League | British League |
---|---|
Season | 1966 |
No. of competitors | 19 |
Champions | Halifax Dukes |
Knockout Cup | Halifax Dukes |
Individual | Barry Briggs |
London Cup | West Ham Hammers |
Midland Cup | Coventry Bees |
Northern Cup | Halifax Dukes |
Highest average | Barry Briggs |
The 1966 British League season was the 32nd season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the second season known as the British League. [1] Halifax Dukes won the league and then secured the league and cup double. [2]
The League expanded to 19, with a new team, the King's Lynn Stars. [3] Halifax Dukes won the league after 36 games and finished three points clear of Coventry Bees. The Halifax team success was due to the consistency of their riders, in particular Eric Boocock, Eric Boothroyd, Dave Younghusband and Tommy Roper who all scored heavily throughout the season. Halifax also completed the double winning the British League Knockout Cup. In the final, they easily beat Wimbledon Dons. [4]
The four times world champion Barry Briggs topped the averages for Swindon Robins during the same season in which he sealed his fourth world title. The dangers of speedway were highlighted once again however when Welshman Ivor Hughes was killed during the league match riding for Cradley Heath Heathens against Sheffield Tigers on 20 August. [5]
Coventry won the Midland Cup, West Ham the London Cup and Halifax Dukes the Northern Cup. [6] [7]
M | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Halifax Dukes | 36 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 1574 | 1229 | 54 |
2 | Coventry Bees | 36 | 25 | 1 | 10 | 1548 | 1255 | 51 |
3 | Swindon Robins | 36 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 1553 | 1248 | 46 |
4 | Wimbledon Dons | 36 | 22 | 0 | 14 | 1485 | 1314 | 44 |
5 | Newcastle Diamonds | 36 | 20 | 0 | 16 | 1491.5 | 1304.5 | 40 |
6 | Poole Pirates | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 1443 | 1356 | 40 |
7 | West Ham Hammers | 36 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 1499.5 | 1304.5 | 39 |
8 | Glasgow Tigers | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 1395 | 1394 | 36 |
9 | Wolverhampton Wolves | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 1340.5 | 1461.5 | 36 |
10 | Exeter Falcons | 36 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 1392.5 | 1403.5 | 35 |
11 | Sheffield Tigers | 36 | 17 | 0 | 19 | 1410 | 1394 | 34 |
12 | Edinburgh Monarchs | 35 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 1310.5 | 1413.5 | 34 |
13 | Belle Vue Aces | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 1362 | 1443 | 32 |
14 | Hackney Hawks | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 1347.5 | 1456.5 | 31 |
15 | Oxford Cheetahs | 36 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 1291 | 1510 | 30 |
16 | King's Lynn Stars | 36 | 15 | 0 | 21 | 1275 | 1524 | 30 |
17 | Newport Wasps | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 1319 | 1486 | 25 |
18 | Long Eaton Archers | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 1286 | 1516 | 25 |
19 | Cradley Heath Heathens | 35 | 10 | 0 | 25 | 1196 | 1506 | 20 |
M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barry Briggs | ![]() | Swindon | 11.08 |
2 | Nigel Boocock | ![]() | Coventry | 10.67 |
3 | Gote Nordin | ![]() | Newport | 10.53 |
4 | Eric Boocock | ![]() | Halifax | 10.41 |
5 | Olle Nygren | ![]() | Wimbledon | 10.32 |
6 | Colin Pratt | ![]() | Hackney | 9.93 |
7 | Ken McKinlay | ![]() | West Ham | 9.78 |
8 | Mike Broadbank | ![]() | Swindon | 9.77 |
9 | Sverre Harrfeldt | ![]() | West Ham | 9.76 |
10 | Trevor Hedge | ![]() | Wimbledon | 9.64 |
Halifax Dukes won the Knockout Cup and therefore secured the league and cup double. [9]
Barry Briggs won the British League Riders' Championship for the second consecutive year, held at Hyde Road on 22 October. [10]
Pos. | Rider | Heat Scores | Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 3 3 3 3 3 | 15 |
2 | ![]() | 2 3 3 3 3 | 14 |
3 | ![]() | 3 2 3 2 2 | 12 |
4 | ![]() | 3 2 0 3 3 | 11 |
5 | ![]() | 3 3 2 2 exc | 10 |
6 | ![]() | 1 3 1 3 - | 8 |
7 | ![]() | 0 1 1 2 3 | 7 |
8 | ![]() | 0 ef 3 1 2 | 6 |
9 | ![]() | 1 1 2 1 1 | 6 |
10 | ![]() | 1 1 ef 1 2 | 5 |
11 | ![]() | 2 1 2 ef ef | 5 |
12 | ![]() | 2 F 2 1 ef | 5 |
13 | ![]() | 0 2 1 2 ef | 5 |
14 | ![]() | 2 0 ef 0 2 | 4 |
15 | ![]() | 1 2 ef ef ef | 3 |
16 | ![]() | 0 0 1 0 1 | 2 |
West Ham successfully defended their London Cup title but once again there were just three teams competing. [11]
Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | West Ham Hammers | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 216 | 168 | 6 |
2 | Wimbledon Dons | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 192.5 | 191.5 | 6 |
3 | Hackney Hawks | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 167.5 | 216.5 | 0 |
Coventry won the Midland Cup, which consisted of six teams. [13]
Midland Cup (group 1)
| Midland Cup (group 2)
|
Final
First leg
Wolverhampton Peter Vandenberg 10 Gordon Guasco 9 Cyril Francis 7 Brian Maxted 6 Alan Cowland 5 Dave Hemus 2 Pete Jarman 1 | 39–39 | Coventry Nigel Boocock 14 Rick France 13 Col Cottrell 5 Jim Lightfoot 5 Roger Hill 1 Chris Harrison 1 Tom Ridley 0 Ron Mountford r/r |
---|---|---|
Second leg
Coventry Col Cottrell 12 Jim Lightfoot 12 Rick France 9 Nigel Boocock 8 Les Owen 6 Roger Hill 2 Chris Harrison 0 Ron Mountford r/r | 49–29 | Wolverhampton Gordon Guasco 8 Brian Maxted 6 Peter Vandenberg 5 Dave Hemus 4 Cyril Francis 4 Alan Cowland 2 Pete Jarman 0 |
---|---|---|
Coventry won on aggregate 88–68
M | W | L | Pts | BP | Total | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Halifax | 10 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 12 |
2 | Sheffield | 10 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
3 | Newcastle | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3.5 | 8.5 |
4 | Glasgow | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
5 | Edinburgh | 9 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
5 | Middlesbrough | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
Rider | Nat | Team | C.M.A. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barry Briggs | ![]() | Swindon | 11.12 |
2 | Nigel Boocock | ![]() | Coventry | 10.54 |
3 | Eric Boocock | ![]() | Halifax | 10.46 |
4 | Göte Nordin | ![]() | Newport | 10.44 |
5 | Olle Nygren | ![]() | Wimbledon | 10.40 |
6 | Colin Pratt | ![]() | Hackney | 10.00 |
7 | Sverre Harrfeldt | ![]() | West Ham | 9.89 |
8 | Ivan Mauger | ![]() | Newcastle | 9.82 |
9 | Ken McKinlay | ![]() | West Ham | 9.67 |
10 | Mike Broadbank | ![]() | Swindon | 9.60 |
11 | Trevor Hedge | ![]() | Wimbledon | 9.39 |
12 | Cyril Maidment | ![]() | Belle Vue | 9.55 |
13 | Arne Pander | ![]() | Oxford | 9.53 |
14 | Norman Hunter | ![]() | West Ham | 9.42 |
15 | Terry Betts | ![]() | King's Lynn | 9.41 |
16 | Trevor Hedge | ![]() | Wimbledon | 9.39 |
17 | Eric Boothroyd | ![]() | Halifax | 9.29 |
18 | Ron Mountford | ![]() | Coventry | 9.29 |
19 | Charlie Monk | ![]() | Glasgow | 9.27 |
20 | Rick France | ![]() | Coventry | 9.22 |
Belle Vue
Coventry
Cradley Heath
Edinburgh
Exeter
Glasgow
Hackney
Halifax
King's Lynn
Long Eaton
Newcastle
Newport
Oxford
Poole
Sheffield
Swindon
West Ham
Wimbledon
Wolverhampton