1988 British League season
League | British League |
---|---|
Champions | Coventry Bees |
No. of competitors | 11 |
Knockout Cup | Cradley Heath Heathens |
Individual | Jan O. Pedersen |
Highest average | Hans Nielsen |
Division/s below | 1988 National League |
The 1988 British League season was the 54th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 24th known as the British League.[1][2]
Summary[]
Coventry Bees won the league for the second successive year and again by a 16 point margin. The Bees also reached the Knockout Cup final losing to Cradley Heath. Remarkably it was Cradley's seventh Cup win in 10 years. With the League Cup scrapped the Coventry team had less fixtures to ride and their pairing of Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum were once again the catalyst for the seasons success finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the averages. Hans Nielsen topped the averages again for the sixth consecutive season.[3]
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
1 | Coventry Bees | 40 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 82 |
2 | Belle Vue Aces | 40 | 26 | 1 | 13 | 13 | 66 |
3 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 39 | 22 | 1 | 16 | 15 | 60 |
4 | Oxford Cheetahs | 40 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 13 | 59 |
5 | Reading Racers | 40 | 20 | 3 | 17 | 12 | 55 |
6 | Sheffield Tigers | 39 | 19 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 48 |
7 | Swindon Robins | 40 | 17 | 1 | 22 | 8 | 43 |
8 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 40 | 15 | 3 | 22 | 8 | 41 |
9 | King's Lynn Stars | 40 | 14 | 3 | 23 | 7 | 38 |
10 | Ipswich Witches | 39 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 4 | 30 |
11 | Bradford Dukes | 39 | 10 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 22 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Leading averages[]
Rider | Team | Average |
---|---|---|
Hans Nielsen | Oxford | 11.03 |
Tommy Knudsen | Coventry | 10.08 |
Erik Gundersen | Cradley Heath | 10.06 |
Kelvin Tatum | Coventry | 10.04 |
Jan O. Pedersen | Cradley Heath | 9.88 |
Shawn Moran | Sheffield | 9.51 |
Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton | 9.40 |
Jeremy Doncaster | Ipswich | 9.34 |
Chris Morton | Belle Vue | 9.01 |
Steve Bastable | Bradford | 9.00 |
British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1988 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 50th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the third successive year if including the tied 1986 final.[4]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
09/07 | King's Lynn | 47-43 | Ipswich |
08/07 | Ipswich | 34-55 | King's Lynn |
23/06 | Sheffield | 43-47 | Cradley Heath |
18/06 | Cradley Heath | 51-39 | Sheffield |
03/06 | Belle Vue | 53-37 | Bradford |
28/05 | Bradford | 36-54 | Belle Vue |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
13/08 | King's Lynn | 40-50 | Cradley Heath |
10/08 | Cradley Heath | 53-37 | King's Lynn |
19/07 | Coventry | 53-37 | Reading |
15/07 | Belle Vue | 53-37 | Wolverhampton |
14/07 | Oxford | 48-42 | Swindon |
11/07 | Reading | 49-41 | Coventry |
11/07 | Wolverhampton | 45-45 | Belle Vue |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
14/10 | Belle Vue | 48-42 | Cradley Heath |
13/10 | Oxford | 38-49 | Coventry |
08/10 | Coventry | 44-46 | Oxford |
14/09 | Cradley Heath | 49-41 | Belle Vue |
Final[]
First leg[]
Coventry Bees Tommy Knudsen 11 Kelvin Tatum 11 Rick Miller 6 John Jørgensen 5 5 2 Neville Tatum 0 | 40 - 50 | Cradley Heath Alan Grahame 13 Jan O. Pedersen 11 Simon Cross 9 Erik Gundersen 8 David Walsh 7 Gert Handberg 1 Wayne Garratt 1 |
---|---|---|
[5] |
Second leg[]
Cradley Heath Alan Grahame 10 Gert Handberg 9 Simon Cross 8 Erik Gundersen 8 Jan O. Pedersen 7 David Walsh 5 Wayne Garratt 3 | 50 - 40 | Coventry Bees Tommy Knudsen 13 John Jørgensen 9 6 6 Kelvin Tatum 5 Rick Miller 1 Neville Tatum 0 |
---|---|---|
[5] |
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-80.
Teams[]
Belle Vue Aces[]
- Louis Carr
- Les Collins
- Mike Faria
- Graham Jones
- Gordon Kennett
- Mark Loram
- Chris Morton
- Jens Rasmussen
- Peter Ravn
- Andy Smith
- Carl Stonehewer
- Darren Sumner
- Paul Thorp
Bradford Dukes[]
- Steve Bastable
- Neil Evitts
- Gary Havelock
- Alan Mogridge
- Steve Regeling
- Alan Rivett
- Darren Sumner
- Olli Tyrväinen
- Sean Willmott
Coventry Bees[]
- John Jørgensen
- Tommy Knudsen
- Rick Miller
- Steve Schofield
- Kelvin Tatum
- Neville Tatum
Cradley Heath[]
- Dean Barker
- Steve Bastable
- Simon Cross
- Mark Fiora
- Andy Galvin
- Wayne Garratt
- Alan Grahame
- Erik Gundersen
- Gert Handberg
- Gordon Kennett
- Kenny McKinna
- Jan O. Pedersen
- Steve Schofield
- David Walsh
Ipswich Witches[]
- Carl Blackbird
- Troy Butler
- Armando Castagna
- Jeremy Doncaster
- Glenn Doyle
- Mark Fiora
- Andy Galvin
- Kevin Jolly
- Graham Jones
- Gordon Kennett
- Chris Louis
- Kenny McKinna
- Kai Niemi
- Mick Poole
- Jens Rasmussen
- Gerd Riss
- Steve Regeling
- Paolo Salvatelli
- Melvyn Taylor
- Todd Wiltshire
King's Lynn Stars[]
- Ian Barney
- Bruce Cribb
- Armando Dal Chiele
- John Davis
- Kevin Jolly
- Graham Jones
- Gordon Kennett
- Lance King
- Richard Knight
- Mark Loram
- Chris Louis
- Kenny McKinna
- Ray Morton
- Bo Petersen
- Mick Poole
- Steve Regeling
- Steve Schofield
- Melvyn Taylor
Oxford Cheetahs[]
- Marvyn Cox
- Nigel De'ath
- Glenn Doyle
- Martin Dugard
- Einar Kyllingstad
- Hans Nielsen
- Simon Wigg
Reading Racers[]
- Jan Andersson
- Andy Campbell
- Glenn Doyle
- Malcolm Holloway
- Graham Jones
- Per Jonsson
- Mark Loram
- Dave Mullett
- Tony Olsson
- Mick Poole
- Mitch Shirra
Sheffield Tigers[]
- Trevor Banks
- Steve Bastable
- Peter Carr
- Les Collins
- Neil Collins
- Nigel Crabtree
- Glenn Doyle
- Valentino Furlanetto
- Andy Galvin
- Graham Jones
- Einar Kyllingstad
- Alan Mogridge
- Kelly Moran
- Shawn Moran
- Steve Regeling
- Darren Sumner
- Olli Tyrväinen
- Sean Wilson
Swindon Robins[]
- Ian Barney
- Troy Butler
- Andy Campbell
- Louis Carr
- Glenn Doyle
- Andy Galvin
- Martin Goodwin
- Richard Hellsen
- Kevin Jolly
- Brian Karger
- Gordon Kennett
- Mark Loram
- Kenny McKinna
- Peter Nahlin
- Jimmy Nilsen
- Alun Rossiter
- Andrew Silver
- Erik Stenlund
Wolverhampton Wolves[]
- Ian Barney
- Steve Bastable
- Louis Carr
- Ronnie Correy
- Preben Eriksen
- Sam Ermolenko
- Andy Grahame
- Graham Jones
- Chris Louis
- Kenny McKinna
- Bo Petersen
- Andy Phillips
- Jan Stæchmann
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "1988 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ "1988 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ a b "Coventry Bees 1988 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- British League
- 1988 in British motorsport
- 1988 in speedway