1977 British League season

Last updated

1977 British League season
League British League
No. of competitors19
Champions White City Rebels
Knockout Cup King's Lynn Stars
Individual Ole Olsen
Pairs Ipswich Witches
Midland Cup Coventry Bees
London Cup White City Rebels
Highest average Michael Lee
Division/s below 1977 National League

The 1977 Gulf British League season was the 43rd season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom [1] and the 13th season known as the British League. [2]

Contents

Summary

Newport had dropped down to the National League but their riders transferred to the Bristol Bulldogs so the league retained 19 teams. Cradley Heath reverted to their nickname of Heathens after four years of being called United. [3] The league was sponsored by Gulf Oil for a third season. [4]

White City Rebels won the title in only their second season of existence. The London team caused a surprise with their consistent form throughout the season with heavy scoring of Gordon Kennett leading the team. The success came from a group of five other riders hitting around a seven average to support Kennett. The five were Englishmen Mike Sampson, Steve Weatherley and Trevor Geer, Pole Marek Cieślak and Finn Kai Niemi. [5] Wolverhampton Wolves signed 18 year-old Danish rider Hans Nielsen.

Kevin Holden of Poole Pirates had started the season in great form for his new club, following his move from Exeter Falcons. He was hitting over a 9 point average but sadly was killed during the home match against Reading on 27 April. After sliding into the fence he ruptured a blood vessel of the heart. [6]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1 White City Rebels 36271855
2 Exeter Falcons 36253853
3 Reading Racers 36253853
4 Ipswich Witches 362511051
5 Belle Vue Aces 361931441
6 King's Lynn Stars 361921540
7 Cradley Heathens 362001640
8 Coventry Bees 361911639
9 Wimbledon Dons 361721736
10 Poole Pirates 361721736
11 Swindon Robins 361711835
12 Bristol Bulldogs 361701934
13 Sheffield Tigers 361621834
14 Hull Vikings 361502130
15 Wolverhampton Wolves 361402228
16 Hackney Hawks 361312227
17 Halifax Dukes 361202424
18 Birmingham Brummies 36802816
19 Leicester Lions 36603012

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Michael Lee Flag of England.svg King's Lynn10.64
2 Ivan Mauger Flag of New Zealand.svg Exeter10.62
3 Peter Collins Flag of England.svg Belle Vue10.49
4 Gordon Kennett Flag of England.svg White City10.41
5 Ole Olsen Flag of Denmark.svg Coventry10.40
6 Billy Sanders Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ipswich10.39
7 Anders Michanek Flag of Sweden.svg Cradley10.35
8 Dave Jessup Flag of England.svg Reading10.27
9 Malcolm Simmons Flag of England.svg Poole10.22
10 John Davis Flag of England.svg Reading9.84

British League Knockout Cup

The 1977 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 39th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. King's Lynn Stars were the winners. [7]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
18/05Poole41-37Reading
25/04Exeter50-28Swindon
25/04Reading43-35Poole
15/04Wolverhampton51-27Leicester
12/04Leicester40-38Wolverhampton

Second round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
23/07Halifax38-40Reading
22/07Wolverhampton41-37Kings Lynn
28/06White City51-27Birmingham
20/06Birmingham34-44White City
18/06Coventry57-21Exeter
18/06Kings Lynn55-23Wolverhampton
17/06Bristol56-22Wimbledon
16/06Wimbledon48-30Bristol
13/06Exeter38-40Coventry
09/06Sheffield46-32Hackney
08/06Hull46-32Cradley Heath
11/06Cradley Heath42-36Hull
03/06Hackney49-29Sheffield
02/06Ipswich38-40Belle Vue
30/05Reading53-25Halifax

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
22/08Reading51-27Belle Vue
08/08White City50-28Coventry
06/08Kings Lynn42-36Hackney
05/08Bristol52-26Hull
03/08Coventry43-35White City
03/08Hull49-29Bristol
29/07Hackney34-44Kings Lynn

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
14/10Bristol42-36Reading
10/10Reading47-31Bristol
24/09Kings Lynn44-34White City
21/09White City42-34Kings Lynn

Final

First leg

Reading Racers
John Davis 10
Dave Jessup 8
Hans Wassermann 7
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
Bob Humphreys 3
Ian Gledhill 2
40 - 38 King's Lynn Stars
Michael Lee 15
Terry Betts 12
Carl Glover 5
Ian Turner 5
Richard Hellsen 1
Billy Spiers 0
David Gagen 0
[8]

Second leg

King's Lynn Stars
Terry Betts 10
Michael Lee 7
Richard Hellsen 7
David Gagen 6
Ian Turner 6
Billy Spiers 3
Carl Glover 2
41 - 37 Reading Racers
Dave Jessup 15
John Davis 8
Bengt Jansson 6
Doug Underwood 4
Bob Humphreys 3
Hans Wassermann 1
Ian Gledhill 0
[8]

King's Lynn Stars were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 79-77.

Riders' Championship

Ole Olsen won the British League Riders' Championship for the third time, it was held at Hyde Road on 15 October and sponsored by Leyland Cars. [9]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Flag of Denmark.svg Ole Olsen 3 3 3 3 315
2 Flag of England.svg Peter Collins 3 3 3 2 314
3 Flag of England.svg Michael Lee 3 2 2 3 313
4 Flag of New Zealand.svg Ivan Mauger 3 2 2 2 312
5 Flag of Finland.svg Ila Teromaa 2 3 1 3 211
6 Flag of Poland.svg Edward Jancarz 2 1 3 2 19
7 Flag of Scotland.svg Jim McMillan 1 3 1 1 28
8 Flag of England.svg Doug Wyer 1 0 2 2 27
9 Flag of England.svg Bob Kilby 0 2 3 1 17
10 Flag of England.svg Dave Jessup 2 0 2 1 05
11 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Herne 1 1 0 3 05
12 Flag of England.svg Chris Pusey 0 2 1 0 14
13 Flag of England.svg Gordon Kennett 1 1 1 0 14
14 Flag of England.svg Ray Wilson 0 EF 0 1 23
15 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Billy Sanders EF 1 0 0 01
16 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Graham Drury 2 0 0 0 02

Pairs

The British League Pairs Championship was held at Foxhall Stadium on 29 September and was won by Ipswich Witches for the second consecutive year. [10]

PosTeamPtsRiders
1 Ipswich Witches 26 Billy Sanders 14, John Louis 12
2 King's Lynn Stars 23 Michael Lee 18, David Gagen 5
3 White City Rebels 20 Gordon Kennett 13, Steve Weatherley 7
4 Wolverhampton Wolves 17 Jim McMillan 10, Finn Thomsen 7
5 Reading Racers 17 Dave Jessup 10, John Davis 7
6 Belle Vue Aces 12 Alan Wilkinson 8, Chris Morton 4
7 Sheffield Tigers 11 Craig Pendlebury 6, Doug Wyer 5

Final leading averages

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Michael Lee Flag of England.svg King's Lynn10.59
2 Ole Olsen Flag of Denmark.svg Coventry10.52
3 Ivan Mauger Flag of New Zealand.svg Exeter10.50
4 Peter Collins Flag of England.svg Belle Vue10.46
5 Gordon Kennett Flag of England.svg White City10.41
6 Anders Michanek Flag of Sweden.svg Cradley10.35
7 Dave Jessup Flag of England.svg Reading10.32
8 Malcolm Simmons Flag of England.svg Poole10.27
9 Billy Sanders Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ipswich10.18
10 John Davis Flag of England.svg Reading9.80

Midland Cup

Coventry won the Midland Cup for the second consecutive year. The competition consisted of six teams and was sponsored by the Trustee Savings Bank. [11]

First round

Team oneTeam twoScore
BirminghamSwindon36–42, 26–52
LeicesterCradley38–40, 31–47

Semi final round

Team oneTeam twoScore
CoventrySwindon54–24, 48–29
CradleyWolverhampton51–27, 38–40

Final

First leg

Coventry
Mitch Shirra 11
Ole Olsen 10
Tommy Nilsson 8
Mick Bell 6
Alan Molyneux 5
Frank Smith 4
Alf Busk 3
47–31Cradley Heath
Bruce Cribb 11
Bob Valentine 8
Steve Bastable 5
Larry Ross (guest) 4
Arthur Price 2
Dave Perks 1
Anders Michanek r/r

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Bruce Cribb 12
Steve Bastable 6
Bob Valentine 5
Les Collins (guest) 5
Arthur Price 4
Dave Perks 4
Bernt Persson r/r
36–42Coventry
Mitch Shirra 13
Ole Olsen 12
Alan Molyneux 9
Tommy Nilsson 6
Mick Bell 1
Alf Busk 1
Frank Smith 0

Coventry won on aggregate 89–67

London Cup

White City Rebels won the London Cup. Two of their fixtures doubled up as League and Knockout Cup matches. [12]

PosTeamPWDLFAPts
1White City43011611506
2Wimbledon42111701415
3Hackney40131361761

Results

TeamScoreTeam
White City42–36Wimbledon
White City46–32Hackney
Wimbledon51–27Hackney
Wimbledon44–33White City
Hackney38–40White City
Hackney39–39Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

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

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References

  1. Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 129–133. ISBN   0-904584-45-3.
  2. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  3. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 100. ISBN   0-86215-017-5.
  5. "Speedway riders, history and results". wwosbackup. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. "IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY.....1977". Poole Speedway. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. "1977 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  8. 1 2 "Season 1977" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  9. "Immaculate Olsen roars to title" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 17 October 1977. Retrieved 2 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Sport in Brief" . Birmingham Daily Post. 30 September 1977. Retrieved 17 May 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Super Shirra leads Bees in Cup romp" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 30 September 1977. Retrieved 21 October 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "1977 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.