1968 British League season

1968 British League season
LeagueBritish League
Season1968
No. of competitors19
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Knockout CupWimbledon Dons
IndividualBarry Briggs
London CupWimbledon Dons
Midland CupSwindon Robins
Highest averageIvan Mauger
Division/s belowBritish League (Div 2)

The 1968 British League season was the 34th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the fourth season known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary

Edinburgh relocated to become the Coatbridge Monarchs. The Long Eaton team closed its doors, but a new team in Leicester returned to speedway to join the League. Long Eaton promoters Ron Wilson and Reg Fearman moved the speedway licence to Leicester Stadium because of concerns over increased stock car events damaging the Long Eaton Stadium speedway track.[3][4]

Coventry Bees secured their first title on points difference and after they scored points in the last heat of their last match away at King's Lynn. The title win came after two consecutive years as being runner-up. Coventry's Nigel Boocock was again one of the league's leading riders with his average going well above ten for the fifth consecutive year. He was well supported by Ron Mountford and Czechoslovakian star Antonín Kasper Sr.[5] Wimbledon Dons who could only manage a mid table finish went on to win the British League Knockout Cup.[6]

Fixtures & results

Home \ Away BV CM COV CH EX GLA HAC HAL KL LE ND NW OX PP SHE SWI WH WIM WOL
Belle Vue Aces 41–37 55–23 47–31 34–44 50–28 45–33 49–29 40–38 40–38 41–37 51–27 52–26 45–33 37–41 55–23 44–34 52–26 41–37
Coatbridge Monarchs 41–36 38–40 51–27 39–39 48–30 53–25 52–26 49–29 43–35 46–32 48–30 54–24 44–34 42–36 43–35 48–30 46–32 53–23
Coventry Bees 37–41 47–31 53–25 43–35 48–30 41–36 46–32 47–31 45–33 43–35 46–32 56–22 49–29 44–34 43–35 42–36 50–28 45–33
Cradley Heathens 45–33 54–24 37–41 42–36 53–25 46–32 37–41 46–32 36–42 38–40 42–36 50–28 43–35 42–35 39–39 40–38 44–34 49–29
Exeter Falcons 46–31 53–25 51–27 53–25 50–28 51–27 58–19 59–19 56–22 47–31 53–25 50–28 52–26 50–28 49–29 41–37 49–29 51–27
Glasgow Tigers 44–34 38–40 47–31 39–39 36–42 36–42 34–44 44–34 47–31 41–37 55–23 49–29 46–32 38–40 43–35 31–47 40–38 49–29
Hackney Hawks 48–30 40–36 42–36 43–35 43–35 47–31 46–32 41–37 43–35 42–36 48–30 46–32 47–31 42–35 47–31 42–36 52–26 42–36
Halifax Dukes 52–26 51–27 42–36 56–22 43–35 50–27 54–24 44–34 47–31 40–38 47–31 52–26 42–36 39–39 45–33 43–35 50–28 49–29
King's Lynn Stars 41–37 50–28 37–41 39–39 45–33 36–42 36–42 43–35 41–37 41–37 40–38 48–30 50–28 49–29 42–36 38–40 47–26 40–38
Leicester Lions 44–34 40–38 37–41 50–27 40–38 43–35 39–39 41–37 48–30 44–34 51–27 44–34 41–37 39–37 45–33 41–37 43–35 40–38
Newcastle Diamonds 59–19 48–30 52–26 40–38 50–28 45–33 46–32 50–28 40–38 40–38 53–25 41–37 43–35 46–32 46–32 49–29 49–28 40–38
Newport Wasps 46–32 43–35 42–36 47–31 41–37 49–29 46–32 45–33 42–36 44–33 51–27 53–25 48–29 49–29 47–31 39–39 46–32 45–33
Oxford Cheetahs 43–35 43–35 41–37 30–47 43–35 42–36 45–33 51–26 43–35 43–35 41–37 54–24 42–36 42–36 38–40 46–32 43–35 44–34
Poole Pirates 36–42 38–40 43–35 39–39 40–38 45–33 39–39 42–36 45–33 43–35 44–34 43–35 49–29 43–35 38–40 41–37 45–32 42–36
Sheffield Tigers 54–24 46–32 51–27 53–25 44.5–33.5 51–27 43–35 42–36 51–27 45–33 50–27 51–27 49–29 51–27 50–28 41–37 50–28 44–34
Swindon Robins 56–22 57–20 43–34 36–42 50–28 61–17 36–42 48–30 51–27 43–35 38–39 54–24 45–33 53–24 47–31 36–42 39–38 46–32
West Ham Hammers 41–36 43–35 46–32 39–38 48–30 36–42 41–37 42–35 48–30 50–28 44–34 50–28 41–37 45–33 48–29 37–40 43–35 52–25
Wimbledon Dons 54–24 51–26 54–24 42–36 50–28 49–29 46–32 42–35 49–29 47–31 46–31 49–29 37–41 41–37 55–22 43–34 41–37 41–37
Wolverhampton Wolves 45–32 51–27 33–44 45–33 43–35 45–33 40–38 54–24 50–28 46–31 47–31 43–34 43–35 48–30 49–29 43–35 41–37 34–44
Source: [7]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final table

M W D L F A Pts
1 Coventry Bees 36 22 0 14 1436 1369 44
2 Hackney Hawks 36 21 2 13 1421 1383 44
3 Exeter Falcons 36 20 1 15 1556.5 1248.5 41
4 Sheffield Tigers 36 20 1 15 1463.5 1337.5 41
5 Newcastle Diamonds 36 20 0 16 1454 1350 40
6 West Ham Hammers 36 19 1 16 1454 1348 39
7 Halifax Dukes 36 19 1 16 1424 1379 39
8 Coatbridge Monarchs 36 18 1 17 1404 1397 37
9 Wimbledon Dons 36 18 0 18 1411 1384 36
10 Belle Vue Aces 36 18 0 18 1387 1417 36
11 Swindon Robins 36 17 1 18 1448 1353 35
12 Leicester Lions 36 17 1 18 1373 1430 35
13 Newport Wasps 36 17 1 18 1348 1457 35
14 Cradley Heath Heathens 36 15 4 17 1373 1430 34
15 Oxford Cheetahs 36 17 0 19 1319 1487 34
16 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 16 0 20 1388 1413 32
17 Poole Pirates 36 13 2 21 1327 1478 28
18 King's Lynn Stars 36 13 1 22 1330 1473 27
19 Glasgow Tigers 36 13 1 22 1312 1495 27

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Newcastle 11.40
2 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon 10.88
3 Nigel Boocock England Coventry 10.79
4 Martin Ashby England Exeter 10.68
5 Charlie Monk Australia Sheffield 10.14
6 Eric Boocock England Halifax 10.13
7 Anders Michanek Sweden Leicester 10.07
8 Norman Hunter England West Ham 9.94
9 Sverre Harrfeldt Norway West Ham 9.88
10 Torbjörn Harrysson Sweden Newport 9.82

British League Knockout Cup

The 1968 British League Knockout Cup was the 30th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Wimbledon were the winners.[8]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
27/04 Coatbridge 66-42 Glasgow
27/04 Halifax 57-51 Exeter
16/04 West Ham 55-52 Hackney

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
01/06 Belle Vue 64-44 West Ham
14/05 Leicester 52-56 Coventry
20/05 Newcastle 77-30 Coatbridge
23/05 Sheffield 71-37 Cradley Heath
25/05 Swindon 58-50 Oxford
23/05 Wimbledon 60-48 Kings Lynn
22/05 Poole 56-52 Newport
17/05 Wolverhampton 60-47 Halifax

Third round

Date Team one Score Team two
17/08 Belle Vue 65-42 Sheffield
26/07 Poole 54-54 Swindon
27/06 Wimbledon 64-44 Newcastle
28/06 Wolverhampton 58-50 Coventry
23/08
replay		 Swindon 60-47 Poole

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
20/09 Wolverhampton 67-40 Belle Vue
12/09 Wimbledon 80-28 Swindon

Final

First leg

Wolverhampton Wolves
Hasse Holmqvist 15
Jim Airey 14
Peter Vandenberg 8
James Bond 6
Dave Hemus 6
Doug White 3
Mick Handley 1
Pete Jarman 0		53 - 55Wimbledon Dons
Olle Nygren 14
Trevor Hedge 12
Reg Luckhurst 10
Bob Dugard 9
Alan Cowland 4
Jim Tebby 3
Peter Murray 3
Garry Middleton 0
[9]

Second leg

Wimbledon Dons
Trevor Hedge 17
Olle Nygren 14
Reg Luckhurst 12
Garry Middleton 8
Alan Cowland 6
Bob Dugard 2
Jim Tebby 2
Peter Murray 2		63 - 45Wolverhampton Wolves
Hasse Holmqvist 12
James Bond 10
Peter Vandenberg 8
Jim Airey 7
Mick Handley 5
Pete Jarman 3
Dave Hemus 0
Doug White 0
[9]

Wimbledon Dons were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 118-98.

Riders' Championship

Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the fourth consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 19 October. Briggs defeated Boocock in a run off for the title.[10]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 New Zealand Barry Briggs 3 3 3 2 3 14
2 England Nigel Boocock 3 3 3 3 2 14
3 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 2 3 3 3 2 13
4 Sweden Torbjörn Harrysson 3 2 3 3 f 11
5 England Martin Ashby 3 2 2 1 3 11
6 England Terry Betts 1 2 1 3 1 8
7 Sweden Sören Sjösten 2 r 2 1 3 8
8 Sweden Anders Michanek 0 3 1 2 2 8
9 Sweden Hasse Holmqvist 2 1 1 2 1 7
10 Sweden Bernt Persson 1 1 2 2 1 7
11 Australia Charlie Monk 2 2 0 0 1 5
12 England Norman Hunter 1 1 ef 0 3 5
13 England Nigel Boocock ef 0 2 1 2 5
14 Sweden Olle Nygren 0 1 ef 1 0 2
15 England Colin Pratt 1 ef 1 0 0 2
16 England Roy Trigg ef ns 0 0 0 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, exc=excluded

Final leading averages

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Newcastle 11.37
2 Barry Briggs New Zealand Swindon 10.87
3 Nigel Boocock England Coventry 10.74
4 Martin Ashby England Exeter 10.72
5 Anders Michanek Sweden Leicester 10.19
6 Eric Boocock England Halifax 10.17
7 Charlie Monk Australia Sheffield 10.07
8 Sverre Harrfeldt Norway West Ham 9.78
9 Torbjörn Harrysson Sweden Newport 9.82
10 Norman Hunter England West Ham 9.71
11 Ron Mountford England Coventry 9.62
12 Hasse Holmqvist Sweden Wolverhampton 9.58
13 Colin Pratt England Hackney 9.58
14 Terry Betts England King's Lynn 9.45
15 Malcolm Simmons England King's Lynn 9.40
16 Ole Olsen Denmark Newcastle 9.39
17 Ray Wilson England Leicester 9.37
18 Olle Nygren England Wimbledon 9.39
19 Bernt Persson Sweden Edinburgh 9.28
20 Jim Airey Australia Wolverhampton 9.24

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup.[11]

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 Wimbledon Dons 4 3 0 1 233 198 6
2 West Ham Hammers 4 2 1 1 225 207 5
3 Hackney Hawks 4 0 1 3 189 242 1

Results

Team Score Team
West Ham 59–49 Hackney
Wimbledon 56–22 West Ham
West Ham 60–48 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 63–44 Hackney
Hackney 42–66 Wimbledon
Hackney 54–54 West Ham

Midland Cup

Swindon won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive season. The competition consisted of six teams.[12]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Oxford Wolverhampton 42–36, 41–37
Leicester Cradley 45–32, 41–37

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Leicester Cradley 45–32, 36–42
Swindon Oxford 46–32, 39–38

Final

First leg

Swindon
Barry Briggs 11
Bob Kilby 10
Clive Hitch 6
Pete Munday 5
Frank Shuter 5
Mike Keen 5
Mike Broadbank 0		42–35Leicester
Anders Michanek 10
John Boulger 9
Ray Wilson 9
John Hart 5
Graham Plant 2
George Major 0
Norman Storer 0

Second leg

Leicester
Ray Wilson 12
Anders Michanek 10
Norman Storer 6
John Boulger 6
John Hart 3
Graham Plant 3
George Major 2		42–36Swindon
Barry Briggs 9
Frank Shuter 7
Clive Hitch 6
Mike Broadbank 6
Mike Keen 3
Bob Kilby 3
Pete Munday 2

Swindon won on aggregate 78–77

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coatbridge

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Halifax

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newcastle'

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Sheffield

Swindon

West Ham

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. ^ "Speedway at Long Eaton in danger". Nottingham Evening Post. 21 February 1968. Retrieved 22 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
  5. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Season 1968" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  7. ^ "1968 fixtures & results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  8. ^ "1968 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  9. ^ a b "Season 1968" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Briggs foils Boocock bid". Derby Daily Telegraph. 21 October 1968. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Wimbledon 1968" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Lions Lode By Point On Aggregate". Leicester Daily Mercury. 16 October 1968. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.