1989 British League season
League | Sunbrite British League |
---|---|
Champions | Oxford Cheetahs |
British League Knockout Cup | Cradley Heathens |
Individual | Shawn Moran |
Highest average | Hans Nielsen |
Biggest home win | Oxford Cheetahs 63-27 Belle Vue Aces |
Biggest away win | King's Lynn Stars 33-57 Belle Vue Aces Swindon Robins 33/57 Cradley Heathens |
Division/s below | 1989 National League |
The 1989 British League season (also known as the Sunbrite British League for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 25th known as the British League.[1]
Summary[]
The Coventry Bees were the defending champions from 1988. The league was once again run over a 15-heat formula, with 7 riders per team.[2]
Oxford Cheetahs bounced back to winning ways claiming their third title in five years. The team was led by their double world champion Hans Nielsen who by the end of the season would be world champion for the third time and top the averages for an incredible seventh season running. He was backed up by Simon Wigg, Martin Dugard, Andy Grahame, Marvyn Cox and Troy Butler, all of whom averaged from about 6 to 8 points for the season. The defending champions Coventry could only finish 5th after losing Tommy Knudsen for the season. Cradley Heath won thir 8th Knockout Cup in 11 years (it would also be their last).[3]
Final table[]
Pos | Team | PL | W | D | L | BP | Pts |
1 | Oxford Cheetahs | 32 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 58 |
2 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 32 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 52 |
3 | Cradley Heathens | 32 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 51 |
4 | Belle Vue Aces | 32 | 19 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 50 |
5 | Coventry Bees | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 41 |
6 | Swindon Robins | 32 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 33 |
7 | Reading Racers | 32 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 32 |
8 | Bradford Dukes | 32 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 23 |
9 | King's Lynn Stars | 32 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 3 | 20 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Top Ten Averages[]
Rider | Club | Average |
Hans Nielsen | Oxford Cheetahs | 10.91 |
Jan O. Pedersen | Cradley Heathens | 10.22 |
Erik Gundersen | Cradley Heathens | 9.97 |
Sam Ermolenko | Wolverhampton Wolves | 9.85 |
Shawn Moran | Belle Vue Aces | 9.68 |
Kelvin Tatum | Coventry Bees | 9.49 |
Simon Cross | Cradley Heathens | 9.13 |
Jeremy Doncaster | Reading Racers | 8.61 |
Jimmy Nilsen | Swindon Robins | 8.41 |
Kelly Moran | Belle Vue Aces | 8.29 |
Team Line-Ups[]
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British League Knockout Cup[]
The 1989 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 51st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the fourth successive year if including the tied 1986 final.[4][5][6]
First Round[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
21/04 | Belle Vue | 57-33 | King's Lynn |
08/04 | King's Lynn | 38-52 | Belle Vue |
Quarter Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
26/06 | Reading | 51-39 | Belle Vue |
10/06 | Cradley Heath | 50-40 | Oxford |
09/06 | Belle Vue | 45.5-44.5 | Reading |
09/06 | Oxford | 45-45 | Cradley Heath |
13/05 | Coventry | 45-45 | Bradford |
06/05 | Bradford | 46-44 | Coventry |
22/04 | Swindon | 45-45 | Wolverhampton |
10/04 | Wolverhampton | 49-41 | Swindon |
Semi Finals[]
Date | Team One | Score | Team Two |
---|---|---|---|
26/08 | Bradford | 57-33 | Wolverhampton |
19/08 | Cradley Heath | 42-48 | Reading |
07/08 | Wolverhampton | 60-30 | Bradford |
31/07 | Reading | 40-50 | Cradley Heath |
Final[]
First leg[]
Wolverhampton Wolves Ronnie Correy 9 Robert Pfetzing 8 Andy Phillips 7 Graham Jones 7 Jan Stæchmann 3 Brian Karger (guest) 3 Neil Collins 3 | 41 - 49 | Cradley Heath Kelvin Tatum (guest) 13 Greg Hancock 11 Jimmy Nilsen (guest) 10 Gert Handberg 6 Alan Grahame 6 Simon Cross 2 1 |
---|---|---|
[7] |
Second leg[]
Cradley Heath Shawn Moran (guest) 14 Simon Cross 12 Kelvin Tatum (guest) 7 Gert Handberg 5 Greg Hancock 5 Alan Grahame 3 0 | 46 - 44 | Wolverhampton Wolves Jimmy Nilsen (guest) 10 Graham Jones 9 Andy Phillips 6 Robert Pfetzing 6 Ronnie Correy 5 Neil Collins 4 Jan Stæchmann 4 |
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[7] |
Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 95-85.
See also[]
- List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
- Knockout Cup (speedway)
References[]
- ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
- ^ "1990 league tables". Speedway GB.
- ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "1989 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
- ^ "Heathens scent cup glory". Sandwell Evening Mail. 17 October 1989. Retrieved 1 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Speedway". Sandwell Evening Mail. 27 October 1989. Retrieved 1 October 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Cradley Speedway 1989 season". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
- British League
- 1989 in British motorsport
- 1989 in speedway