1990 British League season

1990 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors9
ChampionsReading Racers
Knockout CupReading Racers
IndividualHans Nielsen
Highest averageHans Nielsen
Division/s below1990 National League

The 1990 British League season was the 56th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 26th known as the British League.[1][2]

Summary

Reading Racers won the league for the first time since 1980. The domination of speedway in recent years by Oxford Cheetahs, Coventry Bees and Cradley Heathens had come to an end. The Reading team was an extremely strong all round squad, highlighted by the fact that Per Jonsson who finished third in the Reading averages would become World Champion by the end of the season. Veteran English international Jeremy Doncaster and their new Australian signing Todd Wiltshire topped the Reading averages and they were supported by fans favourite Jan Andersson, Dave Mullett and Tony Olsson. The team went on to complete the league and cup double after beating Bradford in the cup final.[3] Hans Nielsen of Oxford topped the averages for an incredible eighth season running and also won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time.

Final table

Pos Team PL W D L BP Pts
1 Reading Racers 32 19 3 10 13 54
2 Wolverhampton Wolves 32 17 5 10 10 49
3 Belle Vue Aces 32 19 2 11 7 47
4 Oxford Cheetahs 32 17 2 13 10 46
5 Bradford Dukes 32 16 1 15 8 41
6 Swindon Robins 32 15 2 15 8 41
7 Cradley Heath Heathens 32 12 1 19 7 32
8 Coventry Bees 32 10 3 19 7 30
9 King's Lynn Stars 32 7 5 20 2 21

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

British League Knockout Cup

The 1990 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 52nd edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Reading Racers were the winners.[4]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
04/04 Coventry 45-45 Oxford
18/05 Oxford 44-46 Coventry

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
21/07 Coventry 37-53 Swindon
11/07 Cradley Heath 45-45 Bradford
14/07 Bradford 54-36 Cradley Heath
07/07 Swindon 56-34 Coventry
15/06 Belle Vue 61-29 Wolverhampton
21/05 Wolverhampton 34-56 Belle Vue
23/04 Reading 54-36 King's Lynn
21/04 King's Lynn 47-42 Reading

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
20/09 Swindon 50-40 Bradford
13/09 Bradford 51-39 Swindon
27/07 Belle Vue 57-33 Reading
16/07 Reading 53-36 Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Reading Racers
Todd Wiltshire 15
Per Jonsson 12
Jan Andersson 6
Jeremy Doncaster 6
Armando Castagna 5
Dave Mullett 5
David Steen 2		51 - 39Bradford Dukes
Marvyn Cox 11
Gary Havelock 11
Glenn Doyle 10
Paul Thorp 3
Andy Smith 2
Neil Evitts 1
Bryan Larner 1
[5]

Second leg

Bradford Dukes
Gary Havelock 11
Marvyn Cox 9
Paul Thorp 7
Andy Smith 7
Neil Evitts 5
Bryan Larner 2
Stuart Parnaby 2
Glenn Doyle 0 (inj)		43 - 47Reading Racers
Todd Wiltshire 13
Dave Mullett 12
Jeremy Doncaster 6
Armando Castagna 6
Jan Andersson 5
Per Jonsson 4
David Steen 2
[6]

Reading Racers were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98-82.

Riders' Championship

Hans Nielsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 14 October.[7]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Denmark Hans Nielsen 3 3 3 3 3 15
2 United States Kelly Moran 2 3 2 3 2 12+3
3 United States Ronnie Correy 3 2 3 2 2 12+2
4 England Marvyn Cox 1 3 3 2 3 12+1
5 United States Sam Ermolenko 0 3 2 3 3 11
6 England Andrew Silver 2 2 0 1 3 8
7 Denmark John Jørgensen 3 1 1 3 0 8
8 England Jeremy Doncaster 1 1 3 2 1 8
9 United States Shawn Moran 3 2 2 0 0 7
10 England Gary Havelock 2 1 1 1 2 7
11 England Mark Loram 2 1 1 1 1 6
12 Australia Todd Wiltshire 0 2 2 0 1 5
13 Sweden Jimmy Nilsen 1 0 0 0 2 3
14 England Kelvin Tatum 1 0 1 1 0 3
15 United States Bobby Ott 2 2
16 United States Greg Hancock 0 0 0 0 1 1
17 England Martin Dugard 0 0 0 0
18 England Richard Musson 0 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Final leading averages

Rider Team Average
Denmark Hans Nielsen Oxford 10.36
Denmark Jan O. Pedersen Cradley Heath 9.37
England Jeremy Doncaster Reading 9.09
England Kelvin Tatum Coventry 8.93
United States Sam Ermolenko Wolverhampton 8.87
United States Ronnie Correy Wolverhampton 8.85
Australia Todd Wiltshire Reading 8.77
England Simon Cross Cradley Heath 8.73
England Marvyn Cox Bradford 8.63
Sweden Jimmy Nilsen Swindon 8.57

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Bradford

Coventry

Cradley Heath

King's Lynn

Oxford

Reading

Swindon

Wolverhampton

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. ^ "1990 league tables". Speedway GB.
  4. ^ "1990 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ "Racers made to Sweat". Reading Evening Post. 9 October 1990. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Mullett hero of Odsal victory". Reading Evening Post. 15 October 1990. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Speedway". Birmingham Mail. 15 October 1990. Retrieved 5 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.