1983 British League season

Last updated

1983 British League season
League British League
Champions Cradley Heathens
Knockout Cup Cradley Heathens
League Cup Belle Vue Aces
Individual Erik Gundersen
Midland Cup Cradley Heathens
London Cup Wimbledon Dons
Highest average Hans Nielsen
Division/s below 1983 National League

The 1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as the British League. [1]

Contents

Summary

Cradley Heath Heathens won the league and cup double. [2] Despite losing their double world champion Bruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well. Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg and Lance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up by Phil Collins, Alan Grahame and Peter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from Denmark Jan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future. [3]

Final table

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1 Cradley Heath Heathens 28260252
2 Ipswich Witches 28221545
3 Coventry Bees 28190938
4 Reading Racers 281701134
5 Belle Vue Aces 281531033
6 Wimbledon Dons 281511231
7 Hackney Hawks 281401428
8 King's Lynn Stars 281211525
9 Birmingham Brummies 281201624
10 Sheffield Tigers 281021622
11 Halifax Dukes 281011721
12 Leicester Lions 28921720
13 Poole Pirates 28901918
14 Eastbourne Eagles 28712015
15 Swindon Robins 28702114

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

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

RiderNatTeamC.M.A.
1 Dennis Sigalos Flag of the United States.svg Ipswich Witches 10.99
2 Hans Nielsen Flag of Denmark.svg Birmingham Brummies 10.77
3 Erik Gundersen Flag of Denmark.svg Cradley Heathens 10.59
4 Mitch Shirra Flag of New Zealand.svg Reading Racers 10.38
5 Michael Lee Flag of England.svg Poole Pirates 10.36
6 Kenny Carter Flag of England.svg Halifax Dukes 10.34
7 Billy Sanders Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ipswich Witches 10.27
8 Chris Morton Flag of England.svg Belle Vue Aces 10.17
9 Phil Crump Flag of Australia (converted).svg Swindon Robins 9.88
10 Jan Andersson Flag of Sweden.svg Reading Racers 9.61

British League Knockout Cup

The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners. [4]

First round

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
09/07Belle Vue56-22Halifax
30/06Wimbledon46-32Swindon
25/06Halifax41-37Belle Vue
25/06Swindon34-44Wimbledon
19/06Eastbourne34-43Kings Lynn
11/06Coventry45-33Sheffield
11/06Cradley Heath46-32Hackney
11/06Kings Lynn47-31Eastbourne
09/06Sheffield37-41Coventry
30/05Birmingham43-35Reading
30/05Reading44-34Birmingham
27/05Hackney35-43Cradley Heath
24/05Leicester40-38Ipswich
19/05Ipswich43-34Leicester

Quarter-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
21/08Kings Lynn45-33Belle Vue
20/08Belle Vue58-20Kings Lynn
23/07Coventry44-34Wimbledon
21/07Wimbledon38-40Coventry
18/07Reading40-38Ipswich
13/07Poole35-43Cradley Heath
09/07Cradley Heath53-25Poole
07/07Ipswich39-39Reading

Semi-finals

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
09/10Belle Vue38-40Coventry
08/10Coventry44-34Belle Vue
24/09Cradley Heath47-31Reading
19/09Reading32-46Cradley Heath

Final

First leg=

Coventry Bees
Ole Olsen 10
Gary Guglielmi 8
Sam Nikolajsen 7
Steve Bastable 5
Rick Miller4
Finn Thomsen (guest) 3
Kevin Hawkins 2
39 - 39 Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 13
Simon Wigg 11
Phil Collins 8
Alan Grahame 3
Peter Ravn 2
Jan O. Pedersen 2
Lance King R/R
[5]

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 13
Alan Grahame 9
Peter Ravn 7
Simon Wigg 7
Phil Collins 6
Jan O. Pedersen 5
Lance King R/R
47 - 31 Coventry Bees
Ole Olsen 10
Gary Guglielmi 10
Bo Petersen (guest) 7
Steve Bastable 2
Rick Miller 1
Kevin Hawkins 1
Sam Nikolajsen 0
[5]

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.

League Cup

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Belle Vue Aces beating Coventry Bees in the final 86-70 on aggregate.

South Group

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1 Wimbledon Dons 14110322
2 Ipswich Witches 1490518
3 Reading Racers 1480616
4 Poole Pirates 1480616
5 Hackney Hawks 1480616
6 King's Lynn Stars 1361613
7 Eastbourne Eagles 1421115
8 Swindon Robins 1320114

North Group

PosTeamPLWDLPts
1 Coventry Bees 1291219
2 Belle Vue Aces 1280416
3 Cradley Heathens 1271415
4 Halifax Dukes 1150710
5 Leicester Lions 124088
6 Sheffield Tigers 124088
7 Birmingham Brummies 124088

Final

DateTeam oneScoreTeam two
22/10Coventry39–39Belle Vue
23/10Belle Vue47–31Coventry

Leading final averages

RiderTeamAverage
Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen Birmingham10.82
Flag of the United States.svg Dennis Sigalos Ipswich10.75
Flag of England.svg Chris Morton Belle Vue10.30
Flag of England.svg Kenny Carter Halifax10.28
Flag of Denmark.svg Erik Gundersen Cradley Heath10.23
Flag of England.svg Michael Lee Poole10.16
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Crump Swindon10.03
Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Shirra Reading10.02
Flag of Denmark.svg Tommy Knudsen Coventry9.87
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Billy Sanders Ipswich9.70
Flag of Denmark.svg Ole Olsen Coventry9.56

Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 15 October. [6]

Pos.RiderHeat ScoresTotal
1 Flag of Denmark.svg Erik Gundersen 3 3 3 2 314
2 Flag of England.svg Michael Lee 0 3 3 3 312
3 Flag of Denmark.svg Hans Nielsen 2 3 3 2 212
4 Flag of England.svg Kenny Carter 1 1 2 3 310
5 Flag of England.svg John Louis 0 3 1 2 39
6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Billy Sanders 3 1 1 3 19
7 Flag of New Zealand.svg Mitch Shirra 2 2 0 3 18
8 Flag of Denmark.svg Bo Petersen 3 2 1 0 28
9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Crump 3 0 2 2 18
10 Flag of Denmark.svg Ole Olsen 1 2 2 0 27
11 Flag of Sweden.svg Jan Andersson 2 1 2 1 17
12 Flag of England.svg Paul Woods 2 2 0 1 05
13 Flag of New Zealand.svg David Bargh 1 0 1 1 25
14 Flag of England.svg Chris Morton 1 1 3 0 05
15 Flag of England.svg Mark Courtney 0 0 0 1 01
16 Flag of Finland.svg Kai Niemi 0 0 0 - -0
17 Flag of England.svg Martin Scarisbrick (res)0 - - - -0
18 Flag of England.svg David Wild (res)0 - - - -0

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams. [7]

First round

Team oneTeam twoScore
LeicesterSwindon38–40, 32–46

Semi final round

Team oneTeam twoScore
CoventryBirmingham48–30, 38–40
CradleySwindon60–18, 40–38

Final

First leg

Coventry
Seve Bastable 11
Rick Miller 7
Kevin Hawkins 6
Sam Nikolajsen 5
Gary Guglielmi 4
John Davis (guest) 4
Keith White 1
38–40Cradley Heath
Erik Gundersen 11
Simon Wigg 6
Alan Grahame 6
Phil Collins 6
Peter Ravn 5
Jan O Pedersen 3
Simon Cross 3

Second leg

Cradley Heath
Lance King 11
Erik Gundersen 10
Alan Grahame 9
Phil Collins 9
Peter Ravn 7
Simon Wigg 6
Jan O Pedersen 4
56–22Coventry
Jan Andersson (guest) 12
Rick Miller 4
Gary Guglielmi 3
Seve Bastable 1
Kevin Hawkins 1
Sam Nikolajsen 1
Keith White 0

Cradley won on aggregate 96–60

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney. [8]

Results

TeamScoreTeam
Wimbledon50–28Hackney
Hackney43–35Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

Birmingham

Coventry

Cradley Heath

Eastbourne

Hackney

Halifax

Ipswich

King's Lynn

Leicester

Poole

Reading

Sheffield

Swindon

Wimbledon

See also

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References

  1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
  2. "1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
  3. "1983". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  4. "1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
  5. 1 2 "Coventry Bees 1983 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  6. "Dane wins" . Sunday Mirror. 16 October 1983. Retrieved 4 June 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Cradley's treble glory!" . Birmingham Mail. 25 October 1983. Retrieved 21 October 2023 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "1983 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.