1988 British League season

1988 British League season

League	British League
No. of competitors	11
Champions	Coventry Bees
Knockout Cup	Cradley Heath Heathens
Individual	Jan O. Pedersen
Highest average	Hans Nielsen
Division/s below	1988 National League
← 1987 1989 →

The 1988 British League season was the 54th season of the top tier of speedway in the United Kingdom and the 24th known as the British League. ^{[1] [2]}

Summary

Coventry Bees won the league for the second successive year and again by a 16-point margin. The Bees also reached the Knockout Cup final losing to Cradley Heath. Remarkably it was Cradley's seventh Cup win in 10 years. With the League Cup scrapped the Coventry team had less fixtures to ride and their pairing of Tommy Knudsen and Kelvin Tatum were once again the catalyst for the seasons success finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the averages. Hans Nielsen topped the averages again for the sixth consecutive season. ^[3]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	BP	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	40	31	2	7	18	82
2	Belle Vue Aces	40	26	1	13	13	66
3	Cradley Heath Heathens	39	22	1	16	15	60
4	Oxford Cheetahs	40	20	6	14	13	59
5	Reading Racers	40	20	3	17	12	55
6	Sheffield Tigers	39	19	2	18	8	48
7	Swindon Robins	40	17	1	22	8	43
8	Wolverhampton Wolves	40	15	3	22	8	41
9	King's Lynn Stars	40	14	3	23	7	38
10	Ipswich Witches	39	13	0	26	4	30
11	Bradford Dukes	39	10	0	29	2	22

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

Fixtures and results

A fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	BRA	COV	CH	IPS	KL	OX	RR	SHE	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue		61–29	42.5–46.5	47–42	50–40	48–42	47–43	54–36	55–35	53–37	51–39
Bradford	42–48		46–44	50–40	49–41	50–40	44–46	43–47	43–47	48–42	46–43
Coventry	48–42	61–29		55–35	46–44	56–34	51–39	45–45	47–43	50–40	52–38
Cradley Heath	48–42	57–33	43–47		42–48	53–37	39–51	47–43	52–38	51–39	48–42
Ipswich	52–38	46–44	36–54	40–50		46–44	44–46	47–43	37–53	52–38	46–44
King's Lynn	51–39	56–34	36–54	49–41	48–42		45–45	42–48	48–42	45–45	53–37
Oxford	45–45	49–41	46–44	49–41	54–36	53–37		45–45	49–41	49–41	45–45
Reading	48–42	52–38	43–47	46–44	53–37	42–48	46–44		53–37	56–34	60–29
Sheffield	53–37	48–42	35–55	45–45	53–37	46–44	45–45	41–49		48–42	49–41
Swindon	39–51	57–33	44–46	39–50	41–49	48–42	43–47	48–42	53–37		53–37
Wolverhampton	47–43	63–27	47–43	39–51	50–40	50–40	48–42	45–45	53–37	42–48

Source: ^[4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

B fixtures

Home \ Away	BV	BRA	COV	CH	IPS	KL	OX	RR	SHE	SWI	WOL
Belle Vue		61–29	53–37	48–42	58–32	58–32	49–41	51–39	51.5–38.5	65–25	46–44
Bradford	40–50		40–50	43–47	n–h	62–28	46–44	41–49	49–41	42–48	57–33
Coventry	46–44	57–33		46–44	50–40	55–35	45–45	56–34	59–31	65–25	44–46
Cradley Heath	50–40	48–41	42–48		57–33	55–35	48–42	47–43	62–28	55–35	53–37
Ipswich	40–50	50–40	40–50	48–41		47–43	42–38	49–38	42–48	42–47	47–43
King's Lynn	56–34	51–39	40–50	44–46	46–44		53–37	42–48	41–49	50–39	46–44
Oxford	50–40	53–33	38–51	43–47	53–37	53.5–36.5		47–42	54–36	41–49	42–48
Reading	43–47	63–2	48–42	49–41	48–42	56–33	42–48		43–7	53–37	49–41
Sheffield	44–46	53–37	42–48	n–h	51–39	58–32	46–43	48–41		60–30	48–42
Swindon	44–46	46–44	40–49	46–44	51–39	40–49	47.5–42.5	46–44	46–44		46–44
Wolverhampton	51–39	64–26	51–39	47–43	52–38	45–45	37–53	47–43	44–46	42–48

Source: ^[5]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

British League Knockout Cup

The 1988 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 50th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners for the third successive year if including the tied 1986 final. ^[6]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/07	King's Lynn	47-43	Ipswich
08/07	Ipswich	34-55	King's Lynn
23/06	Sheffield	43-47	Cradley Heath
18/06	Cradley Heath	51-39	Sheffield
03/06	Belle Vue	53-37	Bradford
28/05	Bradford	36-54	Belle Vue

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
13/08	King's Lynn	40-50	Cradley Heath
10/08	Cradley Heath	53-37	King's Lynn
19/07	Coventry	53-37	Reading
15/07	Belle Vue	53-37	Wolverhampton
14/07	Oxford	48-42	Swindon
11/07	Reading	49-41	Coventry
11/07	Wolverhampton	45-45	Belle Vue

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
14/10	Belle Vue	48-42	Cradley Heath
13/10	Oxford	38-49	Coventry
08/10	Coventry	44-46	Oxford
14/09	Cradley Heath	49-41	Belle Vue

Final

First leg

22 October 1988

Coventry Bees Tommy Knudsen 11 Kelvin Tatum 11 Rick Miller 6 John Jørgensen 5 Andy Hackett 5 David Clarke 2 Neville Tatum 0	40 - 50	Cradley Heath Alan Grahame 13 Jan O. Pedersen 11 Simon Cross 9 Erik Gundersen 8 David Walsh 7 Gert Handberg 1 Wayne Garratt 1
	[7]

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

23 October 1988

Cradley Heath Alan Grahame 10 Gert Handberg 9 Simon Cross 8 Erik Gundersen 8 Jan O. Pedersen 7 David Walsh 5 Wayne Garratt 3	50 - 40	Coventry Bees Tommy Knudsen 13 John Jørgensen 9 Andy Hackett 6 David Clarke 6 Kelvin Tatum 5 Rick Miller 1 Neville Tatum 0
	[7]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 100-80.

Riders' Championship

Jan O. Pedersen won the British League Riders' Championship. It was the held at Belle Vue Stadium on 9 October. ^[8]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Jan O. Pedersen	3 2 3 3 3	14
2	Erik Gundersen	3 3 3 1 3	13
3	Hans Nielsen	0 3 3 3 3	12+3
4	Chris Morton	2 2 3 2 3	12+2
5	Shawn Moran	1 3 2 2 2	10
6	Richard Knight	2 3 1 2 1	9
7	Ronnie Correy	1 2 2 3 1	9
8	Simon Wigg	2 1 0 3 2	8
9	Kelvin Tatum	2 0 2 2 1	7
10	Per Jonsson	3 2 0 0 0	5
11	Gary Havelock	1 1 0 1 2	5
12	Jan Andersson	1 1 1 1 1	5
13	Kelly Moran	0 0 2 1 2	5
14	Brian Karger	3 1 1 0 0	5
15	Tommy Knudsen	0 1 0	1
16	Paul Smith (res)	0 0	0
17	Carl Stonehewer (res)	0 0	0
18	Jeremy Doncaster	0 0 0	0

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Leading final averages

Rider	Team	Average
Hans Nielsen	Oxford	11.03
Tommy Knudsen	Coventry	10.08
Erik Gundersen	Cradley Heath	10.06
Kelvin Tatum	Coventry	10.04
Jan O. Pedersen	Cradley Heath	9.88
Shawn Moran	Sheffield	9.51
Sam Ermolenko	Wolverhampton	9.40
Jeremy Doncaster	Ipswich	9.34
Chris Morton	Belle Vue	9.01
Steve Bastable	Bradford	9.00

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Chris Morton 9.01
• Mike Faria 8.18
• Peter Ravn 7.70
• Paul Thorp 7.22
• Roland Danno 6.92
• Andy Smith 6.83
• Paul Smith 4.97
• Glenn Hornby 3.12

Bradford

• Gary Havelock 8.30
• Neil Evitts 7.44
• Sean Willmott 6.02
• Rob Pfetzing 5.67
• Michael Graves 5.29
• Randy Green 5.15
• Olli Tyrväinen 4.64
• Anthony Hulme 3.57

Coventry

• Tommy Knudsen 10.08
• Kelvin Tatum 10.04
• John Jørgensen 7.49
• Rick Miller 7.02
• Neville Tatum 5.00
• David Clarke 4.85
• Andy Hackett 4.79

Cradley Heath

• Erik Gundersen 10.06
• Jan O. Pedersen 9.88
• Simon Cross 8.22
• Alan Grahame 6.92
• Gert Handberg 5.10
• David Walsh 4.50
• Wayne Garratt 3.45

Ipswich

• Jeremy Doncaster 9.34
• Kai Niemi 6.87
• Armando Castagna 6.75
• Carl Blackbird 6.19
• Gerd Riss 6.07
• Steve Regeling 5.40
• Paolo Salvatelli 4.97
• Robbie Fuller 2.50
• Nigel Flatman 2.40
• Jonathan Cooper 1.45

King's Lynn

• Lance King 7.75
• John Davis 7.69
• Richard Knight 7.45
• Bo Petersen 7.26
• Allan Johansen 6.33
• Stephen Davies 6.24
• Gordon Kennett 6.00
• Adrian Stevens 3.90
• Roger Horspool 1.28

Oxford

• Hans Nielsen 11.03
• Simon Wigg 8.64
• Marvyn Cox 7.24
• Martin Dugard 6.97
• Nigel De'ath 4.32
• Alastair Stevens 3.91
• Jon Surman 3.81
• Lars Munkedal 2.80
• Peter Lloyd 2.65

Reading

• Per Jonsson 8.98
• Jan Andersson 8.93
• Mitch Shirra 8.20
• Tony Olsson 6.95
• Malcolm Holloway 5.63
• Dave Mullett 5.22
• Gary Tagg 3.09
• Rodney Payne 2.81

Sheffield

• Shawn Moran 9.51
• Kelly Moran 8.67
• Neil Collins 7.16
• Peter Carr 5.78
• Sean Wilson 5.30
• Ian M Stead 4.58
• Randy Green 4.00
• Gordon Whitaker 3.60
• Valentino Furlanetto 3.60
• Einar Kyllingstad 3.38

Swindon

• Peter Nahlin 7.68 (6 matches only)
• Brian Karger 7.48
• Andrew Silver 7.23
• Jimmy Nilsen 7.22
• Erik Stenlund 6.56
• Richard Hellsen 5.94
• Alun Rossiter 5.87
• Gary Chessell 5.41

Wolverhampton

• Sam Ermolenko 9.40
• Bo Petersen 7.67
• Ronnie Correy 7.24
• Jan Stæchmann 6.11
• Preben Eriksen 5.94
• Andy Grahame 5.73
• Andy Phillips 5.51
• Lars Munkedal 5.46
• Peter Glanz 4.42

See also

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

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "HISTORY ARCHIVE". British Speedway. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
3. "1988 league tables". Speedway GB.
4. "1988 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
5. "1988 fixtures & results". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
6. "1988 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
7. "Coventry Bees 1988 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
8. "Pedersen powers to title joy" . Sandwell Evening Mail. 10 October 1988. Retrieved 5 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.