tony Olsson
Sheffield Tigers[]
- David Blackburn
- Peter Carr
- Neil Collins
- Glenn Doyle
- Kelly Moran
- Shawn Moran
- Sean Wilson
Swindon Robins[]
- Richard Hellsen
- Conny Ivarsson
- Brian Karger
- Jimmy Nilsen
- Alun Rossiter
- Mitch Shirra
- Andrew Silver
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- David Blackburn
- Ronnie Correy
- Preben Eriksen
- Sam Ermolenko
- Torben Hansen
- Steve McDermott
- Andy Phillips
- Jan Stæchmann
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "1987 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ Bamford/Shailes, Robert/Glynn (2007). The Story of Oxford Speedway. Tempus Publishing Ltd. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-0-7524-4161-0.
- ^ "1987 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "Coventry Bees 1987 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- ^ "Coventry Bees results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- British League
- 1987 in British motorsport
- 1987 in speedway