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1978 British League season

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1978 British League season
LeagueBritish League
No. of competitors19
ChampionsCoventry Bees
Knockout CupIpswich Witches
IndividualOle Olsen
PairsCradley Heath &
Coventry Bees
Midland CupCoventry Bees
London CupWimbledon Dons
Highest averageMalcolm Simmons
Division/s below1978 National League

The 1978 Gulf British League season was the 44th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 14th season known as the British League.[1]

Summary

[edit]

The list of nineteen teams that competed in the league was identical to the previous season. The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a fourth season.[2]

Coventry Bees won their second title and their first for ten years. Belle Vue Aces were runners-up for the fourth time in five seasons and would receive a double blow when losing in the final of the Knockout Cup. Two time world champion Ole Olsen was in sensational form for Coventry and made the difference throughout the season. Olsen would also seal his third world individual crown by the end of the season. The Coventry side consisted of an array of overseas riders including Olsen and fellow Dane Alf Busk, New Zealander Mitch Shirra, Australian Gary Guglielmi and Jiří Štancl from Czechoslovakia.[3]

League table

[edit]
Pos Team M W D L Pts
1 Coventry Bees 36 27 0 9 54
2 Belle Vue Aces 36 26 0 10 52
3 Hull Vikings 36 22 2 12 46
4 Wimbledon Dons 36 22 1 13 45
5 Cradley Heathens 36 21 1 14 43
6 Ipswich Witches 36 21 1 14 43
7 Exeter Falcons 36 20 1 15 41
8 Sheffield Tigers 36 19 2 15 40
9 Bristol Bulldogs 36 19 0 17 38
10 Poole Pirates 36 17 3 16 37
11 Leicester Lions 36 17 0 19 34
12 Halifax Dukes 36 14 3 19 31
13 King's Lynn Stars 36 14 2 20 30
14 Reading Racers 36 13 3 20 29
15 White City Rebels 36 12 3 21 27
16 Swindon Robins 36 12 3 21 27
17 Wolverhampton Wolves 36 11 1 24 23
18 Birmingham Brummies 36 11 1 24 23
19 Hackney Hawks 36 10 1 25 21

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

[edit]
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Malcolm Simmons England Poole 10.78
2 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry 10.71
3 Scott Autrey United States Exeter 10.45
4 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.44
5 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.40
6 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.31
7 Dave Jessup England Reading 10.24
8 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich 10.23
9 Phil Crump Australia Bristol 9.99
10 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Hull 9.91

British League Knockout Cup

[edit]

The 1978 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 40th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Ipswich Witches were the winners.[4]

First round

Date Team one Score Team two
29/04 Kings Lynn 40-38 Hull
26/04 Hull 39-39 Kings Lynn
10/04 Exeter 44-34 Coventry
08/04 Coventry 44-34 Exeter
17/04 Birmingham 37-41 Poole
12/04 Poole 48-30 Birmingham
15/06 Coventry 37.5-40.5 Exeter
01/06 Exeter 48-30 Coventry

Second round

Date Team one Score Team two
19/07 Poole 49-29 Swindon
15/07 Swindon 37-41 Poole
09/06 Hackney 51-26 Kings Lynn
03/06 Kings Lynn 31-46 Hackney
06/07 Sheffield 45-33 Exeter
Exeter 52-26 Sheffield
10/06 Swindon 36-42 Poole
21/06 Poole 36-42 Swindon
03/06 Belle Vue 44-34 Wimbledon
08/06 Wimbledon 41-37 Belle Vue
23/06 Bristol 35-43 Leicester
06/06 Leicester 39-39 Bristol
10/06 Cradley Heath 38-40 Reading
05/06 Reading 37-41 Cradley Heath
13/06 White City 52-26 Halifax
10/06 Halifax 43-34 White City
09/06 Wolverhampton 40-38 Ipswich
08/06 Ipswich 43-34 Wolverhampton

Quarter-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
09/08 White City 23-54 Ipswich
05/08 Belle Vue 44-34 Poole
04/08 Poole 34-43 Belle Vue
29/07 Cradley Heath 48-30 Leicester
27/07 Ipswich 52-26 White City
21/07 Hackney 34-44 Exeter
11/07 Leicester 39-39 Cradley Heath
17/07 Exeter 58-20 Hackney

Semi-finals

Date Team one Score Team two
14/09 Ipswich 44-34 Cradley Heath
13/09 Cradley Heath 40-38 Ipswich
26/08 Belle Vue 57-21 Exeter
25/08 Exeter 51-27 Belle Vue

Final

[edit]

First leg

Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 15
Chris Morton 14
Les Collins 5
Chris Turner 2
Steve Finch 1
Jim Brett 1
Uno Johansson 1		39 - 39Ipswich Witches
Mike Lanham 9
John Louis 8
Tony Davey 7
Colin Cook 6
Kevin Jolly 5
Billy Sanders 4
Tim Hunt 0

Second leg

Ipswich Witches
Georg Hack 10
Billy Sanders 9
John Louis 9
Tony Davey 9
Mike Lanham 7
Kevin Jolly 6
Colin Cook 4		53 - 25Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 10
Chris Morton 8
Les Collins 4
Chris Turner 1
Eric Dugard (guest) 1
Derek Richardson 1
Uno Johansson 0

Ipswich were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 92-64.

Riders' Championship

[edit]

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the fourth time (and third in a row), it was held at Hyde Road on 21 October and sponsored by British Leyland Cars.[5]

Pos. Rider Heat Scores Total
1 Denmark Ole Olsen 1 3 3 3 3 13
2 England Peter Collins 2 2 3 3 2 12+3
3 England Steve Bastable 3 2 3 3 1 12+2
4 New Zealand Larry Ross 1 3 3 1 3 11
5 United States Scott Autrey 2 3 2 2 1 10
6 England Malcolm Simmons 3 3 0 1 3 10
7 Australia Billy Sanders 2 1 1 2 3 9
8 Australia John Titman 3 1 2 3 0 9
9 England Ian Cartright 0 2 1 2 2 7
10 Australia Phil Crump 0 2 2 1 2 7
11 England Doug Wyer 3 0 1 1 2 7
12 New Zealand Ivan Mauger 2 1 0 2 EF 5
13 Australia Phil Herne 0 0 2 R 1 3
14 England Andy Heyes (res) 0 1 F R 0 1 0 2
15 England Michael Lee 1 R - - - 1
16 Denmark Hans Nielsen FX 1 0 0 - 1
17 England Dave Jessup R - - - - 0
  • ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Pairs

[edit]

The British League Pairs Championship sponsored by Gauloises, was held at Foxhall Stadium on 12 October and was jointly won by Cradley Heath Heathens and Coventry Bees. The meeting was abandoned after 14 heats due to fog but the result stood.[6][7]

Pos Team Pts Riders
1 Cradley Heath 18 Steve Bastable 10, Bruce Penhall 8
1 Coventry 18 Ole Olsen 10, Mitch Shirra 8
3 Belle Vue 12 Peter Collins 10, Chris Morton 2
4 Ipswich 11 Billy Sanders 8, Tony Davey 3
5 Exeter 10 Scott Autrey 5, Reidar Eide 5
6 Reading 8 Dave Jessup 5, John Davis 3
7 King's Lynn 7 Terry Betts 4, Michael Lee 3

Leading final averages

[edit]
Rider Nat Team C.M.A.
1 Malcolm Simmons England Poole 10.77
2 Ole Olsen Denmark Coventry 10.56
3 Peter Collins England Belle Vue 10.41
4 Scott Autrey United States Exeter 10.40
5 Michael Lee England King's Lynn 10.23
6 Dave Jessup England Reading 10.20
7 Chris Morton England Belle Vue 10.11
8 Billy Sanders Australia Ipswich 9.94
9 Phil Crump Australia Bristol 9.92
10 Ivan Mauger New Zealand Hull 9.77

Midland Cup

[edit]

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the third consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams.[8]

First round

Team one Team two Score
Swindon Leicester 16–26, 27–51
Wolverhampton Birmimgham 38–40, 47–30

Semi final round

Team one Team two Score
Cradley Leicester 44–34, 26–52
Wolverhampton Coventry 36–42, 36–42

Final

[edit]

First leg

Leicester
John Boulger 10
John Titman 9
Ila Teromaa 9
John McNeill 5
Jerzy Rembas 2
Tom Godal 2
Chris Sully 0		37–41Coventry
Mitch Shirra 10
Ole Olsen 9
Mick Bell 6
Gary Guglielmi 6
Alf Buck 4
Martin Yeates (guest) 4
Alan Molyneux 2

Second leg

Coventry
Ole Olsen 12
Mitch Shirra 12
Jiri Stancl 9
Alan Molyneux 8
Alf Buck 5
Mick Bell 5
Stuart Cope 1		52–26Leicester
John Titman 7
Jerzy Rembas 7
John Boulger 5
John McNeill 4
Tom Godal 2
Chris Sully 1
Ila Teromaa r/r

Coventry won on aggregate 93–63

London Cup

[edit]

Wimbledon won the London Cup but White City did not compete and therefore the competition consisted of just two teams.[9]

Results

Team Score Team
Hackney 39–38 Wimbledon
Wimbledon 55–23 Hackney

Riders & final averages

[edit]

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Bristol

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

White City

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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. ^ "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. ^ "1978 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. ^ "Immaculate Olsen roars to title". Sandwell Evening Mail. 23 October 1978. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Sport in Brief". Birmingham Daily Post. 30 September 1977. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "1978 Complete season records" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Bees live up to double glory". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 16 October 1978. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "1978 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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