1975 British League season

Last updated

1975 British League season
League British League
No. of competitors18
Champions Ipswich Witches
Knockout Cup Belle Vue Aces
Individual Peter Collins
Midland Cup Oxford Rebels
London Cup Wimbledon Dons
Highest average Ivan Mauger
Division/s below 1975 National League

The 1975 Gulf Oil British League season was the 41st season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 11th season known as the British League. [1]

Contents

Summary

The league was sponsored for the first time by Gulf Oil. Reading Racers returned after a one-season absence to increase the size of the league back to eighteen teams and the ban on overseas riders that rode in other leagues abroad was lifted. [2]

The Ipswich Witches won their first title, defeating Belle Vue Aces by a solitary point. John Louis and Billy Sanders scored heavily throughout the season for Ipswich. Belle Vue found consolation by winning the Knockout Cup. [3] [4]

In their last season at the Cowley track, Oxford Rebels won the Midland Cup, beating Wolverhampton Wolves [5] [6] but the competition was overshadowed by the death of rider Gary Peterson. [7]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1 Ipswich Witches 34261753
2 Belle Vue Aces 34252752
3 Newport 34241949
4 Exeter Falcons 342031145
5 Sheffield Tigers 342101342
6 Reading Racers 342101342
7 Oxford Rebels 341801636
8 Leicester Lions 341641436
9 Wimbledon Dons 341621634
10 Halifax Dukes 341531633
11 Cradley United 341521732
12 King's Lynn Stars 341431731
13 Wolverhampton Wolves 341312027
14 Hull Vikings 341042024
15 Poole Pirates 341032123
16 Coventry Bees 34922320
17 Hackney Hawks 34912419
18 Swindon Robins 34802616

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger Flag of New Zealand.svg Exeter11.45
2 Peter Collins Flag of England.svg Belle Vue11.27
3 Phil Crump Flag of Australia (converted).svg Newport11.17
4 Anders Michanek Flag of Sweden.svg Reading11.03
5 Ole Olsen Flag of Denmark.svg Wolverhampton10.79
6 John Louis Flag of England.svg Ipswich10.67
7 Dave Jessup Flag of England.svg Leicester10.45
8 Malcolm Simmons Flag of England.svg Poole10.37
9 Dag Lövaas Flag of Norway.svg Oxford10.22
10 Reg Wilson Flag of England.svg Sheffield10.18

British League Knockout Cup

The 1975 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 37th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Belle Vue Aces were the winners. [8]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
22/05Sheffield44-34Exeter
19/04Belle Vue49-29Wolverhampton
18/04Wolverhampton37-41Belle Vue
14/04Exeter47-31Sheffield

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
01/07Leicester47-31Hackney
27/06Hackney40-38Leicester
23/06Cradley Heath46-32Kings Lynn
21/06Kings Lynn42-36Cradley Heath
19/06Oxford60-18Coventry
19/06Ipswich42-36Belle Vue
16/06Exeter43-35Poole
16/06Reading38-40Newport
14/06Swindon47-31Hull
14/06Coventry33-45Oxford
11/06Poole41-37Exeter
11/06Hull46-32Swindon
07/06Halifax58-20Wimbledon
06/06Newport46-32Reading
05/06Wimbledon49-29Halifax
04/06Belle Vue49-28Ipswich

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
09/08Cradley Heath51-27Newport
09/08Belle Vue45-33Oxford
08/08Newport49-29Cradley Heath
07/08Oxford36-42Belle Vue
02/08Swindon32-46Leicester
29/07Leicester42-36Swindon
17/07Exeter43-35Halifax
05/07Halifax47-31Exeter

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
05/10Belle Vue44-34Cradley Heath
27/09Halifax37-40Leicester
26/09Leicester47-31Halifax
22/09Cradley Heath32-45Belle Vue

Final

First leg

Leicester Lions
Dave Jessup 11
Ila Teromaa 10
Ray Wilson 9
Frank Auffret 6
Doug Underwood 2
Tony Lomas 0
Keith White 0
38 - 40 Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 12
Chris Morton 9
Sören Sjösten 7
Geoff Pusey 4
Alan Wilkinson 4
Russ Hodgson 3
Paul Tyrer 1
[9]

Second leg

Belle Vue Aces
Peter Collins 12
Sören Sjösten 8
Paul Tyrer 8
Alan Wilkinson 8
Chris Morton 7
Russ Hodgson 2
Geoff Pusey 1
46 - 32 Leicester Lions
Dave Jessup 8
Ray Wilson 7
Frank Auffret 6
Doug Underwood 6
Tony Lomas 3
Ila Teromaa 1
Keith White 1
[9]

Belle Vue Aces were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.

Riders' Championship

Peter Collins won the British League Riders' Championship for the second time, it was held at Hyde Road on 18 October. [10]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Flag of England.svg Peter Collins 3 3 3 3 315
2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Crump 2 3 3 1 312
3 Flag of England.svg Martin Ashby 3 1 2 3 211
4 Flag of England.svg John Louis 3 2 0 3 311
5 Flag of England.svg Doug Wyer 3 2 1 2 210
6 Flag of England.svg Malcolm Simmons 2 3 1 2 19
7 Flag of England.svg Chris Pusey 1 0 3 3 29
8 Flag of England.svg Dave Jessup 2 0 2 2 28
9 Flag of Sweden.svg Anders Michanek 2 1 2 R 38
10 Flag of New Zealand.svg Ivan Mauger 1 0 3 1 16
11 Flag of Sweden.svg Tommy Jansson 0 3 1 1 16
12 Flag of England.svg Terry Betts 1 1 2 0 15
13 Flag of Scotland.svg Jim McMillan 2 0 2 0 04
14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Valentine 0 1 1 1 EF3
15 Flag of Norway.svg Dag Lövaas 1 2 0 0 03
16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Boulger 0 0 0 0 00

Leading final averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Ivan Mauger Flag of New Zealand.svg Exeter11.52
2 Phil Crump Flag of Australia (converted).svg Newport11.15
3 Peter Collins Flag of England.svg Belle Vue11.13
4 Anders Michanek Flag of Sweden.svg Reading10.90
5 Ole Olsen Flag of Denmark.svg Wolverhampton10.79
6 John Louis Flag of England.svg Ipswich10.58
7 Dave Jessup Flag of England.svg Leicester10.41
8 Malcolm Simmons Flag of England.svg Poole10.41
9 Martin Ashby Flag of England.svg Swindon10.13
10 Tommy Jansson Flag of Sweden.svg Wimbledon10.12
11 Dag Lövaas Flag of Norway.svg Oxford10.04
12 Ray Wilson Flag of England.svg Wolverhampton9.90
13 Reg Wilson Flag of England.svg Sheffield9.79
14 Jim McMillan Flag of Scotland.svg Hull9.69
15 Billy Sanders Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ipswich9.58
16 Doug Wyer Flag of England.svg Sheffield9.37
17 Chris Morton Flag of England.svg Belle Vue9.27
18 Barry Briggs Flag of New Zealand.svg Wimbledon9.23
19 Scott Autrey Flag of the United States.svg Exeter9.19
20 Reidar Eide Flag of Norway.svg Newport8.98

Midland Cup

Oxford won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of six teams. [7]

First round

Team oneTeam twoScore
OxfordSwindon39–39, 39–39
OxfordSwindon53–25, 33–44
CoventryCradley40–37, 35–43

Semi final round

Team oneTeam twoScore
WolverhamptonCradley42–35, 44–34
OxfordLeicester46–32, 35–43

Final

First leg

Oxford
Dag Lovaas 10
Gordon Kennett 9
John Dews 6
Richard Greer 6
Trevor Geer 5
Paul Gachet 2
Richard Hellsen 2
40–38Wolverhampton
Martin Ashby (guest) 13
Finn Thomsen 10
George Hunter 10
Malcolm Shakespeare 4
Colin Meredith 1
Gary Peterson 0
Leif Berlin r/r

Second leg

Wolverhampton
Ole Olsen 11
Malcolm Shakespeare 7
Finn Thomsen 6
Leif Berlin 6
Gary Peterson 4
Keith Anderson 3
Colin Meredith 1
38–39Oxford
Alan Grahame 12
Dag Lovaas 9
Gordon Kennett 7
Richard Greer 7
John Dews 3
Richard Hellsen 1
Brian Clark 0

Oxford won on aggregate 79–76

London Cup

Wimbledon retained the London Cup but there were now only two teams remaining in London. [11]

Results

TeamScoreTeam
Wimbledon48–30Hackney
Hackney46–32Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Exeter

Hackney

Halifax

Hull

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Newport

Oxford

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
  5. Lawson,K (2018) “Rebels 1975 – The Last Season”. ISBN   978-0-244-99725-0
  6. Bamford,R & Shailes,G (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway". ISBN   978-0-7524-4161-0
  7. 1 2 "Speedway rider Gary Peterson killed" . Reading Evening Post. 18 October 1975. Retrieved 21 October 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "1975 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  9. 1 2 "Season 1975" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  10. "Collins keeps his title" . Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 19 October 1975. Retrieved 2 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "1975 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.