1972 British League season

1972 British League season

League	British League
No. of competitors	18
Champions	Belle Vue Aces
Knockout Cup	Belle Vue Aces
Individual	Ole Olsen
Midland Cup	Leicester Lions
Highest average	Ole Olsen
Division/s below	British League (Div 2)
← 1971 1973 →

The 1972 British League season was the 38th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the eighth season of the British League. ^[1]

Summary

Ipswich Witches moved up from Division Two but London lost two clubs, when the Wembley Lions closed and West Ham Hammers withrew during the early part of the season, reducing the league to eighteen teams. ^[2]

Belle Vue Aces won their third consecutive title. Their team was littered with great riders including Ivan Mauger, Sören Sjösten and the young Peter Collins; they were backed up by the consistency of Chris Pusey, Eric Broadbelt, Alan Wilkinson and Ken Eyre, which led to a comfortable title win by a clear 12 points. ^{[3] [4]}

Oxford Cheetahs had a bizarre season when they were rebranded as Oxford Rebels following a takeover by a new consortium, which included former riders Bob Dugard and Danny Dunton, Dave Lanning and the famous musician Acker Bilk. The team under performed badly finishing 17th from 18 teams despite the new image. To make matters worse they signed a new Norwegian rider Svein Kaasa, who was quickly transferred to Glasgow following poor results. He died riding for Glasgow towards the end of the season (on 29 September) at Hampden Park. Kasa clipped Martin Ashby's bike in a race and hit the wooden fence receiving fatal injuries. ^{[5] [6]}

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Belle Vue Aces	34	31	1	2	63
2	Reading Racers	34	25	1	8	51
3	King's Lynn Stars	34	24	3	7	51
4	Sheffield Tigers	34	23	3	8	49
5	Leicester Lions	34	17	5	12	39
6	Ipswich Witches	34	17	1	16	35
7	Poole Pirates	34	15	2	17	32
8	Hackney Hawks	34	16	0	18	32
9	Wolverhampton Wolves	34	16	0	18	30
10	Coventry Bees	34	14	2	18	28
11	Exeter Falcons	34	13	2	19	28
12	Halifax Dukes	34	13	2	19	28
13	Wimbledon Dons	34	14	0	20	26
14	Glasgow Tigers	34	12	2	20	25
15	Swindon Robins	34	12	1	21	25
16	Cradley Heath Heathens	34	11	3	20	25
17	Oxford Rebels	34	10	0	24	20
18	Newport Wasps	34	9	0	25	18

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		Belle Vue	11.42
2	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	11.36
3	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.53
4	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.51
5	Bernt Persson		Cradley Heath	10.50
6	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	10.46
7	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.38
8	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.31
9	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.16
10	Martin Ashby		Swindon	10.07

British League Knockout Cup

The 1972 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 34th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue were the winners. ^[7]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/05	Ipswich	46-32	Sheffield
08/05	Exeter	48-30	Swindon
06/05	Halifax	42-36	Leicester

Second round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
03/07	Exeter	50-28	Wimbledon
26/06	Hackney	52-26	Cradley Heath
21/06	Poole	52-26	Halifax
16/06	Newport	42-36	Coventry
16/06	Wolverhampton	38-40	Reading
15/06	Oxford	35-42	Kings Lynn
10/06	Cradley Heath	39-39	Hackney
03/06	Belle Vue	41-37	Glasgow

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
31/08	Ipswich	38-40	Reading
05/08	Belle Vue	58-20	Newport
05/08	Kings Lynn	56-22	Exeter
04/08	Hackney	45-33	Poole

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
27/09	Kings Lynn	38-40	Belle Vue
22/09	Hackney	40-38	Reading

Final

First leg

20 October 1972

Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Barry Thomas 9 Geoff Maloney 7 Dave Kennett 6 Eddie Reeves 4 Laurie Etheridge 2 Hugh Saunders 0	40 - 37	Belle Vue Aces Alan Wilkinson 11 Ivan Mauger 10 Peter Collins 6 Sören Sjösten 6 Chris Pusey 3 Eric Broadbelt 1 Ken Eyre 0
	[8]

Hackney Wick Stadium

Second leg

25 October 1972

Belle Vue Aces Sören Sjösten 10 Chris Pusey 9 Ivan Mauger 8 Ken Eyre 7 Peter Collins 5 Alan Wilkinson 4 Eric Broadbelt 2	45 - 33	Hackney Hawks Bengt Jansson 12 Geoff Maloney 10 Barry Thomas 6 Dave Kennett 3 Hugh Saunders 2 Eddie Reeves 0 Laurie Etheridge 0
	[8]

Hyde Road Stadium

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 82-73.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 21 October. ^[9]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Ole Olsen	3 3 3 3 3	15
2	Martin Ashby	2 3 3 3 3	14
3	Ronnie Moore	3 3 2 3 2	13
4	John Louis	1 1 3 3 3	11
5	Anders Michanek	3 2 1 2 1	9
6	Terry Betts	2 2 2 1 2	9
7	Ivan Mauger	3 3 ef ef 2	8
8	Garry Middleton	2 2 2 2 0	8
9	Christer Löfqvist	2 0 1 1 3	7
10	Bernt Persson	ef 2 3 ex 1	6
11	Ray Wilson	0 1 2 2 0	5
12	Bengt Jansson	1 0 1 1 1	4
13	Bob Kilby	1 0 0 0 2	3
14	Eric Boocock	0 1 1 0 1	3
15	Nigel Boocock	1 ef 0 1 0	2
16	Jim McMillan (res)	2	2
17	Arnie Haley	0 1 0 0 0	1

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, ex=excluded

Final leading averages

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Ole Olsen		Wolverhampton	11.39
2	Ivan Mauger		Belle Vue	11.36
3	Terry Betts		King's Lynn	10.51
4	Anders Michanek		Reading	10.51
5	Barry Briggs		Swindon	10.38
6	Eric Boocock		Halifax	10.36
7	Ronnie Moore		Wimbledon	10.34
8	Bernt Persson		Cradley	10.27
9	Ray Wilson		Leicester	10.14
10	Martin Ashby		Swindon	10.08
11	Bob Kilby		Exeter	9.89
12	John Boulger		Leicester	9.46
13	John Louis		Ipswich	9.39
14	Bengt Jansson		Hackney	9.38
15	Garry Middleton		Oxford	9.24
16	Nigel Boocock		Coventry	9.23
17	Howard Cole (a.k.a. Kid Brodie)		King's Lynn	8.94
18	Sören Sjösten		Belle Vue	8.92
19	Christer Löfqvist		Poole	8.90
20	Jim McMillan		Glasgow	8.86

Midland Cup

Leicester won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams. ^[10]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Oxford	Swindon	44–34, 34–44
Wolverhampton	Cradley	40–38, 39–39
Swindon	Oxford	39–39, 36–41

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Swindon	Leicester	42–36, 30–48
Coventry	Wolverhampton	41–37, 37–41
Coventry	Wolverhampton	42–36, 33–45

Final

First leg

20 October 1972

Wolverhampton Ole Olsen 14 Jon Erskine 10 Dave Gifford 8 George Hunter 6 Dave Baugh 2 Tom Leadbitter 1 Jan Simensen r/r	41–37	Leicester John Boulger 11 Malcom Shakespeare 8 Ray Wilson 5 Norman Storer 5 Alan Cowland 4 Dave Jessup 4 Malcolm Brown 0

Monmore Green Stadium

Second leg

24 October 1972

Leicester John Boulger 10 Ray Wilson 9 Malcom Shakespeare 6 Alan Cowland 6 Norman Storer 5 Dave Jessup 5 Malcolm Brown 4	45–33	Wolverhampton Jan Simensen 10 Ole Olsen 9 Jon Erskine 7 Dave Gifford 4 Dave Baugh 2 Tom Leadbitter 1 George Hunter r/r

Leicester Stadium

Leicester won on aggregate 82–74

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Ivan Mauger 11.36
• Sören Sjösten 8.92
• Peter Collins 8.44
• Chris Pusey 8.20
• Eric Broadbelt 6.72
• Alan Wilkinson 6.68
• Ken Eyre 5.56
• Paul Tyrer 5.11

Coventry

• Nigel Boocock 9.23
• Tony Lomas 8.10
• John Harrhy 7.07
• Jan Simensen 6.85
• Rick France 5.61
• Roy Carter 5.33
• Roger Hill 5.19
• Les Owen 4.52
• Pete Bailey 4.14

Cradley Heath

• Bernt Persson 10.27
• Bob Andrews 7.30
• Roy Trigg 6.95
• Pete Jarman 4.90
• John Hart 4.61
• Mick Handley 4.57
• Jimmy Squibb 3.73
• Ian Ross 2.00
• Dave Perks 0.91

Exeter

• Bob Kilby 9.89
• Edgar Stangeland 8.23
• Bob Coles 6.29
• Kevin Holden 6.06
• Peter Ingram 5.85
• Bruce Cribb 5.75
• Dave Hemus 5.28
• Chris Julian 4.89
• Phil Woodcock 4.00
• Clark Facey 1.18

Glasgow

• Jimmy McMillan 8.86
• Bobby Beaton 8.58
• George Hunter 8.41
• Charlie Monk 6.91
• Svein Kaasa 4.94
• Robin Adlington 4.00
• Jimmy Gallacher 3.72
• Paul O'Neal 3.47
• Kjell Gimre 2.09
• Jim Beaton 1.82

Hackney

• Bengt Jansson 9.38
• Barry Thomas 7.79
• Dave Kennett 6.38
• Geoff Maloney 6.32
• Hugh Saunders 6.27
• Laurie Etheridge 6.24
• Eddie Reeves 5.78
• Roger Wright 4.00
• Allen Emmett 3.20

Halifax

• Eric Boocock 10.36
• Göte Nordin 8.16
• Dave Younghusband 7.39
• Alan Jay 5.87
• Greg Kentwell 5.70
• Tommy Roper 5.36
• John Titman 4.03
• Mike Hiftle 3.57
• Malcolm MacKay 3.53

Ipswich

• John Louis 9.39
• Olle Nygren 7.78
• Tommy Johansson 7.67
• Sándor Lévai 6.96
• Pete Bailey 5.07
• Alan Sage 4.61
• Billy Sanders 4.46
• Tony Davey 4.35

King's Lynn

• Terry Betts 10.51
• Howard Cole (Kid Bodie) 8.94
• Malcolm Simmons 8.36
• Phil Crump 7.30
• Bob Humphreys 6.21
• Ian Turner 5.72
• Barry Crowson 5.47
• Arthur Price 4.75
• Clive Featherby 4.33

Leicester

• Ray Wilson 10.14
• John Boulger 9.46
• Dave Jessup 8.68
• Norman Storer 4.98
• Malcolm Shakespeare 4.81
• Geoff Ambrose 4.47
• Malcolm Brown 3.93
• Alan Cowland 3.25

Newport

• Ronnie Genz 7.45
• Tony Clarke 7.15
• Graham Plant 6.41
• Neil Street 5.28
• Phil Woodcock 4.49
• Bo Wirebrand 4.36
• Ted Laessing 3.75
• Barry Duke 3.49

Oxford

• Garry Middleton 9.24
• Øyvind S. Berg 7.97
• Colin Gooddy 6.49
• Malcolm Ballard 6.25
• Rick Timmo 5.14
• Ken McKinlay 4.81
• Norman Strachan 4.37
• Preben Rosenkilde 3.64
• John Davis 3.00

Poole

• Christer Löfqvist 8.90
• Pete Smith 8.00
• Odd Fossengen 6.71
• John Langfield 6.47
• Brian Collins 5.75
• Frank Shuter 5.42
• Mike Cake 4.66

Reading

• Anders Michanek 10.51
• Dag Lövaas 8.78
• Geoff Curtis 7.73
• Geoff Mudge 7.07
• Richard May 6.38
• Mick Bell 6.24
• Bernie Leigh 5.02
• Graeme Smith 3.77

Sheffield

• Reidar Eide 8.85
• Arnold Haley 8.81
• Doug Wyer 7.46
• Reg Wilson 7.34
• Bert Harkins 7.15
• Bob Valentine 7.15
• Bob Paulson 6.33

Swindon

• Barry Briggs 10.38
• Martin Ashby 10.08
• Norman Hunter 6.08
• Mike Broadbank 4.88
• Brian Leonard 4.62
• Clive Hitch 4.21
• Mike Keen 3.88
• James Bond 3.56
• David Ashby 2.00

Wimbledon

• Ronnie Moore 10.34
• Trevor Hedge 8.13
• Tommy Jansson 7.45
• John Dews 5.02
• Graeme Stapleton 4.45
• Peter Murray 3.96
• Jim Tebby 3.53
• Neil Cameron 3.26
• Pete Wigley 1.71

Wolverhampton

• Ole Olsen 11.39
• Jan Simensen 7.76
• Norman Hunter 6.67
• Dave Gifford 5.88
• Tom Leadbitter 4.59
• Jon Erskine 4.04
• Dave Baugh 3.75
• Colin Meredith 1.65

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
3. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
4. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
5. "Svein Kasa". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
6. Bamford,R & Shailes,G (2007). “The Story of Oxford Speedway”. ISBN   978-0-7524-4161-0
7. "1972 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
8. "Season 1972" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
9. "Michanek fifth" . Reading Evening Post. 23 October 1972. Retrieved 2 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Speedway" . Daily Mirror. 25 October 1972. Retrieved 21 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.