1980 British League season

1980 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors17
ChampionsReading Racers
Knockout CupCradley Heath Heathens
IndividualLes Collins
Midland CupCradley Heathens
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1980 National League

The 1980 British League season was the 46th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 16th season known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary

The league comprised 17 teams - one fewer than the previous season. Exeter Falcons had dropped down to the National League. Hackney Hawks underwent a dramatic transformation from being the bottom side in 1979 to title contenders in 1980, but their challenge faded in the last few weeks and Reading Racers were crowned champions for the second time.[3][4]

Reading's success came down to three strong heat leaders, Swedish champion Jan Andersson, their new American signing Bobby Schwartz and England international John Davis. All three produced season averages around the 10 mark, which enabled the team to constantly pick up victories.[5] Cradley Heathens successfully retained their Knockout Cup crown overcoming a huge first leg deficit in the final.

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L Pts
1 Reading Racers 32 24 1 7 49
2 Hackney Hawks 32 23 0 9 46
3 Belle Vue Aces 32 21 1 10 43
4 Coventry Bees 32 20 2 10 42
5 Cradley Heath Heathens 32 20 0 12 40
6 Ipswich Witches 32 16 2 14 34
7 King's Lynn Stars 32 17 0 15 34
8 Swindon Robins 32 16 2 14 34
9 Poole Pirates 32 15 2 15 32
10 Halifax Dukes 32 15 1 16 31
11 Leicester Lions 32 14 0 18 28
12 Hull Vikings 32 11 5 16 27
13 Wimbledon Dons 32 12 2 18 26
14 Birmingham Brummies 32 11 1 20 23
15 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 9 2 21 20
16 Eastbourne Eagles 32 9 1 22 19
17 Sheffield Tigers 32 8 0 24 16

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.70
2 Hans Nielsen Denmark Wolverhampton 10.70
3 Dave Jessup England King's Lynn 10.52
4 Bo Petersen Denmark Hackney 10.46
5 Bruce Penhall United States Cradley 10.46
6 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.17
7 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.11
8 Jan Andersson Sweden Reading 10.08
9 Scott Autrey United States Swindon 9.97
10 Bobby Schwartz United States Reading 9.95

British League Knockout Cup

The 1980 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 42nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath were the winners.[6]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
06/05 Leicester 59-49 Poole
05/05 Poole 53-55 Leicester

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
17/07 Coventry 54-54 Birmingham
09/07 Cradley Heath 60-48 Kings Lynn
04/07 Wolverhampton 53-55 Sheffield
09/06 Birmingham 56-51 Coventry
06/06 Eastbourne 52.5-55.5 Swindon
05/06 Sheffield 56-52 Wolverhampton
03/06 Hull 67-41 Hackney
31/05 Belle Vue 60-48 Wimbledon
31/05 Halifax 57-50 Reading
31/05 Swindon 62-46 Eastbourne
30/05 Hackney 45-63 Hull
29/05 Wimbledon 57-51 Belle Vue
29/05 Ipswich 66-42 Leicester
27/05 Leicester 54-54 Ipswich
25/05 Kings Lynn 58-50 Cradley Heath
21/04 Reading 62-46 Halifax

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
03/09 Birmingham 76-30 Sheffield
23/08 Belle Vue 68-40 Hull
21/08 Cradley Heath 54-54 Reading
21/08 Sheffield 49-58 Birmingham
04/08 Reading 53-55 Cradley Heath
19/07 Swindon 63-45 Ipswich
17/07 Ipswich 55-53 Swindon
09/07 Hull 66-42 Belle Vue

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
01/10 Cradley Heath 67-41 Birmingham
24/09 Belle Vue 59-49 Swindon
15/09 Birmingham 56-52 Cradley Heath
30/08 Swindon 56-52 Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Chris Morton 14
Rob Maxfield 14
Peter Collins 13
Pekka Hautamaki 10
Louis Carr 5
Steve Wilcock 5
Dave Allen 4
Derek Richardson 2		67 - 41Cradley Heath
Phil Collins 13
Alan Grahame 13
Erik Gundersen 7
Ila Teromaa 6
John Hack 1
Steve Lawson 1
Craig Featherby 0
Bruce Penhall R/R

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Bruce Penhall 15
Erik Gundersen 13
Phil Collins 12
Alan Grahame 11
Andy Reid 9
Ila Teromaa 8
Steve Lawson 5
Craig Featherby 5		75 - 33Belle Vue Aces
Pekka Hautamaki 10
Louis Carr 10
Tony Boyle 6
John Williams 4
Chris Morton 2 (inj)
Peter Collins 1 (inj)
Dave Allen 0
Mark Lohmann R/R

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 116-100.

Riders' Championship

Les Collins won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 18 October and sponsored by Gauntlet (Leyland Used Cars).[7]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 England Les Collins 3 3 3 3 2 14
2 United States Bruce Penhall 1 2 3 3 3 12
3 New Zealand Larry Ross 3 3 1 2 2 11
4 Sweden Jan Andersson 2 1 3 3 1 10
5 England Peter Collins 2 1 2 2 3 10
6 Denmark Hans Nielsen 3 2 2 1 2 10
7 England Kenny Carter 3 3 0 0 3 9
8 United States Scott Autrey 2 2 1 0 3 8
9 Denmark Ole Olsen 2 3 1 1 0 7
10 United States Dennis Sigalos 0 0 2 2 2 6
11 England Steve Bastable 0 1 1 2 1 5
12 England John Louis 1 1 3 0 0 5
13 Denmark Bo Petersen 0 0 0 3 1 4
14 England Michael Lee 1 2 0 - - 3
15 England Malcolm Simmons 1 0 2 0 0 3
16 England Bernie Collier (res) 1 1 - - - 2
17 England Gordon Kennett 0 0 0 1 - 1
18 England Mike Wilding (res) 0 - - - - 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages

Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Hans Nielsen Denmark Wolverhampton 10.69
2 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.67
=3 Dave Jessup England King's Lynn 10.39
=3 Bruce Penhall United States Cradley 10.39
5 Bo Petersen Denmark Hackney 10.27
6 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.14
7 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.09
8 Jan Andersson Sweden Reading 10.04
9 Bobby Schwartz United States Reading 10.00
10 Scott Autrey United States Swindon 9.92

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup, sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank. The competition consisted of six teams.[8]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Swindon Wolverhampton 43–35, 39–39
Cradley Birmingham 51–27, 48–30

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Swindon Coventry 41–37, 36–42
Leicester Cradley 35–43, 30–48

Final

First leg

Coventry
Ole Olsen 13
Tommy Knudsen 8
Mitch Shirra 7
Alf Busk 5
Rob Henry 3
Alan Molyneux 1
Kevin Hawkins 1		38–40Cradley Heath
Bruce Penhall 12
Alan Grahame 7
Phil Collins 6
Ila Teromaa 6
Erik Gundersen 6
John Hack 2
Andy Reid 1

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Phil Collins 12
Erik Gundersen 11
Bobby Schwartz (guest) 10
Alan Grahame 9
Steve Lawson 4
Ila Teromaa 2
John Hack 0		48–30Coventry
Mitch Shirra 9
Ole Olsen 8
Kevin Hawkins 5
Tommy Knudsen 4
Alf Busk 2
Rob Hollingworth 2
Alan Molyneux 0

Cradley Heath won on aggregate 88–68

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.[9]

Results

Team Score Team
Wimbledon 43–35 Hackney
Hackney 42–36 Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 80. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. ^ "1979 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ "1980 league tables". Speedway GB.
  5. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  6. ^ "1980 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  7. ^ "Speedway". The People. 21 October 1979. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Schwartz is a cup hit for Cradley". Sandwell Evening Mail. 10 October 1980. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "1980 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.